Canterlot High's D&D Club

Chapters

(3) Humble Beginnings
(4) Roll For Initiative
(5) Tales Of The Teller
(6) Forward to Battle
(7) Discoveries
(8) Voicing Concerns
(9) Goblin Caves
(10) The Great Goblin Raid
(11) Warlord Klarg
(12) Downtime Activities
(13) Character Introductions
(14) Character Creation
(15) Game Plan
(16) Game Night
(17) Where We Left Off
(18) Onward to Town
(20) Split the Party
(21) Attack of Opportunity
(22) An Insight Check
(23) A New Ally
(24) What Would My Character Do?
(25) Break Time's Over
(26) Are Rogues Thieves?
(27) Divide & Conquer
(28) Face Off
(29) Death Save(s)
(30) End of Session
(31) One on One
(32) In a Bed, Facing a Window
(33) The Fortuna Massacre
(35) Point of Exhaustion
(36) Persuasion Check
(37) Missing Players
(38) Eye See You
(39) Missed Calls
(40) Investigation Check
(41) Out of Character
(42) Chaotic Good
(43) Dungeon Master Prep
(44) A Live Audience
(45) The Calm After the Storm
(46) Character Races
(47) A Flurry of Blows
(48) Mind The Mind Reader
(50) The Deadly Undead
(51) A Captive Audience
(52) A Short Rest
(19) Digressing and Sidequesting
(34) Intelligence Saves? Natural Ones
(49) Monastic Tradition
(1) A Sudden Ambush
(2) A Gathering of Adventurers

(3) Humble Beginnings

3rd Person POV
The Next Day

As the morning sun arose, people of all walks of life joined it for the new day. Farmers and ranchers would appear from their land surrounding Dreiweg and immediately begin their daily routines. At the same time, merchants would get an early start on opening their business for the day. Meanwhile, street vendors would be rushing for the Bazaar Ring, a large area that surrounded Dreiweg's commercial district, in the hopes of getting the perfect spot to open their storefront.

All of this bustle would go unrecognized by travelers and shoppers alike who would typically wake up at more reasonable times. They would prepare themselves for the new day, mapping out their activities, and by the time they were dressed and ready the merchant rush would be complete.

The same could not be said for a particular set of travelers. With a slight hangover for some and rude awakening for others, seven different people had managed to wake up come the rise of the sun. Drowsily, a human woman would trudge through the roads of late rising merchants and arrive for a second time at the Evening's Nest, meeting up with her three acquaintances before soon heading out once more.

During this time, three other travelers were preparing for the same job. With one waking up at the table of a dive bar, to another crawling out of an extra bed at a barracks, and even a third leaping gracefully from a large rock from within a small grove outside of town.

In one form or another, the seven travelers all made their way toward one destination; the Onyx Steed Stables. The stables were just outside the city walls to the southeast but even though the walk wasn't too difficult for any of the seven, none of them were up for introductions so early in the day.

So instead, the group would gather at the stables and grunt or nod a greeting to one another before collecting the tarped wagon the stable boy had prepared for them; complete with two healthy oxen hitched up at the front. Little more was exchanged as the stable boy went over the basic motions and sent the group down the path to the south.

This group-made silence would go on for about another hour or so before each member of the group began to truly wake up. As they did, everyone would start to walk at a more moderate pace which in turn allowed the oxen to walk at their regular speed rather than the awkward canter they were doing before. However, by now the lack of any social interaction with one another was beginning to build on one of the travelers to the point where her mind had begun to wonder.

Stostine's POV

As Dreiweg and its surrounding farms were now far behind us, sitting on the cart had begun to feel dull. Aside from a small flock of birds or an odd looking tree we would pass by, nothing felt interesting enough to focus on. Aside from Ricven, the gnome I had met yesterday, everyone else in our group seemed unbothered by the long time of little interaction. And even in Ricven's case, he had occupied his time on the trip by mindlessly playing his violin.

Eventually, I got anxious. I started to glance around at the others, trying to gleam information simply by how they dressed or presented themselves. It was judging a book by its cover but when the book is locked what other choice did you have?

The first one I had looked at was the one in front of the cart, Glemerr. She was a large half-orc woman in worn down clothing and hair cut short and uneven. It looked as though the orc simply grabbed whatever hair was too long and chopped it with a single tug of a knife. That, doubled with the fact that her forearms and calves were wrapped in bandages, and you can tell that she was the kind of woman who preferred a scrap than any other form of battle. Oh, and she also didn't have shoes.

The other girl I had met yesterday was Vareén. However, I didn't know much else past that. She was dressed in leather armor, same as yesterday, and had a thick gray cloak over her with the hood pulled almost entirely over her face. Despite the attempts I made yesterday and this morning, I couldn't get a clear look at her. The only physical trait I could spot was the strand of jet black hair that revealed itself for only a moment.

As for the newer faces, the spectrum of backgrounds expanded tenfold. The simplest out of the three was a dwarven woman dressed in heavy armor with an equally heavy looking warhammer resting on her back. She had this bright fiery hair that went down to her shoulders with amber colored eyes to match. She seemed militaristic in how she held herself but there was little else to recognize about her.

The second new face held himself in an opposite tone. He was a human male dressed in simple leathers with a thin, worn cloak. In a way, he was dressed similar to Vareén with the only difference being the colors of their clothing. Vareén was dressed in darker colors underneath her gray cloak but the man was dressed in regular browns and other basic colors that made him less interesting to observe. The other difference between the two was that while Vareén had a hood that was constantly hiding her face, the man had no hood at all. In fact, he didn't seem to care whether anyone saw his face or not.

And finally, there was the most eye catching of us all. As I sat on half the wagon's seat, a Wood Elven woman sat beside me with the reins in her hands. She had this long, unkempt, bright orange hair mixed with green and light blonde highlights. Although despite the eye-catching colors of her hair, it was her clothes that had drawn everyone's attention from minute one.

Starting from the bottom up she had nothing in terms of footwear, not even bandages like Glemerr. Despite that fact, her feet were absolutely clean. Even when we had all gathered outside the stables on dirt and wet grass none of it seemed to remain on her.

Then, there was this tan brown leather skirt that had been cut up to the point where it could only go as far down as the knees. At some point it may have gone down to her ankles but the uneven cuts along the edges made it obvious that she had made the 'improvement' herself.

Although it got stranger still. Resting loosely around her torso was this deep green noblewoman's blouse. At least, I think it had belonged to a noble at some point. Both sleeves had been cut off, similar to the skirt, and straps made up of dried vines helped to hold her only belongings on her back. A small wooden buckler that resembled tree bark...

And a scythe. An ebony black scythe that hung off her back like a severed praying mantis leg.

As all of these articles of clothing were covered in grass stains and twigs, the scythe was entirely clean without a single stain to be seen on it. However, none of this held a candle to the vines. All across her right arm, from shoulder to wrist, was a tightly wound layer of thorned vines wrapped like bandages. However, unlike bandages, the vines were subtly coiling about now and then as though they were a living snake.

The entire time, the elven woman seemed blissfully unaware of the thorns as they were visibly piercing into her arm. When she caught me staring she instead looked at me as though I was the weird one.

Despite how worried the girls were about the magic, all of them turned to look at Fluttershy. Story hadn't told any of them what character was who, but none of them really needed the hint. The description, while very concerning, could only have belonged to one of them.

“Wait a second," Rainbow spoke first. She had perked up as though a light had gone off in her head. "How’s come Fluttershy got an intro like that but me and Applejack had to describe what we looked like?” Rainbow rose an eyebrow at Story.

"Applejack and I," Twilight spoke.

"Huh?" Rainbow asked.

"Err, n-nothing." Twilight backed off, catching her own correction.

Story looked back at Rainbow with a shrug. “Simple. She asked earlier.”

“That’s it?” Sunset furrowed her brow. “You didn’t say we could ask that.”

"Yeah," Rainbow jumped back in. "If I knew that you would've done that, I would've asked you to introduce this character like that."

“Well, to be fair she had a full backstory right down to her appearance being explained. So I kind of had to explain all the details. Besides, the only ones that had an idea for a backstory were Fluttershy, Twilight, and Applejack.”

“Well that seems a tad unfair,” Rarity noted.

“Not at all," Story corrected. "Every time I met up with you guys to make characters, I asked if you had any kind of backstory in mind. I mean, if you guys ever want me to do something specific about your characters, just ask and I'll be glad to help.”

Story then cracked his knuckles as loudly as possible, pulling everyone’s attention away from Fluttershy and back on him whether they appreciated the sound or not. Although Fluttershy was incredibly grateful for the attention falling away from her.

“Now then. Back to the game.”

When the elf caught me staring at the vines for a third time today, I decided that I needed a distraction. So I cleared my throat.

"Um, excuse me. Everyone." I allowed myself to stand up partly, confident in my footing on the moving cart. "Now that we've all taken some time to wake up—"

"Meh," Someone muttered from the behind me, earning a deadpanned look in return.

"I thought," I continued. "That we should take the moment to properly introduce ourselves."

"Why?" The Dwarf asked with no enthusiasm. "If we keep talking it'll just make this last longer than it nee—Ow!"

For the second time today, Rainbow rubbed the rib that Applejack had elbowed.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Rainbow whispered through her gritted teeth.

"Look," AJ whispered back. "Magic err not, there ain't no excuse fer being sour 'bout a game. Jus' play it straight, ya hear?"

"How about I go first?" The Dwarf asked with strained enthusiasm. "My name's...Rav-a-thy-ra," she said slowly. "I'm a Dwarf who likes...using a hammer." Her shrug made it seem all the more forced.

"Riiiight." The human met the Dwarf's enthusiasm. He then took the chance to look over to me. "You'll have to excuse her. Apparently, she doesn't know people skills until the sun's taller than her."

"Hey!"

"Dat's fine," Glemerr slowed her speed so that she was standing near Ravathyra. "Mah name's Glemerr. Ah'm an orc that likes ta figh' people!"

"I was curious about the wrappings." I looked them over once again. Parts of them were a little dust covered but for the most part they were fresh. "I take it you trained somewhere?"

"Nah. Grew up figh'in mah family!" Glemerr gave me a huge toothy grin.

"A family a orcs, hmm?" Ricven asked from atop the wagon. Due to his smaller stature, Ricven found a stable location on the tarp and had been lying down the entire ride so far. "I'm guessin' you came from some kinda tribe then?"

I turned to glare at Ricven. "That was uncalled for."

"Ah s'pose," Glemerr answered. "Tribe's like a family. So yea, Ah come from a tribe!"

Ricven seemed to smirk to himself though it felt a little too snarky. Right or not, he didn't need to say that.

But I said nothing. Instead, I watched as Ricven made his way to his feet and balanced himself on the tarp. If I had to guess, he was probably standing on a crate. "Well, I do believe I'll take the chance to go next." As he said this, Ricven started to make a few gestures with his hand as he held his bowstring. All while muttering a few words under his breath.

Wait a second, I realized. Those are arcane sigils.

As though to answer my question, Ricven suddenly began playing feverishly on his violin with the sound of a second violin playing faintly in the breeze. The two violins seemed to almost give off this welcoming aura, like a warm hearth or a local pub.

The performance only lasted about twenty or so seconds but none of us, not even Ravathyra, showed any intent of having Ricven stop early. When it finally did reach a conclusion, both violins reached a crescendo before Ricven ended the spell and bowed towards no one in particular.

"My name is Ricven Lioncatch, the Connoisseur of Culture! And for the past twenty or so years, I’ve been touring the world! Seein' what it has ta offer! And once I’ve been ta every inch a' this land, I plan on recording it all for every man, child, and especially lady that remains as curious as I.”

The human man snorted with a thin smile. "Sounds like you've been rehearsing that speech."

"Indeed I have," Ricven admitted. “I can’t very well give a weak performance in front of a crowd of such beautiful ladies.” He gestured towards the rest of the us with little response.

"Hmph. Regular Casanova, huh?" The same man rolled his eyes. “Well, as long as we’re all telling stories, I might as well go next. The name’s Platick. I was born in the capital. I don't have anything as special as Ricven's little show, but I've been working on guarding carts like this for a few years now. It's the kind of work I'm used to."

"Then I take it we should be learning by your example," I asked.

Platick only shrugged. "There's not much to learn, really. Just make sure that nothing happens to the cart."

I nodded along before recognizing that I was one of the few left yet to actually introduce myself. And since the other two girls hadn't said a single word all day I figured that it meant I was next.

"Well," I started. "My name is Stostine Swordhand and, like Platick, I used to live in the capital. Jobs like these are a little new to me though."

"What sparked the change in scenery?" Platick asked.

"Nothing too extreme," I dismissed. "I simply realized that the city was too busy to live in constantly."

"..." Platick slowed his pace for a moment, his gaze not breaking from me.

"..."

"...That right?" Platick asked.

"Of course," I replied.

"..."

3rd Person POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Room

Sunset and Applejack continued to stare each other down as the others watched. Sunset kept a completely neutral expression while Applejack watched for any break in her for anything.

"That all there is?" AJ asked calmly.

"About so, yeah." Sunset's expression didn't change.

This caught everyone's attention. Whether the girls saw it often or not, Sunset knew how to keep her thoughts to herself. She would be able to voice them whenever she needed, but with the years that came before Twilight and the Fall Formal she could be very subtle about her opinions and intent.

Then there was Applejack. It was common knowledge at school that she had a sixth sense for lies. Even if the person in question wasn't lying but instead holding some details, she was able to pick up on the issue immediately.

The stare down was slowly making the other girls and Story go quiet. The silent battle had been the first thing past the magic to catch Rainbow's interest when there was none before. Meanwhile, the rest of the girls began to lean away from the two as though they were worried that they would be pulled into the feud.

The girls weren't caught off-guard by the exchange though. In fact, it surprised the group that Sunset and AJ didn't butt heads more often. Whenever it did happen, however, it would always end the same way. The two girls would square off for a moment and then go about their days like nothing ever happened.

"Funny," Applejack continued. She spoke in a voice for her character, Platick, like Pinkie and Rarity had done. Although, all the voice sounded like was AJ trying to hide her accent and deepen the pitch slightly. It worked well enough for an adult man's tone. "Why would you give up something like that? From your clothes, it looks like you had a pretty good job before."

"Well, appearances are everything," Sunset spoke evenly, allowing herself a small smirk.

"And deceiving," AJ matched the smirk herself.

The two knew that this was different from their usual bouts. But just as subtly as their joy showed, it faded back as their intensity remained.

Applejack continued watching for any crack in Sunset's expression that she could use. Without proof, she couldn't call Sunset on her lie. However, Sunset knew that too. So rather than risk a deep breath or a raised eyebrow that would give Applejack evidence, she simply controlled her blinking and breathing. Too much or too little would work against her.

That didn't stop Sunset from mentally laughing at AJ's attempt. Applejack didn't have to worry about her expression nearly as much, so Sunset was able to bask in the victory that was Applejack gritting her teeth in frustration.

Without wasting time, Sunset went for an offensive.

"Deceiving?" Sunset repeated. "Funny you say that. For someone that was so welcoming a second ago, you seem suddenly abrasive yourself."

"There," Thought Sunset.

Only she had been able to notice it, but Sunset wasn't seeing things. Like Story had said, Applejack was one of the girls who had a story for their character. That means that Applejack's "Platick" had some history. And judging by the inaudible twitch from Applejack it was probably a secret.

Applejack made no instant retort. Instead, she sat back in her chair, crossed her arms and tried to hide her expression. Meanwhile, Sunset took to leaning onto the table with her chin in her palm. While Sunset hated to admit it, there was still a few useful things she learned while being that terrible, manipulative bully. She would never do this to a friend about something serious but if they were in a game like this then she could have a little fun, right?

Still, Sunset stopped her assault early. The Lying Game was only harmless if you let it end before it went too far. Besides, there was still the magic aura to deal with. Sure it was quiet for now, but something told Sunset that if anyone tried doing anything other than talking then that's when the magic would start kicking in.

Sadly, Applejack was about to test that theory for her.

"Story," Applejack spoke suddenly. As Sunset's attention snapped away from the table only then did she realize that her attention had left Applejack. Her mental laughing instantly turned to scolding as she yelled at herself for giving AJ a chance to recover.

"Is there a way fer Platick ta figure out if Sunset's lyin'?"

Applejack watched as Sunset's eyes darted over to Story before turning back towards her. All at once Applejack noticed a good several tells coming from Sunset. Whether there even was a way for Applejack to catch Sunset's lie in the game didn't even matter now. The fact that Sunset was starting to crack told Applejack that there really was something that she was hiding. That was more than enough for Applejack to call her on it.

"There is, actually," Story said, letting Applejack and Sunset both turn toward him. After they did, Story looked at Applejack. "Go ahead and roll me an insight check."

Applejack's eyes locked onto the magic dice in front of her. AJ, and her alone, watched as the twenty-sided die in front of her gave off this faint orange glow that no one else could see. Not the girls or Story.

In fact, as Applejack looked to Sunset for an answer she noticed that Sunset didn't seem to be reacting to the dice. Although she was certainly the most worried.

Applejack finally looked back to Story, seemingly making up her own mind. "Roll it?"

"Yeah. Just like that history check, but using the number next to the word 'insight' instead."

Story noticed the odd hesitation but decided against pointing it out. He had merely assumed the worried look was from AJ not knowing what was going to happen next. And, in a way, Story was right.

"Applejack," Sunset warned. When she saw that Applejack was actually debating whether or not to pick up the dice, she gulped. "You could just take my word for it."

AJ , who had been mulling over the idea, heard Sunset's words and paused.

"Take yer word?" Applejack repeated. "Ya know, you could just as easily admit what yer hidin'."

"I'm not hid..." Sunset forced herself to calm down. Her own voice was betraying her. "You don't have to roll."

"Or you could," Story reminded with a small smirk. He then noticed Sunset scowling at him but refused to respond. Story may not have been aware of the girls' background in the Lying Game, but that didn't mean he was out of the loop entirely. After all, acting was just another form of lying. He knew all too well how the game worked.

However, as he failed to notice how Sunset was scowling, Story instead noticed that Rainbow was getting more and more interested in the standoff. This will help, Story thought. If he was gonna get Rainbow or the other girls more invested in the game now was a great chance to do it.

"I mean," Story continued on, presenting a bigger presence to the Lying Game. "If Applejack rolls a higher number than Sunset, that means Sunset has to tell Applejack if she's telling the truth or not."

"...I would have to roll too?" Sunset blinked as she looked down at the dice. Each of her dice was a fiery red color with the numbers looking like they were a bright orange. Meanwhile Applejack's dice were a polar opposite with a sunrise orange base with bright red numbers. The opposite colors had a meaning.

"Had ta be that one," Applejack noted.

Sunset could already see Applejack's intent in her twitching fingers. "You're taking this a little far, don't you think?"

Applejack's fingers twitched again. Then she sighed. "Sunset...sooner err later we're gonna end up doin' this. Might as well rip off the band-aid now."

Before Sunset could argue any more, Applejack quickly flicked the die into the air and watched along with everyone as it tapped around.

As the die came to a stop it began to glow brighter with the same orange aura that had poured out of Applejack earlier. Every girl immediately froze up as the die landed on a 6 but only Sunset and AJ could notice the aura dim to a dark orange glow. A moment later, Applejack alone witnessed as "+4" appeared next to the die from the same orange aura.

All the girls' attention then shot up towards Story, who was simply sitting there looking at Applejack. "So..." He hummed. "What's the total?"

“O-Oh! Um.” Applejack looked back at the dice and checked the paper set up in front of her. "Jus'. Jus' ten." She instantly scooped the die off the table, unsure if Story hadn't seen the glowing or what. However, while she hid the still glowing die in her hand, all the girls, not just AJ anymore, noticed Insight: 10 now glowing on the desk where Applejack's die once was.

"Alright, good to know. Now it's Sunset's turn." Story turned to Sunset, who was now genuinely confused like the rest of the girls. To them, the magical writing was plain as day. Yet Story was sitting there. Seemingly unaware of it.

"Whether you're lying or not," he carried on. "Roll me a D20."

Sunset didn't break eye contact with him. At least, for the first second or two. Then, as her die began to glow, her attention was quickly focused on it. Like before, none of the girls or Story could see the aura around the die; none except for Applejack who seemed to excpect it. Nevertheless, Sunset steeled her wits and lightly tossed the dice with as little contact as possible, afraid of it reacting to her.

From there, the die began to glow brighter as it clattered around the table for a second. Then, after it landed on a 15, the die pulsed with Sunset's magic in a way that was brighter than Applejack's dice.

"Cool," Story complimented plainly. "Now, if you're lying, add the deception number to the dice. If you are telling the truth, add the persuasion number."

Sunset looked back to the dice and saw that the magic had already come up with the number anyway. Beside the die was a '+4' written in the magic. "Uh...Nineteen."

To the rest of the girls, they had no clue what was going on. Each of them looked to each other to see if any of them could see the magic. When they were sure that they were seeing the same thing, or lackthereof, they turned back to Story to see him looking a little confused, but not surprised. The only thing he seemed confused about was why everyone else was suddenly so worried.

Finally, Sunset's die gave one last flash of magical aura before both dice stopped glowing altogether. No words like Applejack's this time. Instead, only the number 19 appeared beside Sunset's die in a way where all the girls could see it.

It's hiding the intent, Sunset thought.

Story nodded along and sat back. "Applejack, you keep waiting for any sort of tell or give that she's lying to you but you're not sure whether or not there's anything there. She may seem guarded but without knowing anything about her it's easy to chalk it up to being careful around new faces."

"..."

Eventually, Applejack hummed in thought. Though not without taking several seconds trying to figure out whether or not Story was hiding something. It didn't go unnoticed to either girl that Story was playing Devil's Advocate with the dice, but something that Sunset observed is that when the aura on the die flashed like a camera, no one flinched from the list. Not even Applejack. Sunset was the only one to see it.

However, one flash that Story did notice, was a light bulb supposedly going off above Sunset's head.

"Hey Story?" Sunset straightened up. "Can I do the same thing to Applejack?"

"What," Applejack snapped.

Story rolled his jaw as he thought. "You mean an insight check? What for?"

"To see if her character's hiding anything?"

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me."

"Do it..." From the edge of the table, Rainbow was half whispering, half pleading for Sunset to do it. She wanted something else to happen.

"You stay outta this," Applejack warned. She turned back to Sunset who was now weighing the D20 in her hands carefully. "Ya proved yer point Sunset. I went too far, alright?"

"I mean, in all honesty, eye for an eye," Story excused with a smile.

"You too! You keep ta yer own." Applejack gave a stern look to Story. By now it was obvious that Rainbow and Story were just egging on the feud, and Applejack could feel herself giving in to the competition. Still, there was a limit to how much you should push magic and this was the borderline.

"Technically, this is my own." Story shrugged. "I mean, I gotta be the one to tell y'all what happens. Sunset simply has to roll the dice."

"There ain't no simply about it."

"But, Applejack," Sunset cooed humorously, putting Applejack on edge. "Sooner err later we're gonna end up doin' this. Might as well rip off the band-aid now," Sunset recited as she mimicked Applejack's accent.

Applejack tensed up. "Ugh! Me an' my big mouth..."

Sunset then turned to Story. "I'd like to make an insight check for any signs that Applejack's character is either as they seem to be or if it's a front." Once Story gave her the all clear, Sunset turned back to her dice.

Just as Sunset had predicted, the D20 began to glow faintly again. And as she thought, none of the others seemed to notice it.

It looks like the magic activates whenever Story gives the word. Not only that but the magic seems harmless so far. At the very least, in the dice it's harmless.

Deciding to keep up her sudden casual tone, Sunset took up the dice and rolled it with a calm smile. And just like each time so far, the die tapped around on the table and began to glow in a way where only Sunset could see. Once it landed on an 11, the aura made "+3" appear next to the die that only Sunset could read.

The images are all created from my aura too, just like the aura on the dice. All it's doing is projecting the information I need. After a quick glance around the room, Sunset noticed that none of the others were ponying-up either. Also good.

"Fourteen," Sunset announced.

"Good. Applejack," Story turned to the cowgirl, who was now sitting there with her hat pulled low over her face. "If Platick is normally friendly to new faces, roll persuasion. If he's normally not so friendly to new people, deception."

Applejack looked back over to Sunset, who was now sitting back with a satisfied grin on her face. When she was sure that Story wasn't looking, Sunset winked in assurance.

What's she so calm about? Applejack thought with a raised eyebrow. She's treating this like a friendly game of poker...

Hold on. Applejack went for her dice and held it in her hands. If I'm right, Sunset's die was probably glowing for her. But it doesn't look like she cared. Then does that mean...

Trying to imagine every feud she had put between herself and Rainbow, AJ grinned. "Ya got it all figured out, don't ya?"

Catching on to AJ's meaning, Sunset's smile became more genuine. "Yep."

"Heh," Applejack chuckled. "Well alrighty then. I trust ya."

That last part confused Story but it didn't matter. With more assurance, Applejack flicked the dice ahead and joined the others in watching where it stopped. However, with nothing for Platick to add to the roll, Applejack's game face fell quickly.

"Five," She said pitifully, earning a snicker from Rainbow.

“Welp." Story quickly tossed his pen down before standing up and walking over to where Sunset was sitting. "Seems we have a winner then.”

“Wait, what’s happening...” As Story got closer, he signaled for Sunset to lean towards him. Once he was sure that none of the others could hear him, he began to whisper something to her.

“What’s going on?” Twilight leaned towards them out of curiosity, but she still couldn’t make out what they were hearing.

“Oh. Um, Story's whispering really quietly.” Fluttershy watched as Sunset’s expression turned from confused to focused. “I remember when my parents were planning a birthday party for me. Story and his family were helping them plan the surprise and every time he whispered, no one could hear him. Not even Angel Bunny.”

“Huh. Y'all really do know each other,” Applejack admitted.

“Well, his mom and mine knew each other since they were in school," Fluttershy explained. "So I’ve known him for as long as I can remember.” Fluttershy had come out from behind a majority of her hair but still seemed a bit unwilling to talk too much about everything.

Thankfully for her, all eyes watched as Sunset started to go from focused to intrigued. “What's on his necklace?” Story leaned back in to keep whispering more info.

"Hold up! How's come she found that out?" Applejack straightened up, now scrunching up her face in protest.

Story paused his whispering for a moment to look at Applejack. "She studied you for any signs to see if Platick is as they seem. Devil's in the details." With that, Story went back to whispering to Sunset.

Meanwhile, Applejack fell back in her seat. At this point, it wasn't even the magic getting to her. It was her luck. Applejack figured that she'd probably be getting the same secret-telling from Story had she rolled high enough. So whether she liked it or not, this was all in earnest.

When Story finally finished, he went back to his seat while Sunset closed her eyes to take in all the information. “Alright then. I think I know what I want to do.” With a new smile, Sunset looked up toward Applejack.

Stostine's POV
On the Road
Sunrise

"I'm terribly sorry." I began to walk forward so that I could speak to Platick in a quiet tone. "I didn't quite get your name. What was it again?"

Platick then tightened his expression as he picked up the pace to keep up with the cart. At the same time, I took the chance to study his appearance in whatever way I could. Just as I had seen before, he wore regular leather armor with a plain looking cloak that helped to hide most of his belongings. At a cursory glance, I spotted the same poorly-managed shortsword hanging from his belt.

However, that was the weapon Platick apparently wanted people to notice. It was hard to spot, but I managed to find the tip of a blade hidden away on a back sheath. Not only that but I was able to notice the quality of the daggers tucked away in his boots. One in each.

But there was one thing that I noticed above all the hidden weapons he had on his person; a trinket that was meant to be hidden just as well as the weaponry. Hanging around his neck with a simple leather string wrapped around a single coin. The coin itself, while I couldn't see the symbol of its minting, was certainly a platinum coin.

There was a large war that ended resulted in an economic boom for Leodaav as naval trade became more widely available. Then, about seven years later, our neighboring kingdom to the south, Skel, opened trade negotiations. Since then money has become easier to obtain. And even when the common man had the ability to earn gold pieces, platinum was still only reserved for the rich.

And the rich typically had more than only a given name.

When 'Platick' didn't answer me, I turned fully to him. "What is your name?"

"I already told you," the man spoke calmly. "My name is Platick."

"Just Platick?" I repeated.

I then watched as the smile he greeted us with was now replaced with a neutral expression at best. "That's what I said."

"You don't want to say your last name?"

"What makes you think I have one?" He countered.

"You're not denying it," I pointed out. In response, I saw his expression turn sour.

While Platick seemed to be considering a comeback, I could sense the rest of our group watching the exchange. Whether the man was hiding anything or not, there was nothing to gain over calling him out immediately. After all, the one thing I believed about him was his experience in these types of jobs.

"I apologize," I spoke softly and took a step back. "As I said before, I used to work in the capital. It's a very different world there."

Platick hummed along but said nothing.

He knows I suspect something, I thought. "Though, to be blunt, I do not get why you are hiding so much. If you say you have done this job before then you make yourself seem capable. But wearing a rusted blade and rags over your armor makes you seem unreliable. Why the confusing message?"

"Well what can I say?" Platick spoke through his teeth. "Appearances are everything."

"And deceiving," I added.

"...Fast learner." Platick took the chance to fall in line behind the cart. Though the whole way he now had a much tighter guard kept up.

Unnerved by how the conversation was going, Ricven sat back down and glanced over towards Vareén. "I believe it's your turn to say a little about yaself."

"No thanks." Vareén didn't turn to look at him.

That answer didn't settle too well with the group's Dwarf. "What do you mean 'no thanks'?"

"I mean I'm not interested."

"Oh no you don't," Ravathyra warned. "How's come you get to go on without saying anything?"

"Simple," Vareén answered. "I don't have anything to say."

"But that's not fair! If I need to introduce myself than that doesn't mean that you can get awa—"

Rainbow Dash was ready.

With time to spare, she caught Applejack's elbow before it could strike her in the ribs a third time. Dash took a few seconds to smirk at Applejack before she continued going against Twilight and her fake brooding.

"You're not getting out of this without saying anything. So talk."

"..." Vareén didn't have a snarky remark this time.

Instead, Platick sighed. "Look, if we all break out in arguing we're never getting this stuff delivered..." He looked Ravathyra over before making up his mind.

"Miss." Platick looked over toward Vareén. "Can you just say something so short fuse will calm down?"

Vareén kept going on trying to ignore the group but she knew it wouldn't work. So, instead, a moment or two passed as she let out a thin groan.

"My name is Vareén," she admitted. "I used to be a hunter. Now I'm not. There." None of her tone seemed at all welcoming. If anything, it just made the situation more tense.

I sunk into my chair slightly. "Perhaps introductions were a bad idea."

With regret already building, I finally turned towards the last of us who had yet to say anything, the woman with the scythe. On top of trying to avoid her glance I was trying to ignore the scythe as it would sometimes tap my shoulder whenever we hit a bump in the road.

"Erm...Did. You want to say a few words?" I asked carefully. She did seem the most abrasive out of us all.

The woman took a moment before cautiously glancing towards me, as though unsure if I was even talking to her or not. When she noticed that all of us were silent at this point, she started to look unsettled.

For a second, I spotted this instinctive pull in her expression. Her eyes glazed over slightly and the corner of her lip twitched like a feral animal. In that instant, I thought that she was about to tear my throat out, no scythe necessary.

In fear, I gripped the left cuff of my robe. Carefully hidden just below a thin layer of wool was a small crystal which acted as my spellcasting focus. Without it, a lot of my spells would become much more difficult to pull off. Although, with her sitting this close to me, the focus wouldn't matter. I wasn't quick enough.

The standoff was short lived. After a couple of seconds spent of this woman staring me down, the intensity in her eyes began to settle and she had begun to look more inquisitive. Like she had needed time to comprehend what I said.

Finally, nearly an entire minute later with none of the others saying or doing much else, the woman with the snake vines spoke up.

"nah...nu-name," The woman answered slowly. It sounded like she were testing her voice as it were raspy and faint to the point where it could have faded away for good any moment. "I...no."

"What?" Ravathyra glanced over towards us. "You're not saying either?"

The woman shook her head and tried again. "i. no...name. I no name," she combined the words together. It was clear how she spoke that she didn't know common, which was odd. Common was a language that every nation used. In some places it wasn't the first language but I don't think that was the problem here.

"Don't have a name, huh?" Platick asked. "I mean, alright, I guess, but what do we call you?"

"..." The woman went silent again in contemplation.

"N-no name," she repeated. "I...title."

"A title?" Ricven hummed the idea over in his mind. "Interestin'. And what, my fair lady, would that be?” Ricven asked as he sat up once again from behind us.

“Title...called Thorn Wielder.”

“Everyone but Fluttershy go ahead and give me another history check.” Story leaned forward.

“..." Sunset glanced around, noticing that the others were no longer as concerned as they were last time.

"Okay." Sunset shrugged before taking the dice.

"Sure." Applejack followed suit.

Over the last few minutes the two managed to spread the news to the rest of the girls that the dice had been harmless. And now, everyone's dice, excluding Fluttershy's, were glowing faintly with their respective magic with everyone only able to see their own aura.

“I have an eight," Twilight announced, watching as her die had the dying glow of embers.

“I, woah." Applejack, meanwhile, had to force herself not to shield her eyes from the bright flash of light her die made. "I. Th-There's a twenty on the die."

"Congrats." Story smiled. "That means critical success."

“And...What if we got a one?” Coincidentally enough, Sunset sat there staring at her dice awaiting any kind of response. The moment it stopped on a one, it stopped glowing altogether. No visible writing on the side, no tendrils of aura, nothing. It should have been great that there wasn't any magic but it was a bittersweet feeling.

“Fourteen.” “Eleven.” Rarity and Pinkie didn't seem to be holding their breath as the dice only gave a faint glow.

"I got fifteen," Rainbow called out, now only interested in whatever the magic was going to do.

As all of the girls finished checking, every single one of them could see their numbers appearing on the table in ghost-like writing except for Sunset who's dice continued to remain dormant. However, from Fluttershy's point of view, she started to notice that Rainbow and Applejack's numbers seemed to have more of a presence to them.

“Alright then,” Story seemed to look toward Fluttershy for some sort of sign before standing up. Upon the two making some sort of silent agreement, Story stood up. "AJ and Rainbow beat the number."

"Wait, I got something?" Rainbow looked confused. "But Applejack got higher than me."

"You're not trying to get the highest score." Story shook his head as he scooted past a few chairs. "You're trying to get above a certain number."

And with that, he gestured for Rainbow to lean in before whispering something.

This time, it only took about ten seconds but Rainbow's expression seemed sort of confused.

"Scorched Acrine?" Rainbow repeated. "What?" Story whispered to her a second time and slowly she seemed to understand.

As Rainbow started to nod Story backed over toward Applejack. "And since you got a natural twenty..."

Again, Story began to whisper with the girls only seeing gestures or reactions from either of the two.

Then, by the fifteen second mark, the girls began to watch as Applejack's expression started to stretch into surprise while at the same time that Story made a slow sweeping motion.

"Is it really that surprising?" Rainbow looked over. "I mean, it's in the name isn't it?"

"What is, what is?" Pinkie started to teeter around on the edge of her seat. The whole time she was sitting beside Applejack she couldn't manage to hear anything that Story was telling her.

Pinkie's curiosity went unanswered as a few seconds later Story backed off and left Applejack to look to Fluttershy.

"Well then," AJ started with a breath. "Fluttershy, that is some story ya got there."

“Well, I did have a little help.” With a small smile, Fluttershy turned towards her bag. Entirely unalarmed as it shook lightly in return.

"If it makes you feel any better," Story sat down and scooped up his pencil. "I wasn't ready for a story like this either. Although it did fit with a few things."

“So, what'd he say?” Pinkie rocked in her chair, impatient. “I really wanna know!”

“Uh…” AJ looked to Story Spinner. “Can my guy tell whether or not the others know 'bout Flutt--err, Thorn Wielder?” She held her hand above the orange die.

"As you glance around the others," Story laid out. "You can tell that most of them seem simply confused. Although you do spot that Ravathyra seems to be less frustrated with the answer and more...occupied."

Applejack shared a look with Rainbow before coming to some sort of conclusion. “Alrighty then…”

Platick's POV
On the Road

"Hold on, Thorn Wielder?" I glanced over to the cart where Stostine and the woman at hand were seated. "Didn't expect to hear that name clear out here."

"..." She didn't respond. She just kept facing forward.

"The place she's from..." The Dwarf, Ravathyra, spoke in her native tongue. "It's from the other half of the world, right?"

Well, other half of the continent, but I think that's what she meant to say.

When I finished translating in my mind I walked up to her and kept pace alongside the cart. "What have you heard about her?" I asked in Dwarvish.

"A couple of things I guess," she shrugged.

"Well then, would you mind sharing?" Vareén asked, jumping into our conversation also in Dwarvish.

I tried spotting her from the opposite side of the cart to no avail. Although what I could tell was that the rest of the group was looking at the three of us in either confusion or interest. It seemed like the three of us were the only ones who knew fluent Dwarvish.

“I thought most Elves knew about the story.” Ravathya crossed her arms.

“Most Elves?” Vareén repeated.

"Okay, not what I meant." Ravathyra held up her arms. "It...It’s just that's how an elf said it. He told me it was a big deal back in..."

"What was the elf place called again?" Rainbow looked to Story.

"Cortás," Story repeated gladly.

"Yeah, Cortás, that place." The Dwarf said while nodding along to...no one.

"You know," I spoke in Dwarven. "Not all Elves are from Cortás."

"Come on, I. That is not what I...sorry," Ravathyra grunted.

From the corner of my eye I could see Stostine looking towards us quietly. Oh joy, she speaks Dwarven. How's come I'm not surprised?

"...Let's speak later," I concluded in Dwarven. I then hung back and allowed myself to take my position behind the cart.

There is no way she simply wanted a 'change of scenery'. Stostine seemed upset about my reluctance but it wasn't like she could do much against it. So she instead got up and began to ask Ravathyra if she wanted to take a turn riding the cart rather than walking it. Despite the fact that Stostine only sat down ten minutes ago rather than every hour like we agreed before.

Studying Stostine closer, she was dressed in very clean light blue robes and hair that was neatly wrapped up in a single braid. Couple that with her speech and how she presented herself and there was no doubt that she came from higher standing. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that her standing was pretty damn near excellent. So then why did some regular guard job take her interest so much?

Stostine instructed Thorn Wielder to slow the oxen for a moment as Ravathyra boarded the cart with a confused look. Her rest was still another three hours and she was now skipping Glemerr and myself in the queue. Not that I was going to take my turn. If I got to rest during shift change I'd be fine. Meanwhile, Glemerr looked like she could march all day if she needed to. Neither of us would complain.

"Thanks, I guess." Ravathyra placed the hammer next to her in the seat and leaned back.

"Not a problem," Stostine answered in Dwarven. "Besides, it's only fair you take a moment to rest. Your armor looks heavy."

Kiss up, I thought. If she wasn't a noble then she knew how to play their game. Let me guess, did she pack some pastries before leaving the city? Maybe even a hand-stitched blanket while she was at it?

As Stostine took up Ravathyra's position, I glanced back at Thorn Wielder. Then there's her.

The woman muttered a few things in some odd tongue towards the oxen. I have no clue how that Gundren Dwarf found her of all things but already my instincts were telling me that this was wrong. Some girl from the capital as well as an elf straight out of a fairy tale? It made me want to stop, turn around, and just walk back to Dreiweg. Pretend it never happened.

"Then 'ow's about somethin' more dan coin?" Gundren asked me. It was about a week ago.

"Like what?" I challenged.

"Ya do this fer me." Gundren held for a moment. "An' I set a few shops straight on yer name. How's about that?"

My name, I repeated. How did he know my name?

"Oi! Platick."

"Huh?" I huh'ed.

"Hurry it up," Ricven called from atop the cart. He, as well as the rest of the party, were now several yards ahead. "We ain't about ta slow down every five minutes so's you can stare at the trees!"

"Funny," I countered. "You don't seem to mind when the girls stop the cart for no reason." Regardless, I picked up the pace to catch back up with the group.

Whether there was some out of place noble on this job or an elven woman that shouldn't be here, it didn't matter. Anything was worth trying to set my name right.

(4) Roll For Initiative

Vareén's POV
On The Road

Over the next few days, everyone had fallen into a routine. Everyone would wake up at two hours past sunrise and spend the third hour preparing for the day. During that time they would need to wait for Thorn Wielder, the elf with vines around her arm, to cooperate. Whether or not anyone approved, the elf would unhook the oxen and let them roam free at the end of every day.

Platick, the human man, and Ricven, the gnome musician. would then have to wait for Thorn Wielder to 'talk' the oxen into coming back so that they could hitch them up. When that was done, everyone would assume positions around the cart from all sides as Thorn Wielder would always manage the oxen.

On the first day, no one minded as Stostine, the human woman in robes, created a system for everyone to take turns on the cart's bench; that way everyone could take a turn to rest. Well, everyone save for Ricven who spent the entire trip riding on top of the supplies.

Despite this system, Thorn Wielder refused to leave her spot and surrender the reins to anyone else; which did not last long. Partway into the second day, Ravathyra, the Dwarf in armor, spoke up. She argued that it was unfair for Thorn Wielder to keep her seat when other people had to walk for seven hours.

The point was made stronger when Ricven revealed Stostine was having trouble walking for long periods of time. She tried to cover up that fact but we all knew. So for her to get enough time to rest while others could do the same, Thorn Wielder had to walk.

It wasn't hard to convince her but she insisted on holding the reins. This made the confusing concept of her walking beside the oxen as she guided them. Although, when she realized that she could keep the reins while walking, Thorn Wielder only sat down for one or two hours.

At the end of every day, the routine would come back into play. Ricven would be somewhere playing his violin just as he did during the day, only stopping when people were ready to sleep or at the distant threat of wolves. Also during this time, Thorn Wielder would be tending to the oxen or caring for the plants and trees around us.

Meanwhile, everyone else actually did something productive. Glemerr, the orc with bandages, and Stostine would be on campfire detail while Platick tended to the tents and prepared the land for bedrolls. Once everything was complete and people went to bed, I and Ravathyra would act as the night watch on separate shifts.

Originally I wanted to spend the time before night watch hunting game to keep my skills sharp and keep rations full. However, Thorn Wielder made sure I never had the chance. She would keep warning the animals. And whenever I would tell her about our rations, in Elvish so I knew she'd understand me, she would just summon magical berries. Her annoyances were building on me but at least they weren't a hindrance.

The third day is the only time where there was something that broke the pattern. Rather than work on the camp, Platick took the chance to do inventory of the cart. Most of the others chalked it to the human getting tired of not knowing what we were guarding in the first place. So when no one stopped him, Platick pulled out every single item and searched it all.

In the end, there wasn't much to look at. Like Gundren said, everything was stuff for a mining operation. Pickaxes, shovels, wooden boards for tunnel supports, the list had gone on. If miners could use it then it was in there. The only thing out of place was a wrongly marked barrel filled with vintage dwarven alcohol. Again, not suspicious, but now it meant that Stostine had to convince a few of the others not to touch it. A task that she was not happy about.

The first four days came and went with little else. While out on my fruitless hunts I saw one or two of the others practicing or demonstrating their skills. Sometimes Ricven would incorporate illusions into his performances or have a second instrument's sound play along with his violin like the first day. On another occasion, I saw Glemerr find a hardwood tree and practice combat on it before eventually putting a huge crack in the trunk and calling it a day.

Thorn Wielder and Ravathyra didn't show much but it wasn't hard to figure out what they were capable of. One had vines and an affinity for nature, the other had heavy armor and a large hammer. Use logic and you had your answer.

The only ones that didn't give away what they were capable of were Platick and Stostine. I noticed that Platick had some hidden daggers that looked to be in much nicer condition than the rusted sword at his hip but aside from that he was careful about the skills he revealed in front of us. In contrast, Stostine constantly admitted skills she was useful at as well as her weaknesses.

The only thing she didn't seem to talk about was her abilities in a fight. Gundren had hired all of us to guard the cart so it was assumed that each of us was capable in some form or another. But the only thing that Stostine had demonstrated was her ability to get winded after travel and readiness to help others; neither of which was useful if bandits ambushed us.

The two human question marks made up the majority of the conversations as they butted heads a little too often. Originally it started when Stostine asked about Thorn Wielder; something that Platick knew about but had yet to tell either her or myself about. Over the days the debates bled into other things and the rest of us learned to ignore it and focus on guarding the cart.

It was only on that fifth day that 'guarding the cart' actually meant something.

3rd Person POV
3:42 PM
Classroom

Story looked up from behind his screen as the girls off-handedly talked about what their characters were doing. He had told them that transporting the cart would take several days and after just a few comments from the girls, they had gone into specifics about who was doing what tasks, if any, for the camp.

Somewhere in it all, Applejack had asked what was in the cart they were guarding, which sparked a small in-game argument between Stostine and Platick. The exchange actually surprised Story a little bit since he did not expect the girls to actually be this in-depth with the game already. Although it was, he thought, fun to watch and listen to.

When the conversation felt like it was reaching the end, Story glanced to a few minis he had hidden behind his screen and the picture of a map. It was time to begin the real game.

"As you all begin the fifth day of your travels," Story began. "The morning starts up like usual. Thorn Wielder, like all the previous days, is the first one awake and has already put out the fire while Platick makes quick work of packing up supplies. Vareén, Stostine, and Ricven all assume their positions on the cart when you leave and the morning hours go by quietly.

"Ever since the third day, your path had been veering away from the edge of the Aurora Trove forest and more towards a hilly landscape with only small areas of woodland to pass by. The skies above you leave scattered clouds and a slight breeze from behind you, the west, but with no signs of any immediate weather change.

"Something else that a few of you notice is that you haven't seen too many other carts from yesterday onward," Story continued. "During the third day you passed a small caravan but they had taken one direction at the fork in the road while you took the other. Ever since you haven't passed by any other travelers. You know that it's not surprising as the only town down this road is Phandalin, the town you're heading to. However, the lack of passing faces has left less to talk about than usual."

Story paused as he reached for his miniatures and placed three of them on the vinyl mat. The first was a realistic wagon with two miniature crates placed snugly inside of it with two posts jutting out the front. The other two were a horse miniature and cow miniature placed in front of the cart. Story didn't have two oxen so he had to make due.

As the girls studied the miniatures with interest, Story cleared his throat to get their attention. "After about four or five hours into your day, I would like to go ahead and ask where you are all situated."

"Situated?" One of the girls repeated.

"Yep." Story nodded. "Whenever the group is traveling from one place to another I need to know where you guys are at in terms of the group. Who's in the back, front, sides. It's usually called a marching order."

"Marching order?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What, like a parade?"

"We're having a parade?!" Pinkie's attention vanished from the cart altogether as she held up the orc miniature that was placed at her spot at the table. "Glemerr's at the front!"

Story just shrugged. "Front it is." As Pinkie continued to bounce in her seat, she placed Glemerr's model in front of the oxen about three squares away from them. In Story's mind, he saw that she was fifteen feet away, one square equals five feet.

Twilight kept eyeing the wagon. "You said we can't all fit, right?"

"Nope," Story answered shortly. "It's not on the model but the wagon has a bench up front which can fit two of you. And because Rarity said so earlier, Ricven sits on top of the supplies."

"Correct," Rarity agreed as she carefully placed Riven's model on one of the boxes. "He's resting on a crate with his feet propped up on that barrel Platick found."

Sunset glanced towards Rarity and spoke as Stostine. "Please don't mess with the beer."

"Why Miss Stostine, I would neva'!" Rarity spoke as Ricven with a smirk. She was enjoying the accent a little too much. "That be, unless you'd like ta share a drink," she added with a wink.

Sunset instead ignored Rarity's jokes as best she could and handed her mini to Story. "I think Stostine's on the bench at this point."

"Good to know." Story balanced the mini on the front of the wagon. "Who else is sitting down?"

"...uh...I will." When she noticed that no one else was speaking, Fluttershy meekly pushed her miniature towards the vinyl mat with the end of her pencil.

When Story saw that Fluttershy had been what seemed afraid of the mini, he looked fully towards her. "Fluttershy, you okay?"

"U-um, yes." Fluttershy gave a weak nod. She was the only one of the group who had yet to see her anything glow yet. She had only seen the text appearing on the table and that was still putting her on edge. Regardless of what the other girls were trying to reassure her of, she was still worried. "I just...Didn't want to ruin it."

A gave a small chuckle. "Don't worry, they won't break that easy. Watch."

To show them, Story started turning the mini roughly in his hand and even began to lightly knock it on the table. The moment he did, nearly every girl sitting down seemed to tense up or even flinch with each knock. To all of them, the dice seemed okay but this was the first time dealing with something else.

"See?" One or two knocks later he balanced the model next to Sunset's character on the wagon. "Not dinged up or anything. It's just wings or thin parts like a staff or something you gotta be careful of. Besides, even if it does break I can glue these back together whenever."

"Well, still." Sunset slowly straightened herself from her chair. Not only that but I thought she might've been speaking in a slightly higher pitch. "It's better not to break it in the first place, right?"

"Fair point." Story shrugged.

After the rest of the girls got their minis placed into the right spot, Story took a moment to review it. before allowing himself a ghost of a smile that none of the girls seemed to notice.

Now that everyone's in their places, Story thought. It's time to see just how many of them get behind the fighting.

"One last thing." Story hid his smile well and got a pencil ready. "Everyone needs to roll me something. A perception check."

As the girls reached for their dice, Fluttershy finally saw the same glow that they each did. And while it took some reassurance from Rarity, Shy eventually did the same and everyone began to roll.

A dull slap of face meeting palm echoed from Sunset. "I rolled a 1. Again..."

"Eleven, plus this number," Pinkie hummed as she poked, what Story saw, an empty space on the table. "Fourteen!"

Story cocked his head to the side, curious what Pinkie was poking at exactly, before—

"Ten."

"Oh, thirteen total."

"A five."

Story scrambled to catch who said what, his attention thankfully torn from whatever Pinkie Pie was doing.

"Meh." From the other side of the table, Rainbow didn't seem too enthusiastic about her roll.

Twilight's reaction, however, was the complete opposite as she began to count up the number before deciding to write down something off to the side.

"..." Story and the others waited patiently for Twilight to finish what she was writing but when they started to realize that she wasn't done writing, Sunset leaned over.

"She rolled an eighteen."

Story chuckled. "Good to know." He wrote the number down.

After going over the numbers Story reached for his own dice for the first time all game and rolled one. Then again. And then a couple more times.

Unbeknownst to Story, the girls were all watching in silent terror as flashes of dark green energy began to emit from behind Story's screen. The energy trailed off like demonic tendrils as though it were effects from every villain of every movie.

"Umm..." Sunset flinched as another green tendril curled over the screen before fading away. "What are you doing?" Her tone was casual enough but her expression matched the rest of the girls'.

"What, I'm not allowed to roll dice too?" Story gave a sly smirk before rolling one last time. As he did, the girls watched as several more tendrils of energy coiled up and around Story's shoulder.

"I...Guess not," Applejack said worriedly.

As Story checked over a few more things, marking something on a piece of paper, he looked up and began to speak as the last bit of green energy faded away.

"While the day arrived at one in the afternoon..."

Vareén's POV
On The Road
5th Day of Travel

The day proceeded the same as the ones before it. The group would continue along the path after breaking camp and take breaks for people to trade spots or allow the oxen to graze as per Thorn Wielder's 'command'. It was in these commands that I noticed Thorn Wielder had been getting antsy the more we traded the treeline for hills. I guess vine woman wasn't much for rolling hills and mining towns like the one we had been moving toward.

At the moment we were in the same formation as when we left Phandalin. Ravathyra and I were set up at the left and right sides respectively, Glemerr was ahead of the oxen, Platick was in the back, Stostine and Thorn Wielder were on the bench, and Ricven lounged on top of the supplies playing his violin just like every day.

Except now, the violin was getting on the Dwarf's last nerve.

"Okay. How do you do nothing but play a violin for five days straight?" Rainbow asked.

"Why, whatever do you mean," Ricven asked with an innocent look.

"We're supposed to be guards, right?" Rainbow glanced over at Story for a second. "So why are you doing nothing but playing a violin?"

"It is not simply a violin," Ricven countered. "It is an instrument that can unlock the hearts of any who hear it." As if to prove his point, Ricven played a few, admittedly, pleasant chords.

"What does that even mean?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Can we please save the banter for when we get to Phandalin?" Stostine looked behind her. "If we stop wasting time we may get there before nightfall."

"Try telling that to the caretaker up there," Platick spoke from the back. "If we didn't have so many breaks we'd probably be there right now."

Thorn Wielder said nothing. Instead, she simply clicked her tongue and the oxen began to speed up slightly.

"Uh-oh. Glemerr thinks ya made 'er mad," Glemerr said.

"If mad gets us there faster." Platick folded his arms behind his head and kept pace with the oxen.

"Oh come now," Ricven reflected with a yawn. "I think we should trust the lass's judgment. She does have quite the eye for nature. I'd trust no one more with the task."

Platick only scoffed. "That girl could lead you to a snake bite and you would still thank her."

"Well one of us has to be a gentleman around here." Ricven, for the first time this whole trip, sat up. "An' I do not see you doin' such a job."

"In case you haven't noticed, we're getting paid for this." Platick met the gnome's stare. "And while you've been playing 'gentleman,' the rest of us have been doing the actual work."

"Alright, that's enough," I called out. Without needed to look I heard all of them, even the oxen, come to a complete stop. "The small talk I can take but I will not listen to you all argue like children. So shut up and face forward."

From under my hood, I watched as all of them, save for Thorn Wielder, looked at me in surprise.

"What?" I narrowed my eyes.

"I-It's just," Ricven stammered. "I believe this is the first time you've said a full sentence ta anyone this whole trip. I believe we're caught a bit off guard is all."

"Good," I stated. "Maybe that'll show you just how little you're paying attention to the things around you."

As I spoke, my ear caught something that sounded like hushed voices up ahead. I faced forward and began to look around but we were heading up a gradual hill. We wouldn't be able to see anything until we got to the peak of it.

"You're right," Stostine sighed in regret. "We should focus. We're not safe until we reach the town."

One by one the rest of them agreed in their own ways, with Glemerr even going as far as to apologize despite not doing anything.

At least none of them are too proud to admit their noisy, I thought. The sounds ahead then turned into foliage rustling. Then silence.

When Thorn Wielder figured that we were done talking she clicked her tongue again and lightly moved the reins to make them continue.

They didn't move.

Thorn Wielder hummed in thought and tried again to have them move. Instead, all the oxen did was shuffle in place and hold their ground.

"Don't tell me they want another break." Platick frowned.

"No..." Stostine slowly stood up from the wagon's bench. "I think they're...spooked?"

"Ox get spooked?" Rainbow asked. "How?"

"Oxen," Twilight corrected.

"You know what I mean," Rainbow sighed. "But why are they 'spooked'?"

"The things around you," I repeated. I began to pull an arrow from my quiver. Something was wrong.

The rest of them began to follow my lead and went silent. Glemerr tightened her wrappings and Stostine seemed to straighten her left sleeve; both of which I assumed were out of habit. Ricven, meanwhile, simply sat up and started adjusting pegs on his violin.

It was only Ravathyra and Platick that actually followed my example and drew their weapons; the Dwarf pulling out her warhammer and the human readying his rusty sword. They both stepped up to the front of the cart.

Finally, there was Thorn Wielder. Rather than do anything that seemed like prepare for a fight, she instead hopped off the wagon turned her back to the direction the path traveled. Then, she proceeded to stare at the ox.

"What are you doing?" Platick asked.

As though to prove Thorn Wielder's danger, the sound of an off-key bird call echoed off ahead. And this time, thankfully, Glemerr seemed to recognize it too.

Thorn Wielder continued to ignore everyone. She just kept staring at the oxen before eventually glancing up at us. "Troubled."

"You don't say," Platick said sarcastically.

With her holding the oxen up, I and the rest of them were forced to stay still. If only some of them went forward then they could be picked off. If everyone went then the cart's only protection was a loopy vine woman. But, if everyone stood here like targets then whatever was up ahead could surround the cart. That is if they weren't already doing that.

"Thorn Wielder," Stostine started. She seemed to recognize the threat. "We can't stay here. You need to move." Stostine shuffled to the middle of the bench and reached for the reins.

"Hold." Thorn Wielder held up her hand. Stostine, and the rest watched as Thorn Wielder placed her forehead against the ox's and began to chant something in a low whisper.

The Dwarf looked over in bewilderment. "Now what are you—" "Shh!" However, Stostine shushed her and the rest of us with a wave of her hand. "She's casting a spell."

A spell? On the ox? Unless she had a spell that made them learn how to fight this was a waste of time.

Nevertheless, Thorn Wielder finished her chant and placed her hand on her throat. As she did, a bright glow appeared across her entire neck in a natural green color.

"Mankoi uma ile gorga?" Thorn Wielder spoke seamlessly, all traces of her shaky, broken language gone. Unfortunately, none of them could understand her now.

In fact, I couldn't understand most of it either. It had the same dialect as Elvish but the words were different. Ancient, almost. In fact, I could only understand the last word since it wasn't any different. "Gorga" meant "Fear".

The ox Thorn Wielder spoke to began to huff and bellow in response before nodding in the direction we were moving. So even the oxen could sense something was wrong. But would they recognize attackers?

When the ox finished his "speech," the group watched as Thorn Wielder's expression went from focus to worried. "N-No..." Without any warning, to us or anyone, she turned on her heel and started up the hill. Alone.

Glemerr and Stostine shouted for her to stop or at least slow down, but the elf didn't listen. Instead, she rushed the peak of the hill and looked ahead.

She looked like a standing target in my eyes. And for every time she put me in danger, my bowstring grew tighter.

"H-Hold on!" Not wanting to let Thorn Wielder separate from the rest of them, Stostine tightened her grip on the reins and whipped the oxen to go ahead.

“Why do I keep rolling ones?!” Sunset was now glaring down at the small die, now starting to wish that it would start glowing for her.

Meanwhile, Story, Rainbow, and Pinkie were all laughing at the little feud. “Here.” Story tossed Sunset a new die from his personal pile behind the screen. “Use this one.”

Sunset, not daring to take her eyes off the one that scorned her, snatched the second die out of the air without a second thought.

“I’ll say you have advantage since Fluttershy calmed the oxen down. You can roll a second time,” Story explained, wiping a joyful tear from his eye.

While holding her breath, Sunset rolled the new die. As it came to a stop, she relaxed her shoulders. “That’s…Better?”

As Sunset looked, the two dice on the table flashed as though a camera went off. And when she looked closer, Sunset noticed her new die now resembled her color scheme, albeit with some sort of theme, while the original was back to being a regular die.

Sunset did her best to ignore the change, for now at least and counted up the number on the die with the number that appeared on the table. “Twenty total.”

Coming to their senses, the oxen began to move as trained; this time at a quicker speed. With them moving I was able to keep in formation and reach the top of the hill. From there I looked at the scene ahead of me.

The path went down the hill at a gradual decline and carried on for a few hundred feet before banking left. On the left side of the path were more hills and a treeline that thinned out the further from the road you got. On the right, the treeline stayed thicker without any glades or open spaces to spot.

Then, more importantly, there was a blockade at the bottom of the hill made from a wagon. It was about the same size and make as our own only it was tipped over and smashed in places. Any crates or supplies that were on the wagon had been pulled out and ransacked with every sign of valuables already picked clean.

Finally, there were the animals attached to the wagon. Instead of two oxen like we had, this one was instead pulled by two horses; both of which now lay on their sides dead.

They were sprawled out beside the wagon with dozens of black-fletched arrows sticking out of them like pincushions in every angle. With the arrows were several daggers and knives stabbed in the chests and faces of them. However long the corpses had been like this they managed to attract a small cloud of flies as well.

Without getting closer I was already able to tell that it didn't take all those arrows and knives to kill them. The culprits mutilated the bodies. Not only that but the entire scene was purposely placed across the road, blocking us from passing. It was an ambush.

The oxen came to a complete stop and this time I didn't blame them. The sight, and probably smell, was not pleasant. It was, however, a clear sign for the others to get serious as some of them began to eye their surroundings.

Immediately I spotted several small figures hiding in the brush ahead of us on both sides. Meanwhile, Glemerr and Ricven only studied the left side where the trees were thinner. They seemed to be the only others who spotted the moving figures.

The world's simplest trap, I thought. It was the kind you read about in children stories. A broken cart or fallen tree blocking the way only for something to be lying in wait.

"Be on your guard," Platick warned. He was looking for any sign of the attackers but just seemed to be whipping his head in every direction. Despite this, he seemed to keep his wits about him. "Whatever's going on, don't let them near the cart."

"...Wouldn't dream of it," Ricven said evenly. He didn't dare take his eyes off the figure.

With the group and myself on top of the hill there was a height advantage. Not to mention I had only counted five targets. If it was a simple highway robbery then there couldn't have been too many of them. Too many ways to split the earnings. Those of us at the cart had the advantage in numbers and location. All anyone had to do was stay their ground and attack from a distance. The enemy would either charge or run away.

They already lose, I thought as I allowed myself to smirk.

And that's when Stostine started sprinting down the hill.

“Sunset!” Applejack looked over. “What in Tarnation are you doin'?!”

"I. I-I...Those poni..." Sunset let her face fall into her hands. The realization was suddenly dawning on Sunset. Ugh...I actually thought they were ponies in trouble. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"...I'm running too," Fluttershy called out with a small burst of determination. Which quickly deflated as she saw Applejack's expression switch to her. "If, um, that's okay, that is."

Before Applejack could say anything, Pinkie stood from her seat with a fist in the air. "Then so will Glemerr!" Her war cry bolstered the courage of Sunset and Fluttershy while just making Applejack and Twilight share a look of worry.

This is gonna be fun, Story thought. As he looked down at the six miniatures he was hiding behind the screen a ghost of a grin was forming on his face. Unbeknownst to him, his set of dice were all glowing with the same sickly green aura as before.

As the three flailing idiots continued running down the hill towards the obvious trap all hidden figures began moving. Then, after four arrows shot off after the running targets I quickly pinpointed where the arrows had come from; two from the left and two from the right.

In terms of accuracy, these archers left much to be desired. From the right, an arrow flew for Thorn Wielder and whizzed past her, missing her bare leg as she kept running.

The second archer from the right was even worse. From it's hiding spot a greenish creature shorter than Ricven lept from its place and pulled the bow as taught as it could. But rather than fire, the bowstring snapped and ricocheted the arrow right into the creature's face, rendering it useless.

From the opposing side, two more green archers took aim and fired at the lumbering half-orc. Glemerr, having kept tabs on them the whole time, managed to juke out of the way of the first shot as it missed striking into her hip. But with her momentum now gone, Glemerr was an easy target for the next arrow.

Glemerr's size worked against her and apparently she wasn't aware of that. So rather than face the archer at an angle, Glemerr made the shot easier and turned fully towards the green archer and held up both hands to— I think —catch the arrow.

When the archer saw this, it pulled back and released the arrow with glee.

And as expected, Glemerr's hand caught air as the arrow carved below her upper arm. Her war cry turned to a pained scream as her faded white bandages turned red in moments.

"Glemerr!" Stostine watched as the arrowhead dislodged itself from Glemerr's arm from the leftover momentum. "Are you alrigh—"

"Myehhhehe!" Before she could reach out to Glemerr, a new face lept from the forest with a snarky grin and second notched arrow.

The three of them all glanced around, taking in the four creatures that revealed themselves. For the moment it seemed like both groups were in a stand-off with the rest of us watching from atop the hill.

"We..." I barely heard Stostine speak before she began projecting her voice. "We. Are not here. To fight," she spoke slowly. She assumed the creatures couldn't understand her.

So. It seems like five out of the seven girls are pretty into the roleplaying part of the game. The only ones who didn't seem too interested were Rainbow and maybe Fluttershy, Story surmised. He was watching as all of them rolled initiative; something that decided who went first in a fight.

While they rolled, Story pulled out his markers and draw up the battlefield. It didn't take too much effort, just two lines for the dirt road and a couple of circles for the trees and bushes. When that was done, he placed Sunset, Fluttershy, and Pinkie's figures about 6 blocks away from the cart before placing four of his six goblin minis further away. The rest of the group, not counting Rainbow and Applejack's minis, were directly beside the cart.

It looked like a military map in a way. The enemies had the three surrounded from both sides and the rest of the group, the reinforcements, were a distance from them. A pincer maneuver, Story recalled.

When the girls started throwing numbers to Story, they all quickly caught on that they weren't all going first. Some of them rolled too low for that.

Hopefully they learn to fight just as quick. Story tossed the marker aside and got ready.

Before Stostine could say another word, the creature fired its next arrow directly at her torso.

Stostine forced her eyes closed as she looked away, only able to listen as a sharp crack of wood echoed from in front of her. By the same she opened one of her eyes to look, she saw Thorn Wielder's buckler with the black-fletched arrow embedded in it.

Thorn Wielder muttered a single word but I was too far to catch it. Instead, I watched her vines begin to writhe about and loosen from her arm as a fifth goblin rushed out from the brush next. Instead of a bow, it had a buckler in one hand and a curved sword in the other. A sword that the creature was bringing up to use.

"Big one fall! Big one fall!" With a high-pitched, yet guttural voice, the green figure quickly closed the gap between it and Glemerr before swinging its blade along and through her left thigh with a cheer.

"Guuuukkk!" Glemerr was trying not to yell but that task was starting to seem fruitless. Visibly dazed from the pain, Glemerr leaned her weight on her good leg and readied herself.

"It's my turn now, right?" Rainbow's knee was bouncing as her patience to take her turn was wearing thin.

Story smiled and sat back. "The floor is yours, Rainbow." He quickly looked over the miniatures and then at Rainbow's character. "What would you like to do?"

"Okay," For the first time the whole game Rainbow leaned forward, now fully interested. "You said that dwarves were slow right?"

"Little bit." Story nodded. "They move twenty-five feet in one turn. So five blocks in any direction."

"Five blocks? That's it?" Rainbow looked a little dejected but started to count every direction she could think of.

"Well you can use your whole turn to run ten blocks but then that's it. No actions," Story explained.

"Uh...Well then..." Rainbow paused. "I can move to Pinkie Pie right?"

"You mean Glemerr," Pinkie cheered with a war cry.

"Yeah. Her. Can I?"

"Yep." As if to prove it, Story moved the dwarf mini right behind the orc. "Not close enough to hit anything yet though. Unless you would like to do somethi—"

Rainbow tapped something on her paper. "I, uh, I use. I'm gonna use the...Lay on Hands, thing, to heal her. All five points."

Story blinked. Huh. She did that on her own. With how she's been acting about the game so far I thought that she was gonna sulk about not hitting anything.

"Alright then." Story leaned forward with newfound interest. "As you rush up to your ally..."

Veiled by the noise of clanking metal armor, the Dwarf bounded down the hill with her warhammer now slung over her shoulder. For a moment, every goblin on the path looked towards the armored woman in fear but quickly went back to their fight when they realized that she wasn't going for them but towards the orc.

Ravathyra then planted her warhammer into the ground beside her with a heavy thud and slammed her gauntlet-encased hand squarely upon the orc's back. She seemed focused despite not looking at anything but the orc's wound.

"Oi, you alrigh'?" Glemerr glanced back for a moment, the sudden weight paining her thigh again. "I can' let ya lean on me foreva!"

"Uh, yeah..." Rainbow half-hearted played along. "I, um..."

"I heal you!" The Dwarf announced.

Despite the sudden 'prayer,' Ravatyhra's gauntlet was cast with this bright golden aura that began to pulse into Glemerr's body and across her wounds. In seconds, Glemerr readjusted her stance so that it was balanced as the entire wound on her thigh sealed up. At the same time, the wound on her arm stopped bleeding.

"...Huh," Stostine huh'ed. "I suppose that's one way of calling the Divine."

The Dwarf shrugged as Stostine took a moment to assess the situation around her. Now that Ravathyra had joined them, Stostine assumed she was safe from the goblins targeting her and studied the chaos around her.

When she saw one of the archers duck behind the wagon, Stostine shouted loud enough so that even the people back at the cart could hear her.

"We're dealing with a band of five goblins," she started. "Four of them have bows, and another has a sword."

But she was off. As I notched an arrow I saw another goblin creeping out from the right where Stostine wasn't paying attention. This one, rather than run up screaming, quietly dashed for Stostine; ready to chop into her hip.

"That fool—" Platick went into a full sprint down the hill, drawing a dagger from his boot in one smooth action.

I brought up my bow but it was no good. The goblin was too small a shot and if I missed I would have killed Stostine before it had the chance.

Without much choice, I put Stostine's life in Platick's hands and watched as he kept running. But he was too far. At his pace, Platick would only be getting a seat in the splash zone. Thankfully, unlike Glemerr, Platick was aware of that.

Thinking quickly, Platick put his fingers up to his mouth and quickly let out the loudest, and dumbest, catcall possible. In that instant, Stostine turned back to glare daggers that seemed sharper than Platick's but her instincts made her pause.

With all reflexes, Stostine jumped back just as the goblin's scimitar cut air and struck the ground where she had been standing.

The goblin pulled the sword back to lunge again only to stop moving. From Stostine's perspective, she watched as the tip of a dagger stuck out of the same Adam's apple the goblin had been screaming with.

The goblin dropped his sword and tried to reach for his nape where a dagger's hilt rest. By the time its hands wrapped around the weapon, its eyes rolled back as it finally choked on its own blood and bile.

Behind him, halfway down the hill, Stostine spotted Platick standing there, dagger no longer in his hand.

"He. Why'd you—?! I. When did—" Stostine glanced down at the goblin that was no longer moving while she tried to stop hyperventilating. "...Thank. You."

As Platick made it to the bottom of the hill, I brought my attention to the rest of the fight. The other sword goblin was mixed in with the group so he wasn't a clear shot. Which left me dueling the archers.

I needed a full view of both sides without leaving myself exposed without cover. Lacking many options, I went up to the cart wheel and planted my foot on the spoke. With one hand still clutching my bow, I brought the other hand to the barrier and launched myself up and onto the back of the cart.

From there, I made my way across whatever barrels and crates that I could make out through the tarp.

"Woah—hey!"

I stomped over Ricven who barely had enough time to roll out of my way. Even now he was sitting back as the chaos went on.

When I reached the closest crate to the front, Ricven wore this dumb smirk on his face. "Why hellooo Vareén," he welcomed.

"Ugh." With an eye roll, I raised my bow and aimed it towards one of the goblins.

"Everybody duck," I shouted. And all at once, six sets of eyes, one of them belonging to the other sword-wielding goblin, turned just in time to see me let loose an arrow downrange.

Platick and Stostine both dove in different directions as the arrow whizzed past. Then, as the goblin from the right side reached for its next arrow, it glanced up just in time to watch my shot pin it to a tree by the lung. Whatever strength it had it spent trying to tear away the arrow only for it to expire quicker.

"Two down," I announced.

I began to study the tree lines, watching as the other archers ducked back into their hiding spots when they saw what I did to their friend. All except for one. The goblin that landed a hit on Glemerr earlier felt braver than the others and stepped further from its tree to fire a sloppy arrow towards in my direction.

Rather than lose my perch on the cart, I allowed myself to lean to my side and let the arrow fly sail past me, missing my waist by a mile.

"BWAH!" The gnome, however, let out a girlish scream when the arrow pierced through the barrel he was leaning on, missing his hand.

"Don't shake the cart," I commanded before pulling a new arrow from my quiver.

As I watched for my next shot, Thorn Wielder lowered her shield to look around. With the goblin who shot at her now dispatched she needed a new target. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long.

Directly ahead of Thorn Wielder was the goblin who broke its bow. Apparently when it ducked behind the broken wagon it spent time tying its bowstring back together. The string probably wouldn't last a second shot but that did not seem to dawn on the goblin. Instead, jumped from its hiding spot cheering as it waved a newly strung bow in one hand while a black-feathered arrow was gripped in the other.

"You," Thorn Wielder called.

The goblin froze in mid-celebration, locking eyes with the scythe-carrying woman before its toothy grin vanished.

Thorn Wielder pointed to the arrow he was waving around. Then to him. "You. Equine Killer," she named with no emotion.

Whether anyone noticed or not, a deep chill went down Sunset's spine.

The goblin said nothing. Instead, it hid the arrow behind his back and proceeded to look around it. When it saw no other goblins around it, it turned back to Thorn Wielder and 'confusedly' pointed at itself.

"Meeee?" it asked with a voice that sounded like a chain-smoking child.

Thorn Wielder gave no response. Instead, the thorned vines around her arm thrased about in fury.

The goblin saw this and tried backing away but as though the vines could sense the goblin's intent, they lunged forward like a cobra.

The goblin dove back behind cover and cried as the vine struck into a stray plank of the broken wagon. With the plank reduced to mulch, the goblin's terrified face was once again visible.

"Thorn Wielder, please calm down," Stostine insisted. "Getting angry at a group of goblins will only hinder our ability to—" "YAAAHHHH!" "Think clearly..." Stostine's face faded into her hand as Glemerr continued her war cry.

And Glemerr's war cry didn't go without action. The goblin beneath her gaze froze in fear from the orc and with a clatter, its scimitar hit the ground beside its foot.

Grinning at the sight, Glemerr brought up a fist to smash the goblin into the ground like a nail, making it flinch in terror.

But as the moments past, the goblin dared to glance up only to see Glemerr groaning in pain. Only now had she realized that her 'smashing arm' was the same arm that was shot earlier.

"You said that was healed," Rainbow argued.

"I said it stopped bleeding," Story countered. "There's a difference. Besides, Pinkie rolled a natural one. A nat one is a nat one."

"New...New plan," the orc muttered miserably before deciding to try curb stomping the goblin into the dirt. Though with the slower movements from Glemerr, the goblin rose up its shield and somehow managed to hold up her boot.

Stostine watched the struggle through her fingers before pulling her hands away from her face. "Okay then," Stostine said in a shaky tone. "If this is how we're going to do this..." Stostine turned her left hand towards the goblin.

It was hard to tell what was going on, especially from the top of the hill, but after a couple of seconds Stostine's hand collected faint embers. Then, as she made a couple of sweeping motions, the embers flared into a small torrent of flame that collected around her sleeve harmlessly.

Stostine stopped all movement as she leered at the goblin, holding her flaming hand up to its face at point blank.

"Roast."

The goblin tried to jump for its scimitar but it was too late. By the time it reached the hilt of the blade the goblin's entire arm was ensnared in flame. Its cries drew the attention of the other goblins as it flung its arm around in an attempt to douse the fire.

Glemerr chuckled as she grinned down at the creature. "A tad overcooked. You should be tossed out, little gobbo." Glemerr went to nod at Stostine only to see another archer aiming for Stostine's head and fired.

"Watch out!"

Stostine made a dismissive wave over her shoulder and listened as the arrow suddenly glanced off a spectral dome around her before careening into the woods. The dome remained, entirely unfazed.

"I. I think I'll be fine," Stostine assured, her voice still a little too loud to be considered casual. "Make sure no one else gets hurt."

By this point, Ricven finally decided to crawl up to the front of the cart, past me and onto the bench. He then sat back comfortably with his head leaning back where he could look up at me.

"Well, I hafta say," he started. "This band a' ours is gettin' much better by the moment now ain't it Lady Vareén?"

My expression turned dark as I nocked the next arrow. "It'd be better if you helped."

"Aheheh. Is that right?" Ricven asked. "Well then allow me."

Leaning forward, Ricven took a moment to spot one of the goblins. When he found his quarry, Ricven cleared his throat softly. As though in response, the goblin hiding behind the smashed wagon, nearly fifty feet away from us and opposite of the battlefield, perked up to look at him.

I readied myself to take the shot but Ricven gripped the bottom of my longbow, stopping me. "What are you..."

Ricven stood up and took in a breath, a collection of light blue aura building around his mouth as he then began to shout.

"You there!" Ricven's voice had me lean back with how unnaturally loud it became. "Ya little cross-eyed, puss colored, rat-rubbin', hit-yerself-wit'-a-bow, coward, forest stain of a fool!" Ricven ignored my, Platick, and the other goblin's odd looks and went on. "How's 'bout you crawl yaself back ta whatever muck ya grew out of an' shove them dark arrows up yer own target!"

...Own target...

Own target.

Own. Target.

The last two words gave off this unsettling echo that sounded as though the sound was slithering forward. When it seemed as though the echo physically struck the goblin, that's when it got stranger.

The goblin behind the wagon slowly lulled about. Its body went lax as his bow hit the dirt and his jaw hung low. His pupils then shrunk until even the two of us could see the whites of his eyes.

The sight was short lived, however, as the goblin collapsed behind the wagon where I couldn't see him. The only thing I could see was the unnatural twitching of its already dead body. It was not getting up again.

"Ah..." With a relaxed sigh Ricven let go of my bow and sat himself back down on the bench. "There we are."

Ricven folded his arms back behind his head and glanced up at me again. "It's as the sayin' goes; ask an' ya shall get the thing ya asked for before ya gotta ask fer it again."

...What? My mind buzzed around his saying for a moment before I cleared my head. "What did you just do?"

"Oh, that?" He asked innocently. "Jus' a bit a' magic a' my own. It's not as, ahehe, fiery as Miss Stostine's magic but it is quite mind-bogglin' if I do say so. Though it does call for a tad inch a foul wordplay."

Wordplay? Mind-boggling? I thought his magic was illusion-based. In the past few days all Ricven did for magic was make instrument sounds. I thought that magic users focused on one kind of magic, like illusion for example. Did Ricven know multiple kinds of magic or was it all illusion?

"Just what kind of magic is that?" I stared at him.

"Ya curious ta know?" His relaxed smile grew wider. "I could teach ya if ya wanted."

That's where I ended my questioning. Rather than spin into Ricven's word game, I turned back to the fight where it seemed the goblin Stostine lit on fire had managed to get its sword back. Not only that, but it stepped away from Glemerr and now stood against Thorn Wielder, who was bleeding from her leg.

"Stupid algae covered—grrrrrrrah! I can't do that again!" As the stand off continued, Ravathyra ran by Glemerr with her warhammer dragging behind her by a single hand. When she reached the goblin, Ravathyra grabbed the hammer fully, rose it to the sky and proceeded to — watch as it flew away.

Ravathyra stood there, confused as the warhammer left her grip and sailed several feet away from her. The hammer reached such a height that it spun mid-air three times before stricking the dirt road with a weak thud. It then laid there. Entirely useless.

"What was that?!" Rainbow demanded, furious. "Sunset's rolled like four of those ones, how's come nothing dumb happened to her?!" Despite her anger the rest of the girls were snickering to themselves about the misfortune.

"Oh trust me," Story said through the giggles. "The next time anyone else rolls a one in a fight, you'll be laughing just like everyone else."

Rainbow didn't bother arguing. Instead, she folded her arms and leaned back. While Rainbow would never admit it, Story was right.

The first time I get to do something fun and the dumb dice mess with me, Rainbow thought. Gee. Thanks magic!

As the Dwarf glared at the goblin's laughter, someone else's voice caught her attention. "Why are you laughing?!"

Platick turned his head to the side, saying something just audible enough for Ravathyra to hear while wiping a tear from his eye with his wrist. When the moment was spent, Platick jumped into the fight again.

As he arrived to the group Platick made a forward leap, landing on the goblin he killed as he plucked the dagger out of its nape. Then, without losing any speed, Platick spring boarded off the goblin corpse and ran towards a new target.

Platick gave another sharp whistle and got his next goblin's attention; this goblin being the one laughing at Ravathyra. The goblin, still laughing, turned around just in time to see Platick bury the dagger into the roof of its mouth and tear it out through the nose and between the front teeth. Platick then stepped to the side to avoid the goblin bleeding all over him.

Platick ignored Ravathyra's glare and turned the dagger in his hand for a reverse grip. He and the others had now gathered in a circle in the middle of the road facing out to the remaining two goblins; one on each side. Both had bows and several arrows each but I could see the glint of swords at their hips from my perch. That didn't mean that they were ready to use them, however. Neither seemed willing to charge the group. Apparently they realized that being in the open was suicide.

As the two sides had a stare down I was deciding what to shoot next. Both goblins were taking cover behind trees and both still had bows in their hands. I couldn't tell which one would act first. So, without any other idea, I fired an arrow to the goblin on the right and watched as tree bark splintered past it.

Missed, I chided to myself. My plan wasn't to kill it with that arrow, it was too well covered for that. So I settled for giving cover fire. Still, it would've helped if I struck it at all.

My target brought its head out from behind the tree and shouted something across the path. As it did, the goblin I failed to shoot at stepped out from its cover, ready to fire.

Shit, shit, shit! I tried reaching for my next arrow but just fumbled over my own fingers. I was impatient.

When I finally got an arrow, the goblin let out its own warcry as it fired.

“WAH!”

“WOAH!”

“TKKK!”

The entire group ducked out of the way as best they could from the arrow before finally it crashed into Stostine's magical shield. Thankfully, it deflected off of the shield with the shaft of the arrow splintering from the force and coating everyone in shrapnel.

One by one, all of them turned to watch the goblin who was now visibly worried. It was forced to watch as each member of the group below brandished their own method of punishment that ranged from daggers to warhammer, from fists to magical flames. But, the most eye-catching of them all was the elven woman who stepped forward.

The blood from Thron Wielder's wound traveled down her calf and collected around her foot, leaving bloody footprints in the dirt. Despite this, Thorn Wielder stood firm as her vines compressed against her arm like a tight spring.

"Come....Here."

With what seemed like a quiet shout, Thorn Wielder made a punching-motion and the vines launched forward in a spiral that rocketed through the woods.

The goblin abandoned its bow and ran back to the tree to hide from the flying vines, but it was pointless. The vine proceeded to glide around the bark without harm and tightened itself around the goblin's throat.

It scratched and clawed to tear away the vines but it meant nothing as Thorn Wielder wrapped the base of her vines around her hand and yanked, the vines retracting as quickly as they shot forth.

The goblin was pulled along for the ride like a ragdoll, dragged away from its cover and brought before the still bleeding foot of its predator. And now that it was pulled into the open, the vines forced themselves taut so that the goblin was forced to look up.

With their job done, the vines unfurled from around the goblin's neck and began to wrap themselves back around Thorn Wielder's arm like a silent snake.

Thorn Wielder began to draw her scythe, only stoping when Glemerr gave a thumb's up.

"Hey, thanks fer bringin' 'em out!" Thorn Wielder tilted her head in confusion and watched as Glemerr cracked her knuckles. "'Ere. Let old Glemerr deal wit' 'em."

Thorn Wielder watched as the orc stepped up. "...I. Older," she pointed out. But it fell on deaf ears.

Instead, Glemerr reached down and grabbed the goblin by the back of the head before repeatedly bashing its head repeatedly into the ground until it resembled an ostrich. At best, its skull was fractured but alive.

"Well, uncanny but, good job girls." The spectral shield around Stostine faded as she overlooked the duo's work. "Now I believe that only leaves..."

Stostine turned around and spotted the last goblin backing away. For a moment, the two locked eyes and the goblin was too scared to turn away, terrified of the embers that still floated from Stostine's hand. But, with courage fully replaced by fear, the goblin turned and made a break for it.

"Capture him!" Stostine shouted.

As though to lead by example, Stostine brought up her hand and fired another blast of flame at the goblin. By luck or cowardice, the goblin ducked low enough and avoided the fatal blast as only its hair ignited.

It kept running.

"Welp," Ricven scooped up the reins for the oxen. "I neva was one ta keep a lady waitin'. So come on boys! Mush!" Ricven gave a dramatic crack of the reins to have the oxen leap into action.

It was a shame that the oxen refused to move.

In the midst of the fight, the oxen watched as arrows, vines, and fire were thrown in every direction as the smell of old blood was mixing in with the new. With all of that taken into account, no amount of whipping would have convinced them to run into the fight.

"Ugh," Ricven scoffed. He tossed the reins away from him. "Utterly hopeless."

Ricven stood back up from the bench and spotted the fleeing goblin. As he cleared his throat, Ricven extended a finger. Similar to last time, the goblin slowed down and turned to look at Ricven as though it somehow heard him through all the shouting and fear.

"Excuse me, sir," Ricven began, speaking in a regular volume instead of shouting. "We mean ya no harm! We simply wanted ta cross the road, is all. Except now there's a wagon that brought us to a halt. Could ya kindly..." The words seemed to echo with a sense of...Importance? "Stay a spell and help us understand everythang?"

The group ahead of us paused to see what was making the goblin stop and his expression lull. Then, much to the group's further confusion, the goblin soon began to grow a small grin as a cyan colored aura hovered around his mind, seemingly containing his attention.

But as he began to turn fully towards Ricven, he blinked. Then blinked again.

By the third blink, his smile turned to a vicious scowl, screaming one word after another at the gnome in a raspy language.

"Welp. I'm outta ideas." Ricven fell back in his seat, frustrated. "Sorry ladies, that's all I had. Guess he had a few brain cells somewhere in that thick skull."

"I'll get it then!"

Forcing her way through the group, Ravathyra ducked her head forward and went into a full tackle at the goblin. The goblin turned to flee once more but as it took its second step, Ravathyra's shoulder collided with its back.

With all the strength and speed behind her, the Dwarf smashed the goblin into a tree with an echoing crack. Then Ravathyra stepped back, grabbing the goblin by the scalp and peeling it from loosened tree bark before spiking it into the ground like a football.

Groggily, the goblin lifted its head only to see Ravathyra standing over it with her warhammer aimed at its face.

"Alright," Ravathyra breathed. "Keeps your hands where I can see 'em!" The goblin stared down the hammer and tried backing away only for Ravathyra to put the head of her hammer against its forehead. "I said hands up! Otherwise, your head serves as a golfball!"

The girls and Story were laughing along with Rainbow Dash's act, pleased that she was finally getting into this.

However Story, through his smile, seemed happily confused. "Rainbow? Why are holding a hammer like a gun?"

Rainbow Dash paused her 'police work' and looked up from the map where there was now only one goblin left. "Uh...I-I mean. How am I supposed to scare him with a ham...I mean...Wait—"

When she realized that she was still holding a pretend warhammer like a pretend shotgun in this pretend game Rainbow quickly crossed her arms and sat back down. She then buried her chin under her crossed arms as though trying to recover some lost dignity.

A few of the others giggled in good fun, enjoying the charade, but they gladly let her be.

When the goblin didn't respond, Ravathyra roughly set the warhammer atop the goblin's head and kept a watch of it.

"Here. Give me a moment." Platick walked up and rested his boot on the goblin's back, pinning it to the ground on the off chance it would try something. "It's already surrendered. Besides, it might turn up useful if we keep it awake." Despite the relaxed demeanor, Platick took out some rope to tie the goblin up.

"Keep it awake? I don't even know what these things are," Rainbow said with a look, no longer acting along. "What do we do with it?"

"...Question..." Thorn Wielder leaned her weight on her good leg as she gripped her still clean scythe. "They...Infest forest."

“Infest?” Platick pulled on the rope again, causing the goblin to grip. “I know that they’re the same color as germs but I doubt they’re infesting much of anything.”

"Our merc friend has a point." Ignoring Platick's death glare, Ricven finally got the oxen calm enough to bring bring him and me closer to the group. "A lot a' these pests are civil enough for them ta live in the cities."

"I mean, does that really change anything?" Rainbow shrugged. "It's kind of like a video game. There's a bad guy, you fight 'em. The end."

"...She's got a point," Platick admitted reluctantly. "They were still bandits, plus they killed whoever owned the cart and horses. That's probably proof enough that they're not the same goblins you'd see in cities."

By this point I stepped off of the wagon and made my way to the goblin corpses. From what I could tell, none of them had been giving signals or commands to one another. In terms of 'rank' the two that charged out with swords seemed to have nicer scraps of armor than the archers but aside from that there was no sign of who could be a leader.

While the others talked I spent the next minute doing a quick inventory of the four dead goblins. It didn't take long before I held up a handful of small pouches.

"Anyone care for coin?" I offered.

There was a collection of no's and head shakes before I pocketed the coin and headed to the broken wagon where Thorn Wielder had been. She didn't bother with talking with the group either and instead seemed to be studying the horses. When I approached her, Thorn Wielder didn't even acknoledge me.

"I knew them," She revealed. She spoke in Elven and her tone, while still awkward, felt more regular than when she spoke Common.

Thorn Wielder knelt down next to one of them just as Stostine and Platick came over. "Horses travel with Gundren. Infestation kill them." Thorn Wielder began to remove the black-feathered arrows from the horses, careful not to disturb their bodies anymore then she already had to.

"Gundren and Sildar?" I glanced at the wreckage. "This was their wagon?"

Thorn Wielder nodded.

"Wait. How is this his wagon?" Platick asked. "He left the day before we did. I'm no vet but I'm pretty sure that the horses have been dead a little more than one day."

"Horses are faster than oxen," Stostine pointed out. "And by the look of it, the wagon was lighter packed than ours.They probably gained a day's distance from us."

"Hold up," Ricven shouted from atop the wagon. "Did you just say their load was smaller? Now, I seem ta recall Gundren tellin' us that we were splittin' the supplies fi'ty-fi'ty. He lie ta us?"

"Not the issue," I called back to him. "What is the issue is that they're not here."

"Then where are they?" Glemerr asked, looking around.

From behind the group, a high-pitched, nasally laugh had everyone looking over at the side of the road. "Dwarf n' Man! Dwarf n' Man captured—hehehaaaah! They captured with food n' paper-thing! hehehehehe..." On the ground the goblin that Platick tied up had turned on his side and was laughing for joy.

"Paper thing?" I thought over everything that Sildar had told me. Before I ever met Gundren, before the tavern back in Dreiweg, Sildar told me what he knew of the job. And a lot of it had to do with Gundren finding something.

The paper thing, I repeated to myself. If that goblin knew about the 'paper thing' then they had to have found it inside the...

I looked over the remains of the cart and the ransacked items before my eyes landed on something half-crushed under the cart. It was a thin, cylindrical case, meant for holding maps.

Rather than hold up the case and give what I knew away, I decided to play dumb. "What do you mean by paper thing?"

"Paper thing is paper thing! Me not care what it is," it shouted, sounding almost offended. "Unog and Rofla brought it to Klarg! They lucky! They get pick of wolves we snag from the fores—GAAAAHH!” Thorn Wielder's scythe embedded itself so close to the goblin's face that the blood from its cheek traced along the edge.

Sunset’s POV
Tuesday 4:18 PM
Classroom

"Wolves." Fluttershy spoke in a calm and serious tone. "Where?"

"Nor—North!" Story answered in this extremely high-pitched, nasally voice that was like a helium-induced Joker. It took me a second to remember that this was the same person that not an hour ago had a convincing deep Scottish accent.

"The wolves are northwest! There— And while struggling through the tight ropes," Story explained, changing his voice on a dime. "You watch as the goblin points towards a small collection of brush off the road that he was trying to run to before you caught him."

Twilight perked up, looking at the part of the map that the goblin would be referring to. "Do we see anything over there?"

"If you'd like to go over there and look, roll me a perception check."

Twilight took the chance and like with half the rolls from most of the girls, the die revealed a faint glow while the aura beside it formed into a '+2.' "Eight total," Twilight said, dejected.

"Here," Applejack picked up her die next. "Let me give it a shot." She quickly let the dice tap across the table before landing on the mat. However, unlike Twilight's dice which at least had some glow, AJ's lacked even that.

"That'd, uh," Applejack let her hat fall over her eyes. "That'd be a one on tha die." Story and the rest of us started chuckled along.

"Wow," Story said, breathing through his teeth. "How did you both fail that?"

Neither of them bothered to answer. Instead, they both looked at one another in sad acceptance.

"As you both come up to the brush you take a few moments to start clearing the area only to realize that the bushes and branches were simply placed over a dirt path. But, Vareén, when you start searching for tracks that can show you what you're looking for, something. Keeps. pulling you back," Story explained, acting as though something were pulling him by the collar. "Again. And then again. And again."

"B-By what," Twilight asked, confused. "What keeps pulling me?"

"A bush," Story said while turning to Applejack. "The same bush that's now caught on Platick's sleeve as he's thrashing around to shake it off of him." Story then started to shake his arm around just enough to where he wasn't actually hitting any of his things. "However, as he's shaking it around, there's a root that got caught on Vareén's hood."

Twilight bit her lip. "Vareén's going to stop looking for tracks and immediately ensure her hood stays over her face."

"...Eeyup," Applejack hummed with no emotion. While AJ reached for her dice and pulled it back to her, Rainbow watched with a half-cocked grin.

"So," Rainbow started. "Ya find anything yet?"

"I'll help her with the bush," Fluttershy inched forward and pushed her miniature towards Applejack's.

"Alright. As Thorn Wielder reaches for it, the bush harmlessly pulls off of Platick's arm as though it was never stuck to him to begin with."

AJ muttered a thanks under her breath as Story continued. "When there's no more getting smacked by foliage the two of you are able to spot some tracks that head to and from the forest trail. But since there's so many of them going back and forth you're only able to learn that they're probably goblin tracks. As all this is going on, however, the goblin that you hog-tied has been watching the entire time and this snarky grin has started to spread across his face."

As though to emphasize the point, Story held his arms behind his back and let out a high-pitched Joker-like laugh. "Cart people never make it to cave! You just be shot by more black arrows!"

As Story began to laugh even more, Rainbow leaned back. "Okay, can we shut this thing up or something?"

"Heeeehahahaha—Yep." Story abruptly cut his laughing short and tossed the lone goblin mini off of the map. "Like playing a game of miniature golf, you square up your hammer with his head and," Story clicked his tongue. "He's out cold."

"We should tie him on to something," I suggested, speaking in the calm, even tone that was Stostine's. "After all, they wouldn't be too helpful if free."

"This 'un too," Pinkie spoke in her gruff, British accent as she pretended to lift a goblin. "I only knocked tha bugga out."

"Way ahead of you," AJ talked as if she were hiding her usual dialect with a slightly deeper voice. "Do I got enough rope ta tie 'em both to a tree err somethin'?"

"Oh yeah, you got plenty." Story nodded. "I'd say it takes you about five minutes to hog tie the second one and then string both goblins along the base of a nearby tr..."

Story was cut off by his phone buzzing along the table like a beetle. After the third buzz he picked it up with an embarrassed grin.

"Sorry girls," He apologized as he quickly made his way toward the door. "I'll be right back. Call it a five minute break?"

As he opened the door, Story finally answered his phone. "Hey! Everything alright?" And as quickly as it opened, Story shut the door behind him rather than let it close.

"Holey Moley, this is so much fun," Pinkie cheered. She then jumped out of her seat and started to slink towards Story's side of the table. "And look at all the cool stuff Story has back here!"

"Pinkie, don' be touchin' anything," Applejack warned. "We still don' know what the magic might be doin'."

Pinkie ignored the warnings and started sifted through a few papers for something interesting. But as she finally chose a paper and actually started to read something, she gasped and covered her eyes. All as she jutted out her bottom teeth like Glemerr would.

"Oh no," Pinkie cried in a gruff British tone. "Glemerr can' know what's gunna 'appen!"

As she backed away from the Story's stuff, Pinkie's leg caught a chair leg and was sent crashing onto the ground with a heavy thud.

"Pinkie Pie!"

I and Rarity both ran over to check on Pinkie, only to find her clutching her stomach and giggling to herself like a madmare. "Pinkie," I said in a sigh. "You need to watch where you're going." As I scolded her, Rarity allowed herself to step back.

Through the giggles, Pinkie looked up at us. "I'm sorry, Sunset. It's just—" With little effort, Pinkie jumped up off the ground and onto her feet while one hand wiped a tear from her eye. "I can't believe that I've never heard of this game before! Usually I'm the first to know about fun games like this!"

"I guess it's okay," Rainbow admitted with a shrug. "It's only interesting because our magic made it cooler."

"Oh please, Rainbow Dash," Rarity started with a sly grin. "Don't think we didn't notice you getting invested in the fight."

Rainbow straightened up. "That because it was just the most not boring part, is all."

"Uh-huh," Applejack hummed. "Never mind the fact that ya stood up when you were holdin' the goblin at 'hammerpoint'," she added with air quotes.

Rainbow said nothing in return. She simply crossed her arms and looked away.

"Sunset," Twilight called out. "Were you able to figure out what's causing all of this?"

"Not entirely," I admitted. "Although I think I figured out a few things." When the girls motioned me to go on I took in a breath.

"From what we know right now, Story either can't see the magic at all or he's not reacting to it as he should. So, assuming that the first option's true, that means that our situation is different from his. Possibly it's because it was our magic that fed into the game so only we can see what's going on."

"Didn't Ms. Cheerilee see it?" Applejack reminded me.

I leaned my head side to side in a so-so manner. "She saw our magic going into the game but she hasn't seen the dice glowing or numbers appearing; there's no way to know for sure. In other words, anyone might see our raw magic; case in point, everyone seeing our magic at the Friendship Games or when we play our instruments.

"But here's the difference between the instruments and the dice." To make a point I held up the die I had rolled against Applejack with earlier; the one that was no longer colored to resemble me. "Applejack, when you and I were trying to use the dice to see if the other was hiding something, your dice was glowing, wasn't it?"

"Well, yeah?" She nodded. She seemed confused. "Wasn't that already obvious?"

Rather than answer, I instead turned to Twilight. "Twilight, you looked confused when Applejack rolled it, right? How's come?"

"Well, I didn't see it glowing at the time." Twilight's response was met with a chorus of nods and agreements from the rest of the girls.

"And there's the biggest difference," I explained. "With our instruments, it used to be hard to keep the magic in check. Not only that but it would be seen by anyone. Now, the dice haven't done anything wild— yet —but they can apparently be seen only by select people at a given moment. Even between us. Whatever this magic is, it's not under our control. And aside from showing numbers on the table, I have no idea what else it might be able to do. It's like it has a mind of its own."

Not to mention there was the dark magic that was practically flooding from Story. I was still worried about that. Those green tendrils were undoubtedly dark magic; just like what happened to me and Twilight. Only now the victim seems entirely unaware about it.

"Ah, come on." Rainbow wasn't convinced. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"How about making zombies out of the student body?" I frowned.

"Or a band a' sirens that sap the joy an' love outta everyone," AJ added.

"There's becoming a demon that can open fissures into other dimensions for no discernable reason," Twilight argued.

"Saying 'what's the worst that can happen'," Pinkie concluded.

"Okay, fine, bad question!" Rainbow scowled towards no one in particular, more than likely scolding herself. "I meant, for right now, what's the worst..." She locked eyes with Pinkie for a second as Pinkie almost seemed to challenge her to say it again.

"...All that's happened," Rainbow said slowly, changing her sentence. When she earned a nod from Pinkie, Rainbow Dash continued. "Is that words appeared for a couple seconds and then poofed away. That's even what Sunset said; numbers showing up on the table. If that's all that it's doing right now then, what, do you think that the game's gonna become real or something?"

"It might," AJ planted her hands on the table. "It don't really matter how many a' these incidents come up, assumin' somethin' ain't a good idea. What if the game is a real place now?"

"Let's not go that far, Applejack." Applejack looked to me. "Rainbow Dash does have a point. No magic has ever been able to create reality. Life, maybe," I argued. "But not reality."

"Wait. Create life?" Applejack repeated. "How's that even possible?"

"I..." I sighed. "Different story. The point is, we shouldn't worry about making another reality out of our magic. At the end of the day, we're still seven girls."

"Well. Perhaps there's still something to watch out for," Rarity countered. After we checked on Pinkie, Rarity had made her way behind Story's screen that kept us from seeing any of his things. And right now she was in his chair, reading over one of the papers Story had with left out. "Sunset, you may want to see this."

"Rarity!" Pinkie called out. "You can't just cheat and read the notes. That's no fun!"

"Well, that's just it, darling. I cannot read them." She read over another paper. "I don't think this is even writing."

Curious, I walked over to Rarity and she quickly handed me the first paper she was trying to read. And by one glance I immediately realized 'reading' this was going to be impossible. Not only did it look to be in another language but the characters also moved and shifted nonstop.

Klarg and the Goblins

Klarg: ⏚̢̡⎍̨͜☌̶̵̷͟⏚̶͡҉̷͟⟒̷̵̢̢̛⏃̛⍀̨̡̢, leader of the goblins. ⊑⟒̛͝ ͜⌇̢͞⟒͘͡⟒̴☍͝҉̶⌇̸ ⏁͢͡⍜ ⏚̨͞⟒̷̶͡☊͘⍜́͏͘⋔́͡⟒̢ ̀⏃ ̀͘⍙̕⏃͝͡⍀̸̧͞⌰͠⍜͢͢҉⍀͟⎅ ́⍜͘͜⎐̶́͝⟒͝⍀̷҉ ⊑͞⟟͏̨̕⌇ ̸⍜̷⍙̸̶͠⋏̡ ̵̕⏃̸⍀̕⋔̧̡͠⊬̨͏ ̛͘⏃͘͠͝⋏̧⎅͘ ̸́⏃͡͞⌇̴͠ ⌇⎍̛͠☊́͡͡⊑ ⌇̶⟒̴͞⟒̕⌇ ̷̵̷⊑̢͟⟟⋔͝͏⌇͝⟒⌰⎎ ⍙̨⟟҉̧⏁̧̛⊑͟ ̧⌰̨̕͢⏃̵̕⍀͢͠☌́̕⟒͟ ̶́͢⟟͏́͟⋔̸͠⌿̵͟⍜̧⍀҉̸͘⏁͜⏃͜͠͝⋏҉̴☊͏͢⟒̷̴.̵͠ ⊑⟒̶ ͏̵⍀̶͢⟒̷̀⎎̶͢⟒⍀̢͢⌇͜͜ ⏁̛⍜̛ ̴⊑̴⟟̕⋔⌇̢͠⟒͠⌰҉̢̛⎎́̀ ̸͢͟⍜̨⋏͟⌰̶̕͟⊬̀͢͡ ̵͠҉⟟̧̡⋏ ⏁̀⊑̛⟒̶́ ̶⏁̧̕⊑̀⟟̶⍀⎅͘ ̨̡̀⌿͟͠͝⟒̢͢⍀̴́⌇̧⍜́⋏́͏͜ ̛͘͠⏃⋏̕͞⎅̸́ ͏⍙⟟̸͟⌰⌰ ̴̢☌̸̢⌰̨⏃⎅͏̸͢⌰̡͢⊬҉͘ ̴‘̧☊⍜̕͡⋔⋔̴⏃̧͢⋏̛̀͡⎅’̴ ҉̵⏁̶̴͠⊑͏̵⟒҉ ͡͞☌͏҉⍜͏͞⏚͟͝⌰⟟̀⋏̀̕⌇͝͠͡ ̵̡⏁̷́⍜̢́͘ ̛͜⏃̴̷̡☊͘⏁̨̨ ⎍̵͡⋏⎅҉⟒̴⍀̛ ̶͝͝⊑̕⟟̸⋔͏̡.̷̛̀

"What the..." I didn't bother trying to study the rest of the page. It was just more of an alien language. Even when I tried reading the back of the page or look over the other notes on the table it was all the same. Shifting characters.

"There were only a few words I was able to read on it. Same with a few of these," Rarity admitted. As she spoke, Rarity was trying to find a paper that she could read without moving too many papers. "...Oh. I think this is as close as we'll get."

As Rarity held up another page I took it in my other hand and tried looking it over. And, as though the paper had to consider it, I watched as most of the words began to clear up into something readable.

Player Characters

Fluttershy: "Thorn Wielder" Wood Elf. very anti-social, does not speak well, ⍙̴͎̅⟟̸̹̓⌰̷̢͊⌰̵͎̆ ̸̻̐⏃̸̙́⎐̴͔̐⍜̷̲͐⟟̸̪͝⎅̵̦͛ ̸̃͜⊑̷̛̳⏃̷̡̓⍀̷̜̒⋔̷͔̇⟟̶͉̊⋏̶̝̇☌̴͕͌ ̴̠̑⏃̸̗͆⋏̶͉̈́⟟̶̩͗⋔̷̳̊⏃̶͉͛⌰̶̙̚⌇̵̜̽, mismatched clothing. (Full Backstory)

Pinkie Pie: "Glemerr" Half-Orc. ⍙̴̟͐⟟̶̘͍̊͒⌰̵̧͚̓̍⌰̵̡̓ ̸̳̍̈́⏃̸͔̎͘⎐̴̛͙⍜̷̦͛̊⟟̶̧͒͝⎅̸̢̭̾ ̶̰͐⋢̣͕̃⏃̷̯͠⍀̶͖̈͆⋔̸̺͌͋⟟̴͎͐͠⋏̷̨̦͐☌̴̘͒́ ̵̢̙͌⏃̸̩͖̓͗⋏̴̦̕⟟̸̺͓̓̓⋔̷͙͐͜⏃̶̭̖͘⌰̶̗̰̂̊⌇̴̩̿, friendly to most, very intimidating build, somewhat tattered clothes. (⏁̶̭̜͆⏚̶̰̻̌̚⎅̶̨̛́)

Rarity: "Ricven Lioncatch" Forest Gnome. Charismatic, ⎅̵̳̿⍀̷̘̄⟟̷͙̀⎐̵̢͍́⟒̵̱̖͌⋏̶̣͈͆͛ ̷͍̉⏚̸͓̐̈⊬̸̼͍͒ ̶̠̇̂⍙̵̭̚͝⏃̴̖́̚⋏̸̫̒⎅̴̤͕̏⟒̵̡̨̑⍀̵̣͝⌰̸̥̳͊͝⎍̵̛̣̝͗⌇̷͕̖͌͝⏁̶̦̾̅͜, constantly retunes violin, nicely made vest. (☊̶̛⍜́͝⋏҉̀☊͜⟒͢⌿̷̕͞⏁͝)

Applejack: "Platick Fortuna" Human. ⟟̴̮͕̅⋏̴͌͜⍾̷̛̬͘⎍̸̼̻͛⟟̶̥͔̽͠⌇̴̱̚⟟̶̲͈̓⏁̸͕̓͂⟟̴̡̈́͠⎐̷͉̄̒⟒̷̣̗͛, quick to act, distrusting of others, inconspicuous clothing. (⌰̵̹̄̆⟟̸̹͗͌⏁̵̜̞̃͝⏁̷̠̈́⌰̶̝͍̍⟒̶͉̂ ̸̖̺̓⏚̵̙͓̏⏃̸͓͘☊̶͍͔̓̾☍̵̺̓⌇̷͇͕̒⏁̸͔̚⍜̴͍́́⍀̴̲̉⊬̸̧̨̈́̐)

Twilight Sparkle: "Vareén" ⟒̸͚̮̆⌰̶͖̄⎐̸̙̙̈́⟒̷̼͝⋏̴̱̈́. Quiet, calm, keeps to herself, always keeps her hood up. (⏚̸̳̀⏃̴̳̕☊̸͇́͐☍̷̣̬͗̅⌇̷͔̥͆⏁̴͔̇⍜̵̤͗⍀̵͖̝͌⊬̷̻̆)

Sunset Shimmer: "Stostine Swordhand" Human. Cooperative, polite, falls apart under duress, natural blue clothing. (Concept)

Rainbow: "Ravathyra" Hill Dwarf. (⏁̶̭̜͆⏚̶̰̻̌̚⎅̶̨̛́)

I slowly gave the paper back to Rarity only for her to stop me. "Sunset, by any chance can you read the one that has my name next to it?"

"Kind of," I admitted. "The part in parenthesis and what's in the middle is all garbled."

She looked it over real quick and rolled her jaw. "Rarity," she read aloud. "Ricven Lioncatch. Forest Gnome. Charismatic, ⎅⍀⟟⎐⟒⋏ ⏚⊬ ⍙⏃⋏⎅⟒⍀⌰⎍⌇⏁, constan—" She paused when she saw me, and everyone in the room flinch away. "What's wrong?"

While I still gripped the paper in my hands, I swallowed my initial fear and spoke up. "Rarity...Say that last part again."

"What? You mean ⎅⍀⟟⎐⟒⋏ ⏚⊬ ⍙—" "Yes, that." I nodded along, glancing back at the paper. "So then you can read your part of this just fine?"

"And most of everyone else's," Rarity confirmed. "Not that it's anything I don't already know."

"Don't already..." I took back the paper and read it all over. What do I know that no one else knows?

I read over the entire paper taking note of it all. Everything on my character I could read just fine but that wasn't surprising. If I read it out loud there was probably a good chance that they'd hear everything just fine. Almost everything came up already.

So instead I looked at the others. The clothing descriptions Story had explained. All of these personality traits were there for everyone to see. Same with races. And we already knew each other's names.

...

Applejack's character, I remembered. I then read back over AJ's part of the list before I noticed something. I knew that Platick distrusted people. I knew he was human. I knew what his clothes looked like. And I knew his name. But no one else knew Platick's last name.

"Fourteen," I announced.

"Good. Applejack," Story turned to AJ, who was now sitting there with her hat pulled low over her face. "If Platick is normally friendly to new faces, roll persuasion. If he's normally not so friendly to new people, deception."

Applejack glanced up at me while I sat back trying to show as much satisfaction as I could. If she realized it was a front that'd be fine. I just needed her to catch on.

When Story wasn't looking, I gave the most obvious wink I could muster, confusing AJ even more. But as she turned the idea in her head for a few moments, I saw the light go off in her head.

AJ matched my grin. "Ya got it all figured out, don't ya?"

My smile turned genuine. "Yep."

Applejack quickly joined in the idea and rolled the dice, though her smile turned for the worst when her number came up low.

"Five," She said pitifully.

“Welp.” Story quickly tossed his pen down before heading over to where I was. "Seems we have a winner then."

“Wait, what’s happening...” When he got closer, Story signaled for me to lean over. Once he was sure that none of the others could hear him, he whispered.

"As you keep studying Platick for any crack in his armor, you finally manage to determine a couple of his tells. Whenever someone watches him a little too closely he closes in on himself or turns away slightly. However, now that you have the chance, you notice another tell.

"Whenever someone tries reaching or reaches for a very distinct looking necklace." Story explained.

Unable to control my volume, I simply turned to Story. "What's on his necklace?"

"Hold up! How's come she found that out?" Applejack straightened up.

Story leaned back for a moment. "She studied you for any signs to see if Platick is as they seem. Devil's in the details."

I gave a humorous smirk while Story went back to whispering.

"Hanging from around Platick's neck is a very distinct platinum coin. And as you take a moment to think it over that's when a family name starts to ring a bell...

"Platick Fortuna," I said. Everyone in the room, save for Applejack, sat back and stared at me.

"Platick what?" Twilight asked.

"So that's what he was whsiperin'," Applejack realized.

"So you could understand me," I announced. When I looked at the rest of the group I saw the confusion and worry in their expressions. "I guess this proves the magic goes past glowing dice."

At that moment, the doorknob into the classroom started to shake.

Rarity scrambled to get out of Story's chair while the rest of them rushed back to their own seats looking as not casual as possible. While they were trying their hardest, I started to shuffle the papers back into looking just how they were before Rarity had messed with them.

"Uh. Girls?" The doorknob rattled once again before the door was pulled back and forth. Ms. Cheerilee must have locked it before leaving. "A little help? Quickly?"

"Rainbow, get the door," I instructed. When I was getting the last few things straightened out I rushed to my seat as Rainbow Dash got to the door.

Immediately as Rainbow opened it, Story came half-running towards his chair like an alarm had gone off. When he started scrambling for the papers I felt my heart stop for a second.

How did he know? How did he know?! I kept thinking.

"I'm really sorry everyone but I gotta pack everything up." Once he got all the papers together he tapped them on the desk to line them up and then stuffed them all in a folder.

"Did," I started, trying to remain calm. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah," Story threw the folder in his backpack and then made quick work of the DM screen before tossing it in as well. "Something came up and I have to cut the game short."

“What?!” Twilight perked up. “But, but you can't! We still need to figure out how the ma—”

“Many goblins!” Pinkie suddenly jumped in, stopping Twilight and hopping beside Story with an excited grin. “We need to know how many goblins there are! Oh, and Gundren! Glemerr needs another drinking match with him!”

“I'm sorry Pinkie, but I really can’t.” Story took a hold of the vinyl map's edge and yanked it like a tablecloth. Save for a couple of the miniatures still on the map, almost nothing moved with it. He then started to roll the map up as tight as he could. “My Mom’s car is in the shop and she’s got an emergency. I need to drive her to the hospital as soon as possible.”

“Hospital?!”

This made most of us snap to attention and a few of us even scramble to collect all the dice and figures for him.

“Is everything alright?!” Rarity quickly gathered up her dice and brought them towards Story to help out.

“...Oh!" Story stopped what he was doing and facepalmed. "Sorry! Yeah, she’s fine. I mean that she's a surgeon.” Story quickly sealed the vinyl map in a cylindrical container. "Her car broke down and she's on call today."

Before we knew what we were doing, the rest of us jumped in and started packing everything wherever we could to get Story Spinner out of the door as soon as possible. We were like a military camp bugging out with how fast everything was getting put away.

Not even a minute later, Pinkie ran up to the door and held it up so Story could get into the hallway with Rainbow Dash carrying whatever Story couldn't in one trip.

"I hope they get well soon," Fluttershy called out.

"Hurry so they can read their get well soon cards!" Pinkie shouted.

By the time both of them turned the corner of the hall the rest of us stayed in the room to catch our breath. A few of us even fell back into our chairs.

As the girls tried debating what to do, my focus was instead on the lone object resting in front of me. In the midst of everyone packing the game away all of us had pushed the dice towards Story Spinner.

Except, I kept one for myself; the one die Story had given me. When everyone's dice first absorbed magic, mine had turned a dark red with orange numbers on them. Except, the one he ended up lending me halfway through the game was different.

Rather than the first die this one felt heavier and looked as though it were made out of metal. Plus, rather than a dark red base, this die looked somewhere between copper and gold while the numbers seemed burned into the metal with my Cutie Mark replacing one of the numbers. In fact, rolling the die in my hand revealed that it was certainly as heavy as the metal it looked to be out of. The points of the die even felt sharp enough to hurt if I wanted to grip the die tight enough.

Finally, around the edges of each face, there were these symbols. I couldn't remember but they vaguely looked like magic runes from back home. I turned the thought in my head again and again but I simply couldn't remember. They weren't the regular symbols I learned from magic kindergarten or under Princess Celestia's tutelage. These were something else.

Something I had been trying since the Fall Formal to forget about.

Dunamancy.

A purple hand waved past my face.

"Sunset?"

"Oh. Sorry." I sat back and shook my head free from my thoughts. "I went off in my own world for a second."

"Be careful," Pinkie warned. "There could be goblins in there too."

"Ahehe. Right." I reached for my bag and stood up. "I think for now we should call it a day. We aren't going to get anywhere if we just sit around speculating. Besides, I want to wait and see what Twilight—Princess Twilight," I clarified. “Has to say about this."

I picked up Stostine's character sheet and looked it over. Story had left those with us to keep and now I was glad that he had. "Until then, I think we should try to get some D&D stuff of our own. Dice, miniatures, whatever you can. It wouldn't be a bad idea if we could see how our magic interacts with everything else outside of Story's games."

The rest of them seemed to agree. When we had all gathered our things, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie made plans to stop by a gaming shop later on today while Applejack and Twilight would go tell Rainbow Dash about what we decided. Which left me as the only one left in the room.

After I finished packing, I brought out a familiar book and flipped it open to the latest page with pen in hand. We had the room until 5:30 anyways. And after what Ms. Cheerilee saw I doubt that she would mind if I used it to do a little note passing.

So, finding empty space on the page, I started to write.

Author's Note

This chapter had gotten several different rewrites since when I first posted it. But now that I have? Woah, the word count...

I wanted to go below 10,000 but having this first small session take longer than two chapters felt...slow. So, unfortunately, this chapter will have to be long.

If it's any consolation, I want to aim for making chapters less than 10k words for these chapters.

Until next time!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(5) Tales Of The Teller

Applejack's POV
Wednesday, 12:23 PM
Outside the Cafeteria

With the dark passing clouds that hung overhead, not too many of the other students were interested in eating outside. Originally I thought that was going to be for the best considering we had no idea what our magic could do.

Only, after seven minutes of nothing but sitting and staring at weird shaped dice on a table, I started staring at the clouds for something more interesting.

"So...I guess I didn't miss anything."

A few of us looked up to see Rainbow Dash walking over with lunch in hand. As she took a seat she immediately started reaching for her drink. "Sorry for taking so long. Mr. Cranky made me and a bunch of other students walk all the way back to our classes before we could go get our lunch."

I rolled my eyes. "Well maybe if ya didn't run down tha halls like a crazed bull..."

"It's not like I have much of a choice," she countered. "With all the transfers, the lunch line is longer than ever. And my class is on the other side of the school."

After taking a moment to calm herself down, Rainbow turned to Sunset. "Any news on how this stuff works?"

Sunset only shook her head. "Nothing. I tried whatever I could yesterday and nothing worked. What's more..." Sunset reached into a pocket and pulled out another 20-sided die. "This is the only one that still looks different."

"Sunset." I folded my arms. "Don' tell me ya've been keepin' that thing with ya all mornin'."

It was already bad enough we took it from Story. Was gallivanting with it a good idea?

"I can't leave it at home," Sunset argued. "If it does anything we should be close by when it happens."

"But, can't that be a tad dangerous," Rarity asked. "There are several new faces around the school grounds that don't know what to expect. Especially after the school has garnered so much attention."

"She's right, ya know." I brought my gaze back to Sunset. "Dean Cadence and Vice Principal Luna told both our schools ta try keepin' calm 'bout all the magic."

Sunset sunk in her seat. "I know," she relented. "Principal Celestia told me the same thing this morning."

"Hmm?" Twilight glanced up, most of her attention still stuck on some orange-colored book. "The principal?"

Sunset nodded. "After she distracted Story for us, Ms. Cheerilee told Celestia about what she saw. So Principal Celestia wanted our side of the story."

Fluttershy shuffled in her seat. "I hope she's not too worried about this."

"She's actually kind of relieved," Sunset admitted. "When I told her Story couldn't see any of the magic, she asked that we try and solve this without anyone else finding out about it."

In hearing that, Rainbow looked like all the wind got knocked out of her. She let her chin rest onto the table as her frown just got worse. "Ugh...Does that mean that we gotta keep going to this boring club?"

"Oh come now, Rainbow." Rarity smirked. "For a few times, you seemed to be getting the swing of things. That is until you lost your hammer."

"Hey, I got it back didn't—" Rainbow stopped when she saw some of the knowing smirks from a few of us. Myself included. "Not the point. Look, if the magic's coming from us then what if we just stop going? Won't that solve the problem?"

"But I liked that game," Pinkie added. "I punched a goblin in the nose with Glemerr!" Pinkie practically leaped out of her chair with a war cry.

Rarity nodded happily. "I have to agree. With the theatre department always full I can't even help with the costumes let alone take center stage. In this club, I can play by my own design."

Rainbow's expression fell further before she turned to me.

"Come on AJ. You gotta be just as bored as I am with this."

I simply rose an eyebrow. "I might not be a fan of playin' some action hero. Let alone a 'rogue'," I muttered to myself. "But I promised Story that I'd give the game a fair shake. An' I don't think one game counts as fair. 'Sides, the game feels like somethin' up Twi an' Sunset's alley. Am I right?"

I looked over to the science girl in question. And just like the whole time she's been here, Twilight had her nose in that same book.

Sunset shrugged. "You're not wrong."

"...Uh-huh." Meanwhile, Twilight's attention was just as stuck in the book as her nose.

"Wait a second..." Rainbow sat up to read over Twilight's shoulder, mouthing a few words as she read what was in the book. "Are you reading one of those D&D books?"

"Of course," Twilight stopped reading only to write a few notes. "Sunset did say that we should try and get some things for ourselves."

"When I said that, I meant like the dice or figures." Sunset tried looking at the front of the book before her expression turned somewhat worried. "Isn't that book around fifty dollars?"

"Normally." Twilight flipped the page. "But this is my brother's book. He let me have it when I told him I was playing."

Rainbow's interest suddenly stopped as she fell back in her seat. "Which means you want to keep going."

"Sorry Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy consoled. "But. Um. I still want to play too."

And that makes six. I took a sip of cider as Rainbow came to the same realization.

But rather than give up, Rainbow's face lit up like a lightbulb. "Then what if we just play it then?"

A small collection of what's or huh's had Rainbow Dash keep explaining.

"I mean, what if we just play the game without Story?" Rainbow pointed to the stuff in the middle of the table. "We have dice and. And the action figure things." She pointed to Twilight next. "We have a book to play the game. We even have those papers Story had us keep. We're all good!"

The group went silent while all of us were thinking the idea over. To RD's credit, there was nothing wrong with the plan. If the stuff worked like our instruments then the magic would go the second we worked on it. The only thing that made me cautious about trying it out was what's going to happen after we make the dice light up?

"Well, Sunset?" Rarity turned to her. "Is it something worth trying?"

"..." Sunset settled her gaze on the stuff scattering the table. Then back to the die in her hands. I know she wasn't far enough into her own thoughts that she failed to hear Rainbow's idea.

As she was still thinking, Sunset gently planted her die down with the others so that we could finally see what she was looking at. Or more specifically, what she wasn't looking at.

For all that any of us could tell, the die was a milk white color without any numbers on any of the twenty sides. It had no smudges of any kind and looked entirely flawless. Not even a chip on one of the corners.

Twilight put down her book as she stared at it. "It's...still magic?"

Sunset nodded. "And it's been like that after Story left yesterday."

Since Story.... My brow furrowed. "...Wait a sec."

"So you got one too?" Rainbow started fishing around in a pocket before pulling out another die. Except rather than being milk white like Sunset's, or even that deep chrome blue that her dice first turned into yesterday. Instead it was green with white colored numbers; it was normal.

"I thought if I kept it the magic would stick around or something. But it turned off not too long after we left the classroom." Rainbow put the die down with Sunset's. "And when I helped load everything into his car the dice wouldn't turn back on."

"Die," Twilight spoke.

"Twilight," Rarity said in a small gasp. "What a thing to say."

"Wha— no." Twilight held up a hand. "I mean, die is singular for...nevermind." She looked back to Story. "Is that why you think we don't need Story to make the dice work?"

"Kind of," Rainbow said with a shrug. "It's not like he has any magic."

If ever I heard a jinx, I thought.

With a sigh, Sunset started digging through her bag. "Let's give it a shot. Doing nothing isn't going to get us anywhere. At least if we do it outside it'll be away from anyone else."

From her bag she pulled out a couple of papers, all of it probably about the club yesterday. And on top of them all was a character sheet that Story passed out to all of us.

"Wait. We're doing this now?" Rainbow watched as each of us started taking after Sunset's example. While some were taking out their paper from the game, others were pulling back whatever dice and figures they originally threw onto the table.

I looked over at her. "It was your idea, wasn't it?"

As Rainbow stumbled over her answer, I plucked the paper with all of Platick's info on it out of a binder. It was only one paper so I didn't bother to take it out of my bag. And from the looks of it, everyone else was the same.

The only one who didn't pull anything out was Rainbow Dash who, instead, sat watching with a bit of guilt on her face.

"I, uh...I didn't bring anything."

"That's alright Dashie," Pinkie explained before putting the blank dice in front of Rainbow Dash. "That just means that you get to do what Story did!"

"You mean the leader?" Rainbow just looked confused.

"The DM, actually," Twilight clarified as she put her book in front of Rainbow Dash. "You might need this though. There's some statistics for wolves and other things in the back."

"Hold on! Why do I gotta be the one doing homework all of a sudden?!"

"Like AJ said, you were the one who had the idea in the first place." Sunset 'politely' folded her hands together on the table. "It's only fair that you take the lead on this one. Dungeon Master," she ended with a smile.

"Never say that again," Rainbow groaned. But despite how much she frowned at the dice, Rainbow eventually started to reach for it. "...Fine. Let's just...do this."

Story's POV
Meanwhile
In the Cafeteria

Scattered around me was a collection of papers either filled with information or with maps of towns and geography. A lot of other students probably thought all the papers was a sign that I was insane or frantically studying for a test today.

Whatever the reason, it let me have this half of the lunch table to myself. The other half was taken by two students who didn't mind the papers. In fact, while eating their lunch, they had some papers spread out of their own. Science project apparently.

I took a bite out of my burger and kept looking at the page in front of me. On the top read Sevolta; a small village far from any large city. It's a place that Rarity had come up with while I helped her make a character for the club.

She originally asked if it would be easier for me if she picked a place I already made but I knew that giving me a new village would be more fun.

Still, aside from saying Ricven came from 'incredibly humble beginnings' and that the village is 'prideful and proud' in what they do, Rarity didn't have the kind of info I needed to make something come to life.

How long was the village around for? How big is the village? Are they farmers? Ranchers? Hunters? Do they even grow their own food? Is the village mostly gnomes like Ricven or are gnomes few and far between? All of these questions and more were still going unanswered.

I took another bite of my burger and went over what Rarity did tell me; how the village was made. She imagined that the village was founded by seven families, all of which were skilled artisans of different kinds.

Some fell on hard times while others wanted to strike out on their own. Sure enough, all of them came together and put everything they had left towards a single homestead. If it failed then they would have nothing left and yada, yada, yada.

That explained the 'Sev' part of 'Sevolta, I figured as I reached for a couple fries. It was a start. I promised that I'd come up with a few ideas and run it by her to see if it fit with what she imagined. That is, if she still wanted to play the game by then.

It was something to roll with and I was glad. Some of the other girls didn't have any idea of what to do. Like Pinkie. She more liked the idea of playing ASAP and didn't have anything in mind.

When I asked if she wanted some help thinking of something, Pinkie let me have free reign of Glemerr's past. She told me she'd rather it be a surprise so that she can look forward to seeing what Glemerr's past was like. Although it made me nervous whether she'd like it or not.

I glanced at the maps while taking a larger bite of my burg—"Ow!"

I dropped what little food I had in my hand. Without realizing it I bit down so hard on my finger that I could see the bite mark.

I took a second to look over at the other two sitting at the table. They were looming over their books confusedly but they didn't seem to notice me.

"Okay," I breathed out, shaking my hand. "At least no one saw that..."

"Eenope," a deep voice drawled.

I stiffened up. That voice was not only close by, it sounded like they were trying not to laugh. Great, I chastised. They just saw a transfer guy eating his own hand. I must look like a moron.

Not immediately hearing his footsteps, I took a breath before turning around. "Yeah, yeah, I wasn't paying attention. Happens to the best of us, right...Big Mac?!"

"Eeyup," he said with a nod.

Sure enough, standing behind me with lunch tray in hand was a mountain of a man with a blonde mop of hair on his head and a bright red jacket. Even with my hand stinging like mad I could tell that he was trying hard not to smile.

Instantly, my anger passed by as I motioned for him to take a seat. "Go ahead. Laugh all you want. Just remember that each chuckle is another rock falling on Sir Biggun's head later."

Big Mac's smile dropped real quick. "Ya wouldn't."

I grinned. "Keep poking the DM and find out." Big Mac sat opposite of me as I started moving papers out of the way for him.

On top of the game I was now running for the girls, I had another D&D game on Wednesdays and Big Mac was in it. In fact, it was him and the other four that convinced me to set up this club in the first place.

And ever since the girls joined in, Big Mac was even more than willing to help me out with the club. Especially when he heard that his sister joined. When he found that out, he wouldn't stop laughing for a solid five minutes. And another ten when he heard she was playing a rogue.

Once the papers were pushed away I looked up only to see Big Mac glancing across them as quick as he could.

"Don't get too excited." I smiled. "I already got Wednesday all set up. This is all stuff for your sister and her friends."

His face fell for a moment before he looked to me with a raised eyebrow. "Need help?"

"Pffffft. Nah." I smiled. "I'm throwing them through the tutorial. Besides, they might not even stick around long enough. Not all of them seemed too interested."

"Eenope." Mac shook his head and smiled. "AJ bought dice yesterday."

"She did?"

Big Mac nodded. "Rarity an' Twilight too."

"Huh..." I looked over at the notes for all their characters. Well, most of their characters. I didn't even have anything for that Rainbow girl's Dwarf. "I told them they could just use my dice. They didn't have to buy some."

I picked up the top two papers. One was the Sevolta page from earlier and the other had Fortuna Trade written out. That one was for AJ's character.

"...Say, Big Mac?" I started looking around for where one or two other papers were. "Can I get your help after all?"

Rainbow's POV
Meanwhile Again

"It doesn't have to be perfect," Rarity tried to assure me. "Just make up something."

"Easy for you to say," I countered, flipping page after page of all these boxes that looked exactly the same. Full of numbers and stuff that didn't make sense. "You don't have to look at all these confusing boxes."

"I don't think the numbers are too important," Sunset said. "Just give it a shot."

Right before I reached the end of the book I got to the second to last page of monsters in the back. The only thing that stood out was the skeleton covered in ripped clothing and holding a dinged up sword.

"Uh...Sure," I mumbled, finding the box that said 'Skeleton' in big red letters. "There. Are...these." And I turned the book around to show the picture. "Rawrrr." I half-tried to growl while shaking the book.

"The skeletons are growling?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie suddenly gasped. "Are they bear skeletons?!"

"They're bare boned," AJ joked.

"Look, what do want from..." Bears? Bear. Wasn't there a bear...? I took the book back and flipped back a couple pages to the start of the list, finding another box labeled 'Black Bear'.

"...Yeah," I hummed with a nod. "Yeah, they're BEAR skeletons. And they're clawing out of the ground with their BEAR claws."

Pinkie gasped. Again. "They're bare. Bear. Claws!" She leapt out of her seat, planting a foot on the bench and throwing a fist to the air. "Glemerr will stop them!"

"How's come they were in the ground?" AJ sat next to Pinkie, just confused.

"Are we...In a pet cemetery?" Fluttershy asked with a shiver down her spine.

"Why are there bears in a pet cemetery?" Rarity bit her lip.

"We're in a cemetery?" Twilight repeated.

"Does it matter?" I rolled my eyes.

"Well..." Sunset half sang with a smile on her face. "I mean, it might matter if 'zombie dogs' start 'pawing' out of the dirt." Sunset and Pinkie both started to laugh.

"Just roll the dice already," I shouted, my face getting heated.

Story's POV

Big Mac took one more look over the papers I had piled up beside me and the colored maps I had. Usually my stuff was more organized so the random papers were probably a dead giveaway that I wasn't on top of everything.

"How can ah help?" He smiled.

"Thank you." I nodded, reading over the papers. "Like I said, I know what the next few games will be like. But if they're sticking around like you think then I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I have some good stories for their lives. Can I run 'em by you and you tell me what you think?"

"Eeyup."

"Awesome." Getting the last few papers together I picked one to try first. "Then let's start a story."

After the girls were done laughing it off, Twilight pushed one of the regular dice to me. "You need to roll..." She stopped for a second to yawn. "Initiative."

I snickered, watching Twilight break into another yawn right after. "Don't get too excited."

AJ managed to hold back from yawning. "Geez. Musta woke up too early this mornin'."

"No, stop saying yawning. If you yawn, then I'll yawn and then everyo..." Whatever Pinkie was saying, it got cut off by another loud yawn. "No, I yawned!" Even with her shouting, Pinkie let her head rest next to her ninth and last mini cupcake. She still took a bite out of the frosting though.

...VvvvVVvvvVVVvVVVVVv...

Looking back at the table I could see the milk-white dice, the one Sunset had, starting to rattle back and forth as it started to change.

The milk white color shifted into this golden-brass color, gaining a shine to it as the sun reflected off of the now metallic faces. As it morphed, numbers and odd swirling shapes began carving into each face. After each number or shape finished getting carved out, they were a darker metal color as compared to the die itself.

When it looked exactly as when Sunset had rolled it yesterday it finally stopped rattling and went dead still.

"S-Sunset!" I shook her shoulder just as she was about to lay her head on the table. "The dice! It-It's changing! It worked!"

When Sunset finally stopped yawning, she went back to trying to keep her head up. "That's nice. Dash...Enjoy t...game..."

"Enjoy the— Hey, you're the one who wanted to do this!"

I watched the table. For some reason or another, all of them were falling asleep without warning. With a clank, Fluttershy fell right into her bowl of salad. Twilight's head was down next and her nose was half submerged in her mash potatoes. At the same time, AJ was starting to tip her hat down so the sun couldn't reach her.

The only ones still fighting to stay awake were Rarity and Sunset, who's heads were starting to fall into their arms, and Pinkie who was standing and using her arms to keep herself propped up.

"What's going on?" I stood up from my spot and ran over to Sunset. I started shaking her just to keep her awake.

"Sunset? Sunset, why's everyone falling asleep?" The more I kept shaking her the more she seemed to get tired.

"The..." She stopped for another yawn. "The die...Are th...symbols?" She slurred.

"Symbols? You mean the—" I practically lunged for the metal changing die and picked it up. It was as heavy as metal now. "You mean the squiggly lines?"

"Mmhmm." She looked at with one eye. "The squiggs. They're da dunamansss...y. Dunamance is. Old divinate…"

"...What?" I gave her the flattest look.

"Diviners," Sunset tried again. "Princess is. A div..."

"Sunset?" I waved a hand in front of her face. Nothing. "Sunset!"

Even when I started shaking her like a carpet she wouldn't wake up. All she gave me was snoring.

"Who's still awake?" After I turned to the other girls, my question was met with a chorus of snoring. Even Pinkie, who was that last one standing soon remedied that by falling into the dirt unconscious.

"Oh, come on." It didn't matter which one I spoke to, none of them answered.

When nothing worked, I looked back at the die in my hand. It was still made of bronze and heavy. It wasn't glowing though.

"Okay," I breathed to myself. "Think. Think. Think, think, think, think, think." I walked over to where I was sitting before. "I'm the only one awake. I have no clue what Sunset meant by Dune-A-Man. And I have a magic dice."

I looked at the die. "Magic dice. Magic..."

Closing my eyes, I tried focusing on the magic. Or at least, I think that's what I was trying.

"You will all wake up now," I said in a slow tone that those fake hypnotists always used. "You will wake up and...Know exactly what's going on."

I flicked the dice across the table.

"Fifteen!" I called out to no one at all. "High number; fifteen!"

I looked at the girls while I kept my arms spread out like a performer. "...This is so stupid."

With a dull kick to the bench, I started tapping my fingers while I tried thinking of something else.

"What else did Sunset say," I asked myself. "Dun-A-Man. Divinate. Divers. The princess. Princess. The princ—P-Princess Twilight!"

I rushed over for Sunset's bag and spilled everything on the ground until I saw that giant book from her world. With a cheer I snatched it out of the grass and plucked through until I got to the last page she wrote in.

I didn't want to waste time so I just kept reading until I saw something that stood out. Apparently next to all the writing, Sunset tried copying the symbols on the dice. A few lines from them pointed to old looking words that was probably in some other language. Some kind of Pony Latin no doubt.

"Ugh, come on. Use English," I spoke into the book. Like that would help. Congrats Rainbow. You skipped egghead and went straight to screw loose.

A loud snort ripped my attention away from the book. From beside the bench we were eating at was still Pinkie asleep on the dirt. Only know, she was shaking back and forth and snorting.

She never was a quiet sleeper, I remembered.

Tossing the book on the table for now, I walked over to Pinkie and kneeled down. "Alright Pinks. Let's at least get back to the table."

I wrapped my arms under her's and tried to pick her up off the ground to drag her. By the time I at least got the upper half of her body off the ground I looked up in time to see a large Frankenstein of a guy barreling towards me with some terrifying bat-like club.

His war cry met my screaming as I took Pinkie and dove us out of the way.

The guy, who was twice as big as Big Mac, kept running past us and made a running leap over part of the ground where three more giant guys were waiting with clubs. While the guy that passed me had greenish skin, the other equally large guys looked more gray.

I watched as the partly cloudy sky changed into heavy dark clouds looming over us, ready to storm at any second. About three feet away from Pinkie and I, the ground sank down into a straight canal; something you would imagine out of Venice. But instead of wood harbors with space for several boats everything was stone and only eight or so feet across.

When I looked behind us the picnic table and the girls were gone without a trace. Instead, there were run down buildings built near more water canals that made up some sort of medieval city. Rather than those amazing pictures of a clean Venice, this looked like what someone would imagine a Venice In the Slums to look like.

We need to get out of here. Now, I thought, getting ready to jump to my feet. Only as I did, I looked beside me where Pinkie was lying and noticed someone else.

Sitting near us was a small, stocky kid with a greenish tint to their skin. They looked like the green man that was in the middle of a 1v3 street brawl on the other side of the canal.

The kid, who I think was a girl, was watching the fight with shock and worry. For some reason she didn't seem to notice us, nor did the guys fighting.

I kept quiet for a few seconds and watched as the green guy suddenly ducked under one of the gray guys' club swing. Then, as the gray guy was readying another swing, Green brought up his small club and bashed it into the gray one's wrist.

No doubt the wrist bone shattered as the gray guy dropped his club in a loud scream. But Green wasn't done.

He deftly grabbed the attacker by the ponytail and brought his knee into the attacker's face. When the gray one was well and unconscious, Green shoved him into the canal's water and squared off against the two remaining guys.

"Yeah!" Suddenly, the little girl jumped up to her feet. "You go, Mord! Teach 'dem Angla's what for!" The deep English accent was hard to ignore. It was even harder not to hear how it sounded like Pinkie's voice.

"Pinkie, get up." I looked down at the snoring Pinkie head in my lap. "Pinkie!"

I looked again to the fight just in time to see Green— err, Mord —dislocate the shoulder of one of the two guys before throwing him into the club of the second like a human shield. With a mighty shove, Mord threw his 'shield' into the third guy with enough force to knock both of them into the water.

"Kif dill!" Mord shouted in Orcish, glaring daggers.

Orcish? I furrowed my brow. How do I know he said that in Orcish? How do I know what Orcish is?

My mind took its time wrapping around that as Mord turned around to look at the cheering little girl.

Orc girl, maybe, I assumed. If they were speaking Orcish then, whatever these people were, maybe they were Orcs...ish.

"Ya did great Uncle Mord," the orc girl shouted. "Ya really showed 'dose Angla's who's da betta Orc!"

Mord didn't share her enthusiasm. Instead, he grimaced as his face softened.

"No I didn't, Little Glem," Mord said with a gentle tone. Opposite of the Orcish he was shouting at the three. "I showed 'em who the stronger orc was." Mord then motioned for 'Little Glem' to step to the side.

Little Glem's expression became confused as she took a few steps to the side. "But wait. Ah thought tha' betta an' stronga were da same."

Mord rolled his eyes but started into a run for the edge of the canal just like before. And once again I found myself in the way of his path.

Without much time to think, I moved Pinkie aside and rolled off right as Mord was leaping over the canal. However, when I jumped to my feet to look back, he wasn't there. Neither was Little Glem.

In fact, the entire Venice Slums were missing. Now, I was standing a few feet away from Pinkie in the middle of the school yard with the picnic bench and our friends right back where they were supposed to be.

Nothing changed. Everything was back to normal.

Pinkie was now on her side. Exactly how I moved her when I dove away from Mord. But, other than that, she was still asleep and completely untouched by whatever happened.

Confused and a little worried, I walked back to Pinkie and knelt beside her. Instead of pick her up, I reached for her shoulder to try shaking her awake.

"No Glem," Mord's voice echoed. "Just because someone's stronger doesn't mean they're better. Same with bein' smarter too."

"Huh," Little Glem's voice echoed too. Only now, I could see her and Mord begin to appear out of thin air. "Well, I still think ye'r betta than 'em, Uncle Mord. They were tryin' ta snag me." By now, both of them were completely visible and parts of the scenery were starting to fade back in.

Mord took a second to leer off to where the canal was before tossing his club in the water. "Well...That's what makes 'em worse than you or me, Glem. They'll keep doin' bad things with their strength. But us? We'll do better with ours."

"Ya mean...Ah got strength too?"

Mord grinned. "Sure do, Miss Muscles." He walked over to ruffle her hair before picking her up for a piggyback ride. "Now come on. Let's get ya something to eat."

Little Glem started to giggle before climbing up to Mord's head, putting a foot on his shoulder and holding out a fist like Pinkie did earlier. "Yeah! Glemerr is hungry!"

Mord busted out laughing. "And so is MORD!" He shouted with a boisterous cry.

The two kept going, laughing all the way down the path as they did. The heavy clouds rolling above or the three groaning orc goons in the canal didn't seem to bother them in the slightest.

When I stepped away from Pinkie a second time, the entire moment melted away once again. The only thing I could hear was Pinkie giggling in her sleep.

How'd I do that? I looked down at my hand. That never happened before. None of the other girls did that either; it's only ever been wings and ears.

Curious, I walked back over to the group at the table. They were exactly like I left them. The magic die was there too, sitting right where I left it on a fifteen.

Some of the girls were flinching or moving like Pinkie was. Even the ones that I knew didn't sleep restlessly. Like Rarity, who every couple of seconds flinched or Sunset who left out a heavy breath as though she were upset about something.

Are they all going through the same thing Pinkie is? I looked back at my hand. And can I do that to all of them?

Curious, I reached out for Rarity who was closer than any of the others and put my hand on her shoulder. Almost instantly, noises and pictures started to fade into reality like with what happened to Pinkie.

Except for this time the noise was unbearable.

What met me wasn't a giant orc rushing at me with a war cry but instead the worst high-pitched screeching sound anyone could have ever made from a violin possible. Every wrong note that was scratched out made Rarity and I flinch out of instinct alone. It took all the willpower I had not to cover my ears and let go of Rarity to make it stop.

"Ugh!" Another screech. "No." Screech. "Little better." Louder screech. "Oops! Heh. Wrong direction."

Between each scream of a violin, this 'refined' sounding voice threw in their two cents before the next screech came again.

SCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRCH!

That time the small cloud of birds took off flying into the sunset ahead. The sky was easily visible without any clouds above like the school or Venice Slums Pinkie had. There were now several hues of yellows and oranges as if the sky was on fire. The setting sun was only responsible for some of the color as the second sun behind it helped to blend in the reds and purples.

The landscape around us felt plain by comparison of that sunset. For miles, the land had rolling hills and pastures with a herd of horses moving to graze in a spot where the violin wasn't ruining their ears.

Lucky, I thought.

Overlooking it all was me, Rarity and a third person. Sitting on this wooden fence that I was now standing behind was this young gnome wearing—

"How do I know that?!" I shouted. How do I know the short guy's a gnome?! How did I know the Orcish thing? Come to think of it...

I looked up at the sunset. The first sun was setting and the blue one behind it was a little higher. How did I know that thing's a sun? My first thought of a blue orb in the sky isn't 'well there's the second sun, nothing to see here.' How did I know that?!

The answer sadly didn't come to me and instead, I was left clueless on this hilltop. From looking around me I could see the majority of this horse ranch complete with farmhouse and barn. Somewhat like Applejack's house. And judging from the clean-looking rancher's clothes on the gnome, he more than likely lived here.

Rather than doing any actual ranching, the gnome was sitting there trying as hard as he could to play even a single note right on that violin.

Now, I didn't know much about violins. In fact, I didn't know how to play any instrument too well unless 'guitar' was somewhere in the name. But what I did know was that you weren't supposed to hold the strings down in a death grip.

SSSCCCCCCCCCRTTTT!

And grinding the violin-wand-thing on the strings like skinning a cat was probably too much force.

SCCRT!

The gnome clicked his tongue. "Almost."

Almost?!

"Maybe I need ta be faster," he suggested. "When she played it, her arm was goin' back an' forth like crazy. O-Or rather." The gnome paused for a second as he leaped off the fence, landing on his feet. "She was steppin' back an' forth an' danced ta her music. Maybe...Maybe I should dance too."

The gnome took a second to shuffle his feet a little as he kept trying, and failing, to play his violin. As he did, I let go of Rarity and let it play without ruining my ears.

"I wasn't that bad when I started playing guitar, was I?" I asked nobody. The worst thing I remember doing was trying to do the perfect guitar slide when I got my first guitar. I slid straight into the coffee table and could barely bend my knees for a week.

I shook the memory away and started looking at the other girls. So far, Sunset went from huffing to frowning, as though she were in an argument. Applejack, on the other hand, was starting to look restless. There was still nothing from Twilight or Fluttershy though.

Story's POV

Big Mac turned the paper with AJ's story on it and pointed at a list of names and groups.

"Those are supposed to be possible people or organizations that Platick ran into at some point," I explained. "Groups that would have shown him a couple of things."

Big Mac's expression twisted for a second. "Ya said AJ didn't wanna be a thief."

My shoulders slumped down. "Yeah. And I'm not making Platick out to be. Only thing is. Well. A rogue knows how to read Thieves' Cant automatically. Plus there's lock picking and sneaking around. I wanted to find a reasonable way for Platick to know those things. Obviously, I can't say that it was a hobby of his to open safes. That doesn't make sense either. So getting caught in the wrong crowd's one of my only ideas."

Big Mac scratched at his chin for a moment. Something was churning in his head. "Well..."

He took a second to go back and read something else on the paper. His eyes focused on it. "What if they came ta him?"

"Came to him?" I thought over the list of names and groups I wrote. None of them were much for seeking out recruits. Especially not Platick. "Any idea why?"

Big Mac didn't answer. He instead reached for a pencil and circled the list of names. Then he drew an arrow from them to a part of Platick's story AJ thought up.

When he slid the paper back to me I looked the names over again. Big Mac didn't know who they were and since he played in my world I couldn't give it away. But when I centered on one of the names on the list, a few things started to click.

With each click, my expression twitched upward. First from confused to neutral. And then from neutral to smiling. And finally from smiling to a crooked grin.

"Yes..." I nearly hissed. "Oh. This can work."

Big Mac smiled. Glad that he was able to help.

I let go of Twilight's shoulder without too much to gain from it. When both she and Fluttershy weren't moving I wanted to see what was up.

All I ended up getting from it was a hooded woman hunting a rabbit from Twilight and a Wood Elf covered in dirt and grass stains looking over a scythe that was left at some nature shrine from Fluttershy. There wasn't any talking from either of them.

By now I realized what was happening. Each of the girls was having dreams, or something, about their characters from the game. Honestly, if I actually paid attention yesterday I probably would have noticed with Pinkie or Rarity's dream.

But if that's the reason then why wasn't I asleep? I was at that club. It took my magic like it did all of theirs.

All of a sudden, AJ flinched. Not a small twitch like Rarity with the violin but one that nearly had Applejack falling out of her seat.

I ran to check on her but whatever happened she wasn't flinching again. The only thing that changed was her hands clenched into fists and her breathing heavy; as if she just finished a marathon.

Knowing that she wasn't about to wake up and tell me what was wrong, I put a hand on her shoulder and started looking in every direction I could. The fading in was starting to get easier to deal with as I got the hang of it.

The first thing that always came first was the sounds and people. This time there were two. The first was a human kid that looked younger than Scoots and the second was a High Elven woman...no, person, who looked full grown. There was little to no sounds except for the human guy breathing hard at the same pace as Applejack.

It was only after he faded in well enough that I could tell why. His clothes were beaten up and bloodstains were starting to set in. His dusty blonde hair was disheveled with some of it matted to the side of his face where more blood had gathered.

He was leaning on a wooden club for support and looked exhausted. If it wasn't for him still fading into reality I probably would have tried running up to help him out of habit.

The High Elf was fairing much better. They were dressed in a puffy gown that Rarity would probably make for a prom complete with bright colors just dark enough not to be loud or obnoxious.

They looked like they belonged in some kind of Disney movie. The only problem was that they gave off this vibe that they were in control of everything. Almost how Sunset acted before she was our friend, only to max effect.

The visuals of the dream started to appear as the bench and girls vanished. I noticed that for the first time the dream wasn't outdoors but inside. There was a wooden ceiling blocking any chance of seeing the two suns or the sky.

When it all finished forming, AJ and I were in some sort of basement. Crates and barrels gathered in the corners and a set of wooden stairs led to a door with an iron latch on this side. The latch was locked.

In the middle of the basement, all the junk left a wide-open space with a huge rug covering the floor. Multiple bloodstains were dried around it and I could only guess they were from the kid. Then, tucked behind a large wine rack, I noticed a bed and some other furniture with a candle alight on the nightstand.

Although, none of that would stand out too long when I saw what the kid was standing in front of. A bleeding mannequin.

The mannequin had nothing on it except a painted face and the basic form of a person. It stood in a boxing pose and bobbed side to side. It had scuffs here of there with the seams on the shoulder split open to reveal cotton on the inside.

That was all the proof I needed to know that the blood dripping from the end of the mannequin's arms, not hands but spheres the size of tennis balls, were dripping with the kid's blood.

'What. Is. That,' I mouthed. I almost let go of AJ's shoulder out of fear of the thing. The only thing that was keeping me from letting go was whether anything happened to the girls in these dreams.

The kid straightened up and stared down the mannequin. He seemed...like he wasn't surprised a mannequin was squaring up at him.

"Ms. Kiirnodel." The guy turned towards the elf. "May I rest for today? I've been at this for two hours." His voice made it sound like he wanted to be excused from dinner and not fighting a killer mannequin.

"Platick," They started calmly. "You have only yourself to blame. I offered to give you a steady schedule of self-defense and education. You decided you wanted to avoid training. This was bound to happen."

"But...Why does it have to hit back?" Platick turned back to watch the dummy. "Training dummies are supposed to be stationary."

"You cannot defend yourself from nothing." They gave a small smile. "You need to be ready to protect yourself."

"But why do I need to defend myself?" He turned back to them. "It...They-They already..." He started looking uncomfortable.

They noticed it too. "Platick...You and I both know it's not that simple. Whoever is responsible, it wasn't a random robbery. You were targeted."

"...Yes, but." He was debating whether or not to say anything before finally one thought won over another. "It's not like I plan to go out and...Find them. That's what some stupid hero would do."

"...Stupid?" They rose an eyebrow. "Platick. Heroes are not stupid."

Platick scoffed. "We ran a store for 'heroes.' They were all stupid."

Kiirnodel's smile dropped. "Yes, well...Be that as it may, they could handle a training dummy. Something that you need to replicate. Now."

As Kiirnodel rose her hand in the air, Platick quickly turned back to the mannequin in a fighting stance. He was on edge.

Kiirnodel snapped their fingers and the mannequin moved.

At first, it looked easy. The mannequin would throw a wide punch or rush at Platick in a telegraphed way. Like amateur wrestling shows. Platick was able to dodge those.

But it kept going. Kiirnodel snapped her fingers a second time and the mannequin would act faster. Its punches would be quicker, its attacks harder to read, and since it was a mannequin there were no eyes or way of showing what it would do next.

That went on for another minute before Kiirnodel snapped their fingers again. Twice. The mannequin changed it up. Instead of only boxing punches, it would duck around and fight Platick like a street brawl. It started throwing feints and Platick would barely get away from getting hit.

Platick would go on for another minute before his skill ran out. A feint would trip him up one time or a punch was too strong another. Gradually the mannequin would start getting the upper hand.

Snap.

Out of desperation, Platick swung for the mannequin's head but it didn't connect. The mannequin would duck and lunge forward in one motion. Before Platick could recover, a swift sucker punch caught him across the jaw.

The mannequin didn't relent. It went for body blows. One. Two. Four. Seven. Thirteen. By the time Platick backed up, the mannequin socked him in the temple and the nose in a rapid one-two.

The mannequin hopped back before Platick could even recover. When he finally did, he wiped his nose on his sleeve. More blood.

"I...Please." he looked to Kiirnodel. "I don't like fighting. I—"

"Eyes forward," they told him. Platick obeyed. "Like it or not you cannot ignore it. You need this."

"..." Platick turned to them again. "I need this?"

The mannequin answered for them.

With Platick's guard down, the mannequin charged silently thanks to the plush rug. When it arrived it put all of its momenta into a single headbutt. The force was so great that Platick was forced to the ground with an arc of blood trailing from his nose.

Fresh blood ran down the mannequin's painted face but it didn't stop. It leaned over Platick and started to punching towards his body and face.. All Platick could do was take cover and accept the blows.

I looked over at Kiirnodel. They had a guilty look but no signs of interrupting.

Do something, I pleaded. Back at Platick, he was wildly swinging his club without looking. He caught the mannequin's arm but it did nothing. It gave the mannequin another opening.

Stop... I tried looking away. At anything that wasn't a bloody mannequin.

Then I saw AJ.

With each punch to Platick, AJ would flinch. Her hat covered her face and she was lying in a way where I couldn't see her body, but I didn't want to look. I could hear the punch and Platick's reaction and it filled in the blanks when AJ flinched.

Applejack's getting hurt. Stop. Stop this!

I looked at the elf again. They took in a breath and sat firm as the mannequin continued. When they finished collecting themselves I saw them raise their hand.

They were about to snap again.

"NO!" I screamed.

The mannequin stopped. AJ stopped twitching. Platick was lying there. Breathing.

I started breathing too. I was holding my breath the whole time.

"Help him up," Kiirnodel commanded. The mannequin obeyed and gently stood Platick up. He didn't resist.

When Platick was on his feet, Kiirnodel got up from their plush throne of a chair and walked forward. Even with their heels crossing the hardwood floor, their footsteps made no sound.

They reached the edge of the rug and the mannequin closed the distance, putting Platick in arms reach of them.

They better not hurt AJ anymore. I glared. If they do I'll drag her out of this dream and teach them myself.

Kiirnodel, thankfully, did nothing like that. They held out a hand and spoke in odd words while their palm would glow with this warm green energy.

Kiirnodel then placed their palm against Platick's head before every wound on Platick began to be swept off like red paint. With each wound wiping away, Platick's raspy breathing slowed.

So did Applejack's.

"There we are. Good as new," they ensured. "Now. Go put on some clean clothes. I'll have Nephis make you a nice meal."

"...Wait." Platick, who was still a little out of it from 'practice', managed to give the elf a sideways glance. "What about your advice on defense class?"

"Oh, nevermind that," they dismissed. "I can always go over them at another time. A meal seems more important."

They turned Platick around and tried to nudge him to run along but Platick wouldn't have any of it. He dug in his heels and turned to face Kiirnodel.

"You're hiding something from me," he announced.

"There has never been a time were I haven't hid something from you." They smiled. "Why are you surprised?"

Platick stared at Kiirnodel's smile. The more he did, the more worried he looked. "What's going on?"

The elf gently held Platick's face with both of her hands, looking him directly in the eyes. "Platick. I know that you have a keen eye for things. But that curiosity of yours needs to be controlled. You need to learn when to pick your battles."

"Pick my battles?" Platick frowned. "You make me fight a mannequin I can't beat."

"That's on purpose." They nodded.

"On purpose?" Platick started to glare. "You can't expect me to learn how to pick my battles and then throw me in a ring with a magic, fighting, training dummy!"

"Shhhh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shhhh. Calm, calm. Lacma..." As they said that last word, Kiirnodel's hands began to glow again but this time in a light blue tint as they held Platick's temples.

All at once, Platick's glare softened, his shoulders slumped, and his eyes started to glow with multiple colors. As though a rainbow was passing by his irises. Every ounce of Platick's anger washed from his face.

"You want some advice from your training? Fine. I'll tell you. You never back away," they explained. Their voice was neutral. "I have never once said that you need to stay your ground. I never even said that you had to stay on the rug. You have an entire room to practice in.

"Back away. Jump. Duck. Get something other than a club. Defending yourself does not mean winning a fight. It means protecting yourself. Understand?"

Platick took a second to breathe. "I understand. I still don't want to fight though," he explained, proving to me he wasn't mind controlled.

"I know. And I hope you never want to. Now. Go change." Kiirnodel shooed him onward and watched as he walked over to his room behind the wine rack.

"...He'll be okay." They said without prompt. "This is merely two months after the incident. And he's only twelve."

Then they turned to the side, facing in my direction with a sly grin. "Though, you think I'm being too hard on him. Don't you?" they asked, looking directly at...

Directly at me.

I blinked. And then looked behind me at the stairs. The door at the top was still closed. And locked. No one was behind me; not even another mannequin.

I didn't want to be right. I wanted to prove they didn't see me. So, as if it would make me calm down, I leaned to the side.

Their eyes followed me.

My mouth made a thin line while I was trying not to make any sounds. Then, as silently as I could, I ducked to the other side. Faster.

They watched.

Their smile grew entertained as they started to walk towards me. And even when they walked across the rug and back onto the floorboards their heels never made a sound.

I tried backing up but I could only get so far without letting go of Applejack. A part of me was trying to reason that she'd be fine if I left but with the elf seeing me I wasn't sure anymore. I couldn't leave her here alone with it.

They stopped when they were about in reaching distance and looked to my face. Although, now that they were this close, my brain started filling me in on a few other things. The first had to do with knowing that they weren't a woman. With every one of these dreams, or whatever they are, stuff kept coming to my mind. Not only were they a they, they weren't even a person.

Now that I was close enough, I could tell that them being an elf was...fake. Their clothes and entire body had this glow to it. Underneath that glow wasn't an Elven woman but something else. Something with horns and eyes that were different than mine.

The horned person was shorter than the elf and had a different tint to their skin. While the elf had a metallic skin tone, ~~their skin was actually~~

"Now, now," both the Elven woman and horned thing warned with a wag of their fingers. A playful grin stretched over both their faces as they saw me follow their finger. "Let's not give it away to everyone, hmm? It's better to keep them guessing."

I said nothing. I barely managed a blink.

"But, to your credit." their grins grew toothier. Their teeth weren't normal. "You're able to see me. Now that is fun, fun, fun."

It can't do anything...It can't. This is a dream, I told myself. I couldn't help myself from biting my li—

"Now that's just a bad habit," they said, speaking the very second I was about to do it. "You really shouldn't frown either. It's unbecoming of a lady. And after all..."

They reached out their hand, the fake elf form doing the same. The elf's hand went right through my face. As it should. This was a dream after all.

Then the thing's hand rested on my cheek.

Then I felt it.

"You have such a beautiful fa—"

Then I lost it.

I tried screaming 'no' only to scream nonsense. I tore my hand from AJ's shoulder and threw punches at the monster or elf but hit nothing.

Like every other time, everything was back to normal in an instant. No basement, no mannequins, no Platick, and no monster. I was back outside with my friends unconscious at the table and Pinkie was on the ground behind me.

Well, Pinkie wasn't behind me for long. When I backed the hell away from where the monster was, I tripped over Pinkie and landed on my back. All the wind was knocked out of me and I was left staring at the gray and dark with the sun— the only sun —out of sight.

I laid on the dirt for minutes trying to put myself together. My heart was going too fast to count the beats and my face was twitching.

When I felt like I was safe I pulled out my phone to check the time. It was still lunch. There were a couple minutes left.

I let my phone drop onto my chest and reached for my cheek. That monster's hand was...bony. It was stiff and hairy and warm, too warm, and I could feel every bone in its hand. One of the nails were a little too close to my eye and it...and it was...it...

It was a dream.

The dream was over.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

A face hung over mine.

"What are you doing?"

"AHHHH!"

My head flung off the dirt so fast I nearly slammed into the face above me. When they ducked away they screamed themselves and took a second to keep from falling over.

"What the. Are you trying to scare me?!"

"S-Sorry. You just... Ya. Jus...D-Don't. Sorry," I took a deep breath, turning away so whoever they were didn't see me shaking. I needed another second. "I didn't mean to."

"...Hmph," They hmph'ed. "Well, as considerate as Trixie is, even she has her limits."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. She was the last person I wanted to see right now.

I bit back my groan and settled for getting up from the ground. I still wasn't looking at her. "What do you want?!"

"What Trixie wants is to know why her rivals are asleep outside. When it's raining."

"Raining?" I wiped my eyes and turned around, only now seeing that Trixie was standing there with a large umbrella opened and above her. "What are you talking about, it's...it's raining."

I looked round and, sure enough, there was a light sprinkle now. But, judging by how much I and the other girls were a little soaked it looks like it rained more earlier.

Did that happen when I was in AJ's dream?

"That's what Trixie said." She rolled her eyes from under her umbrella. "...How and why are they still asleep?"

I looked at the others and saw that they hadn't moved. But in better news, AJ seemed to stop flinching.

"Um..." "Let Trixie guess," she stopped me before I could speak. "Another magic thing is happening and you're the only ones that know?"

"...Yeah," I admitted. Trixie wasn't a transfer student so I guess it wasn't a bad thing for her to know. Besides, she technically knew about magic more than anyone else at Canterlot High. Even if that was by accident.

She smiled to herself. "Well, you should consider yourself lucky Rainbow Dash. For the great—"

"And Powerful Trixie has a new trick to save the day," I finished with no enthusiasm whatsoever. It was the same thing every time. And it got old.

But Trixie didn't seem to think so. After giving me a swift glare, she walked over to Pinkie and handed me her umbrella on the way.

Since I had no idea what was about to happen I followed behind her and held the umbrella over the three of us. It was pretty big for only one person.

Trixie knelt down next to Pinkie and took a deep breath. "Okay. Trixie needs absolute quiet."

"You're the only one talk," "SHH!" She shushed me.

After what had to be a solid ten seconds flat of nothing, Trixie lunged. Before I could stop her, she grabbed Pinkie by both shoulders and started shaking her like a ragdoll, shouting 'wake up' as though she were an auctioneer.

"WAKE UP!" She gave it one last shout and we watched as Pinkie's head balanced itself for a few seconds only to fall back in a loud snort.

"..." I leaned back a little. I was going to pull Trixie away when she reached Pinkie but for some reason she didn't seem to notice any orcs forming into reality.

"...Well, I'm out of ideas." Trixie stood up abruptly.

"Wha-What?!" I stood up with her. "That was it? Shouting was your big trick?!"

"Trixie never said she had a trick," she told me. "Before you interrupted Trixie, she was going to say that the greatest way to wake up someone is the direct approach."

My face was completely neutral. "So...You didn't see anything when you were shaking her?"

"No. Was Trixie supposed to?" She turned back to Pinkie and then the others. "Well, Trixie doesn't see anything now. Other than two soaking wet books on the table."

I tensed up. "Sunset's book!"

Ditching the umbrella, I ran for the table. Amongst the sleeping girls was the D&D book I messed with earlier and Sunset's book. Both were laying face up with the pages now gathering even more rain than it already did.

"No! No, no, no, no, nooo!" I picked up the magic book and started flipping back to the page I was on before. But when I reached the page, dozens of other pages started falling out of the book.

"NO!" I tried catching the papers with one hand but that left me holding the book by only the back cover. By the time I got a good grip on two or three papers, a good fourteen more fell out.

From the corner of my eye I could see half the writing vanishing from the page. The only thing left was Sunset's writing and huge spaces of blank space mixed in.

"What's happened with the book?" Trixie, who took the time to pick her umbrella back up, looked at the papers in confusion.

I dropped the pages and book cover back on the table. "What's wrong is that we don't have a way to talk to Twilight anymore."

Trixie pointed a thumb at the sleeping Twilight.

"The Other Twilight!"

Trixie frowned. "Doesn't she come from the statue or something?"

"Uh...I don't know if it's on or not. The only one who would is still asleep." I gestured to Sunset. She was the only one I hadn't checked but she wasn't flinching like some of the others; only frustrated huffing. I think she was okay.

"...Is this Dungeons?" Trixie looked over the rest of it. "Kind of random."

"Ignore that." I waved it off. "Until we wake them up we need to...You know the game?"

"A little," she shrugged. "One of Trixie's friends play it." When she saw the look I gave her, she frowned. "What? Trixie has friends!"

I shook my head. "So then, can you..." I bit my tongue as I eyed the metal die on the table. Was telling her about that thing a good idea?

Story's POV

Big Mac furrowed his brow. He was still looking at Applejack's stuff.

When I caught him and glanced back at it I frowned. "Is it too dark?"

"Eeehh," he hummed, moving his hand in a so-so motion.

"It is too dark," I translated.

He shook his head. "Ta us? Nope. Ta tha girls? Ehh, may be a bit."

I nodded along. "Yeah, I think you're right. Maybe I'll hold off on messing with their characters. At least until I know whether or not they wanna stick around."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed.

I sat back and finished the last of my food. "Now...What to do with Rainbow's character?"

I stared at the metal die and without warning let out a huge yawn. But at the same time, the school bell rang out. Lunch was over.

"Hmm!" A muffled voice called out. "Twilight? Is school done yet?"

From underneath the table, I spotted Spike pocking his head out from Twilight's bag.

"Huh? Oh, we're outside. Sweet, we are done!" Spike cheered with the whole backpack shaking side to side. His tail was probably shaking the bag. "Twilight! Let's get home already! Mom got me that new chew toy and I hear it calling my name!"

"uuuuu-huh?" Twilight murmured. "Home? Spike, it's lunch. We still have a couple of hours..."

"Twilight?" I leaned over and put my hand on her shoulder. No visions. "Twilight, are you awake?!"

"W-What? Yeah, I'm up." She then looked down at the end of her nose. "Why is their mashed potatoes on my face?"

A long yawn followed by a few stretching noises came from beside the table. "Oh, I needed that nap," Pinkie announced. "They should really give us a napping class! Bet you'd ace that class, huh Dashie?" A chortle later and Pinkie was up on her feet.

"You're all awake!"

"Awake?" Rarity asked. "Why were we asleep? And why are my ears ringing?"

All at once, the girls were starting to wake up. And before they could ask why I tried putting a hand back on their shoulders. There weren't anymore dreams. Not even with Applejack and the monster.

A few of them started to ask what was going on. I tried to figure out a good way to tell them but the attention was brought back to Trixie as she picked up the metal die.

"Hold on, don't touch...that?" I paused. As Trixie held it, the metal die turned back to being milk white and empty. "How'd you do that?"

"Erm...Well, T-Trixie is simply full of surprises!" She gave us a huge grin. "Why, she's so Powerful that Trixie even astounds herself."

She was met with a tough crowd.

"...Rainbow Dash?" Sunset called from behind me.

I sighed. "Yeah, I'm sorry Sunset. Trixie kind of wandered over here while I was—" "Not that." She stopped me.

I turned around and saw Sunset flipping what little of the book's pages were left. "What happened?"

Everything went silent as we all watched Sunset flipping through the book. She was trying to read the first few pages of it. Those pages, she mentioned in the past, she used to talk with the Celestia of the other world years ago. But now only her writing was in the book.

"..." Everyone, even Trixie, didn't know what to say.

So instead of words, another yawn broke the silence.

The culprit rubbed her eyes.

"What I miss?" Fluttershy asked drowsily.

Author's Note

One summer-long hiatus later and here we are! Sorry for the wait everyone.

If anyone reading this saw the chapter that this one replaced you might notice that the new chapter doesn't look at all like the original. While I worked on it I started to realize that there were too many side plots that would mess with the main plot, namely Sunset's book and whether or not the game/magic was actually of any danger.

In the previous draft, neither of those things were handled. The chapter was barely exposition if even that. But I know I needed a chapter that had the girls reacting to what happened. And so this chapter was made.

Ranting aside, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next one should be out sooner provided college classes don't screw with me.

So until then,

-Zeke

(6) Forward to Battle

Sunset's POV
In the Hallway
After School, Thursday

"Well, maybe we could try to do, uh, rubbings?" Rainbow pleaded.

"Rubbings?" I asked.

"Yeah! I was looking it up last night and if you rub a page with a pencil, you can get the imprint on them and..." She trailed off when I shook my head. It wouldn't work.

"...O-kay! Well." Rainbow crumbled up a note card that had the rubbing idea written on it. It was impressive, really. If she dedicated even half of the effort she put into those notes into her classes then she may have been a straight A student like Twilight.

"Uh, here!" After reading her next note card, the fifth one now, she looked to me with hope. "What if we find something that's already magic and charge up the book? Like a battery!"

I frowned. "Wouldn't work either." Rainbow was about to counter but I lowered her notes. "Not only is the magic severed; the book's destroyed too. It'll take me a couple of weeks to even get the pages back in order."

"O-Oh...sorry," she murmured. "...But! But I can help you with those pages. I'll help as long as it takes! Erm, well, unless those other pages were. Ya know. Private. Then I guess it wouldn't be right to help. Sor—"

"Rainbow Dash." I stopped walking down the hall and Rainbow turned to look at me. Ever since lunch she had been trying as hard as possible to be as polite and considerate, on top of all the times she's said sorry.

"I know you feel responsible for what happened. And...how I reacted didn't help." I frowned.

When I saw the book I didn't even look anyone in the eye. I knew it wasn't anyone's fault but seeing the only thing from Equestria I had now in pieces got to me. I didn't want to hear Rainbow Dash or anyone talk to me so I scooped up the book to stuff in my bag and went home early.

It was childish and now Rainbow Dash felt responsible because of what I did.

"I know you want to make it up to me but that's it. You have nothing to apologize for."

"..." Rainbow furrowed her brow. "But...I'm the one who took the book out. If I didn't then it would still be in one piece."

"I know. And that was the right idea," I said with a smile. "You tried to figure out what was going on! You tried to find answers like any of us would have done. I wouldn't have even thought to double check the notes."

"Well, yeah, but you wrote them," Rainbow pushed.

"I still would have taken them out had I thought of that. Instead I'd probably run around trying to shake everyone awake."

"But that's ⊑⏃⎅⎎⍙⍜⏚ ⋉☍⎅⍙ ⌰ ⍙⎍⌰⊑☌ ☌⍀⌰⍾⟊! ⎅⍾☌ ⍙☍⊑⍾ ⎅⍜⍜ ⍙☍⊑ ⊬⌰⎐⌰⍀⍾⎐ ☍⎅⌇⌇⊑⍾⊑☌ ⎅⍾☌..." She stopped trying to talk when she saw my expression.

"You couldn't understand me, could you?"

I shook my head and Rainbow groaned. "That's what happened with the others. I tried telling them ⎅⟒⍀⌖⍙ ⍙☍⊑ ☌⎍⊑⎅⌿⎐ and they got nothing."

That's what the others told me when I came back to school this morning. That and all the work RD put into finding a solution for my book.

"So no one knows anything?" I asked.

"Well...sort of," she shrugged. "Twilight thought of asking yes and no questions. It worked but they weren't asking the right questions."

"The garbling doesn't stop yes or no?"

"Well it does. But it can't keep me from shaking my head or nodding."

That seemed odd. A spell like this in Equestria would go the extra mile. It would disguise words and keep someone from giving visual cues. Rainbow's problem made the spell seem weaker. Or at least have different rules.

"Well that's something at least. What did the girls ask?"

"They asked if the game put them to sleep. I shrugged. Did I fall asleep? No. Did Trixie know anything? Also no."

Oh right, Trixie was there, I blinked. After seeing the book I forgot all about that. We'll need to figure out what to do with her.

"Did I wake them up? No. And then there was what Rarity asked; if it was dangerous."

"..."

When Rainbow didn't answer I started feeling uneasy. "Well...Was it dangerous?"

Rainbow groaned; unsure. "I mean...I ⎎⎅⍾'⍙ ⎅⍾⎐⋉⊑⎍ ⍙☍⎅⍙ ⋉⌰⍙☍ ⎅ ⏚⊑⎐ ⍀⎍ ⍾⍀. ⌰ ☌⍀⍾'⍙ ⋏⍾⍀⋉!"

"It garbled again." I frowned.

"Ugh, I can't even say that?" Rainbow rubbed her temples before looking at me again.

"⌰ ☌⍀⍾'⍙ ⋏⍾⍀⋉."

I shook my head.

"⌰⍙'⎐ ⍾⍀⍙ ⎅ ⏚⊑⎐ ⟒⌖⍙ ⌰⍙'⎐ ⍾⍀⍙ ⎅ ⍾⍀ ⊑⌰⍙☍⊑⎍?" She seemed pleading and spoke slowly.

I shook my head again.

"⌰⍙'⎐ ⎎⍀⌿⌇⍜⌰⎎⎅⍙⊑☌?" Now she seemed desperate. I could only shrug.

"I can't even say ⎎⍀⌿⌇⍜⌰⎎⎅⍙⊑☌?!" She looked at me from the corner of her eye. "Ugh...come on..."

"Dash." I put a hand on her shoulder. "If you think it's dangerous just nod."

Rainbow tensed up. Her hands clenched into fists and she let out a breath from her nose.

"...NO," she declared. "It's not. It's. I think it's not. No one's hurt. No one remembers anything. Even ⎅⌇⌇⍜⊑⋔⎅⎎⋏ ☍⎅⎐ ⍾⍀ ⌰☌⊑⎅ ⋉☍⎅⍙ ☍⎅⌇⌇⊑⍾⊑☌ ⍙⍀ ☍⊑⎍!"

I cringed at the last bout of garbling and looked back. "I know it's concerning and we're gonna get to the bottom of it. But, Dash...you don't have to come. Everyone would understand and we can explain it to Story for you."

Rainbow bit her lip, thinking over her options.

She said it wasn't dangerous but obviously she was worried about something. Although thanks to the book situation she probably didn't reflect on what happened last night. She was too busy making note cards.

Rainbow wasn't telling us to stay away from the game or even to be careful. Even if something had her on edge then it did not seem as bad as the Sirens or the Friendship Games or even me attacking the school. That gave me hope that this was all some sort of illusion magic or something we were being tricked into being afraid of.

"No way," Dash finally answered, looking down the hall towards where the club, and the rest of our friends, was gathered at. "Whatever's going on, I'm not leaving my friends to do this alone. I'm right beside you."

I smiled. "Welcome back Rainbow."

"Glad to be back." She chuckled. I gave her a quick hug and we started to walk down towards the club again. With both of us now feeling a lot better.

Well, sort of.

Rainbow Dash glanced back at the note cards still clutched in her hand.

"So...Is there anything we can do about your book?"

"Hm? Oh. That." I slumped my shoulders a bit. "Well, the pages aren't lost forever. Twilight has all of her entries written down like how my copy has all of mine. The connection to the books got severed."

"That and the bindings," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Yeah, those too. But if I can get my book back to Equestria, the connection will reset itself."

"Wait, it can?!" Rainbow's face lit up as she shuffled through her note cards. "So, the battery idea's actually a thing?"

"It won't happen over night," I explained. "We need to wait for when the mirror will open on its own. Since the connection between the books are gone, the mirror can't be opened by Twilight's personal portal."

Rainbow pulled out her phone, opening it to a calendar. "And...When's the next time it opens?"

"Thirty moons," I said, my voice getting a little strained.

"Oh, so like, once a month?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, even if we just missed it, that's not too bad."

"..." A bead of sweat ran down my temple.

"...Sunset?" Rainbow started to catch on.

"Well, thirty moons means...Thirty full moons."

Rainbow's grip on her phone got tighter. "Which means...How long?"

I sighed inwardly. Here we go... "A full moon is little less than once a month. So we have about twelve to thirteen full moons a ye—" "It'll take two and a half years?!"

I flinched. "It's more like...only two years. It's been a couple months since the Fall Formal."

"Two years; you'll be in college by then," Rainbow announced.

"Don't remind me," I muttered. Getting into school without a background was one thing. College will be another hurdle.

"It'll be okay," I told her. "Twilight uses this book just as much as I do. When she sees what's going on then she'll probably want to find a solution too. We just have to make sure no more magic blasts strike the podium on this end."

"Pffft," Rainbow blew a raspberry. "With no Equestria, that's not gonna happen for a while."

"There's the positivity," I said with a smile. Sort of, I thought. "Now come on. Let's work on figuring out the magic that we do have."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes but smiled along with me as she stuffed away those note cards.

Finally, they're not in her death grip, I smiled. But as we neared the door I thought came to my mind. I hope she thought to look up a bookbinder in all that research. Preferably one who doesn't ask questions.

Rarity's POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Classroom
Meanwhile

Most of the girls had arrived a little early, helping to set up everything for the game in record time. Tables had been pushed together, chairs were pulled up, and stuff upon stuff was laid out. Twilight and I had insisted on helping Story unpack the things that were to remain at his position at the table, however, no new answers came up. Similar to the die at lunch, it all appeared inactive and mundane.

The only result was Story quickly snagging the teacher's plush computer chair while everyone was distracted.

Don't think I didn't notice that Story. I gave a mock glare towards him in his comfortable seat. Next time I'll be the one using that seat and you can have the student chair.

When Story spotted my disapproving glance, he took whatever papers he was looking at, returned a mock wave to me and spun the chair in circles. Swivel chairs we're very good at that.

I rolled my eyes at such a childish attitude and turned to the door, without swiveling my chair, when I heard it open. As it was opened I and the others watched as Twilight walked in, nervously glancing at her backpack.

"Everything alright, darling?" I asked.

"Yeah..." Twilight said with no confidence. Except, as she did, her backpack started shuffling about. And before she could look behind her, I saw Spike trying to poke his head out.

All of us looked either at Twilight's backpack or at Story. He probably wouldn't be shocked to see a dog, he was Fluttershy's friend after all. A talking dog, on the other hand...

"Woah," Spike spoke. He was looking at the things on the table. "What's all of—waah!" As Spike looked at everything on the table, I ran over and, with enough grace not to hurt him, lowered Spike's head back into the backpack before Story could see him.

Still, when I turned back I saw Story straightening out his chair. He was facing away when Spike popped out. "Who was that?"

"Erm…" I hummed. "Oh. It's, someone passing by. They're curious is all!"

As if to run with the lie, I stuck my head out the doorway. "It's a club of ours," I called out to the empty hallway. "Dungeons & Dragons! It's actually a very. Nice..." While I feigned my voice trailing off, Sunset and Rainbow Dash began to round the corner. "Oh. Girls. Perfect timing."

Rainbow Dash looked around. "Who were you talking—" "Shhh!" I shushed her, flinching when I realized Story was probably still watching. "Just...Just come in," I said sadly.

As I lead the two inside and closed the doors, Sunset looked at the set up. "Uh...Is something different about the figures?"

"What?" Story furrowed his brow before looking at them himself. He glanced over them confusedly, making Sunset look ready to regret asking that.

"Right, that," Applejack cut in. "Y'all 'member me tellin' how Big Mac found out about this little get together?"

The rest of us nodded and affirmed her question while Story shrunk in his swivel chair.

"Ahehe...Sorry about that," he apologized. "He suggested I start up this club so I figured it was only fair."

Applejack sighed. "Nah, don't be sorry. Ya were right, it's only fair. Regardless," she went on. "Still, Big Mac ended up hearin' from me an' Story 'bout what happened to his stuff. So he spread the news on."

"Yeah," Story continued. "He told my other group and, just like you guys, they got me some stuff to recover, like the primed figures you see on the table." He chuckled. "I think I'm starting to feel like a charity case."

"...Oh." Sunset facepalmed. "Primed. The figures are primed. That's why they're all off-white."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Now that I have 'em primed I need to paint 'em up later. If any one wants I still have the other minis from Tuesday. We can use them instead."

"Well..." Pinkie picked up the off-white one that resembled her character much better than the last one. "This Glemerr is smaller than the other Glemerr," she judged. "Buuuuuut, the old Glemerr had a weapon. So, meh." Pinkie picked up the new model. "Glemerr fights with her fists," she cried out as she made the same fighting pose as the new one.

Sunset smirked. "Yeah. I'll go along with that." She then reached for her figure and studied it. "...Actually. Would you mind if I painted my own?"

"You paint?" Story asked.

"You could say that," Sunset answered with a grin.

"Alright then. Go for it," Story approved. "I'm fine with spreading the work if you are."

Each of us soon decided on using the newer figures and started to settle into our seats as we pulled out dice and paper for the game. Even Rainbow Dash seemed to be pulling out some paper and a pencil. She also had Sunset put her dice between the both of them since Rainbow never bought any dice of her own back on Tuesday.

So she is playing after all. I pondered for a second. She did eventually manage to tell us that the game wasn't dangerous but I wasn't sure if she would want to play again after whatever fiasco happened yesterday. Although, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy seemed to take that as a sign of relief, not all of us were so sure. Applejack and myself especially.

Story cleared his throat, ending my distraction.

"...Last time on The Tutorial," Story spoke in a voice that sounded like a narrator. Deep-pitched and neutral. "All of you had met with a Dwarf known as Gundren Rockseeker and his human partner, Sildar, to talk about a transport job to carry a cart of supplies. Supplies, later to be found out as mining tools and dwarven alcohol by Platick who seemed suspicious about why it wasn't explained.

"A few days into the trip, the quiet roads turned loud when you got to the top of the hill only to find the remains of a ransacked wagon and dead horses in the middle of the road. But while a few of you realized the trap, others charged on and met an ambush of goblins with black-feathered arrows.

"You swiftly defeated them and learned that the wagon and its horses were the ones that Sildar and Gundren had used. Although they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there are only signs of a trail leading into the small forest where the goblins had come from. And that...Is where we begin."

"So." With his recap finished, Story took in a breath.

"Let's start a story."

And everything came to life.

All at once, each of us had magic flow from our hands and onto everything on the table. The figures, the papers, the map, everything behind Story Spinner's screen, and, most importantly, the dice.

Like before, each of our dice changed into a different color even though they were new sets. Mine donned a marble finish, Pinkie's was bright pink, Applejack's a dark orange, and so on.

However, as the new dice colors change I noticed that the bronze die wasn't anywhere in Sunset's small pile. Instead, the only dice that Rainbow Dash had with her was the milk white, blank die from yesterday.

It didn't stay that way for long. As magic poured from each of us into everything at the table, Rainbow's magic was doing the same. Except, hers was the only magic that was forming into the empty die and changing it more than anything else on the table.

The flawless shape started to become distorted, turning lumpy and almost malleable with this cotton-like texture to it. At the same time it appeared as though dust or smoke was beginning to waft from it as Rainbow Dash tapped it with her finger. It went from a bronze die to a empty husk and now to some sort of condensed cloud.

The numbers and symbols were another thing. Instead of getting carved into the edges like metal or with however welding worked, I didn't know the specifics of that, there were nothing imprinted on the faces of the die. Instead, the symbols and numbers seemed to glow as though they were coming from lightning inside the cloud die.

With every change going on at the table, a few of us started to freak out only to realize that Story was sitting there without any clue about what was going on. It took some doing but we all managed to pretend as if nothing was going on.

"So those are the words," Sunset murmured to herself, unsurprised about everything going on.

"Hmm?" Story glanced over. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Nothing." she waved the thought away, ignoring the magic aura pouring out of her hands. She was much better at ignoring magic dancing around her. Prior experience, I guessed.

"Like you said." Sunset nodded. "Let's start."

3rd Person POV
On the Road
Midday

As the group of ragtag guards ensured the unconscious goblins were secured to a tree, their focus turned to the cart and horses blocking the path. Even if they wanted to take time to guide the oxen around the wreckage, someone would need to clear the path later on. As far as the group could tell, they were the only ones for the job.

Thankfully, with seven people at the scene, the task was split up into two simple jobs. The armored Dwarf, Ravathyra, and the fisticuffs half-orc, Glemerr, were on wagon duty. They worked to break apart the wrecked wagon and toss the pieces off the road into a pile. There was still a pile of debris but at least now it wouldn't cause traffic. At that point scavengers could pick off whatever they liked.

At the same time, Thorn Wielder had taken it upon herself to deal with the horses; the second job. After untying the reins and bridle that attached them to the wagon Thorn Wielder would begin to manipulate her thorns around the horses' barrel, using her vines as makeshift rope.

"Here. We'll give you a hand."

Thorn Wielder watched as Platick, and Vareén with hesitation, walked over to find a part of the vine that didn't have too many thorns and grabbed a hold of it. With the combined strength of all three of them, they worked on dragging the horse out of the road.

"So..." Vareén spoke between pulls. "What exactly...Are these...Vines?"

"..." Thorn Wielder took a few steps backward and pulled her arm in towards her, pulling the horse a couple of feet forward. "...Gift," she strained.

"A gift?" Vareén tugged on the vine and looked to Platick before speaking in Dwarven. "Is that part of the legend?"

"Can't say for sure," he admitted, returning the Dwarvish language. When the horse was halfway across the road, Platick had to step around a goblin that had barbed thorn cuts across its neck. "The rumor was...She used. Forest to a..." By this point, the two of them had to start using only half their words to focus on the horse. "...To attack whoever came...But. Vine's not a forest..."

"..." The horse was now halfway on the grass. Platick might have looked pretty winded but Vareén was starting to double over. The good news was that they were almost done. With the first horse at least.

Vareén glanced up to Platick "You and Ravathyra...knew her...Where-how?"

The three all gave one final heave before the horse was far enough to be out of the road. When it was, Thorn Wielder's vine went slack and sent Platick and Vareén tumbling back. Platick managed to keep his footing but Vareén in her exhaustion wasn't as lucky.

Platick walked up to help Vareén back to her feet as Thorn Wielder ignored them and instead approached the second dead horse with her vine.

"...Thorn Wielder's...A nickname," Platick breathed. "She was something of a. A small town rumor in the Elven country. Long time ago."

"How...small?" Vareén adjusted her hood so Platick wouldn't get a good view of her face. Then, unbeknownst to Platick, Vareén wiped away the bucket of sweat from her forehead.

"Small enough that...it wasn't on a map," Platick started to stand fully. "I don't actually know the name of the nearby town. You'd have to have been to Cortás to know that."

"...You said wasn't?" She repeated. "What happened?"

"..." Whether for lack of energy or not, Platick took a couple of breaths to study Vareén. With her hood now fully up, however, Platick couldn't read her expression. "...You do know about the Cortás Scorch, right? Not to be as tactless as the Dwarf earlier—" "Hey!" Cried Ravathyra. "—But you are an elf after all. You should be old enough to remember."

Vareén nodded. "I know the story."

From how Vareén recalled it, the Cortás Scorch was an event that happened a little more than 20 years ago and it was without warning. From the base of the mountains in west Cortás all the way to a city called Acrine, a massive forest fire erupted and claim a little over 10 million acres of land in less than two days before the Elven Druidic clans could stop it.

Some said that the forest began to explode. Others said the Drow led an assault. Few even claimed it was a dragon attack despite the creatures not being sighted for decades. But for most survivors, they explained it as hell making an entrance. And then crawling.

In the end, the fire reached the edge of Acrine before it was finally quelled and every city, village, and druidic community living between Acrine and the mountains were now charcoal. That charcoal was now named the Scorched Acrine.

"Was she part of the cause?" Vareén glanced over. Thorn Wielder's vines had now ensnared the second horse and Ravathyra stopped working on the wagon pieces to help pull it.

"No idea," Platick shook his head. "The only reason I know about her is because a long time ago she revealed herself to a lot of mercenaries and adventurers; the type who would stomp through a forest and not care how they left it. The sightings traveled the grapevine. Pun intended," he added, watching as Wielder's vines continued dragging the horse with help of the Dwarf. The two worked at an even pace more efficient than when Vareén and Platick tried.

Vareén eyed everyone else around the two of them. With most of the others finishing up the cart, Ricven and Stostine were alone as they approached the tracks from earlier. Since they were the weakest, or smallest in Ricven's case, they weren't much use in heavy lifting. So they decided to be useful some other way.

"If this was such a major event," Vareén continued the conversation, staring at the two magic-users all the while. "Then why are you so careful not to talk about it around the human girl?"

"Honestly?" Platick glanced to Vareén before settling his gaze on his fellow human. "Paranoia."

"Paranoia? Of what?"

"Well. The way I see it." Platick started to step aside, getting out of Thorn Wielder's way as she pulled the horse next to the other. "We have a pretty average group of people for grunt work like this. Half-orcs aren't rare to look for labor jobs and as we're close to the Drakehead Mountains, dwarves are a copper piece a dozen."

The Dwarf stopped her pulling to look over at Platick with a frustrated glance. Platick and Vareén were speaking Dwarven, so Ravathyra obviously understood them.

"Sorry," Platick tossed out. In a huff, Ravathyra got back to pulling.

"Anyway," Platick continued. "The only two that don't fit is Stostine and Ms. Rumor herself."

"And the gnome?"

"A pretty boy-type," Platick dismissed. "He likely tagged along because he thought it's easy work. More common than you'd expect. Girl's a different story. She's from some higher class trying to blend in. Add magic on top of that and she stands out more than anyone...Well, again, tied for second."

Platick and Vareén watched as Ravathyra and Thorn Wielder finally pulled the horse beside the other. And, to her credit, Thorn Wielder only allowed herself to fall into the grass after the horses were safely moved. But she was now more exhausted than Vareén was.

"...Burial?" Thorn Wielder looked to the nearby onlookers through ragged breath, watching them as though she were both pleading and demanding.

"Uh...Maybe not." Ravathyra frowned. Pulling the horses had taken long enough in her opinion.

"...Words," Thorn Wielder negotiated sternly.

Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy who was giving her a pair of pleading puppy dog eyes. Even if Story helped describe her character's intensity, Fluttershy's meek nature was what the girls saw.

It certainly helped when breaking a few of them.

Rainbow sighed. "Oh, alright." She then turned to Story. "You said that a paladin was a...church warrior, or something, right?"

"Holy Warrior, yeah." Story nodded along.

"Okay. So then...Would it count if I said something?"

Story shrugged. "Well, you know it would mean something to someone," he left vaguely. "But, if you want to, go ahead and roll me...a performance check."

"Performance?" Rainbow looked over the paper in front of her. "Isn't there a religion one?"

"Either would work. Your choice." Again, Story held back, hoping to let Rainbow enjoy the game her way.

So, more to make sure she was testing the magic before the other girls, Rainbow Dash picked up the cloudy die and tossed it up.

Despite the die now looking like a cloud, it rose, fell, and rolled like any other dice. The only difference was that the girls couldn't hear any tapping as it bounced across the table.

When it finally landed, Rainbow could see two writings appear on the table beside the cloud die. One read 'Performance +2' and the other read 'Religion +2'.

Doing the math in her head, Rainbow looked up. "Religion; fifteen."

Story nodded, moving a pencil behind the screen where the girls couldn't see. "By any chance, do you have an idea for who Ravathyra's oath is to? Her god?"

"Huh? Oh. Uh," Rainbow thought it over for a second, the memories from yesterday floating in her mind. "Um...Ulaa," she said confusedly.

"..." Story stopped moving the pencil, looking as confused as the rest of the group.

"Ulaa," Rainbow persisted, the thoughts suddenly coming to her from nowhere. "The Goddess of the Hills and Mountains. Sh-She brings gifts from the earth to those who can create from those gifts. When someone. Passes," Rainbow continued on as she glanced at Sunset with extreme confusion. "She. Prefers they're returned to the earth..."

"Uh..." Story hummed, noticing as the girl's attention started to fall on him. However, taking it as the girls expecting Story to describe the scene, he quickly started to do so. Unfortunately, having no idea how this 'Ulaa' goddess worked himself, he made a lot of it on the spot but did well-enough pulling it off.

Sunset took the chance to snatch the cloud die from Rainbow. In an instant, the cloud die gave a brief flash before becoming the bronze die once again. The moment it did, Rainbow felt all the foreign memories stop. They were still there but she was able to focus again.

Thorn Wielder and the others watched as Ravathyra stepped forward and bowed her head in prayer. She then began giving last rites to the pair of fallen horses. It was all in dwarven, which Thorn Wielder couldn't understand, but the motions were appreciated all the same.

As the rites continued, the musician, Ricven, and arcane user, Stostine, had been looking over the trail and tied up goblins that were along the side of the road. They were fully aware that they weren't doing nearly as much work as the others so investigating tracks was the least they could do.

Or at least one of them thought so.

"Remind me again why we're doin' this?" Ricven huffed. "The road's almost cleared up anyhow. In a few minutes we'll be relaxin' on tha cart whilst we coast ta Phandalin."

"To Phandalin?" Stostine turned fully to the gnome. "Are you serious?"

"One a' the few times I am. Yes."

"This wagon belongs to Gundren," Stostine pointed out. "The others proved as much. He and Sildar might be in trouble."

"An' I'm certain that they'll be saved. However, we got our orders. An' they ain't ta play hero, Ms. Stostine."

Stostine rolled her jaw, thinking of her next choice of words. "Our orders, hmm? Who gave us those orders?"

"Gundren," Ricven stated. And with another huff, he caught Stostine's line of thinking. "Ya think the goblins took 'em."

"Is that hard to believe?"

"That goblins took a prisoner? No. Them vermin are nothin' but rotten ta tha core," Ricven surrendered quickly.

Applejack gave Rarity a look. If it wasn't for the New Orleans accent, AJ could swear Rarity was trying to copy her way of talking.

"What I am sayin', is that we barely managed a small ambush that we all...sorry, that most of us," he corrected. "Saw comin'."

"I knew it was an ambush," Stostine defended.

"An' yet ya fell for it anyhow. If that don't shout under our knees, nothin' does."

"Under our...what?" Stostine leaned her head to the side. "Did you mean...over our heads?"

"Head, knee, don' matta to a goblin. They'll strike at anythang. Point is we ain't capable ta pull off a rescue."

Stostine was determined to prove the gnome wrong. So she turned around and knelt down near the tracks without another word. The whole reason Stostine came to them in the first place was so that she could prove she was worth something. Ricven only followed so he could try to chat her up.

Now, with Ricven's idea free-falling out the window, he tried changing tactics. "...Why are ya so determined ta throw yaself at these goblins? There some history ta that?"

Stostine gave her a second to cool down as she kept looking at the tracks. "I do not like turning a blind eye to problems like this. The goblin part doesn't matter to me."

"A valiant thought ta be sure." Ricven shrugged. Valiance didn't interest him. New topic, he thought. "That magic a' yours seems somethin' special. How long ya been practicin'?"

Stostine looked off into the distance as she started having trouble keeping her patience. "Ricven, I...appreciate your curiosity in my life." She paused. Even Stostine couldn't find a way to make that sound believable. "But I am trying to make myself useful. If you do not want to, that is fine. But, and I am sorry to say this, but please do not include me."

Giving Rarity a sorry expression, Sunset turned to Story and wordlessly steeled her nerves as she picked up the bronze D20. "I would like to—"

Suddenly, Rarity stood up as her chair skidded backwards. With Sunset and Rainbow looking more worried than the others Rarity figured now was as good a time as any to try and put everyone's minds at ease. After all, if Applejack thought Rarity was copying her, why not copy from Pinkie Pie too?

When all eyes were on her, Rarity cleared her throat and, with confidence, sang.

"Go forward, go forward, and find us the trail~"

"You'll find all the goblins and fight without fail~"

"For the humans, and the elves, and the Dwarf, orc, and gnome~"

"Will journey, ever onward, into the unknown~"

With the last of Rarity's verse complete, she turned to Story.

"I'd like to inspire Stostine with her trackin'," Rarity explained in Ricven's voice.

"By singing?" Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Dunno how makes sense."

Despite Pinkie questioning how that made sense, ~~That was weird to write~~ Sunset noticed a six-sided die in front of her begin to glow with Rarity's cyan aura.

Story snapped his fingers a couple of times in appreciation to Rarity's ballad. "Done and done. And nice singing," he complimented. "Sunset, you can go ahead and make that survival check on the tracks now. And you can add a D6 if you want."

Sunset noticed how both of her twenty-sided dice, the bronze and the regular one, glowed as if inviting her to pick one of them over the other.

She turned and thanked Rarity, who sat back down with a grin, and scooped up both the D6 and not-bronze D20 before rolling them.

After clambering around, Sunset counted up the dice and the number appearing on the table and sat back. "Everything together's a twenty."

Ricven trailed off his song with a rhythmic hum while Stostine's mind began to give itself clarity despite the added noise. Stostine allowed herself to nod along to the ballad and, she recognized, the tracks began to seem easier to read and discern.

At face value there were smaller tracks that went up and down the road constantly. Those, Stostine assumed, belonged to the goblins. Although, older tracks helped her to show a different picture.

When Ricven's humming ran its course, the rest of the group began to approach the two magic users as Vareén went to guide the oxen and cart closer.

"Any luck?" Platick asked.

"Yes." Stostine stood up and began to use magic to clean away the dirt and dust that gathered on her robes. "There are at least a good dozen more goblins. It looks like they've lived around here for a time now."

"Infestation," Thorn Wielder said, staring at the goblins as they sat tied to the tree. They were still unconscious and luckily unable to see the look from Thorn Wielder's gaze.

"Didn't we already know that?" Ravathyra wasn't as interested.

"There's more." The group watched as a spectral hand appeared, picking up a nearby stick and floating it into Stostine's grasp. With the stick, she pointed out one large, faded footprint. "There was something else with them too. Something as big as Glemerr."

"Another orc?" Glemerr asked curiously.

"Not sure. What I am sure of..." She used the stick to poke at the large marks pulled through the ground. They were hard to spot but both of them were signs of something getting dragged. "If they did take Gundren like the goblin said, then he and Sildar were taken this way."

Ricven sighed. "Ms. Stostine, I believe you're missin' tha point I was makin' earlier. We ain't fit ta go on any rescue, assumin' that they really took Gundren in the first place."

"The goblin said they did." Ravathyra pointed a thumb at the goblins.

"Well...It said that," Platick started. "But you have to remember those goblins attacked us for no reason. They don't seem that smart. Could you really believe them?"

"What else could dem drag marks be d'ough?" Glemerr folded her arms.

"A deer? Boar? Hell, them goblins mentioned catchin' wolves before." Ricven listed, not noticing the death glare Thorn Wielder was using. "A line in tha dirt don't mean nothin'."

"But this does."

From behind the group, Vareén held up the cylindrical tube she had found in the wreckage earlier. "The goblin said they were looking for the map Gundren had."

"Map?" Platick frowned. "Gundren never mentioned a map."

"He said he found an old historic mine," Vareén reminded him. "How do you think he found it?" For emphasis, she gestured to the map carrier.

"You knew about this map?" Stostine asked.

"In a way," Vareén shrugged, throwing the map carrier strap over her shoulder so it sat next to her quiver. "I knew Sildar, Gundren's friend, before this job. I only knew about the map by word of it."

"Well there we go then," Ravathyra said. "Goblins are bad and they have the Dwarf guy. We go fight 'em."

"Not quite," Platick shook his head. "If there are dozens of goblins like Stostine says then we're outmatched. Six almost had the better of us and we outnumbered them."

"In. Fest. A. Tion," Thorn Wielder spoke slowly. Less out of being unfamiliar with the language and more trying to remind them. "Infest forest. Capture wolves. Fight Infestation."

Glemerr gave a stern nod. "Yeah! Dem goblins can't get away wit'it."

Stostine nodded along.

"Ladies, please," Ricven pleaded. "I hate goblins as much as the next gorgeous man but look around. Some of us are injured, and some are a bit tapped for ability." He then turned to Stostine. "Don't think I didn't see that little Shield trick a' yours. Ya can't keep that goin' forever. And..."

"If we. Get. Hurt," Rarity warned as she tapped a die along the table, staring at Sunset and the bronze die as she did without Story having any clue.

"We should be careful," Ricven concluded.

Stostine gave herself a second to breath. She wanted to think this clearly.

On one hand, Sunset knew Rarity was right. If falling asleep wasn't a warning enough to be careful then Rainbow's memory a minute ago was an even bigger sign. Purposely throwing themselves into dangerous situations in the game could have consequences.

On the other hand, what if the opposite was true? If dangerous situations had consequences, what would the consequence be for letting a bad thing happen? If Sunset being in danger meant she'd stop a worse situation, she would take that chance. To expect the same from her friends though? She would never ask that.

But again, Rainbow told everyone that the game didn't seem dangerous. There was no reason to suspect otherwise. That's why everyone was so keen on seeing this game through until they figured out the magic.

And then there was Story. In the first game, he had the goblins attack them; not the other way around. He would play the game like nothing's wrong because, to him, nothing is. Sunset figured that if the girls tried avoiding every issue either Story may present an unavoidable problem. Maybe in the form of another ambush. At least if the girls looked for trouble it would hopefully be on their terms.

"They need to be taken care of," Sunset spoke in Stostine's tone. "And the sooner the better."

Rainbow leaned forward, looking to the rest of the girls. "She's right. We need to find out how..." Realizing that Story was there, Rainbow thought her words over. "...to fight the goblins. I mean, we've gotta fight 'em eventually, right?"

Rarity looked ready to retort but the more she thought about it, bit her tongue. Rainbow was right. Even if it wasn't for the reason Sunset was thinking.

"Well," Twilight spoke next, keeping her voice low and bored as Vareén would. "Splitting up is even more dangerous. There have been wolves howling in the distance behind us. If there's more goblins we would need everyone to fight them off."

"Wolves?" Fluttershy sat back. "Wolves..." She let out a sudden gasp as she put something together. "Wolves howl," she spoke as Thorn Wielder. "Infestation. Catch wolves. Wolves howl, Infestation?" Fluttershy watched Story to see if she was right but Story Spinner gave no response. He was letting her put it together.

The girls watched as Fluttershy's expression soured. "Wipe out. Infestation." It was now that the girls knew what Thorn Wielder truly looked like.

During the silence, Pinkie Pie swiped the bronze die from Sunset and stood up, striking a pose.

"Den we need ta hurry," Pinkie shouted in her gruff Glemerr voice. "Dem goblins can't be let go wit'out a figh' now! Everyone!" She took a second to giggle at her own speech. "Follow behind ol' Glemerr! She'll keep y'all safe from da gobbos! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! And Glemerr runs down the trail," Pinkie cried out in a cheer.

"Wait, Pinkie!" Sunset shouted.

"NOT MY NAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." Pinkie started making her shouting quieter and quieter until finally she stopped shouting completely.

"Ugh." Stostine smacked her forehead. "Fine. GLEMERR!" Stostine shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Toofaraway,can'thearyou—let'sgoooooooo!" Glemerr shouted in return, now definitely out of shouting distance.

"Well, looks like she chose for us." Ravathyra wore a flat look. "Guess we're fighting goblins."

Platick's head sat in his hands. "This is a bad idea."

"Can't help but agree," Ricven added. Then, as he shrugged, "But even if we put it to a vote, I think we woulda lost anyhow."

"Yeah." Platick glanced over at the cart and oxen. "I suppose that only leaves us figuring out what we do with the..." Platick stopped talking when Thorn Wielder got onto the wagon, followed soon by Stostine beside her in the seat. "We're taking that with us?"

"Ox come," Thorn Wielder said. "Ox safe...When come."

"She's not wrong." Vareén took up position at the front of the cart, eager to make up for her failure with the tracks from earlier. "If we leave the oxen unattended then anyone can take the cart and leave."

"Ox come," Thorn Wielder affirmed again with a nod.

When Ricven and Platick watched the other girls pack up around the cart, ready to charge after their half-orc acquaintance, the two guys silently fell in line. Ricven climbed back on top of the cart and Platick hung in the back as before.

With everyone in place, Stostine gave a nod to Thorn Wielder and the group was headed down the path the same minute. At a much slower pace than Glemerr.

Story's POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Classroom
3:12 PM

"Now then." I settled into his seat and watched as the girls all had different reactions. Fluttershy and Twilight seemed to have this look of determination but still nervousness. Completely understandable. Sunset seemed to have that same determination but looked more nervous with Pinkie as she tried to whisper something to her.

Rainbow seemed a little harder to read. She was following the others' example but certainly seemed more focused than Tuesday. Although Rarity and Applejack seemed to be less focused and were glancing all over the place. At their papers, the dice, whatever Pinkie was holding, and just around the table in general. It looked like they may have been taking the game more seriously than anyone else. Except that may have been because they were against going after the goblins to start with.

Finally, there was Pinkie. She already sat back down and was apparently trying to reassure whatever Sunset seemed worried about. The phrases "it's all a game" and "don't worry, it's in good fun" were loud enough for me to hear.

At least she has the right mindset, I told myself. I had to be careful though. If I let anyone think that for too long they'd get reckless. Kind of like what Pinkie was already doing running ahead of the party.

I think now's a good time to nip that in the bud. Sorry Pinkie. That may have sounded apathetic but it sadly wasn't as such. Especially since I was hiding behind my screen with a grin too evil to belong to someone feeling guilty.

When attention fell back to me, I perked back up from my screen with the smile without trace and spoke. "The trail through the woods turns wider and thinner as you go but its easy enough to drive a cart through. Some of the wider areas are even big enough to turn the oxen around should you need to.

"However, as you progress through this small wood, you realize that the trail seems to have been naturally made by the goblins going up and down constantly. You assume that they've lived out quite a while.

"Now with Glemerr." I turned to Pinkie and saw she was excited for her moment in the spotlight. I told her that I had a story for her but we didn't have time to go over it. Also I didn't have a way to send it to her since I didn't have anyone's email.

"Despite popular opinion on orcs, you don't know the wilderness too well. You were a city girl," I introduced. Exposition was my only method of telling her. "Except, I don't think the change in scenery's bothering you," I said with a fake shrug.

As though to agree with me, Pinkie let out a small war cry as she held up a twenty-sided die.

"Exactly," I said in a chuckle. "And in your glorious rampage of justice," I called out with a deep, monstrous tone. "As you bound ever forward," I then switched my voice from monstrous growl to innocent happy-go-lucky. "are you ready to have your own mini-adventure?"

"AAAAAAAAAUGH—Wait, what?!" Pinkie's face lit up as the others had looks ranging from confused to interested and even worried from Rarity and Applejack especially.

It was likely a combination of the girls worried about Pinkie's character alone and the girls worried about me letting Pinkie run reckless in a game about imagination. And, I'll admit, letting the personification of ad-libbing do whatever she pleased sounded too fun to pass up.

Of course, I wasn't insane. Rarity and Fluttershy had given me a few warnings about 'Pinkie just being Pinkie.' And while I didn't really know what that meant, I've met people like Pinkie before. I could probably handle it.

"A mini-adventure," I repeated. "You split off from the party and something's going to happen to you alone. You up for it?"

Pinkie slammed the die she was holding on the table and her grin began stretching past her face.

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Am—" Rainbow leaned across the table and put a hand over Pinkie's mouth.

"Yes, yes she is," Rainbow told me almost pleadingly. "Just go with it, please?"

I saw the other girls giving me knowing nods. Except for Twilight who didn't seem as 'in the loop' as they were.

I gave a mock sigh. I had a good punchline. "Alright, that's fair. In that case, would it be alright if everyone but Pinkie stepped out of the room for a minute?"

Sunset blinked. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing bad," I explained. "Since it's Glemerr's Mini-Adventure, only Pinkie Pie's gonna be a part of it. It's like the whispers; it adds flare."

"Well...I s'ppose that ain't too much." Applejack started to stand. "Can we 'least wait outside tha door?"

"That'd be perfect actually. If you're nearby we can get you if we need anything."

Rarity bit the corner of her lip. "Well...Is it absolutely necessary?"

Before I answer, Pinkie did it for me. "Aw, come on Rarity! If you stay than you'll know everything that's gonna happen!"

"That'd be nice," Sunset mumbled under her breath. I tried hiding my smile from that.

When the girls saw that Pinkie didn't want to budge, they relented.

After wishing Pinkie good luck, and Sunset whispering something to her on the way out, the girls retreated to the hallway and left Pinkie as she sat there playing with the dice in her hand. Somehow, Pinkie was bouncing it back and forth between her hands as if the plastic die was a rubber ball.

Huh. I guess that's 'Pinkie just being Pinkie.' Weird...But not bad. I told myself not to question it, that's what Rarity and Flutters said anyway, and sat back in my chair. "Ready to start?"

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Ar..." I caught myself. As much as I wanted to prove Rainbow wrong, we were on the clock now. The girls were waiting outside and I didn't want to take forever.

"Sounds like you are," I answered. "Then let's get this started. I believe you were still bounding forward?"

"Oh, right. Give me a second." Pinkie brought a fist up to her mouth and cleared her throat and held that pose.

"..." I waited for her but after a solid ten seconds of silence I began rolling my jaw.

She's gonna wait until I say something isn—

As though interrupting my thoughts, Pinkie let out a deafening war cry.

Glemerr's POV
Forest Trail

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!"

I kept running. Running as fast as I could. With no canals to leap over and no one to duck around, I covered ground faster than normal.

I had been at top speed for all of five minutes. The path curved to one side or another but mostly it kept straight. Good thing; I would have been so lost if I had to pick a road to go down.

It wasn't like back home. No water flow to follow and no landmarks. Just leaves and dirt. Too many leaves. Too much dirt too. The concrete felt nicer to run on. No sudden rocks or sticks in the road. Maybe a tooth though. Or a nail that fell off of a building.

I looked over my shoulder. The others weren't there. Weird. Why weren't they there? Some of them said that we needed to fight the goblins so I figured at least a few of them would've been coming. Like Scythe Elf or Hood Woman. Maybe even Armor Lass, assuming her legs could've kept up.

To tell the truth, I was never good with names. I knew mine. Glemerr! And then a couple from back home like Mord and Ugo. Everyone else was fine with me calling them whatever.

But still, none of them came? Maybe I ran too fast for them. Aside from Knife Guy. He seems fast. Not me fast but...Fast enough.

3rd Person POV
The Classroom

After Pinkie telling Story that she keeps running forward, Story rolled a couple of dice behind his screen. Although despite the excited grin Pinkie was keeping on her face, her expression started tensing up a little.

With each roll, Pinkie watched those same tendrils of energy from the other day started to stretch out from beyond Story's dice. One even stretching towards Pinkie's direction. That one caused her to lean to the side.

When Story finished rolling a third time, with a tendril going through the table and below, they all faded away as though turning invisible.

"Now Pinkie," Story looked up. "I need you to roll me a perception check. Disadvantage."

A bead of sweat started forming from under Pinkie's puffy hair. "Okay," she cheered.

There were only two dice for her to choose from. The regular die she already had which was now pink with yellow and blue numbers. It changed colors like everyone else's. But the die she got from Sunset was different still.

Like Story almost recognized, the die had turned rubber, with the base looking like a swirl of light reds and pinks. Almost like a ball of cotton candy. The numbers and symbols on the other hand were multiple colors and looked like a child drew them. They were differing sizes and imperfect but that's what gave it a sense of charm.

Pinkie took in a small breath and gave out a small 'wee' as she rolled the dice. She rolled a 2 and a 4.

Her 'wee' was short-lived.

After counting the number appearing on the table, Pinkie's grin was now weaker but still there.

"Five...?" She shrugged pitifully.

Story bit his lip. "Okay...Now roll initiative."

Author's Note

Something I want to mention here, Ricven's song is to the tune of Skyrim's The Dragonborn Comes song. In this link listen from 0:12-0:41 seconds and that's where the lines Ricven sings fit in.

Originally, I had the story written up past this point when I first wrote it. But when I decided to rewrite the story, I had to reroll a few things too. Like I said in the story summary, I do IRL rolls for whatever happens in the game. And I normally write them down but I don't write all of them.

Well, one of the things I had to write had a different outcome which butterfly effected the entire story from then on. Which meant rerolling everything. :yay: :unsuresweetie:

I rewrote this Author's Note some time after posting this chapter so by this point I've caught up. So, as someone from the past writing this Author's Note for the future of this chapter, I hope you're enjoying the story!

Cheers,
-Zeke

(7) Discoveries

Applejack's POV
Outside the Classroom
Thursday, 3:17 PM

The door shut behind us while we spread out into the hall to relax for a bit. Without much to do, most of us were left talking with each other while Twilight and Rarity had their own plans to pass time.

Twilight sat herself up against the wall opposite of the door and started peering through that D&D book from yesterday. She had this idea in her head that if she could understand the ins and outs of the game then that would somehow explain how the magic worked. Sunset didn't seem to agree. Something about how the game's magic was nothing like the real deal.

Rarity, on the other hand, thought that sticking her nose where it didn't belong was a good time spender. So she sidled up against the door the moment it was shut and tried peeking through the door's window. Unfortunately for her there was some paper covering it the glass.

I think I remember RD complaining about a test from Cheerilee back on Monday. Teach probably hasn't had a reason to take it down since.

I excused myself from talking with Fluttershy about, admittedly, nothing and turned to face her. "Rarity. Ya shouldn't be tryin' ta spy on em."

Rarity flinched slightly before stepping back and letting the tension go from her shoulders. "I know, I know. I suppose I may be caught up in my imagination, is all." She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "To know that something's happening but not what is concerning me."

"Are you worried about Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy offered.

"Ah don't think there's much ta worry 'bout," I threw out. "Pinkie may be seein' the game fer what it is rather than the magic but that don't mean she ain't payin' attention. Girl can hold 'er own."

Rarity shook her head. "It's not Pinkie. It's this magic. I think if we only knew how all of this worked then we could finally know how to look at it."

Twilight glanced up from her book. "I thought most of the magic you've seen was formed out of conjecture. Sunset said you haven't fully understood the magic with your instruments either."

"Well, yeah, but we know that that magic's good," Rainbow jumped in. "This time? It could be evil magic for all we know. I mean, one second it's taking our magic, the next it's making all these funny-looking lights, and putting everyone to sleep!"

Beside Rainbow Dash, Sunset looked like the gears in her head were spinning but nothing came out yet.

"Exactly." Rarity smiled. "Rainbow Dash, I know when you said we fell asleep, you said that the magic didn't seem dangerous but that doesn't mean it won't do something later."

"Well, what about testing it?" Twilight offered.

"Another test?" I droned. "I get that ya wanna figure how it all works, but aren't we pokin' the bear by doin' that?"

"Not to mention, what if everyone falls asleep again?" Rainbow crossed her arms. "What do we even do?"

"For starters, it would give us a definite answer." Twilight stood up, setting the book down as she did. "If we all fall asleep like yesterday then we'll know that whatever was the same between now and yesterday is what caused us to fall asleep."

"And if it don't?" I frowned.

Twilight's eyes lit up for a split second. "Then we report the results and change one part of it. A controlled experiment."

"Would that be safe?" Fluttershy asked the same question I had.

Sunset finally looked up from her thoughts.

"...We won't know."

My frown didn't improve. "That ain't reassurin', sugarcube."

"I know." Sunset started fishing around in her pocket. "But we came back today even when we didn't know this would be safe. But whatever's going on, we can handle it together."

Sunset pulled out a regular twenty-sided die. It wasn't the metal die and not one that had colors that matched us; it seemed magic-less for now.

"Story said something right before the magic flared to life. Now I know that none of us said it yesterday but I don't think we were the ones that set it off either."

"You think Story did it?"

"Well," I started. "Big Mac told me he was talkin' 'bout the game with Story durin' lunch. Time fits."

"Does that mean something's going to happen every time he says the word?" Rainbow Dash closed her hands.

Sunset glanced down at the dice. "There's a way to find out."

"Ourselves?" Rarity looked at the die. "Would that even work?"

"Story doesn't have magic of his own. Or, if he did, it didn't leak into the game. I watched," Sunset explained. "Since it only used our magic then we should be able to activate it too. On top of that, Story can't anything. It's not like we can ask him what it looks like from the person saying the words."

"So one of us needs to say it," Rainbow concluded.

"A controlled experiment," Twilight repeated. "The biggest variable we're changing is who activates it."

Rainbow Dash sighed. Then turned to Sunset. "Let me do it."

"What?" I blinked. "Dash..."

"No, I'm serious." She looked me in the eye before going back to Sunset. "Sunset, I was the only one that didn't fall asleep yesterday. That means I can take it."

"Is that what that means?" I heard Rarity whisper to Twilight. Twi only shrugged.

Sunset frowned. "Dash, if this is about the book, I told you—" "It's not that! I promise."

I squinted my eyes. The way she said it did not sit well with me. I knew what Rainbow was like when she was hiding something. She would get all defensive. This felt like it was hugging the line.

RD still feels responsible. By the look Sunset had she was probably thinking the same thing. But she was probably also thinking that Rainbow had a point. She was the only one that didn't fall asleep.

Sunset looked back down at the die in her hands. "If anything starts happening, even if we all fall asleep again, just know that we're behind you. We'll side with whatever you think is best. Okay?"

That made Dash pause for a second. "I...I got it. Thanks."

"Good." Sunset handed Rainbow the die. "Now as for stopping it, since you should know that before we start," Sunset began.

Clever idea. I chuckled to myself. I trust Rainbow to be careful but it's for the best we don't give her the chance to jump the gun by accident.

"Story never said anything the last time we met up that ended the game. He had to cut it short and run because of an emergency. So, I think, you just need to imagine the magic as being done and it will."

"That's it?" Rainbow blinked. "No magic words or secret hand signals?"

Sunset gave her a playful punch in the shoulder. "Thanks, I take offense to that." A few of us laughed along with her.

"But no. No theatrics." Sunset smiled. "Just focus or imagine the magic drifting away from you and it should follow through."

"Is that how it worked for you before?" Rarity's eye lit up a little.

"It's how it was explained." Sunset lifted her shoulders. "I thought it more as letting something go from your grip. 'To release,' you know?"

"Right. Release. Focus. Drift away. Check." Rainbow held the die in her hands. "Okay, I'm set. What's the words?" She sounded shaky but she wasn't backing down.

Sunset nodded, quickly pulling out her phone before typing away on it. I had guessed it was so she wouldn't say the words out loud by mistake.

When it was all typed in, she showed the screen to Rainbow Dash who nodded along to it. "Got it."

Rainbow took a few steps back as we all did the same in the other direction.

After a deep breath, Rainbow held out the die away from her. As though it was going to explode.

"Let's start a story."

It exploded alright. But not in the way Rainbow expected.

In a bright flash of light, the dice turned into the blank, milk white color that the one we got from Story looked like. Only this one was giving off this radiant, bluish glow. Like a divine light had mixed with Rainbow's magic.

Rainbow turned her hand sideways and watched as the die fell from her hand only to land on a surface that wasn't there. It clattered around on this imaginary table that we could only tell existed from the outline of radiant aura that surrounded it. The same aura the die had.

"Uhhhh, Sunset?" Rainbow looked up at her and the rest of us, deeply confused. As she spoke a small pulse of that divine blue aura wafted out. Soon, this warm redish aura started to envelop Sunset before snaking its way to the table.

"We see it," Sunset acknowledged. A few of us nodded with her.

The aura only drifted from the two of them; the rest of us were practically ignored. However, we could all watch as Sunset's red aura started to mix and blend with Rainbow's as both colors now outlined this invisible table and the die.

"Y'all still with us?" I stepped up behind Sunset. "Not feelin' tired err anythin', are ya?"

"No, we're still here," Sunset confirmed. "This feels exactly like what happened in Story's game."

"So at least that's the same," Twilight pointed out, trying to add a positive to this. "Better than something unexpected."

"I'm not sure about that." Rainbow glanced down at the die and table. She slowly reached out and grabbed the edge of the table and shook it around. Like someone testing to see if a table was wobbly or not.

Sure enough, the table shook back and forth and the rest of the table became visible. It turned into this tall, skinny wooden thing, with four impossibly thin legs. The table's surface couldn't be more than 3x3 ft and it was too tall for anyone to sit at. Unless you had bar stools, maybe.

Sunset seemed to recognize something.

"Rainbow Dash, make the table a different shape."

"What?" Rainbow looked at her in confusion. "How am I supp—" "Don't. Doubt yourself," Sunset cut off. "If you start thinking you can't do something then your magic will reflect that. Magic comes from the mind. However you imagine it, that's how it takes form."

Rainbow listened to her words carefully and started nodding, despite the confusion clear on her face. Then, looking back down at the table, she started to inspect it. While she stared at the table legs, we watched as a fifth leg started stretching out from the table's surface and reached for the ground while the others shifted around to give the new leg an equal amount of space. They moving like stretching vines.

When it finished, the leg met the ground without issue. It wasn't a different height than the other legs either, all of them were perfectly the same.

Suddenly, one spindle grew out from each leg, connecting to the next leg in a clockwise order all simultaneously. To finish it, all the legs started inflating like Pinkie Pie making balloon animals. The weirdest part of it all was that the table appeared to be made up of wood.

"That was perfect," Sunset cheered." That. That was, actually, much more advanced than I thought would happen! H-How do you feel?"

Rainbow's eyebrow rose up at the shifting table. "Like I...just watched a table do what I wanted it to." She sounded so confused.

"What you wanted it to?" Sunset leaned back. "Like. Like a wish-fulfillment kind of thing?"

"I. Think so. Yeah." Rainbow nodded along, not looking away from the table. As she watched, more things started to appear on the table but judging from her reaction it wasn't from her input.

Outlines of more dice of all different sizes and papers started to form into reality with the radiant blue and red auras. Likewise, on the side of the table opposite of Rainbow, a single set of dice and a single paper appeared. All of them were only glowing with the same red as the aura that drifted from Sunset.

Finally, this small, rectangular barrier unfolded itself along the center of the table, cordoning off Rainbow's corner of the desk.

Rainbow started to object but as she stared at the barrier thingy her eyes went wide as she started to mouth whatever she was apparently reading.

"Wo. W-Woah," Rainbow finally stammered. "I. This is a lot..."

"It looks like Story's setup back in the classroom," Rarity expressed. "All the dice, the papers, the. The...What is the foldable thing he hides behind?"

"DM Screen," Twilight filled in.

"DM Screen," Rarity repeated happily. "It's all what Story has."

"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy stepped forward, worry plain on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh," Rainbow hummed with a slacked jaw. "Fuh. Fluttershy, you gotta come see this."

As she spoke, Fluttershy started to glow with a pale yellow hue that quickly drifted over to the ever changing table. The red and blue auras were joined with the yellow and, like the red dice and paper, a new set of yellow dice and paper formed into reality.

Everyone, even Rainbow who was half-distracted, noticed Fluttershy's new addition to the magic.

"Alright, now this is gettin' weird." I didn't know whether to back away from the magic table or stand my ground.

"How did that happen?" Twilight moved a hand through the yellow tendril stemming from Fluttershy. Her hand went right through it like a ghost.

"...I did it," Rainbow answered.

Sunset turned back to her. "How? How do you know?"

Rainbow simply pointed at the screen in front of her. "Uh. Well, it says here on my screen."

I blinked. "Your screen?"

Rainbow seemed to catch on for a moment and shook her head. "Err. Yeah, well, it has my magic all over it. I just assumed it was mine."

Lie, I noted.

"...Sunset, what're we doin'?" I spoke low but not enough to whisper.

Mulling it over, she turned to look at me. "Come with me on this."

As though it were the most normal thing in the world, Sunset strided around the table to over where Rainbow was.

I followed along, keeping my attention well on the table and all its parts. All of it was almost surreal. The lights and flashing dice were almost like parlor tricks but the table and such were all actually there. It was impressive to tell the truth.

But when Sunset and I both got around to see 'Rainbow's' Screen, the uneasiness that this magic kept throwing at us threw us for whole other loop.

⍙̢͏̡́☍̶͞⌰̸̕͠͡⎐̧ ̨̧͢͟⌰̡̨́͘͢⎐̶̧̕͢͡ ̛̀̕⎅̵̸̴̢͏ ̸͞⎐̴̀͞⊑̛̀́⎎̴̀⎍͏̴̵̢̕⊑̷̡͝⍙̴̧̕ ̵̛͘̕⌿̷̀̕⊑͟҉̷̷͜⎐͜͝⎐̴͝҉̶̴⎅̡͘͝⟊̢̢́⊑̢͘͡.̶̡̛ ̕͜͢⎐̴̧̨́⍀̸̶̵͠ ̴̵̨͞͡⌰̵̶̨́͟⎐̷̢̡͜͝ ҉̴⍙̧̀͟͞☍҉҉⌰͏̷̨̡͝⎐̀͠ ̷̵͟⍀̶́⍾̸̕̕⊑̵̨̛.̵̶̨͠ ͏̨⎅̵͢͡⍾͏̧͞☌̸̷̢͢͡ ҉́̕⊑̨⎐̸̨⌇̷̛́⊑̵̶̛͘͜⎎̶̡⌰̸̀̕͡͝⎅̷̨͘͟⍜̴̕⍜̨̢̛͠͏⏚̕͟ ̧҉⍙̡̡͘͘͝☍̵́⊑̷͢͡ ̀͘͟͞⍀͜͢͜͏⍾̢⊑͡͏̸̵҉ ̷̶̨̀͠⍙̸̀☍̧̧͝⎅̵̶⍙̷̢̨ ̡͜͠⎎͏͠⍀̀͟͢͠⌿̸͏͜⊑̴̧͟⎐́ ̷̨̧͟⎅̵͜͜͞⟟̡͞͡͞⍙̢͡͞⊑̴̵҉̸⎍̵̧҉҉ ̨̀͡͡͏⍙̛́͜͏☍̸̴҉͘͢⌰̨̧҉̡⎐̀́͡҉ ̷̷́͘⎐̨͢͠⊑̛⍾̷̷̀͠⍙͟҉̧̀͡⋢҉́͡͠⍾̛́́͞⎎̴̀̕͟⊑̡́͜.̸̶̸̕͞ ͟͡͝⌰̴̛́ ̶̀⎅̵̢̀̀͝⌿̢͢͡ ̵̧̀́͡⍙̴̧̀͞͞⎍̧́̕⎅̷̢͞⌇̴̴͠⌇̕͝⋢͝͏̡☌̴̵̕ ́͢͠⌰̨́̀͘͜⍾͏͘͠͞ ͟☍̸̧̧̛⊑̶̴͜͢͠⎍͠҉⋢̢͘͠͏.͜͜ ̡̢⊑̷̨̀́͘⊬̧̡͘͝⊑͘͟͜͡⎍̢͘҉̛⏚͟͏̡⍙҉͜͜☍̶̕͟͠⌰̷͏⍾̵̨⟊̴̀͢͢ ̶̧͢͞⍙͏̛͘☍̶̷̕⎅̸̵̸̕͝⍙̷͜͢͢ ͘͡͠☍̷̛⎅̨͠⎐̶̀͢͞͠,̨ ̧҉̧⌰̸̨͞͠⎐́̀҉̸͟,̢̕͜͞ ̵҉̡͠⍀͘͝͝͞͡⎍̷͢ ҉⟊̶̕⍀̴̷̀͜⌰̢̨⍾̡̢͜͞⟊̛ ̧͟҉͠⍙̕͡͠͡⍀̵̸̴ ̶̧⟒̧͜⊑̶̧̀͠ ҉̸͢⌰͏̢͘͢ ̷͝⋏̕͢͞͞⍾̢⍀̢͘͟⋉̵͘̕.̕͢͟ ͏⎍̴̵̕͜⎅̴̶̀͘⌰̵̴̡͡⍾́͏̨⟒́͘͜͞⍀̡̛͟͞⋉̶͝ ̸͟☌̛͜͢҉⎅̵̶⎐̀҉☍̢͟ ̵͟⌰̸́̕͠⎐̡̨̛͘ ҉̶⎍͏̵̷͘͡⊑̷̛͠⎅̡͠☌̵͝⌰̛⍾̴͝͝⟊̴͢ ̛̀⊑̴̵͡⊬͏̀͡⊑̶̷̸͝⎍̸̢⏚̶̸͞͏⍙҉͏☍̀͘⌰̨͏̴͝⍾͏̢͢͞⟊̡͞͞ ͢⍙̴̷̸́͟☍̴̧̡⎅̸̛⍙́͢ ̡̡̀̀⌰͟ ̨̛̛͝⋏͜͝⍾̕͘͜͠⍀̸⋉҉̡́͠͏.̴̢́͠͝ ͟͢͜͝⋉̸͠☍̀͢͟͝͡⌰̷̀͞͡͡⎎̷̢̛͝☍̸̢͜ ̸̧̕͡⌰̀⎐̨̡͟͠͡ ̶̶͠͞͞⎅́̀⍜̛͏̸͟⍜̢͝͡.̴̵͢͞ ҉̴̶̢̀⎍̴̵͞⎅̵̴⌰҉̕⍾̴̛̀͠͝⟒̴̸̀͢⍀̴͢͞҉⋉̷̕͘͢ ̵̢̛͏́⌰́͞͠⎐̢͟͜͞ ̴͟⎍̵̡́͢⊑҉͟͡⎅́̕̕͟͝☌̶̶̧͡͞⌰̡̛⍾̵⟊̢̛̕҉ ́͜͠͝͏⊑̕͘͡⊬̧͡⊑̨͟҉̴͟⎍̵̸̷̢⏚̨͏⍙̴̷̛͡☍̶̀͝⌰͢͜͢͡⍾͜͜͝͠⟊̸̸̨̢͜ ҉̴́͢͝⎅̷̷̡̀͠⍙̴͜͝ ͝͞͡⍀̸́̀͘⍾̴͝⎎̧͢͝⊑̡́́͘͡.̀́͘ ̡͏⎐̸́̀☍̨̨́̀͡⊑͟ ͏̨⍾̴̶́͘⊑̧̨⊑̨͜͠☌̶͜⎐̶̨ ̸̨͢͠⍙̶̡̛͢͝⍀̛͡ ̧͝⟒͏͡⊑̧̕͟͏ ̸⎐̸͠͏͝⎅̡̨͘⊬͏̵̡̨⊑̶҉☌̷͝҉̀.̡͝ ̡̢⎐̢̕͘̕☍̶̵͞⊑͏́͜ ̧͏̧́͢⎎̸͟͞⎅̶͞͝⍾̵̨͟͟͞⍾̀҉͏⍀̷̕͟͠⍙̶̢́̀́ ̵̨̕͠⍜̨͘⍀̢́͘⍀̶̢͟͝⋏͏҉̸̵ ̸̡͘⌰̕͢͡⍾̴̨⍙̴̵͜҉͘⍀̶̷̶̨̀ ̵̷̨͜⌿̸⏚́͡ ̸̛͘⍙͠͠☍̴̕⍀̧̛⌖͢͠⟊̸͞͡☍̧̢͟⍙͞͝͡͏̴⎐̕҉̵̛ ̷̧̀͟⟟̨⍀̶̶⎍̢͞⊑̧͡⊬̨͘͡͞⊑̧̛͜⎍͢͡.̶҉̴̢ ̧͠⌰̸͢͞⟟͟͡͡ ̴̛͘͢͞⎐̵̴̷́☍҉͞͡͏⊑͢͏ ̨́͘͡͞☌̧̢͜͢⍀̷⊑̨́⎐̴̡,̵̕ ̸̴̨̢͜⎐́͞☍̶̨̀͡͞⋢̨̢̡́ ̢͘⋉̢̧͘⌰̵͟⍜̛̀͡͞⍜̶҉͘ ̨̕͜⍜̷͠⍀̶̷̷̢͘⎐̛͝⋢͞ ̵̷͢☍͏̢̡⊑̶̡̧⎍̷̡̢̢̢⎐̶̷̛̕͠⋢̨͢⍜̷̕⟟̷̧̕͠ ͘҉̢⎅̨̛͘͞⎐͟͝ ̨⌰̢͞͞ ̵̡⍀͜͠⍾̧͢͞҉⎎̡͝͠⋢́͏̴ ̶̨̀́☌̸̛̀͝͡⌰́̕͟☌̸͠.̴̛ ̢́̕⌰̴̢ ̶̷͘͡⋏̶̵̧̕⍾̕͟⍀̷̴⋉̶̸̕͜͞ ̶̷͢⏚̶̷⍀҉̸̢͢⌖̸͘͟ ̢̧̀̕͜⎎̷͢͟͜⎅̵̡͘͠⍾́͠⍾̸̸͢͠⍀́̕͞⍙́҉͠ ̡̢⌖҉̨̕̕⍾̴̷̕͘☌͡҉̴̷⊑̨̡͞⎍͢͝͠⎐͜͝͞⍙̸̛̀̀͢⎅́͘͝͏⍾̧͏☌̸ ̴͡⌿̶̡̛⊑͏̶̧͘͜.҉͢͡ ҉͟⍾̛͏̀⍀͜͠͠ ̶̨́͞͞⍀͏̸̛͘͜⍾̢͜͢͞͝⊑̴̛̛́ ̵̢⎎̸̢⎅̧͡⍾̨͟ ̶͘̕͝⌖̴͟⍾̡̛̛̕☌̢͘⊑͜͠҉⎍̴̴̧̕͡⎐̸̶̧́⍙҉͏⎅̴̕⍾҉́☌̵̧̕ ͏̴͞͞⌿̢͢͢͝͡⊑̛͝͏.̷͝͞ ̨̕҉̨⟒̴̢̛⌖̢͟͏⍙̛͜,̵̕͞ ̸̡͟͟⌖̷̴́̕⌇̨̛⍀҉̀⍾͢҉̢̢̧ ̵̵͘͡⍙̢̀́͠͞☍̵̡̢̀⊑̴́ ͜҉⍀̴̸̸̨͘⍾̨͘͠⊑̶̨͜ ̛⎎̸̵̵͏☍̶͘͘͞⎅̵͏⍾͜͟͡⎎̴͜͢͡⊑̵͘͞ ̧̀͘̕͡⎅̴͠⍾͜͠⏚̷̛̕⍀̵̢҉͢҉⍾͢͡҉̷⊑̵͏ ̕⎎̧͜͡͏͏⎅̶̵̀͟͏⍾̢̢͢,̧̛̕͞ ̧͢͏͢⏚͟͝⍀̨⌖̕͢͞ ͘͜͠⌿͢͟⌖̧͢⎐̷͠͠⍙̷̢͠҉̸ ͏☍͞⊑̨̨҉⊑́͝͝҉́☌̷̧͡ ̴̷̵̧͘⌿̷͢҉̷͠⏚҉̨҉ ̷́̀⋉̶⎅́́͠͞͠⎍̨͠⍾҉̸̡̕⌰̧́͞⍾̀͘̕⟊̷͟҉̴̕.̶̡̧͜͞ ̸̛́͞⎍̶̷̛͠⎅̵͜⌰҉̀⍾͟͠͏⟒̸͝⍀̴͡͡⋉̸҉͜ ̴͢͠⋏͡⍾̕͟͟͠͞⍀͜⋉̧̛̕͜⎐̡̨̨̕ ̸̢̨́⍾͢⍀̷̶͜͟͢⍙̷̢ ̴̢̧̕⋉̷̨̕͟☍̧̕⎅҉̸͜͠⍙̸̡̢ ͢͏⎐̴̧̧͟͝☍͏͏̶⊑̶̢̀͘͜ ̛͘͝⍙҉҉̴͡⎅̴̢̧̀͟⌿̶̵̶͟͞⌇̡̕͜͢⊑̵́͘͏⎍̛͟⎐̸̡̕͡ ̷̡̨̀⋉̢̧͡⌰̶̸́̕͡⍙̶̷͡͡☍̴͟͞.̢̡̡̛͟ ̧͟͠͏⊑̴́͝⊬̵̡̀͡⊑̀͟҉⍾̕̕͢͜ ̡̕⌰҉̸͏́⟟̷̨̕͜ ͜͢͜͏͞⎅̷̴͢͟⍾̢̕͘͟ ͜͏⍀̴̡̕͢⌖͘҉̢⍙̴̵⎐̨̕͢͢⌰̷̷̸☌̵̛̕͢⊑҉ ̸̴̵͘͘⌰͏̕͢⍾̨͜⟟́͡⍜̶͘͟͢͠⌖͘͢͟⊑̶̷̸͜⍾͟͢҉́⎎̵҉̶́⊑̨͟͠ ͏̷͘͟☍̵̨͠⎅̵͝⎐͘͜͞͞͡ ̧̧͏̢͘☍̸̡̡̢̕⊑̢⎍̨̧ ̛҉̕⎐̶̶̛͝⍙̶̢͟͞͠⍀͏̶͜⌇͏̸̷̨,̀͏͏̢ ̶̛͘͜͠☍́́͡͞⊑̴̷́͟⎍̢͢͞ ̧͘͢⎎̴̧̨͟͢⌖̢̛͘͡͞⎍̷̡̀⌰̷͡⍀̷̸̴̡̨⎐҉̡͠͏⌰̛͟⍙̧̢̢͢͡⏚̨͟ ̸̀⋉̷̴̕⌰̵͢͞⍜̢̨͟͠⍜̵̡ ̷͜͢͠͏⍀̶́͘⍾̴̀҉̛̕⍜͡⏚̢̢̨͟͠ ̸̷͜☌̶̛͞⊑̧҉̢⌿̶̴̢̕͢⎅̵̢̢͢͠⍾̧☌̛͞ ̡̨☍̡̛͜⊑̵̡͘͢⎍̶̨͜ ̸̢⍙̵̨̧̡⍀̸̡ ̵͢͢͢⎍̨͟͝⊑͟⎅̴̕☌̶̵̀͠ ̸̨̢̧⎅̴̸҉⟊̨̕⎅̢̛͝⌰͝͏́͝⍾̶̨͡.̶͘ ̡̛̕͢͠⎅̷̡͟͢⍾̛☌̵́͘ ̵͠⎅̨̛̀̕͏⟊̵҉̧̕͟⎅̡̢⌰҉͞͠⍾̵̕͡͠.̸̵̡͝ ̴̴̸̡͢⎅͟͏͟⍾̴҉☌͘҉҉ ͡͞⎅̨͏̴͝⟊҉̷͢⎅̶⌰̸̸͠⍾̴̶̢͞.̴̛͘͝ ̡͟͠⎅͜͢⍾̷͜͠͡☌̶͏̀ ̀͟⎅͏̴́͢⟊̶̨⎅̡̨̀͠⌰͘͠͝͞⍾̨̛҉͝.̨͜͏̶ ̵̨̢⎅̕͘͢͜⍾̧̢͝͠☌͏ ̵̨͘͡⎅̴̨̕⟊̧҉͞⎅̷̕͡⌰̵̶̡⍾͢͢.̸͢͜͠ ̨̀̕͟͢⎅̷҉̸̸⍾͡͏☌̷̢͘͘ ̡⎅̀͟͜⟊̧͘⎅̡̨͢͜͟⌰̷⍾̨́̕͢͡.̴̀͝ ̛҉́҉⎅̴̴̛͜⍾̷̵̡͡☌̵̕͞ ̧͡⎅͞⟊̴̴́͝⎅̴̢́͢⌰͢͠͏̨⍾̸̴͝.̴͜ ҉̷̡́͘⎅̸̡͘͝⍾̛҉̶̨̧☌̢͘͏ ͏͢͠͠⎅͘͞͠⟊̸́͘⎅̛⌰̵͢⍾͘͜.̨́̕͟͝ ̷́͟⎅̴͡⍾̧̀̕͡͝☌̢͟ ̧̧͢͜͝⎅̨̢̀͘͞⟊̴̶̧́͡⎅̸̨̕͜͡⌰͝͞҉⍾͢͟͟.͏͠ ̷̸̡͜⎅̛͜⍾̡͟͠☌̡͡ ̶̧̕͞⎅̶̀́͡⟊͏͘͠⎅̡́͜͞͞⌰̷̵̀͜⍾̷̸̨͝͝.̡̀͝͞ ̡̢⎅̢̕͟⍾҉̴͘͜͢☌̢̕͏ ̨̡͠⎅͝҉⟊̨͘͘⎅́́⌰̴̵͞⍾̧̡̕͜͡.̵̴̕͠͏ ̸̵̢̕͡⎅̡̡̡͟⍾̷̨͟͡☌͏̷̢͡͠ ̵͏͘⎅̀҉͝⟊̶̧͜͏͢⎅̴̨̕⌰̡̀⍾͢.̨͢͡ ͏̷͡͡⎅̨͟͜⍾̶̶͜͝☌̶̕͘͟͟ ̷̸̧̧⎅̛́⟊̛͜͠⎅̵̡̀⌰͏̀⍾̡̨.́̕͘̕ ̢̡͢͜⎅̡̡͢͟͝⍾̀͘͜͞☌̨͘ ̨̕͟⎅̴̕͝⟊͟⎅͞⌰̷⍾̧̀́͠.̧̕͏ ̨̛͠⎅̨͏́̕͢⍾̢́͝☌҉̴̷̛͢ ̢̧́͝⎅̧͢͝⟊͘͢⎅̡̕⌰̷́͝͏⍾̛́͘͝.͏̢̨ ́͝⎅̶⍾̶̢̨́͝☌̷́͜ ̕҉̸̛͠⎅̢̀͝⟊̴̨͜⎅̨͠҉͡⌰̧̨̕͢⍾̛̛.҉͝͝ ̨͡͏̢̨⎅̴̶⍾͏͞͏☌͢҉ ̀͝⎅̸̵̧͢͡⟊͏͜⎅͢͝͠⌰̷̵⍾̡.͘͞ ̧⎅͡͏̸̨⍾̴̧͟͡☌̷̴̡̕͝ ̴̛͢⎅̶̡҉̡́⟊̴̧̡͜⎅̴̛̛̛⌰̷̕͠⍾̀͜͡.͏̸́ ͢⎅̶̛͠⍾̷́͘͡͠☌͟͢ ̛҉͜⎅̶̨̧͡⟊̵͡͏̶̕⎅̵҉̡⌰̴͢͝҉҉⍾̶͘͘͞.̕͡ ̷͢⎅̨͟͢͝⍾̷̷̢͘͢☌͜͢ ̸⎅̕͡͠⟊̷̢́͘⎅͏̴̴̢͘⌰̨̡͘⍾̕͟͏.́͠͞ ̵̨̨⎅̛͠҉̶͠⍾̀͡☌́ ͝⎅̴͞͝⟊̶̛̕̕⎅͠͠⌰̶̡⍾̧̡̕.̷̸́͟ ͟͝͡͝͝⎅̧̡͠⍾̨̕͘͘͠☌̸̛ ̸͘͜͝͠⎅̴̵͞⟊̨͞⎅̴́⌰͏̵̴̧⍾̢́͟.͏̀ ̸͟͡⎅̡́͏͜͠⍾̷̕☌͡͠͏́ ̧́͠⎅̨̕̕͡⟊̴̧҉⎅̵⌰̀̕͞⍾͏҉̶̡͞.̸̛̕ ̢̛͞⎅̵̷̵͜⍾̧͜͢☌̸̡͢ ̷̢⎅̀͟⟊́͘⎅̕̕͏̛⌰̴̀͢⍾̕͜.̵̡́ ̕⎅҉̸⍾̢͟͏☌̶̴́͞ ̸̡̕͢͡⎅̕͏̧̕̕⟊͏̶⎅̨̧͝⌰̷̶̛͞҉⍾҉͟҉̛́.̢̧͢͠ ҉̛͜͟⎅̛̕͟͞⍾̵̀͝☌̶͢͢͏ ͜͟͢͡͏⎅̵̧⟊͏̢͏̶⎅҉̨͞͝͠⌰̴̴͠҉̸⍾̢̨҉̢̡.̧̀͘ ̨͡͡͝⎅̧̀⍾͢͠☌̧͢͡ ̛̕҉͘⎅̸̧̨̢͠⟊͜͠͏̵̡⎅̵̢́⌰͏͏̀̕͢⍾͢͢͏͟.̛͜͡ ̀⎅̵̕͘͜⍾̸̧̨̡͢☌̶̀ ̸̷̨̕⎅̡̢̕͜͡⟊̵̕͘͟⎅̨͠͝⌰̧͢⍾̷͜.̷͘ ̸̡͝⎅҉⍾̶̀̕☌͞ ̵͘͘͠͡⎅̸̢⟊̵̴̢̕⎅̕̕͠͠⌰̧͠⍾̛͘͡.͞͠ ͘͜͠͝͞⎅̛͜⍾̀͘͜͜☌̡̢͠͞ ҉̛̕⎅̀͞⟊̷̛̕͜͡⎅͢͜⌰̷̛͟͟⍾̶̶̷̡̕.̵̢͢ ͏̷⎅̸͞⍾̷̸̀҉☌̨͏͘҉ ̵̨҉⎅̵͘⟊͟͠⎅̵́⌰͟͟҉͟͡⍾̸͘҉.́͢͜͞ ☍͝͏͟͡⊑̷̛⍜̛͝⌇̨̕͜.҉ ̢͘͟⌿̢̛̕͝⋢́͏.̶̨̢̧͝ ̨͜͝͠⌇̛͘⍜̷̷̕͟⊑̷́͢͞⎅̷⎐̡͞͏⊑́͢҉͢.҉͜

Sunset and I both looked away from the screen. It was as if TV static was made up of words and symbols that slid across the screen from every. Yet Rainbow Dash looked at it as if she were reading a poster.

"Can you understand this?" Sunset asked.

Rainbow smiled. "Yeah! I mean, I can understand everyt— err, a-all of it," she covered up.

Not good enough, I thought.

I took a hot minute to look over the whole scene. No one was hurt, none of us fell asleep and Fluttershy and Sunset's magic didn't seem to be drained out of them. It was like Rarity said. All of it looked like what happened with Story's game. The only difference was that everything was magically summoned instead of actually being there.

Except, a few red flags kept sounding off in my head. Nothing was bad per say, but this didn't chalk up to 'good' either. It was just...weird. Not to mention, Rainbow's sudden shift in worry about everything. She didn't sound like she suddenly believed that all of this was safe but she was too relaxed compared to before.

"This is good," Sunset announced. "This is what we were hoping for."

"Is it?" I second guessed.

"Well, if not this than what?" Sunset shrugged. "We're all safe, awake, nothing bad has happened and nothing's gone wrong. This is better than it could have been."

Rainbow let out a chuckle. "Famous last words."

I glared at her. "Don't be sayin' that when yer all jacked inta the Matrix err somethin'."

Rainbow suddenly started feeling every pocket she had on her before frowning.

"Dang. My shades are in my backpack."

"Dash, take this seriously." I wanted to keep glaring but the fact that she still had the sense to make the joke made me ease up a tad. I let myself smile a bit.

Rainbow reached down at the die she tossed at the start of all of this. It still looked milk white and blank but Rainbow was feeling where the numbers would be. Could she see them?

"So, Sunset? What should I try next?"

The smile on her face made me know that Rainbow was still there but she looked like a kid in a candy store with how she stared at everything. Like she wanted to figure all of this out on her own.

Sunset took a deep breath. Then looked at the door to the classroom. There was no sign that Story or Pinkie were coming out yet.

"Well, I guess we have some time. Let's start with something small and go up from there."

Rainbow had to resist the urge to throw out a fist bump as she hopped up and sat down on a stool that appeared underneath her almost by command.

I backed off and held the bridge of my nose in my fingers. This is going to get weirder.

Meanwhile
3rd Person POV
Classroom

Pinkie sat in her seat, trying her hardest not to giggle as she held up her arms as high as she could. She looked like she was frozen in mid-drop on a roller coaster.

But that wasn't what Pinkie thought. In Pinkie's mind, she was hanging upside down from a rope snare.

Pinkie tried swaying her arms a little bit and watched as Story quickly drew up a small scene on the vinyl map. Magic or not, Story had no way of letting Pinkie's character, Glemerr, hang upside down. So, instead, Glemerr was standing on top of a small handheld pencil sharpener.

Standing in front of the 'hanging' Glemerr were three goblin minis. According to Story, two of them each had a sword and shield while the one two spaces away had a small crossbow.

While that was what the game was showing, the magic was doing its part to demonstrate the same. Stretching from behind Story Spinner's screen were the three dark tendrils Pinkie had spotted earlier. They became visible when Story revealed the goblins jump out from their hiding places.

The same formation that the goblins were set up below Glemerr was the same fashion that the tendrils were hanging around Pinkie. At first Pinkie was a little worried. But, after the whole minute of Story setting up the map and the tendrils just floating there, and Pinkie waving her hand through one like a hologram, she realized they were harmless and played along.

It was more fun that way.

"So. Glemerr," Story began after explaining what was on the map. "As you're still trying to get your bearings from above, you see the three goblins chattering to each other. While you have absolutely no idea what they're saying, the high-pitched chuckling and lowered guards tell you that they're probably congratulating themselves."

"Hmm..." Pinkie brought ~~down~~ up one of her hands to scratch her chin before letting it fall back ~~up~~ down. "So...They're not looking at me?"

"Not carefully," Story shrugged.

Pinkie looked down up at her feet. "And...Can I see the rope?"

Story nodded. "It's nothing fancy. The rope's worn but stable enough to hold you up. It looks like it can be cut if you try—"

"Oh! Oh, wait. Glemerr has an idea!" Pinkie waved one of her hands as if to be called on. But since she was upside down the joke didn't get across.

"Alright," Story smirked. "What's Glemerr's idea?"

"Can Glemerr reach for the knot," Pinkie asked, an imaginary upside-down light bulb appearing ~~above~~ her.

"Below," Pinkie corrected.

~~Stop that.~~

"Not too hard," Story commented. "It takes a few seconds but Glemerr swings herself up to get a grip of the knot. Meanwhile, the goblins just seem to be giggling at your misfortune."

"Aw, but Glemerr hasn't gotten to the punchline yet." Pinkie giggled. "Glemerr would like to untie the knot."

Story weighed the idea for a second. "Alright. Go ahead and roll me Sleight of Hand."

"Yes sir-ee," Pinkie cried, scooping up the rubber magic die.

Pinkie remembered everyone falling asleep from yesterday. But aside from a small nap, everything seemed to be part of the game. The dice were glowing, numbers on the table, 'scary' goblin tendrils, she even thought the lights in the room were getting brighter; as if they were in a forest on a sunny day.

On top of all that, when Rainbow Dash rolled the dice before she came up with something about her character. Pinkie Pie wasn't sure if that was the magic or Rainbow Dash getting more into the game.

Although, if it was the magic helping Rainbow, maybe it was trying to show her how fun the game actually is. So, in Pinkie's mind, if she already knew how exciting this game could get, maybe the magic would just add more to it.

Maybe the magic rubber die could help her think more like Glemerr!

~~Pinkie!~~

Hehehe...Sorry, it's been so long since last chapter! Glemerr is ready!

With those thoughts running through her mind, Pinkie rolled the die and watched as it bounced around like the rubber it was made of.

When it landed, the die read 12 with a '+5' appearing beside it.

"Seventeen," Pinkie called out.

As she did, images and thoughts of all these scenes started to dance through her mind. All of them focused on knots mostly with ropes and rags but nearly every memory seemed to be flavored in a way that reminded Pinkie of working on a harbor.

Pinkie smacked her lips as if tasting something. "Mmm! Saltwater taffy!"

~~Ugh...~~

"What was that?" Story leaned his head to the side.

"Just reminiscing!" Pinkie smiled. "Seventeen to untie the rope."

Story mulled the number over. "It takes effort and focus but after feeling the knot over you're able to start loosening it without the goblins realizing. Now," Story started to shift gears. "Getting down on the other hand will probably catch all of their—"

"Nu-uh!" Pinkie hummed with a shake of her head.

"Nu-uh?"

"Uh-huh. Nu-uh," Pinkie confirmed. "Glemerr climbs up to the branch."

"..." Story sat back. "Uh-huh..."

"Now you got it," Pinkie agreed.

Story took a few seconds to scan the map and minis, as well as Pinkie's face. He expected Pinkie to resist. To break free of the snare and take action. Technically, she was doing all of those things and Story still followed what Pinkie was doing...

Except Story would be lying If he said that he knew what Pinkie was up to.

3rd Person POV
Forest Trail

"No way! I set trap, so I the one caught orc!"

"You not caught the orc, Gonot! It Snoz that thought trap spot!"

"Yeah. Snoz thought it," Snoz cheered, pointing to himself.

Gonot lowered his crossbow and pointed a thumb at himself. "But it me who watched trap! So me saw orc first. Gonot caught orc!"

The third goblin, who was named Flit, started to growl. He was the only one now watching the 'orc' scramble in the snare. But with Snoz and Gonot now arguing instead of laughing at the orc, it was getting on Flit's nerves.

"We shout later," Flit grunted. "First, snatch orc and bring at Klarg."

"You mean like Yeemik in the before time," Gonot accused.

"Oh yeah," Snoz shouted. "Yeemik trick Flit and Rus then. Now Flit use same trick as Yeemik!"

Flit turned his sword on Snoz. "Flit not Yeemik! I tougher and better. Yeemik not know how crossbow work. Yeemik no tie ropes. He only talk good! Yeemik's wrong kind of smart."

Gonot rolled his eyes. Yeemik, second in command to all the goblins, was clever. Gonot didn't doubt that. Although, Yeemik could never decide what to do after his trick worked.

That's where Gonot thought that he was better. He had ideas. And now that the snare caught something, his idea could finally start.

And it all started with the orc that was climbing up the rope.

"Climbing rope?" Gonot spoke out. Neither Flit nor Snoz, the other two goblins, seemed to notice.

"Flit thinks he can be right smart than Yeemik, huh?" Snoz challenged, raising his sword to meet Flit's.

"No," Flit dismissed, batting Snoz's sword with his own. "Flit no care about top goblin."

"YOU LIE!" Snoz wildly flung his sword back towards Flit. Not directly into him. Only close enough to hit Flit's sword. "I see Flit oggling wolves! You want wolf prize."

"Not wolf prize. Wolf skin." Flit glared at Snoz. "Skin better than cloth scraps." As if to prove his point, Flit gestured to the pieces of leather armor each of the goblins wore. Almost every scrap was from a different set of armor so no goblin had a full set.

"Live wolf, skin wolf, same!" Snoz kept waving his sword around in emphasis. "Snoz not want Gonot OR Flit have say caught orc."

Gonot tried leveling his crossbow at the orc only for Snoz's sword knocked it away by accident.

"So, Glemerr, as you climb up the rope," Story interrupted the goblin squabbling he aimed at himself.

But Pinkie took lead on the narrating with a cheery grin on her face.

"After getting to the top, Glemerr stands herself up on the branch and takes the rope up in both hands. Then, she'll jump!"

Story's face twitched confusedly for a moment.

"Towards the goblins?" He assumed.

"Nuh-uh." Pinkie's smile never faltered. "Away from them. Backwards."

Now Story was lost. So, naturally, he looked at the map. "You're jumping away from the goblins. From on top of the tree...To attack them?"

"You betcha!" Pinkie stood up from her seat and held her invisible rope with the die in her hands.

Pinkie watched as Story studied both her and the table, piecing together what her crazy plan was. However, no matter how much he stared for an answer, he had no idea what Pinkie was about to do.

Well, this is her moment, he thought. I'll let her tell it.

With no choice he shrugged with a smile and held out his arms. One vertical, the other horizontal.

"Glemerr's attack. Take one. Action."

Story spoke like a stage director before bringing his vertical arm down like a movie clap board.

Once the clap echoed across the room, Pinkie began.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOAHHHAHHHOOOOOOO~!"

Like Queen of the Jungle, Glemerr leapt off the branch and swung from the end of the rope like a frenzied gorilla.

The branch strained from the sudden weight but held long enough for Glemerr to sweep underneath the branch and release the rope. Next, with all the momentum she had, Glemerr flew at the speed of a ballista bolt.

The three goblins glanced up when the orc began her warcry but they weren't fast enough to duck away as Glemerr—

"Rolled a twenty!" Pinkie cheered.

Story, who was content to let Pinkie describe her own action, stood up from his chair. "Natural 20?"

"Au natural twenty," Pinkie encored with a grin. She was the only one to see it, but her magical rubber die was flashing as though fireworks went off inside of it. That only made her smile greater.

Story nodded along, sitting back down and giving Pinkie the okay to roll damage. "Three dice."

Pinkie froze, already holding up two four-sided dice. "Huh?"

"Three dice," Story repeated. "You rolled a critical, so one dice becomes two dice. But, you're a half-orc. Which means you get another dice. So, three D4."

Pinkie's face lit up as if one last firework had gone off before she plucked another dice from one of the girls' piles. Then, as she rolled them and counted up the numbers her smile was starting to look manic.

Glemerr brought her legs up and put all her weight into a dropkick directly into Snoz's, well, schnoz. If anyone cared to listen there would be a tiny crunch from Snoz's nose and cheekbones. Unfortunately, Glemerr's warcry and the act of Snoz flying backwards made the sound moot.

After Glemerr slammed into the ground, she looked up in time to see Snoz's unconscious body carving down the path ahead of her.

Flit wasted no time watching the carnage of his fellow goblin. Instead, he turned to cut into the orc with his crude blade. But Glemerr didn't even turn to face him.

As Glemerr looked ahead at the third goblin, Gonot, and its frightened face, she brought up a hand and caught Flit's wrist in a crushing grip. Flit tried squirming free but the force from Glemerr's hand made Flit seize in pain.

By the time Glemerr released her grip her log-sized arm delivered an uppercut into the goblin's chin. Said chin fractured in three pieces and Flit was knocked into the air higher than the burly orc's height.

Before Flit returned to the earth, the orc leapt to her feet and shifted her boxing stance to the last goblin standing. Then the two stood facing one another as still as statues. The large orc was about ten feet away from the goblin. She could close that gap and make him eat dirt in the same breath.

Gonot the goblin's hands were tumbling in fear yet he still had his crossbow trained on Glemerr. The bolt would take but a twitch.

Why didn't the others run ahead like me, Glemerr wondered. If there was at least one more here we'd already be at their hideout by now.

Stay back you orc, Gonot pleaded from his brain. Stay back or flee. You won't beat me!

Glemerr tried leaning forward, looking for a chance to rush the goblin before he could fire. Every time she was about to take a step, the goblin tightened his grip and aimed the crossbow closer to her heart.

I can't wait for the others, Glemerr realized. Either he shoots and misses or he hits me. There's no—

—Back down already! Gonot kept scanning the orc for any signs of fear. There was none. Or flinch! Something...anything...!

More seconds passed. Gonot wanted to look behind him. To hope more goblins heard the orc screaming. Each time Gonot's curiosity convinced him to try and sneak a look over his shoulder he could swear the orc was inching forward.

Meanwhile, the orc would spare a moment to glance at the goblin she dropkicked down the path. Or listen for the goblin behind her. Frail as they looked, Glemerr knew that they were still alive. She made sure they were still alive. That meant that these goblins could wake up an—

Fw'ting!

Glemerr heard the click of the crossbow before the bolt fired.

Quick and focused, Glemerr sidestepped and turned away from the bolt, watching it sail past her and down the path.

"Shit!" The goblin turned and fled with wild speed, diving into the trees after clearing more than 50 ft in mere seconds.

Glemerr wasted no time. She ran at an angle down the road, cutting across until she could see the edge of the goblin's form against the tree.

Out of instinct, Glemerr pulled out a javelin from her pack. She had two and they were each as clean as the day she was given them.

He missed last time, She reasoned. I can't bet on it again.

She cocked her arm back with the javelin, aimed it as well as she could from how far away she was, tightened her grip, and...

...Proceeded to stand there.

Glemerr saw the goblin loading another crossbow bolt. She knew what she was up against and that the goblin wouldn't hesitate. That didn't change anything.

Glemerr's hand started to shake as she forced herself to throw the javelin into the ground, yelling wildly all the while.

Hearing all of this, Gonot forced himself to whip around from behind the tree, leveling his crossbow. From his perspective, all he could see was an orc screaming at a javelin as if to scare it away.

Gonot's face spread into a toothy grin. "Stupid orc!"

Glemerr didn't get a chance to respond.

She was able to hear the goblin's shout but that was too late a warning. By the time she tried to duck away the bolt already struck her torso, glancing across a rib and slicing her arm before the shaft snapped and left the point in her bicep.

It was only after Glemerr tore the point from her arm by instinct that she stopped shouting. Mostly because she was now face first in the dirt from the pain and shock of it all.

Meanwhile
Story's POV
Classroom

With a heartbroken look on my face I took Glemerr's mini and placed it face down on the table.

It wasn't as bad as I could have made it. If this happened to Pinkie at a higher level or to a group that played this game before I would have pulled no punches. Those goblins would have shot Glemerr in that snare and made her a pin cushion.

Not only that but I would have had Pinkie roll death saves by now. Instead, my pushover heart was forcing me to keep this as a lesson not to split the party.

Pinkie seemed to be taking it kind of hard though. Her head was hanging low as she stared at her dice and paper like she could find some magic answer.

What I thought was interesting, Pinkie was the one who decided not to throw the javelin.

I didn't tell her to save for it. Pinkie simply didn't roll. She instead stood there— method acting almost everything —and pulled up her hand to roll the dice only to stop and stare at it. She had this look on her face that made me think she was deep in thought before she told me that Glemerr gave up on throwing the javelin.

That made shooting her with a crossbow hurt. Hurt me at least. The look on her face when she told me Glemerr was out of HP made me regret everything for a moment.

"..." Pinkie didn't cheer up right away either. Her expression instead softened to a mix of pouting and sadness while she kept staring at the paper in front of her.

So I was forced to try and move this along.

"After falling to the ground," I started, reaching for the goblin mini. "Your consciousness begins slipping. The burst of anger and adrenaline you once had quickly begins to fail you as you watch the last goblin step further away from his tree. A moment of fear crosses your mind as you think he's about to fire again but it doesn't last long as you see him start to walk closer to you.

"By the time he finally closes in on you, the last of your—" "Relentless Endurance."

Pinkie looked back up at me with a huge grin on her face.

I blinked.

"Relentless Endurance," Pinkie repeated in a cheer. "Says here. If I fall to 0 HP, I can choose to fall to 1! Sooooo… Relentless Endurance!"

Before I could stop her, Pinkie leaned over and flipping Glemerr back on her stand. Then she scooped up the goblin mini I moved and put it in front of her mini.

"You said he closed in on me, right?" Pinkie smiled as she stuck a bit of her tongue out.

I blinked and stuttered for a moment. "W-Well, yeah. I did but—"

"Then after he gets close, Relentless Endurance. Now it's my turn! Glemerr throws a punch!"

I took in a breath to say something but Pinkie was already rolling her die. Honestly, I had completely forgotten that she had that half-orc trick, but I still knew how it worked. If she used it, it would have to be before I moved the goblin.

I was about to move the goblin back and tell her that but her die stopped right beside the goblin where the number was easy to spot. The only number that could make me change my mind was the biggest number the dice had. It didn't matter what she added either. A natural twenty was a natural twenty.

Before I could blink, Pinkie already rolled the other three dice and counted the damage.

"Twelve punch damage," Pinkie cheered as she fell back in her chair, crossing her arms with a grin.

I sat there, wearing a thin line for a mouth, as my hand was paused halfway to reaching for the goblin. And instead of putting it back in the trees, I flicked it away.

Pinkie started 'dancing' from her seat, rubbing her knuckles along her shoulder as if she were the one who had fought the goblins.

"I'm not gonna lie," I started. "That was very clever, Pinkie."

"Not me," she pointed out. "It was all Glemerr's idea. Hehe." Pinkie looked back at the map with all the knocked over goblins. "Glemerr would like to tie the gobbo's with her rope now."

I nodded. "Easily done. With all of them knocked out, and lightweight, you pile them all to the side of the road and tie them together. Do you want to take their weapons away too?"

"Yepperoni!" Pinkie beamed. "I'll just leave 'em all in a big pile a ways away from them. Like a pile a of presents they can't open yet."

We both shared a laugh and I started cleaning the board; it served its purpose. "As fun as the Adventures of Glemerr are, let's speed up the rest of this. The others are probably getting a little bored."

Pinkie agreed and snatched up Glemerr, setting her down on top of the same die that rolled all those natural twenties. "After tying up the goblins for her friends in the back to deal with, Glemerr will start..." She paused to look at something on her character sheet. Probably the 1 HP if I had to guess. "...Walking down the path. No war cry."

"Good idea," I complimented. "You continue walking along, wrapping up your cuts and bruises to keep them from getting any worse. Roll me one more perception check."

Pinkie placed Glemerr aside and rolled with her lucky die only for a low number.

"...Eleven?" She shrugged.

I grimaced. "Now a Dex Save."

Her smile wavered for a moment. "Another snare?"

I shook my head and she picked up her die again to roll. With a sigh of relief, she smiled fuller again. "Twenty-one."

I stood up after clearing the map and started moving towards the door. "With a twenty-one, you keep moving. All that action and the now long walk have started making you a little woozy. So much so that, by the time you start to notice this rocky mound ahead, you fail to realize that there's an oddly placed pile of grass in the middle of the dirt road.

"The instant your foot steps on it, the ground gives way and your instincts go on overdrive. While falling forwards, you lean back and let yourself slide down this steep decline into the hole in the ground. When you reach the bottom, you keep your footing and glance around. You're in a 10 ft deep pit that's about 6 ft wide but thankfully whoever dug it out was lazy. Instead of a pit with flat walls, the sides are steep enough to climb in and out of without difficulty. You were lucky not to hurt yourself."

Pinkie's expression throughout all of it jumped between more relief and worry as she kept staring at her 1 HP and the lucky die. Then, as she started glancing between the die and the door where the others were waiting, she came to a decision.

"You know what," Pinkie started. "I think Glemerr wants a nap now."

I smirked. "Inside the pit?"

"Inside the pit," she repeated with a nod. "Can Glemerr get a rest?"

"That depends on how quick they go down the path you went down." I walked to the door. "Let's see what they do. Remember, you're not with them. Don't give anything away, alright?"

Pinkie giggled. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake," she said as she proceeded to pull a cupcake from her bag. "in my eye!" Like the first two things she said where she did the actions as she said them, that sprinkle-less cupcake was pushed right into her face.

I nodded once and turned to the door so she couldn't see my deeply confused face. Like they said. Don't question it.

Sunset's POV
Back in the Hallway

With plenty of time to ourselves, we all tried coming up with ideas to get the most out of the magic pooling around the conjured table.

What made this so much easier was the screen Rainbow Dash had in front of her. Apparently, while the screen seemed impossible for any of us to read, Rainbow Dash understood it not problem. Whenever she pointed out what something on it said, the words would appear until someone read it aloud and then be enveloped by more moving characters.

Twilight started asking Rainbow to ask the screen how the magic worked. Each question, Rainbow would then read aloud what the screen said to which Twilight wrote it down verbatim on a now growing list that she had titled 'Rules of the Game's Magic.'

By the time we got to eleven, we figured that we had a good base understanding of how everything worked. This is what Twilight had written down:

1) Whenever someone is invited and accepted by the other participants and leader, their magic is included and mixed into the ~~ri~~ game.

2) Whomever is not a part of the game is unable to witness the magic that the game pulls from. What about Ms. Cheerilee?

3) The leader (DM) is capable of demanding that participants (players) use their magic in the game. If the player declines, it is treated as them leaving the game.

4) The game is started by saying a significant phrase. At any time, a player can come and go from the game whenever they want. When the DM leaves, the game ends. ("Let's start a story.")

5) The DM and players cannot be harmed from the game itself. However, the game cannot protect or guide the DM and players from outside sources.

6) The game cannot influence the actions or decisions of players. What a player does is impossible for the DM or the game to predict or control.

7) When the players and DM agree to start the game in unorthodox conditions, such as being in multiple locations or a willing player incapable of playing, the game creates a solution to try accommodating the situation. Ex. Sleeping(?), Magic Table(?)

8) If anyone attempts to learn about something they are not supposed to know or the DM does not want them to know, the information is made impossible for them to understand. Once one is allowed to know that information, it becomes possible to understand once again.

9) Items used in the game begin to glow whenever their use is called for.

10) Items created from the game are dispelled upon the leader ending the game.

11) Some items have more importance to the game than others. When this is the case, they may gain attributes that reflect the situation, use, or user in possession of the item. Ex. Milk white dice, bronze/cloud/pink die

The list wasn't in any particular order. We were just asking questions. The last few were mostly there because we couldn't think of anything else at the time.

When Twilight finished reading off the list, Rainbow Dash suddenly looked down at her things behind the screen and looked like she was writing something.

"When'd ya get a pencil?" AJ pointed out.

"When the screen asked if we wanted to have those saved." Rainbow spoke as though that made perfect sense as she finished writing and tossed her appearing pencil back onto the table.

"About that. Is this 'screen,'" Rarity spoke with air quotes around the word. "Erm...Alive?"

Rainbow looked at her papers and other stuff. "Uh...Here. None of the magic brings anything to life. Although the game will change its appearance or style based on the leader."

Twilight looked up from the notepad she was furiously writing on. "So like what Sunset said earlier? Wish fulfillment?"

I bit my tongue and let that idea linger. Wish fulfillment was not how magic worked. It was the kind of thing that ponies said when they had no idea how unicorn magic functioned. I only said it because it was the easiest short answer to give.

"So does that mean that if one of us used this then all of this would change?" Rarity's face lit up at the concept. "May I give it a try?"

"Maybe we should hold off on that for now," I offered. "I'm glad that this isn't dangerous and, honestly, I didn't think we'd get any answers out of this but I still don't think that we should push our luck any further."

I glanced over at Rainbow Dash. Unlike either time we sat at Story's table, she seemed invested in everything in front of her. She was even messing with the dice in front of her and had this look of wonder on her face every now and then.

"Hey, Rainbow." I waved a hand in front of the screen to get her attention. "I think we should turn it off now."

"Wait, what?" Rainbow's face dropped. "But we haven't even played yet."

"Played?"

"Yeah. Remember yesterday? The skeleton bears?" The giddiness in her face almost made me think I was talking to Pinkie Pie. "We can play that right now!"

Before I could try and talk her down, the door to Ms. Cheerilee's classroom opened.

"Hey girls," Story greeted. "Sorry for the long wait. We're done if you..." He trailed off, looking at everything we were surrounded by.

By this point, Dash had experimented with the table, willing it to stretch out so that it could comfortably fit all of us. Then, when she asked if we wanted to sit down, Rainbow made 5 more barstools appear to life with this showboating flourish of her hand for dramatic effect.

So, when Story was looking at us, he was either going to see a random table and stools or six girls floating two feet off the ground while leaning on nothing.

"..." He kept staring around at everything. Plainly confused.

"Surprise?" Rarity tested.

"What am I looking at?" Story muttered.

"I..." I chose my words carefully. "I don't know. What do you think you're looking at?"

"Not what I expected," Story said slowly.

"No answer?!" Rainbow looked at her screen and magic paper, frustrated.

Story leaned his head to the side like a dog with a whistle. "What was that?"

"Uh, I said no answer," Rainbow said stiffly. "M-My parents! They're not answering their phone. Tsk. Of all the times, right?"

Applejack buried her face in her hat.

Story nodded vaguely.

"Right..." He slowly backed up a step and looked into the room. "Pinkie? Can you come look at this?"

He needs Pinkie to help make sense of this?! I could feel the sweat on my brow.

It didn't take Pinkie long to get to the door; maybe three or four seconds of hearing her bouncing over. But when her head stuck out the side of the frame, her smile grew a little brighter.

"Wow! Nice table." She didn't seem to miss a single beat.

"Well, yeah, sure, but when did it get there?"

"What a great question," AJ slurred from inside her hat.

"Dunno." Pinkie shrugged, letting go of the frame to do so. She didn't fall down either and instead hung out the side of the doorway without support. "Still. Nice table."

"W-Wait," I tried to turn everything around. "You needed to ask Pinkie where the table came from?"

"Well, I mean, none of you were saying anything," he accused. "You kept staring at me like I was crazy."

"That's because we thought it was obvious," Rarity stammered with the speed of a buffering video. "A-After all, the Wood Working club is full of surprises, isn't it?"

"Wood Working?" Story just looked more confused. "Why would the Wood Working club leave a table and chairs in the hallway?"

Applejack sat back, wiping her eyes in agitation before looking to the rest of us. "Ya know, Ah'm wonderin' that myself. Rarity, why would they do that?"

"I...asked them to," Rarity dug herself deeper. "I figured that if we're an official club than we should get something a little nicer than a few old tables and desk chairs."

Fluttershy started to frown. "But. Isn't today only our second meet..." Rarity put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder with a desperate stare that practically screamed for her to stop talking.

"Technically, this is the third," Twilight corrected. "We all first met Story about this time last week."

Rarity reached for the hook. "Exactly! It's been a week now. So, I figured, why not see about making the space a little more...investing?"

Story looked over the small, tall table with obvious doubt. "Well...I...appreciate the thought?" Rarity visibly relaxed at his answer. "But, I'm not sure if this table would fit everyone. And, I'm not sure if everyone would be comfortable sitting in stools for two or three hours."

Rainbow Dash slumped forward a little. Since she made and shaped these tables she probably took offense to that.

"This," Rarity paused, visibly regretting every lie that came to her mind. "This was just what they had already had. Think of it as a demo, if you would."

Story nodded along. "Well, for a demo I guess, it looks nicely made. The commission price for the real deal might be a lot though."

Rarity blinked. "Commission?"

I cringed from the sight of Rarity's expression. Ouch. You can actually pinpoint the exact second her heart broke in two.

When Story saw Rarity's shock, he started to backpedal. "I'll talk with you after today about splitting the price. I gotta pay y'all back for the gifts anyways."

Pinkie was about to remind him what gift meant but Story lightly pushed her back into the room before she got the chance. "So, table aside, how's about we all get back to the game? We only have so long, right?"

Deciding to leave before it got any more awkward, Story was back in the classroom to wait for us to follow whenever we were ready.

Rarity rested her face in her hands. "Why did I say that?"

"Funny," AJ wore a strained grin. "Ah was about ta ask that myself." She got serious. "Why didn't we come clean that time?"

Fluttershy seem to sadden. "Because we were told not to tell any of the new students about magic."

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash leaned on her table. "I'm starting to think that's not going to be easy."

"Ya think?" AJ's stare turned more stern. "Hidin' it from most a' tha school's gotten a touch easier since the Friendship Games. 'Specially since we only pony up durin' band practice now. But if we wanna keep an eye on this," she said, pointing to the table and translucent items. "We need ta make a decision. Do we really wanna keep this a secret forever?"

I gave out a weak chuckle. "You would be the one to say it first, wouldn't you Applejack?" You're not the first to think it though, I told myself.

Rainbow Dash grabbed the top of her DM Screen and brought it down against the table's surface; like closing a laptop. When she did, all the silhouettes of dice and paper in front of each of us blinked away leaving only the table, stools, and one milk white die.

"I guess the magic's not going to help us either. It's not saying anything."

"Is it supposed to," Fluttershy questioned.

"Rule five," Twilight reminded them. "The game can't do anything about outside sources. Since Story's not at the table, that means him too."

I smiled. "Which also means it can't tell you what'll be on Mr. Doodle's test tomorrow."

"Pfffft." Rainbow looked away. "I didn't ask it that."

"Welp," AJ hummed as she stepped out of her stool. "I don't think ya need me ta point that lie out. I'm headin' back in 'fore Story start's thinkin' we really 'commissioned' a table."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Rarity mumbled as she followed suit. "I should probably put that idea to rest before Story sets his heart on that."

"I can chip in if you want." Fluttershy, followed by Twilight and I, all left our chairs too, leaving Rainbow as the only one sitting down. Good thing too because when Rainbow Dash jumped out of her stool all the furniture in the hallway vanished with a light flash.

"That's kind of you, darling, but I don't think you would want to offer if you ever saw the bill."

"Let's forget about the table." I walked towards the door. "For now, how's about we just enjoy the game for once?"

Rainbow chuckled. "I can get behind that."

The rest of the girls agreed and, for the first time in about three days now, we walked into the club to actually enjoy ourselves.

Author's Note

And the story goes on...

I had mentioned at one point that the bulk of the revision was going to be this chapter. And if any of you had seen and remember the story before the rewrite you know that Glemerr's solo-charge went very differently. Mostly in that she was taken down in seconds by a couple of goblins.

Since I was rewriting, I decided to reroll everything. (Why did I decide that...) That includes Glemerr's scene here. So, rather than getting captured by goblins, she took out two goblins in one turn and barely survived the third. That also means that the fight in the caves will be entirely different. Butterfly Effect at its finest.

So, I hope you're enjoying the story as it goes on. And, for the thousandth time, I'm sorry that the updates are slow moving. I'm not giving up though.

Until next chapter,

-Zeke

(8) Voicing Concerns

Story's POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Room
Thursday, 3:33 PM

While the girls found their seats, Pinkie was bouncing in her seat with delight. Now that she was all done with her solo mission, she was ready to watch the girls go through their adventure.

Meanwhile, I was distracted from all the excitement with my phone. For the third time now, the silent alarm I set was going off. That alarm was for when Ms. Cheerilee showed up and it first went off when I was setting up the map for Pinkie. Only, Ms. Cheerilee never showed.

"Hey girls. Quick question." I hit snooze out of habit. "Did Ms. Cheerilee pass by when you were out there?"

"No, actually." Sunset glanced over at the now closed door. "Why, did you need her for something?"

"No. Just the Cheerilee Alarm went off." I placed my phone in the corner of my space so it was out of the way.

"Cheerilee Alarm?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You better not catch Ms. Cheerilee finding out about that," Rarity warned me.

"It's not my fault she comes to the classroom at the exact same time," I defended. "Besides, she usually needs help with the door or something."

"Maybe she's busy with something today," Fluttershy reasoned.

"Huh. Maybe." I considered it for a moment. "Either way, let's get back to the game. Besides, now Pinkie gets to see what all you do."

"She won't have to step out?" Fluttershy asked.

"Not now. I mean, you're all presumably going down the same path she took. So you'll get to see what's awaiting you as Pinkie watches."

As if to agree, Pinkie started munching on a bag of popcorn with a big smile on her face. The second bag of popcorn, she pushed over to me for whenever the girls started talking amongst themselves.

I think I'm starting to get behind this whole 'don't question it' thing with her. I gave her a smile and took the bag behind my screen.

When they were ready to begin, I noticed Sunset glancing down at the cart and 'oxen' miniatures that were set up before the group. Before I called the girls in, I reset the map so they wouldn't know what Pinkie did.

"Now then. For those of you that aren't named Glemerr," I began. "You all decided to take the cart with you, forming up around it and riding down the trail at a quicker pace than you had the main road. For some of you, your eyes are glued to the forest that flank either side of you. It's common knowledge that goblins keep to large numbers and ambushes have always been the name of the game.

"Though, for others among you," I switched up. "The cleared dirt path beckons you and the oxen forward. As you continue, it takes no skill to see the heavy footfalls of your Orcish ally's war path..."

Vareén's POV
Off the Beaten Path
Midday

It took less than a minute for us to take positions around the cart before we started after that loudmouth orc. I didn't think it was possible but despite how loud she screamed none of us heard her anymore. Either the war cry stopped part way into her charge or she cleared that much ground in a short time.

The group was set up around the cart similar to how we traveled the main road. Thorn Wielder held the reins with Stostine sitting beside her. Every now and then, Stostine scanned the side of the cart no one was standing at.

Behind them, reclaiming his lazy watch tower, was Ricven. He laid there, tuning that violin like nothing was wrong. The only change was that he didn't strum the strings anymore; he kept quiet at least. Which made me believe he tuned that thing purely out of habit.

As for the rest of us, we took position around the cart. Platick kept to the back and Ravathyra stayed to the side of the cart watching the treeline to our left. The only one in a different spot was me.

The entire time down this road, my eyes were focused to the dirt. I spotted tracks back at the ambush site but it was the human noblewoman that figured everything out.

Pathetic.

If anyone who knew me saw how much I failed to notice the tracks I would never hear the end of it. It wasn't only the main road either.

All the interest from earlier seemed to fade from Twilight when she looked at what she rolled.

"Four plus four...Eight, survival." Twilight dully stared at her die that once again let her down.

I could tell there were plenty of tracks going back and forth along the trail. In fact, this path existed because those goblins probably cleared it at some point. However, with wildlife running freely, I had no way of telling what tracks were fresh and goblin or old and obvious.

I kept my hood up even as I stayed ahead of the group. I did that so none of them could see me silently shouted every expletive I knew at myself.

"Is everything alright, Vareén?"

Or at least I thought none of them could notice.

"...Fine," I tossed blandly.

"We'd be even finer if we were headin' ta town," Ricven reminded them.

"And abandon Glemerr?" Stostine countered.

"..." Ricven had no rebuttal. So someone else took over.

"She ran ahead," Platick pointed out. "Now I don't know if goblins take prisoners is a good thing."

The others had a few remarks back and forth but they never did anything more. No one was brave enough to leave the orc to her fate. So they all fell quiet again with only the oxen's movement filling the silence.

About two minutes after their squabbling that we found the first sign of Glemerr's rampage. In the middle of the trail were three goblins all haphazardly wrapped and tied in rope with a pile of weapons and shields set up out of reach from them.

Left drying around the path was blood but not from the goblins. It ran back and forth in several directions before stopping where old bandages were discarded next to a tree.

I gave a small bird call and luckily it caught Thorn Wielder's attention. I motioned to stop the oxen and when she did I gave a few more hunter signals for everyone to be quiet. Whether they knew them or not didn't matter as I pointed out the scene.

Platick quickly took point and walked carefully as though not to make a sound.

Applejack frowned a little at her die. "A twelve work?"

Story weighed the idea in his mind. "Twelve's not bad."

The leaves on the autumn ground didn't help his effort but he made it to the beaten goblins regardless.

When close enough, Platick drew his rusted shortsword and used it to tap one of the goblins. When there was no large response he lightly kicked one and watched as all three of slumped to the side in pained groans.

"Coast is clear," he told us. "It looks like whatever ambush there was, Glemerr plowed through it."

"They're still alive?" I started walking forward as Thorn Wielder rode the oxen a bit closer.

"Thinking back on it, Glemerr never killed the goblins back on the road either." Stostine called out.

When all of us closed in on the scene we got a better picture of it all. Hanging from the trees was a rope that looked frayed, ready to fall apart from use as well as nearby broken branches. It looked like a small noose.

"Honorable," Ricven said, watching the goblins. "Shame it's wasted on things like them."

"Not a shame at all," Stostine explained. "In fact, I was starting to regret not bringing any of those other goblins to interrogate them."

"Interrogate?" Ricven let himself chuckle at the thought. "A sweet thang like yerself? Ms. Stostine, I don’t doubt ya' skills in magic, but I can hardly imagine seein' you as one for torture err somethin' silly like that.”

"Well of course not." Stostine folded her hands together in a way where her robe's sleeves covered the entirety of her arms. "I don't normally use torture in front of others."

She climbed down from the wagon, ignoring the odd look from Platick as she approached the goblins.

Ricven, meanwhile, kept chuckling. "And why, Miss Stostine, is that?"

Stostine didn't give an answer. Ironically, it was the silence that gave Ricven's laughter pause.

Stostine studied the trio of goblins with a blank expression. From what we could tell, one of them had a broken jaw and another had several missing teeth and a broken nose. But the third one seemed undamaged save for the short pained breaths. Probably broken ribs.

"...Ricven," she began. "Are your skills better suited for combat or can they assist generally?"

"Are ya tryin' ta ask fa' my talents?" Ricven watched the human woman nod and chuckled once more. "Ya don' have ta act all prim an' proper 'bout it. We're in the presence of goblins, not politicians. Though, I suppose the only difference is their lodgin'.

"As for what I can do." He winked. "Let's say I'm a bit of a wild card." When Ricven realized his 'wits' got no reaction, either from Stostine or myself, he groaned and lied back down on the cart. "I can do both. Happy?"

Stostine let her smile reveal itself that time. "Of course. Someone well-rounded is very useful. Although information may be a bit more beneficial. I don’t suppose you have any insight to goblins?”

"Ughhh!" His face contorted in disgust. “I don’t even try learnin’ about them vermin. If I even catch a name of one of them it’d be too much.”

"A shame." Stostine rethought her strategy. "What about that spell you tried earlier?”

“Ya mean my natural charms?” He straightened his collar and attempted to flirt with her again.

“No.” She didn’t seem to notice. Or care. “I meant that enchantment spell you tried before. Can you try it again?”

He let his head fall back, staring at the sky as he crossed one leg over the other's knee like a lazy farm boy. "As much as I love makin' vermin think I'm their greatest treasure," he started, now with a complete lack of interest. "It's hardly a good use o' my magic. I only got so much. Same as you."

With a hum, Stostine turned to face the goblins again. "Point taken. I suppose that means we'll have to do this manually."

"So your interrogation then?" Platick crossed his arms.

"I would very much be open to suggestions."

I walked over to the goblin trio and began to work on the rope, cutting towards the knot and dragging out the one who's face wasn't broken. Then I dragged him about twenty feet from the others. The other two I left tied up on the ground.

"What are you doing?" The Dwarf asked.

I didn't answer until I dropped the goblin back into the dirt and turned to the two humans. "Do either of you know how to use a crossbow?" After Stostine and Platick glanced at each other they looked back to me.

"Yeah." "A little."

"Good enough." I kicked the goblin's chest just hard enough for the pain to snap him awake. Then I spoke in Dwarven so the goblin couldn't understand me.

"Platick, pretend to teach her how to shoot a crossbow. Stostine, 'miss' the goblin," I instructed them.

The light in Stostine's eyes made me know that she already caught on and before Platick could catch on, a spectral hand formed into reality and scooped up a crossbow from the weapon pile.

Platick then watched as said spectral hand drifted the crossbow into Stostine's grip so she could quickly load a bolt before the goblin had a chance to look around.

"What...What goes—" The goblin started talking before he clutched his chest in pain. "Breath hurt!"

I want to shoot the crossbow as close to him as possible," Sunset explained as she brought her finger and thumb close together.

Story leaned his head side-to-side. "Make...Me an attack roll. With this it's Dex plus Proficiency. It's not against his armor; this is more to determine how close you can make this. Ironically enough, rolling low will not end well for him."

Sunset nodded. "Makes sense." As though to test something, she asked Pinkie for the 'changing' die back. She tried pretending like that's the one she felt 'lucky' or something like that in front of Story.

After she saw it turn to metal in her hand, she gave it a roll.

The die clattered around, sounding like the same metal it was made of, before finally sitting at '4.' As it did, a few images faintly flew into Sunset's mind, all of 'her' being given some small weapon training.

They were fake memories depicting scenes where Stostine was trained in secret. It was always in secret and at night, nonetheless, so she never got all of the basics down.

The visions were gone as fast as they appeared and Sunset was left staring at her die with a bittersweet look on her face.

"I rolled a four," Sunset announced with a minor wince.

Story's expression soured. "Only a four, huh?"

While Sunset looked at all the numbers in front of her, she glanced over to the paper that had all the stats about Stostine. Something that looked new was one passage that was now glowing like the dice and numbers.

Suddenly, Sunset's eyes lit up.

"Wait. Can I use ⟟⎅⊬⍀⎍⊑☌ ⟒⏚ ⟊⍀☌⎐?"

That's what the rest of the girls heard anyway. And despite their confused expressions, Story understood her and sat back.

"Huh," was all he responded with. "Would this technically count?"

"It says any failed save or attack roll," Sunset defined with a grin. "And you told me to make an attack roll. Right?"

"..." Story narrowed his eyes. "You and Pinkie both are a little too good at talking." But still he caved. "Go ahead."

Sunset's smile widened as she drew up two more dice, and rolled them next to the first one. Since they only had four numbers each, Sunset didn't get too much higher.

Still, she smiled nonetheless as more memories of nightly crossbow practice danced in her mind.

"Twelve altogether."

"Where, ugh...Where is—" The goblin caught its breath, with a wince, as he spotted the crossbow bolt land less than two feet to his left. The part that caught him the most was the black fletching that was on the end of it.

Stostine let out a 'tsk' and started glaring at the crossbow. "Ugh! Platick, you told me I was gonna hit it!" She shouted like a spoiled child angry at her new pony.

Meanwhile, Platick stared at her with a look of disbelief. Stostine's new personality was certainly a far mark away from how she was normally but her acting was still a little too obvious for my taste.

"Are we really doin' this?" Platick asked, suddenly sounding like a high school cowgirl for some reason.

"Just play along," Stostine stage-whispered.

"Butler," Stostine called out with a snap of her fingers.

In seconds, that same spectral hand as before appeared and made a saluting motion in front of her. Except, since there was no face to salute with, it was just a light blue floating hand.

"Bring me another arrow," she commanded with a flourish of her hand. With only that much, the magic 'butler' was off, swerving side to side as though a child were operating it.

"That. That my arrow," the goblin groaned.

"Stop moving!" Stostine stomped her foot. The 'child' act was complete. "Like, how am I supposed to shoot your eye out if you keep moving?!"

"M-My eye?! You no shoot my—gah!" With a stomp, I pinned the goblin back to the ground with my boot. He was still squirming so I knew he wasn't unconscious yet.

"Do as she says," I said stoically. "You're not useful for anything else."

"I. I...I very useful!" The goblin tried to beg.

"You?" I sounded unconvinced. It was the truth.

"Yes! You— err —me! I am! I am...! Swear!"

I hummed, then looked to Platick. "You think?"

The human man took a second to hold the bridge of his nose. I don't know why. This over-the-top plan wasn't too hard to pull off.

As the 'butler' hand started to swerve back to Stostine with a new crossbow bolt, Platick snatched it from the hand with a frown.

"Let's hear it out first..." He said with no energy. "...Miss."

"...Very well," Stostine said as she looked the other way. But she still held out her crossbow. "But Butler? Start loading the arrow anyways. I don't wanna touch it. It's got goblin on it."

The 'butler' drooped slightly, as though frustrated with the young miss, but obeyed its command by pulling back the crossbow string.

Platick rolled his eyes but walked over to the goblin before grabbing it by the front of its armor and holding it up, putting a dagger to its throat.

Then he glanced over to me and, in Dwarven, said, "Why couldn't we just do this?"

Also in Dwarven, Stostine answered "Because, this way, the goblin's less likely to lie."

"And it's funny," the actual Dwarf, Ravathyra, added. Still speaking Dwarven.

I said nothing. Instead I left it at a shrug and let Platick go on.

Platick's expression flattened but soon he shook it off and brought the dagger closer.

"Alright. You're gonna have to tell us what we want. Quickly. Otherwise, the..." he rolled his eyes. "The miss, is going to get more target practice. Got it?"

"Get it!" The goblin frantically bobbed its head. "Err. Got it. Gonot, got-get it!"

"Good." Platick never let the tension drift. "To start, what happened to the Dwarf? And the human with him?"

"Taken!" The goblin shouted fast. "We take to cave. Human still at ta-cave. Dwarf taken from cave wi. With..." The goblin started to clam up.

"With, what?" Platick started turning the dagger closer.

"Intimidation check," Story told her.

After a small delay, AJ rolled and instantly lost all interest. "Three. Minus two." She held up a single finger.

The goblin refused to answer, risking their chance to take another breath. "I...No say. I die by you or...No say."

Whatever he was referring to, it scared him more than we did. So I reached behind my back.

"Did they also want this?" As I spoke, I pulled out the map case and held it up in front of the goblin's face.

He gasped, then flinched from the pain of his ribs. "Map? You get map?!"

"Yes," I lied. "We're better than them. Now we want the Dwarf. Where?"

"..." Story seemed to think this over carefully. His smile made it obvious he liked the mind-games but he wasn't ready to let them win yet.

"Deception check," he finally called.

Twilight let herself smirk and rolled her dice. When it landed, she made her smirk known. "Seventeen."

"Alright Twily!" Pinkie cheered, tossing another few pieces of popcorn into her mouth.

"..." The goblin tried looking up at me, wanting to see my face. Not out of curiosity, but only so he knew what was threatening him. I didn't give him the chance.

"You heard the lady," Platick said, regaining the goblin's attention. "There anyone stopping you now?"

"..." The goblin tried to swallow his fear but that only made the dagger dig into his Adam's apple. "...Okay! Dwarf not here! He was taken with map! To King Grol."

"King?" Sunset blinked. "Story, is the place were in ruled by..."

While chewing on his own popcorn, Story shook his head. "Nope." He took a second to swallow his food before going on. "To make the exposition as short as I can for now: the kingdom your in is Leodaav. The 'King' passed away..."

He stopped for some mental math. "Thirteen years ago. He was ceded by his daughter, Queen Zephyr."

A chill ran down Fluttershy's spine.

"Zephyr?"

"No relation. I promise," Story assured her. Knowing Fluttershy in the past, he also knew about the brother that shall not be named.

"Any kings anywhere else?" Applejack probed.

"Nuh-uh," Story hummed. "Other kingdoms you know of have the Storm Bringer, the Stone Breaker, councils, or rulers on continents so faraway that some random goblin would have no clue. No kings."

I pulled the map case back and kept out of the goblin's vision. "And the human?"

"Yeemik keep human," it blurted out. "No need...But Yeemik say human his. Klarg no care. Goblins forced keep away."

"But whyyyyy~?" Stostine groaned, still keeping the 'noble brat' persona. Suddenly, it started to sound a little too real.

"No know," it admitted. "Yeemik no want goblins speak at human! Say we make human not talk."

"Not talk?" Ravathyra rose an eyebrow.

Stostine gave a mocking scoff and spoke in Dwarven. "He means, that this 'Yeemik' wants the hum— I mean —Sildar, to talk. But what for, I wonder."

Okay, why's the accent still there?

I said nothing. Instead, I slung the map case back to where it was before all of this started.

Stostine's eyes lit up and gasped. Then, in Dwarven, "Ya think Sildar knows what's on the map?"

"Possibly," I answered in Dwarven. "But he hasn't seen it himself."

Stostine comically tapped a finger to her chin. "Which prolly means Yeemik won't kill him yet. Bonus~!"

"Alright. Sunset," Applejack gave her friend a confused look. "Why are you talkin' like some kinda...Bratty tween?"

Sunset let herself break and gave the best neutral smile she could, then proceeded to talk normal. "Are you asking me or the character?"

"...You?"

"Oh! Then, like." she switched back to the fake attitude. "I got no clue what yer talking about."

Ricven, who was watching the entire scene, crawled up next to Thorn Wielder. He was laughing when Platick and Stostine were putting on an act but when the conversation switched to Dwarven, he looked to be at a loss.

"Are we s'pposed ta know what y'all are sayin'?" Ricven called out to myself and the others. Thorn Wielder had been watching us too but she didn't seem to care either way.

"They'll probably repeat it a few dozen times," Ravathyra told him boredly.

"Let's try a different question," Platick told the goblin, ignoring the peanut gallery. "How many of you are there?"

"A lot," the goblin spoke like it read a fact. "There are. A lot."

Ricven, Ravathyra, and Stostine all shared some stifled laughter from that. A look from me made them all shut up.

"Right. And your leader, Klarg," Platick pressed on. "Who is he?"

"He big, scary Bugbear. Say we his army."

"Army?" Stostine repeated.

"Makes sense," Ricven said with a smiling eye roll. "There are, get this...A lot."

"A lot is in an army," Ravathyra pointed out. "It's almost as much as a ton."

"But it's more than a bunch," Stostine tossed out, smiling all the while.

"Shut it." I stared them down, making them do exactly as I said.

"Ugh. Fine," Stostine droned, walking up to the goblin and Platick as she did. "I think we're outta questions anyway! What do you think, Platick?"

Platick simply shook his head. "Nah. I got one more."

After he put his dagger back into his boot, he stood up and held the goblin off the ground by his leather chest piece. I could see the strain Platick put into holding him but he hid it from the goblin well enough.

"This decides what we do with you," Platick said. "Are there any more traps or ambushes along this road?"

"No. No more ambush! Gonot and others were to get road ambush to bring at cave. All goblins at cave!"

Platick gave the goblin a heavy shake. His arms were starting to shake from holding the goblin. "And the traps?"

"Oh!" The goblin forgot where he was for a moment and let out a giggle. "There one big hole goblins make! It fun watch when animal or Dwarf scream."

As if she were targeted, Thorn Wielder stood up from on the wagon's bench, reaching for her scythe as she did. Both Ravathyra and Ricven worked to keep her from walking over.

"Good to know," Platick told him. "Enjoy your dirt nap."

"Nap?" The goblin repeated. "What is na—” His question was never answered.

Platick slammed the goblin into the ground, stomping its head into the dirt further with his boot. The goblin didn't move when Platick stepped back.

Story's POV
Classroom
3:41 PM

"Alrighty then," Sunset sang aloud as she raised her fist to the air. That tween voice was starting to make me cringe now. "Let's get moving, shall we? We don't have all day~"

I know that Sunset said she wanted something lighthearted when she made this character but this isn't what I thought she meant.

"Hold it." Applejack frowned. "First, drop the voice. It was already too much when you had a reason, now it's just getting ridiculous."

"Voice?" Sunset kept at it. "Like, what do you mean voice?" To add onto it, she crossed her arms and returned AJ's frown.

"He means your act," Twilight specified in Vareén's bored tone. "It's getting old. Fast."

Sunset gave out a scoff. "Act? The only ones acting old are all of..." Then she let herself trail off. I think she was trying to give them this fake eye twitch too but sadly it wasn't too real. Even Pinkie was trying not to giggle from it.

"...Aw shit," Sunset groaned, still in that voice.

Then, she let herself smile from the silliness of it all as she spoke to the group. "Um...Everyone just starts seeing Stostine blush like crazy. So she pulls up the hood from her robe to try hiding her face," she narrated stiffly.

A few girls turned to see what my reaction was to Sunset taking control of the scene. Since I didn't want to stop them I made a show of myself sitting back in my chair and folded my arms behind my head.

I gestured for them to go on. My work here is done. Popcorn time. I snatched up a handful of popcorn from the bowl Pinkie got for both of us. We had run out from the small bags she had so I guess she got more at...Some point?

Don't question, I remembered. You get more popcorn this way.

"Uh, Miss Stostine," Rarity started with Ricven's voice. "There somethin' ya mind sharin with the class here?"

Sunset let her shoulder droop. "Sorry. I'm sorry. It is a...Tick I have."

"To act like a snobby noble brat instead of a snobby noblewoman?" Applejack, as Platick, fired back.

Sunset let her face flare up in anger and with a 'tssk' she spoke back into that bratty voice. "Be serious Platick! I'm not a—"

Sunset feigned shock and cleared her throat. "I. I mean. I do not try to be snobby. Sorry if I come off that way."

"...You're not lying about this, are you?" Rainbow asked. She didn't have an accent like the others but she didn't have to. Simply playing along was more than enough. "I mean, is this an actual thing?"

Sunset sighed, then pretended to remove the hood from her head. "Yes. This is a thing. It. I know it sounds silly, but it is...I'm sorry."

As the girls each tried to figure out why this character would be like this, a few of them turned to look at me.

"Do any of us know what this is?" Twilight asked.

"Or if Stostine's telling the truth?" Applejack added.

"Is it contagious?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.

Rather than answer them, I held up a finger to get them to stop talking. I swear, I complained as I kept chewing my popcorn. People always ask me questions whenever I'm eating something.

When they got the hint, I swallowed my food in peace. Thankfully in that time, I managed to think up an answer. "So. There are some of you that have different insight than others. And for that matter, each of you will roll something different."

I started moving around my notes and got the paper that had stuff about Sunset's character, Stostine. Sunset only had a concept and a few interesting notes but my god were they specific.

"Now before I say who rolls what, I'm going to tell you that some of you are going to have an easier roll to make than others. So for example, one of you may only have to roll a fifteen while others may have to get a twenty or higher. That's the benefit of characters with different backgrounds; you come at it from different angles."

When they heard that, everyone but Sunset and Pinkie reached for their dice, with Rainbow casually snagging Sunset's lucky die. Sunset noticed and gave Rainbow a look but said nothing.

"So. In no particular order," I lied, glancing down at who's roll would probably matter the most. "Ricven. Arcana check."

Rarity deflated a little as I said that but rolled anyway. Then deflated further. "Eleven."

SO close to the target number. I'll give her the dots. She'll have to connect them, I told myself. "Okay. Platick? Make me a straight Intelligence check then add your proficiency bonus."

Applejack rolled next and her expression became the complete opposite of Rarity's. "Twenty-four."

Oh yeah, that'd work. Well, Kiirnodel was Platick's instructor. They'd probably bring this up. I moved to the next girl. "Vareén's turn. Perception check."

Twilight looked saddened even before rolling. And when she saw the number her expression softened a little. "Twelve?"

Not too terrible, I noted. Too bad hers was a harder number to beat. I turned to the next chair. "Ravathyra's turn. Rainbow? Insight check."

She stared at the lucky die in her hand and gave it a roll. She and all the girls at the table watched intently as it stopped at a mediocre eleven.

"...Thirteen," she mumbled with her frown. And before she could object, Sunset pulled the die back to her own pile.

"Finally, Thorn Wielder. You asked if it was contagious. Medicine check."

Fluttershy looked more concerned when I said that so after a gentle roll, she glanced back up. "Um. I rolled a twenty."

"Let me guess; not contagious?" Rarity asked with a weak grin.

"Correct!" I cheered. "Thorn Wielder, you know that it's not a disease! Or contagious. She, and you, are fine." As Fluttershy took some comfort with that, I clapped my hands together. "Now for the rest of the results."

I got up from my seat and started going around the room, starting with Applejack. I gestured for her to lean in and whispered so no one else can hear.

"Your instructor, Kiirnodel, comes to mind very quickly," I started. By the mention of their name, Applejack tensed up. We both agreed that Platick would have an instructor since he wasn't born a thief. So I pitched this character to her. The small stories I used to described them made AJ know this was not a 'heroic' character, to say the least. But she had this interesting story come to her mind that worked well.

I went on. "During your instructions, they offered to teach you some magic, though that's up to you whether or not you agreed. However, they did well to warn you of magic's tendencies. Stostine's...tick here, seems to be a textbook example. Especially since you realize her eyes turned a different color with that voice."

The 'whether or not part' was for Applejack to decide with her character. Applejack hadn't finished her backstory yet. But as I stepped away from Applejack, she looked like her mind was processing it all.

I next got to Rarity and started again.

"Ricven would know from past experience that Stostine is a sorcerer," I admitted. "Their powers can come from all sorts of things; ancestors, a gift or curse passed down. Luck? Exceedingly rare. So you've only met a few. And in some of those cases, they had weird...gimmicks to them."

Rarity waited for the next part but it never came. Instead, she watched as I moved to Twilight.

"Vareén, Stostine's odd change may seem familiar given your situation." Twilight looked like she wanted to immediately ask something but I didn't give her the chance.

"That situation, yes," I confirmed. "But you know it's probably something different. Personalities don't change the same way everything else does."

She didn't roll anywhere near high enough to get a real answer, unfortunately. But this was a good chance to deny what I figured was a question she was imagining.

With that settled, I finally got over to Rainbow.

"Whatever Stostine's going through, you don't know any sort of disease-based that matches her problem."

I stood up straight and was about to go back to my chair only to see Rainbow waving me back down. When I leaned back down, she whispered back.

"That's it?" She asked me.

I frowned. "Look, I'm really sorry. Your check was the hardest one to make. You didn't roll high enough."

"Didn't roll..." When Rainbow realized that the girls were now all looking at us, she got up from her seat. "'Scuse us for a second."

"Us? What do you—woah!"

Rainbow took my arm and had me follow her to the other side of the room. The girls could still hear us but at least now we didn't have to whisper.

"What do you mean didn't roll high enough?" She asked me in a hushed tone. "I know AJ rolled high but she got, like, a paragraph. I got second place."

"And again, I'm sorry. I just thought that you weren't much for role-playing is all." When she started to get more upset I scolded myself. "Okay, I didn't mean it like that, I just—"

"No, I-I get it," she told me. "AJ's got the whole creepy, not-elf teacher story with her."

I closed my mouth and went back over what she just said. "...How do you know about that?"

Rainbow's eyes went wide. "I. Um. We-Well, AJ told me. Before," she said vaguely. "But, I mean, what about the Ulaa goddess? And the..Th-the shrine where I, uh, the character, volunteered at?"

Shrine? Volunteer? I only shook my head with a confused look on my face. "Rainbow, if you wanna come up with a story for your character, awesome. Go for it. But I can't read your mind. You gotta tell me if you want it in the story too."

"But I saw it so clearly," she said, thinking I couldn't hear her.

"Great," I congratulated. "Then we can find a time to sit down and you can tell me all about it."

Rainbow stared at me like a deer in the headlights. "We? You mean, just we?"

"You can bring others with you," I told her. "But that's why I have stories for Applejack and Fluttershy, and the others. We sat down and came up with something they liked."

Then, Rainbow started getting really quiet. It was a lot like when the girls first came to introduce themselves. Originally, I thought that Rainbow was shy like Fluttershy with new people but now that didn't feel right to say.

Fluttershy...

"How about this." When Rainbow was ready to hear me out I went on. "If you really want to come up with this 'volunteer' story like you're talking about then how about Fluttershy comes along too?"

"Uh-Um." Rainbow started to look even more worried for some reason. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

Before I could try asking why, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I fished it out quickly but instead of being some sort of call it was just the Cheerilee Alarm going off.

I kept hitting snooze when Pinkie was playing her solo mission but now it was 3:53. Maybe she talked with all the girls outside and figured that was enough to know we were okay.

Except, when I saw what time it was, my expression tightened. We had to be gone by 5 PM and we haven't done much in the game.

"Look." I put my phone away and looked back up. "You don't have to go the extra mile but if you want to then just let us know, alright? Now come on, we're holding up the others."

"Wait." She told me. "..."

"...Yes?" I asked, noting the strange awkward silence. After a few more moments of silence, save for the girls who were talking back at the table, Rainbow finally spoke.

"Tomorrow?" Rainbow asked. "After soccer practice? I can bring Fluttershy."

I gave her a nod. "Yeah. That works for me." As soon as I figure out when a sports practice ends.

"Are y'all finished yet?" Applejack called from across the room. "We're waitin' on ya."

Rainbow gave me a quick thumbs up before walking back to her table. "You don't really have to wait on me ya know."

The second that Rainbow sat back down, the girls started talking amongst themselves as their characters, playing out the scene as though they were in some kind of improv class.

With the handful of different accents and Sunset falling into the idea of explaining her actions, it was almost comical watching it all unfold.

Way to go Story, I praised myself. You managed to make seven regular, well-adjusted students all turn into goofy dorks in the span of one week. You truly are a terrible person.

I would have sat back to enjoy the chaos before me but then I saw Pinkie, who was content with watching the girls' acting, was slowly pulling my comfy swivel chair away from my spot and trying to steal it.

"Wha. Hey! Pinkie?!"

I started rushing over to reclaim what was mine. That was the only good chair in this room and I wasn't about to let it get taken from me!

Author's Note

And finally, after so much frustration, this chapter is done. If stories can have a development hell, I think this is it.

I think I might have stated it at some point but this has always been my fall back story. Whenever I have Writer's Block or I'm getting burnt out on one story, I come here. And now that I'm working on a story that I've been planning & thinking about for years, this story officially is in second place.

I know that may be disconcerting to hear but I still really do love this story! I'm obsessed with D&D so I don't feel burnt out on a story like this. But wow if I don't get stuck on it!

Originally, I had Story learn about Spike in this chapter and there was another character that basically forced their way into the club. But looking back on it there were so many plot threads that the story was getting tangled. I moved away from that.

To tell the truth, I don't know when the next chapter will be out. It may be soon, it may be a while. I can only promise that it will come out later and that'll it be focused on the game rather than outside events.

So, until then, I hope you all enjoyed! Till next chapter,

-Zeke

(9) Goblin Caves

Platick's POV
Dirt Trail
Midday

Stostine's odd act caught several of us off-guard with everyone reacting from indifferent to chuckling at her expense. All except for me. Her eyes. I didn't notice it before but they changed. Right now, and the whole trip I've known her, Stostine's eyes were a bright gold. That in itself already seemed odd but when I learned she had magic it didn't feel out of place.

But to change back and forth? I didn't have a deep focus on magic or magic people but I knew how to spot results.

"That's not going to end up being a problem, is it?" I asked her, not caring if my expression showed how sour I was.

"It won't. You have my word," Stostine stood up straight and replaced her embarrassment for sincerity. "I may get ahead of myself...maybe say something that I would later regret," she muttered to herself.

Probably something she learned from experience, I figured.

"But it isn't as though I become a different person," she explained. "I am still me and my goals stay the same. It's only—"

"We get it," Vareén cut her off. "Just keep it in check."

Stostine cleared her throat and gave a slight bow rather than a nod. "I will. And again, sorry." With a hand motion, the spectral hand of hers went back to the pile of weapons and plucked a small case of crossbow bolts before bringing it back.

"What're ya takin' the bolts for?" Ricven asked from atop the cart. He never bothered stepping off when we dealt with the goblin.

"Well, I know how to use a crossbow but I don't have one. It's not as though we intend on giving these weapons back." Stostine worked to secure the case and the crossbow on her person before glancing back at the pile. "...In fact."

The spectral hand did one more lap, this time swiping a scimitar that Stostine stowed along her hip. "There. Armed for precaution."

"Wait, we're taking their stuff?" Ravathyra, who was standing off to the side up until now, asked with a curious look in her eye.

"I wouldn't bother," Ricven dismissed. "No self-respectin' shopkeep would buy much a' that dirty junk anyhow. Crossbow's prolly the only valuable thang an' Stostine's already set her eye on it. 'Sides, we should be gettin' on our way. Ain't that right Ms. Thorn?"

"Infestation."

"Well? Y'all heard her. Doctor's orders; let's go."

As we all started grouping up on the cart, with Stostine reclaiming her seat, I gave Ricven a sideways glance. "Didn't you not want to come?"

"Ya say that as if you weren't agreein' with me earlier," he reminded me. "But if ya really wanna rough it ta town wit' just me out there keepin' ya company..."

"I'll take point again," I called out, starting down the road and giving a wide birth to the two unconscious goblins and their once interrogated friend. The others followed behind with the oxen and wagon being the loudest among us.

Nevertheless, their noise was never a problem. Even with all of us keeping our eyes out, we never spotted another band of goblins. No sign of the half-orc that ran off, our employers that got captured, or stray bugbears.

Like the path we had traveled so far, the trail widened and narrowed randomly but never seemed to turn or bend in one way or the other. As we went, we found less trees and more shrubbery in its place and more footprints that ran in every direction.

It took ten more minutes of walking before we finally came up on something I would call progress. In the center of the path was a strange pile of leaves poorly set up to look natural. Not only that but the edge of the pile closer towards us was broken to reveal a pit underneath it.

And wouldn't you know it, there was a set of orc prints leading right up to where the pitfall was showing.

I came to a full stop and held back my hand towards the others to do the same. I heard the wagon shift around as Thorn Wielder brought it to a stop while Ravathyra and Vareén stood beside me to keep a lookout for another ambush. Whatever that snare was, Glemerr set it off and an ambush happened.

After a few silent moments, Vareén gave me a 'go ahead' motion and took my chance creeping up to the hole with a dagger at the ready.

Despite the orc-sized hole, the covering was still stable with thin branches acting as a mesh under the leaves. Then, the revealed side was more like a ramp leading down into a flat, dirt floor pit. And laying atop of it was a bandaged, ragged half-orc staring up at me with a worn smile.

"Heeeey," Glemerr greeted weakly. "Ya found me. Yippee..."

My face flattened to mild frustration as I twirled my dagger in my hand.

"How long have you been down there?"

Glemerr's face scrunched up for a second. "Uh...Ten minutes?"

I turned behind me at Vareén who was close enough to hear the whole thing. She turned back to the others and gave them a weak thumbs up.

"Is Glemerr in there?" Stostine asked quietly. "Is she okay?"

"I'm fine," Glemerr called out. "Ran inta some gobbos but they didn't stop me."

"We saw that. Good thing you kept them alive, they filled us in on their den." When Glemerr started climbing out of the pit to join us I got out of her way. "You're not about to go running off again, are you?"

"N-Nah. Glemerr was gonna rest a bit first." Once she was out, she stood back to her full height and held her right arm that was covered in reddened bandages.

"That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea." Stostine stood up from the bench of the cart and looked onward. "...It looks like there's some sort of large hill not too far. That's probably their cave."

"And that goblin did say there were. A lot," Ravathyra stressed.

"There's a lot?" Glemerr asked in shock. "Glemerr didn't know dat."

"Don't start that again," Vareén warned.

"They do bring up a good point though," Ricven spoke. "If y'all are so gong-how about fightin' a lotta goblins, and the bugbear leadin' 'em all, makes sense that everyone be at their best."

"How does that work?" Rainbow asked. "I know it's a game but how long does it take to get our stuff back?"

"The only ones injured are Thorn Wielder and Glemerr," Story informed them. "If you guys rest up for a about an hour, called a short rest, you can spend hit dice to heal."

Story explained how it all worked and where to find it on their sheets but the girls didn't have to look hard. The box glowed with their respected color of aura as though to point it out.

"That's probably fer the best," AJ offered. "Anyone gotta problem with it?"

When a chorus of no's and shrugs returned, Story let everyone start prepping themselves for the fight ahead as they chatted amongst themselves about their characters for ideas.

Vareén's POV
Cave Entrance
One Hour Later

It took some convincing, but we had Thorn Wielder guide the wagon off the path and into the grass. She nearly gave us a heart attack when she unhooked the oxen from their bridle but rather than run off like we expected, the oxen calmly walked over to the grass and grazed.

Since then, we took a break. Since the Dwarf had no more of the healing magic she had back in the initial ambush, Glemerr started proving herself useful by taking out some extra wrappings to bandage Thorn Wielder's leg. It wasn't perfect but Thorn Wielder didn't seem to care and let the half-orc do as she wished.

In the meantime, Ricven and Stostine went over a handful of their spells, simplifying them for those of us that knew nothing of magic. That insult magic Ricven used was apparently something he could use constantly and he had enough strength to do one more stronger spell; all of which were mostly passive help save for one.

"Wait. You're saying you can just clap your hands and you make lightning?" Ravathyra asked in shock.

"A thunderwave, Miss Ravathyra," Ricven clarified. "It's only the sound but it packs a heavier punch than whatever Glemerr may have. Although." He cringed. "Not sure if a loud boom in a cave's the best idea."

"I think his other stuff sounded more useful anyway." Platick shrugged as he turned to Stostine. "And you said you only have three useful spells?"

"Well, useful for someone other than me, yes." Stostine nodded. "That fire spell you saw earlier and I have an ice spell that does something along the same lines."

As if to prove this, she held up both hands with one being enveloped with embers and the other one having a single finger erupt in frost. "I can use these as often as I need. And then I have one other spell called Bless. It makes those around me a little...better at what they do."

"I've heard a' that." Ricven rose an eyebrow. "Not really an arcane spell though. That's more somethin' I'd expect the Dwarf usin'."

"I wouldn't know what to tell you." Stostine shrugged herself. "It was actually one of the few spells I learned first. Well, that and this."

Reaching into a pocket, Stostine pulled out a small bag of sand and focused on it for a moment before a bright pale blue light shone from the item as though it were a candle.

I studied it for a second before a single question came to mind.

"...Why do you have a bag of sand?"

Sunset stared at her paper for a moment before looking up. "Story? Why do I have a bag of sand?"

Story opened his mouth but awkwardly closed it as he thought to himself. And when nothing came to mind, he looked as confused as her.

"...Okay, then," Sunset surrendered.

"I don't know," Stostine replied with a chuckle. "I have just always had it. It has never left my side."

"What about you," I asked, looking to Thorn Wielder. "You used magic to speak with the ox. And that vine lunged out at the goblin. Have any other magic?"

She nodded so faintly I almost missed it.

"Well, what is it? Can it help in a fight?"

She closed her eyes, thinking about it for a moment before abruptly standing up and walking over towards a low hanging tree branch. Then, using her scythe, she sliced off the end of it and caught it in her hands, holding it before her.

It wasn't anything special. Just a handful of leaves on a now severed stick. But as Thorn kept her eyes closed, the end of her thorned vines snaked along the end of the branch she held and began glowing with a warm green light.

In moments, every leaf browned and wilted off the branch as though time accelerated and in their places, plump green berries grew across the branch. They looked like grapes but each one had a faint light dancing around as though fireflies lived within them.

"We didn't mean use it now," Ricven exclaimed as he facepalmed.

Thorn Wielder begun explaining; all in Elven. It was still broken sentences but there was enough to understand her.

"Um." Glemerr scratched her jaw. "Anyone know what she said?" Well, to those that knew Elven.

I, Platick, and Stostine all nodded. So that's another language we all know, I noted.

"Each berry has healing properties and they last for one full day. Growing them ahead of time was a good idea," Stostine translated. As she did, Thorn Wielder began plucking the berries and passing them out among us all. There were ten berries in total and seven of us, so Thorn gave the three extra berries to herself, Ravathyra, and Glemerr.

"Prolly fer the best we save these." Ricven dropped the berry into a side pouch. "Now then. 'Less I'm mistaken, I believe the three of us are the only ones with magic. Anyone wanna prove me wrong?"

When no one came forward, I took out my bow and turned to the cave not far ahead. "I'll scout ahead. If they have goblins to spare for ambushes, they probably have a lookout near the entrance."

"I'm coming too." Platick plucked the dagger back out of his boot as he stood. "I might not be a hunter but I can keep quiet. Plus these things like numbers, yeah? Might be more than one."

"Yeah. They might have a—" "If you say those words," I cut them off without glancing back. "I will use your teeth to sharpen my arrowheads."

Someone muttered 'sorry' while I pulled an arrow from my quiver and started walking.

"The rest of you stay at a safe distance," Platick warned them. "Only rush in if things get loud." Without any response that I could hear, Platick caught up with me as we walked along the edge of a shallow stream.

"Oh! That reminds me."

Story stepped away from the table and walked towards one of the other tables against the back wall of the classroom. The girls watched as he moved a few books before carefully picking up a vinyl map; nearly twice the size of the one he had used before.

Story it down over top the smaller map and the girls saw several pieces of thick paper tapped over it so they couldn't see the map. Then he reached for the paper labeled '#1.'

"So," Story began. "About five miles from the scene of the initial ambush, Platick and Vareén spot the cave's mouth. A shallow stream flows out of it with the east side screened by dense briar thickets. Between that thicket and stream is a narrow dry path leading into the cave. You guys came in on the west side which has no thickets."

Story pulled the paper away revealing a grass plain, stream, and thicket as he described with the cave barely revealed before another piece of paper hid what was inside. However, as the girls watched, the magic kicked in once more.

Or rather, it tried to kick in. The magic sputtered and crackled a handful of times with some of the designs and shapes Story drew for the map trying to animate themselves or form more realistic shapes. However, after a few seconds, the magic simply gave up.

Whether from being spread thin or just too weak, the magic gave up on trying to work on the map and the girls were left with how it normally appeared with Story none the wiser. The girls were either confused or somewhat relieved to see that the magic had reached its limit.

Story placed Platick and Vareén's figures onto the open space west of the stream and prepared the others beside the map. Again, the magic sparked for a moment only fail to effect them as well.

As we got closer to the cave's opening, we heard them. Goblins were typically loud and high-pitched and we could hear more than one voice speaking gleefully.

"They're behind the thicket," I pointed out. The brush was too dense to get a line of sight on them.

"Must be some kind of blind," Platick figured. "Good call on the lookout."

"How many daggers do you have?"

"Just the two," he muttered. "After that, I need to get close."

I looked back at the others. They kept their distance like Platick ordered. Good.

We sidled up next to the stream and noticed it was a little more than a foot deep. Despite that, we were less than twenty feet from those goblins.We took our time crossing as quietly as we could.

"Wo-Woah!"

Applejack hid her face in her hand out of frustration. "Ah have not passed a single one a' these things."

"Well, it's still a small stream." Story tried to ease. "Make me a Dex save. You fail this and your landing on your ass."

"Ah get it, Ah get it," AJ mumbled as she tossed her die in the air as though to get rid of it. When it landed her heart sank. "Rolled an eight."

"...Plus?"

When AJ saw the number she brightened up a little. "Fourteen together?"

Story considered his options before rolling some dice of his own. As they clattered, the girls saw flashes of sinister green aura behind the screen.

"Okay. You get one more stealth check. Go."

Like a comedy of errors, I watched as Platick slipped on a wet rock, catch himself on all fours, and then barely tumble his way out of the water in a way where he nearly tripped again. He landed on his hands and knees on dry dirt and stayed in that position as he registered his failure.

After a few seconds, he glanced up to find me standing with a look of utter disappointment underneath my hood. To our absolute luck, two goblins erupted in laughter the same time Platick tripped. We waited in silence until we heard the goblins started speaking freely again.

"That was pathetic."

"I know..." Platick slowly picked himself back up before I held out a hand to stop.

"Stay. I'll check first."

Platick nodded as I went into a slow crouch, moving along the thicket without making a single noise. As I went, the voices became clearer. I understood none of it but there were three separate voices. Three goblins. And as I reached the end of the thicket, I poked my head around the side to confirm my theory.

All three goblins had crossbows and scimitars like the goblins ambushing us from earlier. One goblin held the crossbow in its hands while the others had them laid out in arm's reach. There was also a small brass bell on the ground between them.

Alarm system. Crude but effective. If this is gonna work, we need to either take them all out at once or snatch that bell.

From where I was, I could peak inside the cave. Not that it helped. The cave's path inclined and it curved right towards the end of my darkvision. Still, I didn't see another goblin inside.

I waited for my chance before darting across the open space between the thicket and the cave's mouth when the goblins weren't looking. When I made it, I flattened myself against the rocky wall. and looked back towards the thickets. Platick locked eyes with me and I grit my teeth before stiffly motioning him to move up to where I was. Then I prayed he wouldn't trip over himself.

What else did I expect?

He didn't trip over himself, thank Traveler for that, but he wasn't quiet either. If it wasn't for the goblins being completely worthless as lookouts, he would have been shot down by now.

"You know there's numbers with two digits in them. Right?" Sunset teased.

"Ah'm tryin', alright?! 'Least it's addin' up over ten."

Platick gave the ground a forlorn look before poking his head out to eye the scene. I saw the numbers running in his head before he turned to look back at the group. They were still across the stream and a distance further.

So he wants to take them all out at once. Less risky than running for the bell. But we can't run back and forth. They'll hear us eventually. Well, hear him eventually.

However, we didn't have to worry about that. Right beside Platick, a swirl of magic formed into reality in midair. The magic, once a light violet, then swirled into an off-white color as it condensed itself into a flat rectangle until it became a piece of paper floating in the air.

Platick watched it suspiciously as words began to form against it. I couldn't read from where I was but after a brief pause Platick turned towards the group and held up three fingers. Then he made a bell-ringing motion.

The paper quickly vanished and reappeared with different writing on it. This time as Platick read it, he turned to me and tried explaining through hand motions. We. Two. Goblins. Three. We. With group. Make three?

I looked back at the group. Everyone was speaking to Ricven who had his hand held out towards the magical paper and was answering their questions.

Illusion magic. Not bad.

I looked back at Platick and gave him an obvious nod before I watched the one paper get replaced with two statuette-like images of the group. One was Glemerr and the other was Thorn Wielder.

Those are our options? I felt are odds get worse for a moment. Regardless, Platick looked back to the group and made a motion for Thorn Wielder.

After some convincing, Thorn Wielder managed to understand the situation and began walking forward, reaching the stream. Both Platick and I started tensed up when she didn't bother slowing down but rather than splash through the stream she waded through it at a brisk pace without any noise.

Magic people are weird, was my only thought as she got close to Platick and took care to keep herself as quiet as possible as she reached the edge of the thicket and watched the goblins as Platick tried explaining our plan in Elven.

Thorn looked back to me and let her vines coil about her arm before pointing to herself and then holding up one finger. She was on board.

Alright then. I brought my arrow back out and readied myself as Platick and Thorn Wielder did the same with a dagger and vines respectively.

I took a breath and then nodded to them. Mouthing three. Two. One...

All three of us spun around our cover, Platick ducking far enough to give Thorn Wielder, space, and opened fire.

"No!" Sunset cringed heavily.

"What? What's wrong," Rarity breathed.

"They didn't say which one they were aiming for," Sunset stressed, making Twilight, AJ, and Fluttershy instantly turn to Story in a panic.

"Guys, I'm not that evil. You're all new," Story admitted with his hands held out in surrender. Then his smirked widened. "But. Now that you brought it up? Keep it in mind. Also keep in mind the goblins have no idea you're there. You have advantage to hit 'em."

Applejack gave a sigh of relief. "Knowin' mah luck? Ah'll need it." As the group took a moment to laugh, Sunset slid the magic die across the table to her.

AJ quickly snatched it back to in her hand and glanced down at it, watching as the metal surfaced shifted into one made entirely out of wood as though the die had been hand carved. Each letter carved with a beautiful handwriting that has this earthy red tint coloring them like a raw clay.

Applejack eyed Sunset who gave her a reassuring nod before hesitantly adding it to her other die.

The three girls rolled their dice, with each three becoming visibly relieved as they rolled their second die.

"Twenty-four." "Seventeen?" Twi and Fluttershy read out, earning nods from Story.

However, as Applejack stared at the wooden die, memories flashed through her head. Flashes of knife work and twirling acts with small blades were vivid in her mind. So much so that her fingers started mimicking the same motions without fail.

"Uh, that's..." Applejack tried to shake it off by looking between the die and the character sheet, despite the number showing up right in front of her.

"It's. O-Over twenty," she finally mumbled.

Without any of them being aware.

With a spin, I loosed an arrow through a goblin's ear and out the other like a comedy prop before it crumpled on its side. The goblin across from it then caught a dagger to the neck with all the momentum cut short as the blade wedged itself between the vertebrae.

"Gyyaakkkk!"

While those two goblins folded like cardboard, a heavy vine constricted the third like a python, crushing it from its ribs all the way to its jaw before yanking it from the ground and before the feet of Thorn and Platick; too far to ever reach the bell.

The vine lost all tension and coiled back tightly around Thorn's arm, letting the goblin cough and groan. As it glanced up it spotted Thorn and Platick both brandishing their blades with blank stares.

As they dealt with that, I looked down the cave one more time to make sure there weren't any curious goblins before waving the group to catch up.

"That worked better than I thought," I admitted.

"How'd you think that would end?" Platick asked.

"They'd ring the bell, we fight all the goblins at once, and die horribly."

"..." Platick pulled the dagger out of the now deceased goblin's face and stared at me. "I don't expect it...But would it kill you to lay off the dark mood?"

I gave a mock shrug and eyed the arrow I fired. There was no way I was getting that arrow back but I had plenty. Besides, caves were tight quarters. My bow wasn't going to be much help anymore.

Glemerr had run after us, reaching the stream before anyone else, and simply leapt over the thing in one bound, tumbling into a roll for the hell of it before walking up beside us.

"We all set ta ransack d'eir base d'en?" As if to prove her excitement, Glemerr cracked her knuckles in a symphony.

"Hold it." Platick turned to glare at her. "We can't have everyone splitting up again. We outnumbered them before and still some of us nearly went down. No one splits off."

"He's right." Stostine and the others were trudging across the stream at this point. "They have strength in numbers. We need to stay toge—"

Before she could finish, I heard a goblin cackling from within the cave. After shushing the peanut gallery before they gave it away. As we all started to stack up on the entrance, the cackling gave way to scared screaming and wild barking and growling.

"Wolves," Thorn identified, breaking into a run.

"Sto—ow" Platick tried to pull Thorn back only to grab the vines by mistake. By the time he pulled his hand back his palm had a thorn embedded in the center.

No one else was close enough to catch her before she ducked into the cave, making it about fifteen feet in before suddenly ducking to the right down a side tunnel out of view.

I put my hand over my hatchet. "She's gonna give us away."

"She is going to get hurt," Stostine corrected, having different concerns.

As if to prove both of us right, among all the growling and snarling we heard a goblin cry "Intruder!" in a panic.

Well then. She's dead, I imagined before some of the others ran in to join her.

Thorn Wielder's POV
Inside the Cave

The cavern's large tunnel led further into the hill and up as the western stream cascaded out the cave in a hurry. But it was wrong. The water tumbled and sloshed almost violently as it ran. The rocky floor was not smoothed by the water's design.

But rather than stop to learn of why, I rushed on. I found that the eastern wall had a natural opening to a small cavern with a set of uneven stone acting as a young staircase. From how near the wolves' bark was, I knew they were in here.

I skidded to a halt and turned on my bare heel, bounding up the steps before stepping into the chamber. Once inside, I found myself alone with three wolves and three goblins. The Infestation of the Glen.

One goblin tried pulling another's arm free from the maw of one of those poor creatures. From the wounds and taut stomachs each wolf wore, I knew they were being held captive.

The third of the goblins, not nearly as willing to help its brethren, noticed me the moment I arrived and brought out a crossbow to challenge me.

"Well Fluttershy. Looks like it's your turn to fight three goblins." As he spoke, Story finished placing all three of the goblin and wolf miniatures in the very small room. "Roll me initiative."

The rest of the girls watched Fluttershy's worry for the wolves switch to fear as it suddenly dawned on her what trouble she was in.

"I wanna help too," Rainbow declared.

"Me three-sies," Pinkie cheered with a grin.

Story smiled. "Whoever's helping can roll. Just remember, you're in the caves now. Too much noise may make it worse."

That made everyone else hesitate. With a nod from Rainbow and Pinkie, Fluttershy trembled as she gently let the die roll out of her hand. But upon seeing the number she looked more upset. "N-Nine..."

"Fourteen." "Eighteen," Pinkie and then Rainbow called out in hopes to cover her anyways.

Everyone then watched three more goblin tendrils wildly branch out from the behind the screen, catching everyone but Pinkie off-guard. But then, to everyone's further surprise, another three tendrils, this time light gray, tangled themselves among the goblin's. As Fluttershy saw them, she brightened up somewhat.

"Are the wolves helping?"

"...In a way," Story admitted with a shrug. "More helping themselves. For one thing..."

Before the goblin could fire, I glanced at the wolves. Each one had an iron chain strapped around their necks and chaining them to the northeastern wall. The larger of the three, a female, heaved itself forward with all the strength it could, nearly freeing itself from the wall entirely.

"Fall intruder!"

I turned just in time to catch the bolt in my buckler. "You fall. Infestation," I insulted. As I lowered my buckler, I watched the goblin held by the wolf's jaw reach for its sword with its free hand. But even with it drawn, the goblin's wild swings came nowhere near the wolf.

"Heads up," A voice shouted before a Dwarf clambered up the steps with the clanging of her metal armor. With a huff, she shifted around me and hefted her large hammer towards the goblins with both hands. "You good Flut— err, Thorn. Lady?"

Her hammer was mostly ready for the goblins but the Dwarf looked back and forth between the wolves and the goblins. "...No hurt wolves."

"No hurt...You're kidding me."

"Got it! Leave the doggos, take the gobbos." The half-orc stomped up beside me and squared off against only the goblins.

"...Doggos?" I blinked, leaning my head to the side.

Before I could ask what 'doggo' meant, the last goblin left its brethren for the wolves and drew its sword. "'Nother Dwarf! Kill for Klarg!"

The Dwarf tried bringing her hammer down to batter away the curved sword but she was too slow. As her hammer swung wide, the goblin ducked to one side and dragged the blade deep along the Dwarf's hip and sprayed the cavern floor with red.

"Urghh! Ah come on," the Dwarf complained. "That was, like, half!"

Seeing this, I held out my hand and began chanting as my breath became visible and my now outstretched hand cloaked itself in droplets of morning dew. I then flicked them out at the goblin as it moved away from the Dwarf but all it did was gather frost on the edges of its clothes. Nothing.

Weaker, I realized. My power's much weaker still.

The other wolves continued snarling and lunging to break free of their chains. A second one nearly broke free while the third tried rending the arm off the goblin in a frenzy only for the goblin to fight back in its own right.

"Get to Klarg! Wolves kill intruders," the goblin who shot at me commanded. As he did, he loaded another bolt and fired at me one more time. Or rather, he tried.

What instead happened was his crossbow failed him. As he tried to fire at me, the bolt snapped in a mass of mulch, hitting no one as the goblin looked at it in terror.

The Dwarf breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled her shield off her back and balanced her hammer in one hand. "Okay. My turn." She took a few steps forward and swung up in a rage.

"Yes! Twenty! Read it," Rainbow taunted, pointing down at her die with mad joy.

No one had the heart to remind her that Story let her roll twice since the goblin rolled a one. Otherwise she would have missed just like the last time she used that hammer.

The hammer caught the goblin's chin and bent the goblin's head at a sharp angle with a thin crrrk. Its body stumbled for a moment before dropping.

"Wa. Wazzat Re-gah?!" The goblin still held by the wolf asked. He was too busy trying, and failing, to cut his wolf down.

"Uh. R-Re-gah had..." The other goblin could answer, Glemerr stepped forward and towered over the creature as she popped her knuckles as though they were seed pods.

The goblin tried turning to flee but he wasn't fast enough. Glemerr reached out and grabbed the goblin by the back of the head and slammed it face first into a large stalagmite and pulling it back only to do it all over again.

Before the goblin slumped to the ground, I let out another cold breath before chanting once more. This time bringing my dew-covered hand towards the only goblin left standing. Frost crawled across its armor like last time but it kept going.

When the goblin finally tore its arm free from the wolf's maw, every open wound froze over before the ice traced up his arm. By the time it reached its neck the goblin let out one breath colder than my own before falling to falling to the ground in a shivering heap.

But the wolves continued to thrash and lunge, one of them finally snapping the chain off the wall as the collar hung loosely around its neck. With a manic look in its eyes, the wolf lowered itself to the ground at us. However, despite its hunger, the wolf couldn't drool. Its jowls were as barren as a drought.

I turned to the half-orc. "Meat. Food. Quick."

"Huh? Oh, da doggos hungry? Uh, sure?" She slipped off her pack and brought out a small bag that from smell alone I could tell from smell alone would work for the wolves. I snatched it from her hands and pointed to her pack. We'll need more than one.

"Flutter— I mean, Thorn" the Dwarf corrected through gritted teeth. "These aren't dogs. They're wolves."

"Yeah, um, I don't f'ink we should be havin' feedin' time in da middle of da cave." Regardless, Glemerr handed me two more food packs. I ha done for each wolf.

Rather than waste time explaining, I stepped forward to put myself between the wolves and the, lowering myself down to eye level with the wolf that had broken free. The other two were still stuck.

"I know you must be suffering," I spoke in a language the others had no hope of understanding. "We wish to help you. We well cleanse this glen of the infestation. And we offer you a gift for safe passage. Please. Let us be as we work."

I gently reached out and unwrapped the food, revealing dried meats and fish fit to feed an entire orc. Then I laid it on the ground and nudged it forward, giving the wolf and the others behind it pause.

"Thorn Wielder? Make an—" "Animal handling check?"

Fluttershy gave a great big smile as she picked up her die. "I get a plus four to that."

Sunset sat back with giggle. "You've wanted to make that check ever since we started this game, haven't you?"

Fluttershy gave a proud nod and, before rolling, stared at her die for a second. "Um, Applejack? Can I use that, erm, lucky die?"

Applejack looked down at the wooden die and gave a light sigh. "Sure, have at it sugarcube." She flung it across the table where Fluttershy scooped it up and rolled it with the flourish of an expert craps player.

The moment the die came to a stop, it had already transformed and looked nearly identical to what AJ's version looked like. This time it looked like a sweet gum tree's spiky seed pod with most of the spines removed to reveal the green numbers painted onto the base.

"Sixteen," Fluttershy announced happily, taking the flash of magical light to mean she succeeded.

The wolf that was freed of it chains slowly stepped towards me and studied me carefully as I sat on my knees and hands gently folded in my lap. When he was done seeing that I was no longer a threat, he tore into the meat in a fervor, leaving the other wolves to look heartbroken. Well, until they stared up at me with their pleading gazes.

"We have enough for each of you," I said as I rose and walked over to these poor creatures without fear and began to feed them.

"That worked?" The Dwarf asked.

"Yay! We saved da doggos," the half-orc cheered. "Good call Thorn Lady."

"Careful," a gruff voice called from the the entrance to the chamber. "With the wolves not barking, the goblins can hear you now."

"What took you guys so long?" The Dwarf asked. "It was just three goblins. If there was one more of you we coulda had 'em before they took half my hit points."

The human with the knives gave the Dwarf a hard stare. "Okay, first, I don't think we're supposed to just say hit points. Second, if you can't take out three goblins with three of you, I don't know what to tell you."

"Hey, w-we took 'em down. I took this one down single-handedly!"

The human eyed the goblin with a broken neck for a moment before giving a fake shrug. "Well, I didn't see it, so, no way to know for sure."

"What? Pinkie, you were there, back me up."

"Got no clue what a Pinkie is Dashie—err— Rav-a-thy-ra."

"Forget this! I'll going to the back until there's another fight."

As the Dwarf stormed out, she reached into her side pouch and stuffed her face with the two goodberries I prepared to heal herself with.

Once she was gone, the human looked to me with a nervous stare. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

With some work, I found a way to unclasp the metal ring around the wolf's neck. After she was freed, she stretched her neck free of any stiffness as I began to approach the next wolf to help him.

"Uh, Thorn Wielder? You're just letting the wild animals go? Don't you think they'll just start come after us?"

"No."

The second collar I removed quicker than the last, earning a low bark from the wolf before he went back to devouring his meal. "Not wolves' den. Den. Other where. Wolves go to other where."

"They're just gonna leave?"

"Yes."

I reached the wolf who broke free of the wall first and got the collar off from him as he kept eating. He glanced up at me as he laid there picking the fish from the bones and gave me a light howl.

"You're welcome," I told him in our language.

With the three wolves cared for, I turned to face the human. While I was busy, it seems that the others had gathered up outside the chamber.

"Well, if they jus' gon' be taken off," the gnome began. "We should head further in now. Don't wanna be in their way 'case they still hungry."

"Couldn't agree more." The human woman in robes nodded. "Glemerr? Thorn Wielder? Would you be okay guiding the way?"

When neither of us disagreed I and the half-or...I and Glemerr took the front.

"Ravathyra?" The human man called out. "You and me take the back. Goblins probably play dirty."

The others quickly fell in between the four of us and started moving further away from the cave's mouth and the only light source there was. Not too many steps further, we were in the dark and and ready for the infestation to make the wrong move.

Author's Note

Like I mentioned in the previous chapter, however long ago that was, this chapter was only going to be focused on the game itself. And next chapter will be a continuation of that as the group marches into the cave.

I knew that I wanted each character to have their chance to shine. And after Thorn Wielder's moment, I think everyone's covered. From this point on, I won't be introducing the character's strengths. It'll just be an onslaught of goblins. :rainbowdetermined2:

Oh, and one last thing. I brought up in a previous chapter that I have the character sheets of each of the girls characters. That's because I actually play out every roll the girls make. It makes the story more random, and fun to write, that way. And since I have them I figured why not share them?

This is Fluttershy/Thorn Wielder's Lv. 1 Character Sheet. It has everything from statistics to her beliefs. It doesn't have her backstory though. Don't want to give that away. For those who don't know much about character sheets, look at the four small boxes on the right side of the first page and the top box on the second page. They go over the character's beliefs & physical appearance which may be interesting.

Until next time! (Whenever that is...) Cheers,
-Zeke

(10) The Great Goblin Raid

Story's POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Classroom
3:59 PM

The large vinyl map laid out before everyone as went over everything that happened up till now. So far, I had peeled away three pieces of paper that hid the layout of the area. Two for outside the cave and one for the wolves' den just inside the mouth of the cave.

Now there were only six pages covering the cave proper and the girls had taken that as some massive hurdle to carefully jump over. From my perspective all of the approaches, scenarios, and positioning they were workshopping amongst themselves didn't matter to me.

Before they even reached the cave I already had my allowance of goblins and set them up ahead of time. I knew what each one was doing and where they were. To change that now based off the girls' plotting would just be unfair. Doubly so considering that this was their first dungeon.

Then again, I thought. They're talking as though they've dealt with this kinda stuff before.

Twilight and Sunset were the ones spearheading the plans but occasionally Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack tossed in some creative ideas as well. None of them had any idea how this game worked a week ago and already their problem-solving and teamwork made me feel like I was underprepared.

Maybe I should give them a better challenge. So far I had used a pre-built story the game's creators built for new players and just plugged it into my own personal world. Aside from moving and adding a few more goblins, I followed the book exactly.

I decided that, for the cave, I'd stop pulling punches. Instead of playing goblins sub-par I'd use them to their fullest. If the girls end up overestimating combat then they might get lazy later on when the real threat shows up. Especially since my ambush on Pinkie shattered.

I glanced down at the miniatures that the girls' characters were representing. At some point, Sunset hoarded them in front of her and was conferring with the others about their marching order. I introduced that idea with the wagon on the road and now Sunset took to it like a general.

Sunset adjusted the minis one last time. "Okay. So then Pinkie and Fluttershy take point, Twilight and Rarity behind them, Rainbow and Applejack in the rear and myself in between. Everyone okay with that?"

"So we are abandoning stealth from here on out?" Twilight bit lightly into her knuckle.

Applejack frowned. "Ah think it's more keepin' our heads low fer as long as we can. We got no clue where them varmints are. And if even one has a chance ta hollar, cat's outta the bag."

"If we spot a goblin before it sees us, we act first," Sunset instructed. "At this point there's no time for questioning."

"Well, hold on. There are a few things we need to figure out," Rarity reminded them. "For one, this— what was it again? Bugbear? Yes, we need to find out where that is. If that horrid thing can command all these goblins then I can only imagine it's stronger than them."

"If we spot the bugbear we regroup. Then we determine the best option. We should make sure everyone's completely prepared," Sunset explained.

"Why not just charge him?" Rainbow crossed her arms. "If this bugbear-thing's supposed to be their king then if we can take him down the goblins will probably be too scared to take us on."

"That bugbear's not their king." Twilight shook her head. "Their king," she said with air quotes. "Is King Grol. I think the bugbear that leads the goblins is called...erm." Twilight paused.

"Kellogg," Pinkie answered in a giggle.

"That's a cereal," I cut in as I pretended to read a random textbook I pulled out from my bag.

"Well yeah! That's what I put in my notes!" And as though to prove it, Pinkie held up a notebook that had a drawing of a bowl of cereal held by what she pictured a 'Bugbear' to look like. If you ignored the beetle horns branching out of its head and the perfect teeth of its smile, it was pretty close to the real thing.

"Oh. Here. It's Klarg," Twilight corrected as she referred to her own notes. Which from where I was peeking from looked a lot like my chemistry notes in terms of amount. "The goblins work for Klarg who, I believe, works for King Grol. Gundren, our employer, and his map was kidnapped and delivered to King Grol."

"Wait, so they're not here?" Rainbow blinked. "Then what are we doing here?"

"They still have Sildar." "Who?" "The human that was with Gundren," Twilight lectured.

"There's so many names," Rainbow groaned. "It feels like I'm in Mr. Doodle's History class."

"Well that's also on our list," Rarity continued. "We also need to figure out where this King is. If we find him, we may find Gundren."

"I thought Ricven just wanted to bring the cart and finish the job. Now he wants to be a hero?" Sunset smirked proudly.

"Well, he got out voted. That and the oxen obey Thorn Wielder so he can't drive the cart," Rarity admitted. "Besides, if Gundren really was taken to this 'King,' that means he might be alive. So might Sildar. Ricven may seem lazy but would never leave someone captive in the hands of such barbaric creatures. He still has his chivalry after all."

"Puttin' a lotta thought inta this 'strappin' adventurer' type, ain'tcha?" Applejack snickered.

Rarity sat up at that. "C-Certainly not. I am simply...getting in character, as the drama department would say."

"I resent that," I lulled from behind my textbook. It had a funny picture of a dog holding four tennis balls in its mouth. Textbooks have the weirdest pictures sometimes.

"You're in the drama club?"

I shrugged. "A single hobby's an obsession. That's my motto at least." I closed the book fast enough to make a dull bum sound and dropped it back into my bag. "So. Are you all set?"

The girls all took a moment to share a look among one another before a few of them answered.

"Alright. Then Sunset? I'd like the minis back now."

Sunset's eyes shot down at the models in shock as if only now realizing that she snatched them away from the map. "Uh, yeah. My bad."

She and a few others giggled along as I made sure the minis were set up in the same way Sunset had set them up before.

Well, they have their plan at least, I humored myself. Then I tried to hide my smile as best I could. Hehehe. 'Plan.' Let's see how long that lasts.

3rd Person POV
Goblin Cave
Midday

A choppy spray of water pinballed down the caves main tunnel, flicking small splashes of water against the legs of seven adventurers. Each of them walked further into the darkness as the sun outside, their only light source, faded out.

However, with less light to work with, only one party member found himself talking slower steps; nearly tripping on the uneven stone floor tripping altogether. By instinct, Platick reached out for anything to save him.

"Wha—hey! Watch it," a Dwarven voice demanded as Platick clutched the pauldron of her armor.

"Sorry! Humans can't see anything in the dark."

"Well that's not stopping her," Ravathyra said, pointing a finger at Stostine's back.

"Well, she's magic. She probably has—" "No spells that grant darkvision," Stostine cut in, glancing over her shoulder at the two. "And if I did, I would gladly help you. Now please? Careful with your voices."

Ravathyra hid the lower half of her face in her gauntlet as to hide her laughter as Platick glared towards the sound.

"Oh no, keep laughing. It's not nearly as loud as that blocky armor you're toting around." That was the last sound either of them made.

About twenty feet up the tunnel's light incline and the path began leaning into a sharp turn to the right. Where the stream shattered against the wall, everyone but Platick noticed a side passage branching away from the tunnel. It was much smaller than the main tunnel but it acted to create a fork in the road.

The group stopped shy of rounding the corner with Vareén taking point again. She made a few silent motions to the others before she began stepping towards the stream in the direction of the passage. However, before she could take one step into the running water, Thorn Wielder grabbed her shoulders and yanked, holding a single finger to her lips before carefully pointing further down the main tunnel.

Vareén poked her head back out and right away she spotted a large rickety bridge spanning across a wider section of the tunnel, twenty feet from wall to wall and twenty feet above the ground. Vareén tried turning back to the others but again Thorn Wielder stopped her.

Without any regard for boundaries, Thorn Wielder turned Vareén's head back towards the bridge with both hands and then rested her pointer finger beneath Vareén's eye to guiding her sight. From there, Thorn pointed out a single goblin nestled at the end of the bridge partially behind the wall out of sight. It was on the west side of the bridge; the same as the thin passageway.

Vareén used a few motions to catch everyone else up on the situation.

You. Bow and arrow. Goblin? Stostine mimicked to Vareén before getting an uncertain expression. So the two tried turning to Ricven who quickly shook his head before mimicking in return.

No! Magic. Need. Voice. Goblin. Hear. Voice. No!

Getting the point, they next turned to Thorn Wielder. Those vines. Hit. Goblin? After gauging the distance, Thorn Wielder nodded.

Good. Vareén. Bow and arrow. You. Those vines—

"Just a fair warning, Thorn Wielder needs verbal components to use her vines. Which means her voice," Story clarified as he watched the girls' motioning. He could have told them they could just talk but it was more fun to watch.

"Wait, really?" Applejack frowned. "But Fluttershy's already got her vines armed."

"Hehehe. Armed," Pinkie joked.

"Them's the rules," Story denied. "I'm fine with her using them for roleplaying the character and some bonuses for flair but as for the spell? Sorry, that's as is."

"He's right," Twilight interjected as she read her own book. "It directly explains Thorn Whip needs verbal, somatic and materials...Would the vines cover the materials?"

"They're a...Um. It has a name?" Fluttershy tried to find the word.

"Her focus," Story answered. "If you have a focus then you don't need materials. Or at least the inexpensive stuff. So if a spell says it needs a piece of cotton or a dead gnat or something, focus covers it. If it needs something like a fifty gold diamond, you're hitting up a jeweler."

"Dead gnat?" Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow.

"Interesting choice," Sunset admitted, feeling a bit personally offended before chuckling her dumb emotion away. Humans get weird so about magic sometimes.

Rainbow sat back. "Can't she just whisper the words then?"

Story nodded. "Fluttershy'd have to see if she can pull it off. She may fail the spell though. Which may have the slightest roll-of-the-die chance of consequences," he explained, holding up a die.

"And with a, erm, good roll?" Rarity asked tensely.

"Nothing happens. Spell works, but nothing 'extra,'" Story explained.

"I'm fine with those odds," Ravathyra admitted in a whisper.

No. No, no, no, no. NO. NO! Stostine and Ricven mimicked in hard denial.

"You got a better idea," Ravathyra challenged.

"Yeah. I don't miss," Vareén suggested bluntly before stepping out from the wall with her form close to the ground as she readied her bow.

Ravathyra turned to Thorn Wielder and folded her hands, trying to guilt her to be ready. However, Ricven slid between the two of them, using charades with the ferocity of a shouting match to fight Ravathyra off. All that managed to do was make the Dwarf pound her fist into her palm, making a loud clang with her gauntlets that scared Ricven more then the meaning.

This time Stostine stepped up, clasping Ravathyra's gauntlets before going into her own tirade of charades that quickly deescalated into more silent arguing now between the Dwarf, the human, and the gnome. All the while, Thorn Wielder took position next to Vareén right as she fired.

"Annnnd a two," Twilight deadpanned.

"Fluttershy, whisper it," Rainbow cut in.

"Fluttershy, you don't have to," Rarity begged.

"We else do we have?! Fluttershy, you got this."

"Fluttershy, darling, don't feel pressured into—" the clattering die silenced Rarity as every one of the girls leaned over to crowd around the brightly glowing seed pod-shaped die. All of them much more excited than Fluttershy who leaned back with a innocent smile.

"Is that?" "Yes!" "Well...that works." "Twen-ty~" Pinkie sang.

Twilight frowned. "Wasn't that just to whisper the spell though?" She, and everyone quickly stared at Story who shrugged.

"Normally yeah, but...Rule of cool?" Story shrugged sheepishly. In his mind it was let the twenty hit a single goblin or feel the wrath of 'The Seven.' The goblin had it coming anyway.

The next few moments were silent. As the three sign language fools argued in the back, with Platick left blindly standing beside them, Thorn, Vareén, and Glemerr stared down the goblin as Vareén took the shot. They watched the arrow sail and clip a thin rope from the bridge before bounding past the goblin, tapping off of the rocks behind it.

The goblin stood up and scanned the wall behind him before Thorn Wielder took two steps, putting her lips to the vines and murmuring a Druidic phrase as carefully as possible before flicking her wrist and letting the vine like a yo-yo.

The goblin knelt down to pick up the wasted arrow as Thorn's vines wrapped once around the goblin's wrist before wrapping around its neck. The vines then compressed, forcing the goblin's hand, still holding the arrow, into its own neck. The goblin couldn't even scream since it pierced its own Adam's apple.

The vines dragged the body across the bridge, pushing the arrow in further before releasing its victim and returning to Thorn Wielder, coiling itself back around her arm. Not a single drop of blood stained the green plant life. Glemerr and Vareén took a moment to take an easy breath. Meanwhile, the moment went entirely unnoticed by the three mimes, and a blind Platick, in the back.

And then the goblin started sliding off the side of the bridge.

"I got it," Glemerr called out, sprinting as quietly as she could. Although it was already enough to catch the charades game in the background.

"Wait, Glemerr, come bac—" "Shutupyoudidnothing," Vareén snapped with gritted teeth.

Glemerr slid to a halt inches from the stream and held her arms straight out, barely catching the lifeless body by her fingers. The orc was thrown off her balance for a moment which had her teetering back to fall away from the water.

Everyone, except Platick, started sucking in air like balloons as all of Glemerr's strength fell into her toes to stay dry. After moments that felt like hours of bobbing back and forth, Glemerr gave one last heave and caught herself on dry land with her balance regained. She, and everyone else, let out a deep sigh of relief as Glemerr clutched the dead goblin in trembling arms.

Glemerr's nerves melted into some chuckling as she looked around her, spotting three goblins staring back at her in complete terror and shock.

Suddenly, the group watched Glemerr freeze in place. She was halfway into the tunnel's curve so the others had no line of sight of the goblins. Not that there was much to see. Both sides were fully invested in one-upping the other as living statue performers.

Before any of them could figure out whether or not to check what Glemerr was looking at, she finally acted. In a spark of absolute brilliance, Glemerr let the goblin fall into the stream with a splash and reached her hands up to the heavens. She brought them together in a glorious clap as though praying to the gods and stayed stalwart in this new position. Never to move again.

"Pinkie...what are you doing?" Sunset, who regretting asking the moment she did, stared at her frizzy haired friend.

"Shhh," Pinkie shushed, trying hard not to move. "They haven't caught on that I'm an orc yet."

Too easy, Story thought. Then, in as shrill a voice as he could muster, "it's an orc!"

"Well, it was worth try!" Pinkie bounced back, taking a die in her hands. "Initiative time?"

"Initiative time."

"Uh, h-help," Glemerr called out, bringing her hands down in a fighting stance.

"That sounds about right," Stostine admitted as she quickly slammed her hand against the wall. Then with a breath she spoke "Hwim oal un hwul," with what sounded like a faint chorus echoing the same words around her.

Ricven shielded his eyes, recognizing the arcane words before a bright floodlight of red illuminated the group, blinding most of them for a brief moment.

"A warning would be nice," Ravathyra screamed, rubbing her eyes.

Man, stupid magic, Rainbow cursed as she and some of the other girls rubbed their eyes. If there was one thing the magic did well with the game, it was a light show.

Pinkie, Rarity & Sunset all looked at the others with pity and guilt before Story picked up his dice.

"A-And I move back a few spaces," Sunset tacked on, moving her mini behind Rainbow and Applejack.

"Sorry! Sorry," Stostine muttered as she ducked behind the armored Dwarf.

"Don't be. This helps," Platick admitted as he closed his eyes tight for a moment.

"Drezza! Release water! Ronga, get Yeemik! If Klarg see intru—" "Guuugh!" The goblins commands, as faint as they were to the party, were covered up by the loud cry of Glemerr as a black-feathered arrow found its way in her shoulder.

"Y'all hear that?!" Ricven shouted.

"I see it, Glemerr's hit!"

"Not that, the commands," Stostine shouted. She and Ricven were the only ones that heard the goblin. "Release the water. I think they're gonna flood us!"

"Terrific," Vareén lamented as she pulled out a fresh arrow.

Some of the party were faster to act then others. Ricven and Vareén rushed through the streams water with the later taking a moment to fire further into the cave; shutting in frustration at her wasted effort. Ricven was already in the passage, commanding Vareén to hurry along.

Then, in spite of everyone's warnings, Thorn Wielder either didn't understand the threat or didn't care. Instead, she ran further up the tunnel to Glemerr's side as her vines twisted to life once more. With her feet submerged in the water and a hand against the wall, Thorn Wielder threw a punch to throw her vines out, snagging a goblin by the waist and pulling towards her.

It screamed and clawed for anything to help, finding one large fleshy stalagmite to cling for dear life. But as the thorns let the goblin shake itself free, it glanced up to find itself grasping Glemerr's leg as she ripped the arrow out of her arm with a grunt.

"Glemerr, get outta there! They about ta flood us out!"

"No way! Glemerr's gonna be stoppin' 'em," she roared.

"You mountain-sized, tusk-totin'...Gah!" Ricven clutched his head and racked his brain for a few moments before clutching the neck of his violin in a death grip.

"Fine then," he hissed, pulling out his instrument before pounding his hand on the chin rest with the rhythm of a war drum.

"Go! Fight! Be strong~!"

"They man-y. You Might-y! Fight ev-er long~!"

"So Glem-a! Thorn Wield-a! You MOVE! There's no time to lose...~"

With each strike across his violin, a larger chorus of voices and drums joined in as though Ricven formed his own war band. As the beat echoed down the chamber, everyone spotted a terrified goblin run across the rope bridge.

"The reinforcements are to the west," Stostine declared.

"There's a way up through this passage," Vareén shouted over Ricven's percussion. "We'll cut them off!"

"We?!" Ricven parroted, as he kept tapping the end of his fiddle.

"You heard me!"

"Yaaaarrgh!" Glemerr bellowed as she flexed her shot arm. "This rhythm! Glemerr can take every goblin! Bring it on!"

Glemerr striked at goblin beneath, pummeling its shield with reckless abandon as shards of mulch flecked off of it with each swing. By the fifth hit, Glemerr's fist smashed a hole through the shield, inches from the goblin's face, and pulled back. The shield slipped from the goblin's grasp and came with Glemerr, stuck around her wrist like a giant wooden watch.

Glemerr pulled the shield free and held it in both hands before breaking it over her head like a karate demonstration before bellowing a war cry that paired well with the drums that only now began to fade. The now weeping goblin watched in terror, now utterly defenseless.

Glemerr brought up one last white-knuckled fist to put him to sleep before hearing Thorn Wielder gasp from behind her. "Water!"

"Water?" Glemerr blinked before following where Thorn's outstretched finger pointed; a barricade of loose rocks that another goblin had driven a rusted crowbar into.

"Water."

With one yank, the stones came free and a heavy pool of water erupted straight towards them.

"WATER!"

Thorn and Glemerr clutched the walls of the tunnel for dear life as the one goblin Glemerr held was tossed away like trash. For a moment Thorn felt her feet lift off the ground as she was momentarily submerged in the dangerous rapids. Glemerr fared better as her height let her keep her head and shoulders dry as she gripped the rocks that weren't slick.

Vareén, for the first time in a while, yelped as the current caught her boot and fought to drag her back into the tunnel-proper. Ricven did what he could, desperately helping her to clamber further into the passage like a sewer rat.

However, that's where the luck stopped.

Ravathyra, for the weight her heavy armor gave her, didn't help her to muscle through the waves. Rather, they worked against her as she tried shoving her shield forward only to catch a massive brunt of force that pushed her under the waves and dragged all the way out of the cave.

Stostine had no choice but to retreat further back down the tunnel before ducking out of the way with time to spare. The downside was that she was back in the room with three hungry, wild wolves staring at her. And now none of them had their chains to stop them.

"Oh. Um," Stostine breathed. "Good wolves! Nice wolves. Uh, get back now! Don't wanna, um, come any closer, right?"

As she spoke, the flood rocketed down the tunnel, forcing Ravathyra to grind against the ground with her metal armor making a sharp grind sound. Not a second later, Platick was washed past with a goblin corpse colliding with his face.

The wolves' ears flattened against their skulls and they retreated back into the room to avoid whatever chaos was going on outside. They could probably leave later.

Stostine leaned against the wall with a heavy weight off her shoulders whereas the Ravathyra and Platick were just coming to a stop back outside the cave. The water dispersed in every direction, leaving the two soaked to the bone.

"Yep," Platick groaned, sitting up with the reluctance of an angsty teen just getting out of bed. "This might as well just happen."

He crawled his way back up to his feet and looked at the Dwarf. She was breathing and her eyes were open. That was good enough for him.

"We gotta get back in there," he stated, trying to ignore the rolled ankle he got on the way outside as he plucked a dagger out of his boot and started running.

Ravathyra was fairing much worse. She turned to her side and forced herself to start coughing out a mug's worth of water as her head was openly bleeding thanks to the numerous rocks she caught on the way out. Her eyes tried adjusting once again to the sun's rays that were in the exact wrong spot as she weakly reached for her shield.

"That was so unfair," Ravathyra groaned.

"Meeeeeeh," a shrill voice groaned. Over to Rava's left, a still shield-less goblin forced itself up to its feet and surveyed its surroundings. It could hardly realize that it was outside. But what it could realize was a weakened armored Dwarf staring over at it from the ground.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding!" Rainbow sat there in disbelief. "It's still alive?! It got hit by Pinkie and washed out!"

Story bit his lip and held up one finger. That was how much health it had left. With a frown, Story moved the goblin beside Ravathyra's model.

"...It has a sword, doesn't it?" Rainbow asked, earning a nod. With a sigh, she pretended to hold out a shield in front of her. "You know what? Bring it on."

Story nodded. "You're on the ground, which means you're prone. When something is prone, attacks against it get advantage."

"Of course it does," she quipped. A part of her mind thought that Story might have remembered her after all. That or this was karma coming back to collect.

Still, wanting to keep it fair, Story rolled two dice out in the open. One landed on '7' and the other on '13.'

"A seventeen hit?"

Rainbow looked down at the paper and slowly spread an evil grin across her face as she shook her head. "Eighteen. Gotta shield."

What does karma know anyway?

The goblin drew a scimitar and stumbled over, swinging down like a guillotine. Ravathyra, with whatever strength she had, grabbed the shield by the edge and swung, batting the sword out of the goblin's hand.

"Sucks ta suck, don't it sucker?" She growled.

The goblin screamed as it turned to flee, tripping over its own feet. It struggled to get up, its hip badly bruised from the flood, while Ravathyra forced herself onto her iron boots with pure willpower and took up the warhammer in both hands.

"You shoulda run. Just ran away like a rat," she breathed, pulling back her hammer as the goblin finally stood up, too tired to shake in fear. "First. I'm taking you down. Then? Then I'm marching righ' back up there."

The goblin fumbled around for an option. Its shield was smashed. Its sword was behind the raging Dwarf. The only thing it had left was strapped to its back.

"After tha'? Ah'm taking down the bugbear. Remind meh. What was 'is name again?" She asked, an accent rolling out as though it had always been there. "Klang?! Ye, I'm gettin' Klang too! Him an' all'a d'em right dobbers! I'ma give 'em a thrashin' they ain't soon ta ferrget!"

The goblin tore free its rotting crossbow and tried to level it at the Scottish lass but she was quicker. With a loud stomp, she drove her hammer like a sledge into the front of that crossbow. The line snapped and the bolt exploded to pieces before the rest of the crossbow folded along.

But it didn't stop. With the goblin out of every option, Ravathyra's swing found its mark. It struck the goblin square in its pot-bellied gullet and snapped the spine in twain before the goblin was taken off the ground and sent flying nearly a dozen feet before landing in a heap.

"The name's Ravathyra Dagarkin, ya rottin' snot," she screamed before scooping up her shield in her offhand. It was a name she wore with a bittersweet pride. "Ye got it? Betta ta 'member it when whatever goblin god ye got asks why yer body's bent da way it be! He'll set up a grand ol' tab fer me ta sign off on when all's said an' done."

With a humph, Ravathyra turned her back to the sorry soul and stormed back into the cave. From further within, Vareén and Ricven peaked back out once the water was settled. Thorn Wielder and Glemerr let go of the walls and Stostine was carefully trying to rejoin them.

"Where are the others?" Vareén asked.

"Platick's right behind me," Stostine confirmed. "But Ravathyra got washed out."

"shit," Vareén cursed. "This is going south."

As Stostine finally rejoined them at the turn of the cave, she made note of the allies around them but no goblin in sight. "Where'd they go?"

"Ducked out 'fore the flood." Ricven frowned. "They'll be back."

"Then stop those reinforcements," Stostine reminded them as embers surrounded her hand. "We were almost routed. If they bring more goblins it won't end well."

Vareén nodded, slinging her bow over her shoulder. "Good point. Come on gnome."

Without waiting, Vareén reached the steep incline and started climbing, letting a few rocks clatter down past her. Ricven swept a few out of his hair as he stared at Stostine. "Miss Stostine, are ya absolutely sure on this?"

A goblin finally peaked out from further up the tunnel, its bravado quickly vanishing as Glemerr and Thorn turned to him with malevolent glares. "N-Not work! Water no work! Drezza! Release MORE wat—" but the goblin wasn't able to finish that command.

Before it could blink, a wild ball of flame streaked across the side of the tunnel the light didn't reach before enshrouding the goblin's face. Its skin boiled and flaked as it clawed and rubbed to put it out. It was to no avail. Moments later, the goblin expired and Stostine, her hand still smoking, turned back to Ricven with an expectant look.

"...Alrighty then. Right behind ya Lady Vareén!" Ricven proudly sauntered over to the ledges and scrambled up to meet Vareén at the top, leaving Stostine and the others to their job.

From above them, a new goblin ran out onto the bridge and loaded his crossbow, taking a moment to choose his target. With Thorn Wielder under the bridge and Stostine clearly spotting him, the goblin leaned over the side of the bridge and aimed.

"Glemerr, dodge right," Stostine commanded. And without hesitation, Glemerr slide to the right, shoulder checking the rock wall as a bolt embedded itself in the ground.

"Good call," Glemerr replied, looking over as Thorn walked out from under the bridge and fired another Thorn Whip at the new goblin, only for it to bat the end away with the stock of its crossbow.

"Hol' up," Glemerr mumbled. "Dat gobbo's da same one dat..." There's was no warning as Glemerr made a dash further into the tunnel where the cave turned again, disappearing for a moment before her voice cried out again.

"Hey! You're da one who keeps lettin' ga water out!" "Gah-oow!" "Aha! How ya like dat gobb—Whaaaa-urgh!!"

The next thing everyone heard was the sound of a heavy body fall to the ground just out of sight from everyone except Glemerr.

Pinkie watched as her entire character and every die ahead of her became a collection of void black shapes that seemed almost...endless...However, none of the others seemed to notice. Only Pinkie Pie could see the vast darkness.

"So Pinkie," Story began, earning everyone else's attention. "Glemerr took six damage and you had...three hit points. Yeah?"

"Uh. Uh-huh!" she nodded, trying as hard as she could to ignore the disturbing void of light that it seemed that only she could see for some reason as everyone else seemed to go on like everything was fine. However, it was getting harder to do when the table space around her paper and dice slowly lost all color. A lifeless gray space began spreading out from the papers and dice like an ashy virus.

"That means you are now at zero hit points. You are dying."

The gray color gave off a pulse before it stopped spreading. Pinkie kept her arms off of the table and tried to keep a good attitude.

"If, when it comes back around to your turn, you are still at zero hit points you must make a death save. Roll a ten and above and you pass while nine or less fails. Roll a natural twenty, you get one hit point. But if you roll a one?"

The gray space pulsed again.

"Two failures," he went on. "You get three successes then you can stop rolling cause your safe. Three failures? Well..."

Another pulse. Like a fading heartbeat.

"Got it?" He asked, trying to make the situation seem more tense than it was. At least from his perspective.

Pinkie swallowed and gave a big nod. "Yep and yep! All clear!"

From back towards the entrance, Platick slowly stepped forward as Ravathyra had a bit more determination to run up at the same time.

"Was that Glemerr?" Platick looked off towards the bridge and up the tunnel but all he could see were silhouettes. The light didn't wrap around the bend of the cave.

"Yes. Yes it was." Stostine quickly grabbed Platick's hand and guided it to point up at the bridge. "There. Right there's a goblin. Get ready."

Platick licked his lips and readied his dagger in his fingers. "On your mark."

Stostine nodded and moved to the darkness, pulling out her small bag of sand. "Hwim oal un hwul," she chanted, a warm yellow shine covering every side of the bag until it became a cloth light bulb. Simultaneously, the red floodlight Stostine had thrown on the wall winked out of existence.

Thankfully, the new light was much better; revealing the second half of the cave tunnel to Platick. As it did, he locked eyes with the goblin on the bridge. Or rather, one of its eyes. Before the goblin could stare down at Platick, a flying dagger found its way into one of its beady orange pupils. It went into a frenzy of pain, fighting to stay aware enough no to fall off the bridge.

It writhed and shrieked before forcing itself to aim with its only eye on fury alone. Crossbow resting on the rope, it let out a raspy scream and fired, striking the exposed side not of Platick, but Ravathyra.

She let out a pained breath and fell to one knee, dropping her shield and hammer as she tried to focus on her breathing and how long she could keep her eyes open.

This time, Rainbow watched as her papers and dice became a dark expanse of nothing. Since Story explained the whole spiel to Pinkie, she glanced over to try and see if Pinkie was seeing any of this. All Rainbow got from the party girl was a knowing nod.

"Rainbow," Story started. "Same thing as what happened to Pinkie. You are currently down and dying."

Rainbow then watched the gray splotch spread from her things before she quickly pulled her arms into her lap before the color could reach her. The others gave her an odd look before she again caught Pinkie's gaze. And again Pinkie gave her a nod and a positive smile.

"Somebody. Someone get that rotten baw," Ravathyra groaned as she clutched her side, staring at the ground.

"Thorn Wielder?" Stostine turned to the left. "Can you...Ah."

Thorn Wielder was no longer there. Instead, Stostine watched the tip of her scythe vanish out of sight the way Glemerr went before a goblin's shrill scream died out instantly.

"O-Okay. Okay, this is fine," Stostine muttered, clearing her throat. And then doing it again a little harder.. "We. We can recover. We have options. We just need to. Just need...uh."

Platick looked back and forth between the goblin and Ravathyra. The goblin, working on pure anger, tore the dagger out of its eye before tossing it aside and loading the next bolt. It was losing blood fast but it was going to get another shot or two before it was done.

Then Stostine eyed Ravathyra. She was too weak to move. Her head, her torso, her hip, all of it was bleeding profusely. Her armor would have been stained if not for the flood that tossed her around earlier. The fact that she took all of that torture and was still breathing was a feat in and of itself.

"...Sunset," Story started, getting her attention. "Here."

He folded a small note and passed it down, giving her a second to read it all. "We didn't talk too much about it. But I thought I should ask now that it may be coming up."

Sunset took a second to reread it, a thoughtful expression on her face. Without knowing what Rainbow or Pinkie's condition was, she had allowed herself to try enjoying an interesting, if not tense, game for the time.

"You know...Yeah. Yeah, I think that makes sense." She nodded.

Story took a breath. "In that case, go ahead and make me a wisdom save."

Sunset looked to her left where Fluttershy offered her the magic die but this time she shook her head and took one of the other ones before taking a breath and rolling it.

"...Nine." She read out. Her mouth formed a thin line.

Story nodded, thinking his next words over. "...You've always found yourself thinking back to a moment of time."

As he spoke, all the other girls heard was that gargling static. Sunset was the only one that was able to hear him. For a moment she realized how useless it was for Story to have even passed a note when the others couldn't read or hear it anyway.

"Ever since you were a kid, your imagination's been your best quality. Whenever you needed to entertain yourself, your mind was right there with another idea. And it like a library full of nothing but adventure novels. You went through one story and then put it down knowing that your mind would let you pick up right where you left off no matter how long it had been.

"But with such a vivid imagination," he said in a different tune. "It also let you recall your real memories just as vividly. And memories? They're not as cheerful as fiction. So when you see Ravathyra, your mind starts playing out a memory. You first see Ravathyra before you as she is. Doubled over. Bleeding. Short of breath. Traits you had seen in the past. Traits you know very well. Ones you are strangely used to. Then the memories pry further.

"Without permission, it replays in your mind. You don't even need your imagination for it to be this vivid. Coughing up blood. Out of breath. Delirious. Unresponsive though still present. Hearing everyone speaking as if you couldn't hear them. Chest crushed like a vice grip. A disease. One too serious to cure. One too powerful to cure.

"And sometimes? It's still there."

Stostine felt her throat for a moment before she started coughing. It was like small breaths at first but in seconds, Stostine was trying to force her body to stop. "N-no...I'm-I'm. Not again." She coughed several more times, her side aching. "Never. Ne-Nev—" More coughing. "Never again. I can't." Cough. "...no."

Platick pulled his next dagger out of his other boot before watching as his first dagger slips off the dagger and beside Stostine who's coughing started to become more violent as she started doubling over herself.

It make Platick pause. It wasn't the sickness or coughing or even Ravathyra's condition. It was her eyes. Despite the coughing, Stostine's eyes had this vacant, unfocused look to them as whenever she was between coughs, she was unnaturally fixated on Ravathyra.

It was a domino effect. Ravathyra's pain reached Stostine, who in turn reached Platick. He looked at the dagger in his hand one more time before he decided against it. He tossed his dagger to the ground and knelt down beside Ravathyra, pulling the magic berry out of his pocket. It was smashed and waterlogged but the light inside still bobbed around. He lifted Ravathyra's head and rolled the berry between her teeth.

"Chew it," he commanded. "Chew it and get up. You need to do something around here, alright?"

Ravathyra didn't have the strength to argue. Instead, her jaw obeyed and crushed the berry, releasing the small light before her whole body was given a welcoming warmth. The blood rushing from her head stopped and a deep breath filled her.

All at once, Rainbow's part of the table revitalized as Story told the scene, with her dice all springing back to life with color. She couldn't see Pinkie's part of the table but Pinkie gave her a hearty grin.

With a heave, Ravathyra forced herself back up to her feet one more time and reached behind her, gripping the end of a long thin handle.

"Ye get what ye deserve," she hissed before in one motion pulling the javelin off her back and chucking it, skewering the goblin through its stomach and flinging it up off of the bridge, tumbling down into the tunnel beside Stostine who was still coughing.

She forced herself to take a huge gulp of air before that devolved into more hacking. But it was lighter now.Her coughing fit was still there but it wasn't getting worse at least. "Nice...Nice work."

"You good?" Platick asked with a weathered expression. "What's wrong with you now?"

"You." A few more coughs. "You know how I got tired...from walking along the carriage too long?"

"Wagon," Ravathyra corrected. "And yeah. Ya kept takin' mah turn."

"Well...Well this is a part of that," she said through her coughs. "Now come on. We need to. Need to go. Thorn ran after Glemerr."

Platick turned back to the passage to the west. "What about Vareén and Ricven?"

"One crisis at a time," Rava told him. "We can't keep splittin' up. We get the vine lass an' the bigg'un. Then we back up the others."

The three started up the tunnel with haggard gasps and limping strides, rounding the corner just in time to see Thorn Wielder feeding a few berries to a groaning half-orc. Glemerr had a gash cut across her midsection from a sword that lay several feet away with a discarded goblin that Thorn had already finished off.

"Urgh. Wha. Wut happened?" Glemerr rolled her head around.

"We survived," Platick told her. "But I think you and the Dwarf are done now."

"Berries," Thorn Wielder told the other. "Berries heal. Eat."

"I'm out," Rava said as she wiped blood from her face.

"Same," Platick said with a raised hand.

"Ah got mine," Glemerr said, reaching for a side pouch. "Who needs 'em?"

"You," several voices answered.

"...Oh yeah."

"Ravathyra," Stostine reached into her sleeve, pulling out her own as she cleared her throat one last time. "Have mine. I'm not hurt."

The Dwarf gave her an odd look. "All that coughin' an' yer fine? Ya sure on that?"

Stostine took a slow breath and held it. "Yes. It will pass. Take it, I insist."

Rava relented, taking the berry and popping it in her mouth. She would have given the girl a sour look but the sour muscles loosening up made Ravathyra feel much less guilty about it.

"Good. Now take off your gloves."

"Uh. What?" Rava blinked.

"Just. Do it? Please? You can trust me." Stostine gave her a small nod before folding her hands together and closing her eyes as though in prayer.

The Dwarf juggled the idea for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "Ah swear, if ya start makin' this weird Ah ain't ever comin' near ya again." But reluctance aside, Ravathyra slid off her gauntlets and dropped them beside her on the ground before holding out her hands.

The human took a few more seconds before opening her eyes again revealing her irises to glow a brilliant white. Like two weak beacons. She then laid her hands over each of Ravathyra's, revealing them to also be glowing the same color.

The others watched in awe with Glemerr tossing her two berries in her mouth like popcorn. The light transferred from Stostine's hands to Ravathyra's, further closing up a few more small wounds on the Dwarf and letting some of the blood on her person dry and fade away, cleaning her off in the process.

When it was all done, Stostine pulled her hands back and folded them in her large sleeves so that her hands were hidden. Then she blinked and the light was gone. As was any sign of her condition before.

"I know that did not help all of it," she started. "But every little bit helps. Right?"

"...What are you?" Platick asked first.

"Hm?"

"What are you?" He said a little louder. "You have magic. You look and act like a noble but you have some goofy acting bug. You're sickly; unable to keep up with a slow moving wagon but you took this job anyway. You can see in the dark without your magic. And then, on top of it all, you have some sort of cleric power like that? What are you?"

"..." Stostine lowered her brow for a moment. Almost as though taking stock of Platick himself. "...I'm just one person."

"Oh don't give me that!" Platick glared. "You sounded like you had the plague ten seconds ago and all of a sudden you're fine?!"

"Your eyes were glowin'. Hands too," Ravathyra tacked on. "The gnome knows 'bout magic just as much as you do. Maybe more. How much ya wager we tell 'im what we saw, he spots ya out real quick?"

"Everyone's magic is different," Stostine defended expressionlessly. "Mine is no exception."

"Well if it's completely natural, why not just say what it is?" Platick doubled down. "Unless of course it isn't something natural."

Her face was still but her eyes willingly rolled to the side. "What is your obsession with me? You try talking behind my back, you keep me somewhere in sight at all times, and you keep insisting that I'm a noble. Why? Why should that even matter?"

"It's the way you hold yourself," he explained. "You have this weird air that says your from high class but this obsession about fitting in. Why? Why would someone high-class try relating to commoners?"

Stostine took in a breath and huffed. "Fine. Fine! You wanna call me high class? Sure. My dad's a mayor in a town no one has heard of. We have a home with three rooms, no servants, and we sometimes got spices on our meals. Congratulations, you cracked the case. Want a platinum for your troubles? Oh wait."

Before Platick could notice, Stostine's Mage Hand came to life and pulled the necklace out from under Platick's armor. A single platinum piece affixed to a thin, tarnished silver chain.

"You already have one. Fortuna."

"Oooooh," Glemerr hummed, nibbling on some more jerky. "Did not see dat comin'."

"What's a Fortuna?" Rava raised an eyebrow.

"No idea. Jerky?" Glemerr offered. She offered a piece of jerky to Thorn who gingerly took it between her pointer and middle fingers. She sniffed it for a moment before lightly taking a bite. And then eating a large piece.

"It's nothing important." Platick waved the hand away and stuffed the coin back under his vest, red in the face. Stostine sat there without any emotion. "Look. I just want to finish this job and get what I'm owed. Once I have that, I'm out."

"In that we agree." Stostine nodded. She never lost that demeanor and that's what made Platick more angry. "We stay amiable until this job is done. Then you can stop glaring at me and I can take care of my own business."

"Gladly," Platick scoffed. "Now where's Vareén and the gnome?!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The entire cave system shook, forcing everyone to watch their feet or lean onto the closest solid object. To the left of the group a second pool of water held by a weak dam of stones released itself and caused another flood into the now empty tunnel behind the group. The rope bridge shook and jostled and small specks of dust and pebble fell from the ceiling in a few places, putting a deep fear in everyone's core.

When everything came to a rest, the five of them started looking around them for any signs of the cause. Stostine putting the brightly glowing bag of sand on a new Mage Hand to let it float above the team.

"Was dat an earthquake?" Glemerr kept scanning the ceiling.

"Nah. It was too small fer that," Ravathyra answered, her Dwarven heritage coming into play. "It was focused too. Like an explosion."

"Not an explosion either," Platick spoiled that mystery. "It was more...uh..."

"Thunder," Thorn Wielder answered.

"Yeah, thunder. Definitely."

Slowly, Stostine's shoulders went lax. "Not thunder. Thunderwave."

The group took a moment to think before a look of realization wiped across most of them.

"Ricven!"

Suddenly the uproar of something savage and angry snarled and howled from behind the five. The echo distorted it but as the party turned around they saw a large opening into another cavern with ratty pieces of cloth flanking the side of it. They looked as though they were made to look like war banners with dried blood making some horrid symbol.

"Who dares storm Klarg's keep?!"

"Klarg?" Stostine's jaw hung low.

"I think we found the leader's room," Platick pointed out anxiously.

The Dwarf shook her head. "No. No way. We're way too mashed. And he sounds angry as 'ell!"

"Even Glemerr knows when a fight'll be too rough."

Thorn Wielder simply nodded.

But despite how hopeless they felt, they couldn't run. The tunnel was still flowing with a heavy rapids of water and the bridge sagged twice as much as before. They were trapped.

Soon the echoing became more crystal and the group undoubtedly recognized crazed barking and the rattling of chains. A mangy wolf's snout and eyes reflecting from Stostine's light tried forcing its way into the room and immediately tried b-lining for the party before a heavy set figure heaved, yanking the massive canine back to its side.

Stepping out from his chambers was a tall ferocious beast with hair encompassing its entire body as it stood something over seven feet tall, more than a foot taller than Glemerr. The chained leash of a wild wolf rest in one maw while the other dragged a red stained morningstar across the rock floor. He had a big spiked pauldron on one shoulder and hide armor protecting his lower torso.

When he finally breached the room the adventurers were in, his eyes settled on them. Weak. Bloody. Intruders.

"YOU," it bellowed. "You stand outside the warroom of KLARG! General of King Grol! I will use your skulls to complete my throne! UUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGHHH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH" The party screamed in equal pitch as the Bugbear let his wolf run wild and bloodthirsty.

The boss had arrived.

Author's Note

Five players, all weak/out of spells VS Warlord Klarg and his rabid pet wolf. Tickets on sale!

I wrote this chapter much faster than I thought I would. and it was fun to play it out too. I never know how fights like this is going to go and aside from one key event, I have NO idea how this boss fight's gonna go. It's at the mercy of the dice.

This time I want to show you Glemerr's character sheet. True she wasn't a main focus this chapter like other characters but they're still hiding a few secrets. So I'll have to hide them. Besides, something tells me when they level up, there'll be more to show about them.

OH! One more thing! Ricven lyrics this chapter was based on Tyranno Rebellion by Man on the Internet! Play 1:05-1:22 and you'll hear the rhythm Ricven's lines use. The song is part of their Chrono Trigger the Musical playlist. Those songs are amazing!

That's all for now. Until next ~~chapter~~ boss fight!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(11) Warlord Klarg

3rd Person POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Classroom
Thursday, 4:17 PM

Story put down his phone down as he stared back at the map with an indifferent frown. Thirteen minutes before we need to start winding down. I wonder. Should I end the game after they take on the boss? Or do we hold out a little longer after that?

"Story, are you listening?!"

"Huh?" He looked up, scanning each of the girls for whoever said that. It was Twilight. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"

"What do you mean he came out?!" Twilight asked in shock. "We're not all there! We're still on the other side of the cave!"

Story gave her a deep nod. "Yes, you are. But Thunderwave is focused thunder. If thunder can shake a house then nearby thunder can definitely shake the underground. And everyone, bugbear included, felt it."

"I am so sorry," Rarity spoke into her hands. "I didn't know he was right there. I didn't, I— you saw what we were dealing with!"

"We know," Sunset reassured her. "No one's upset Rarity. You had no way of knowing that was going to happen."

What the two of them were talking about was Ricven and Vareén splitting from the party. They dispatched the goblin that had gotten away but they learned the hard way how many goblins made up the reinforcements.

"How long will it take to get back to them?" Twilight pleaded.

"Well, that's why I waited to see what you did after that spell went off. Tell me, did you guys turn around right after Ricven did that?" Story watched as both Twilight and Rarity's faces sunk as they realized their mistake. Then the two froze when they realized that they had yet to even leave.

"Twilight, you're faster," Rarity reminded her.

"I run back to the tunnel," she told me.

There it is. Story nodded, writing down a number to remind himself later. "Okay. In that case, I'll tell you what turn you get there. It'll take some time though. So."

Story sat up in his chair and faced forward with his hands folded on the table in front of him. He put on his best neutral grin. "Sunset? Pinkie? Applejack? Fluttershy? Rainbow? Initiative if you'd please."

As he said that, the foldable screen that blocked his notes from the girls' prying eyes began to wisp magic around the edges. The side of the screen facing them originally had this picture of a large, majestic red dragon flying far overhead a burning island city with a beautiful, sunset sea setting around it.

In a blink the image vanished. Like a television turning off, it became a black screen. Then, stemming out from the five girls Story named, wisps of aura slithered to the aura, made up of five distinct colors of aura, focused itself towards the center of the screen towards the bottom.

The first aura, a bright pink, hardened and stamped onto the screen into an image of the female, ashy gray skinned half-orc named Glemerr whose muscles could outweigh stone. She had crimson eyes and coal black hair too choppy and uneven to tie into any hairstyle and wore a ruined sleeveless tunic that was far beyond outgrown with cloth wrappings around both her arms as she held a boxer's stance. Glemerr was staring on with a determined grin but that didn't hide her exhaustion.

Next, the orange aura folded and shifted into shades of brown until it resembled a thin framed human by the name of Platick Fortuna. His hair was a brunette, disheveled and messy to somewhat distract from his baby face while his clothes and armor looked unassuming and plain; all by design. Platick held one dagger as a rusted shortsword rest at his hip. The only thing that stood out about him was the glimmering platinum medallion dangled around his neck as he stared forward with unease.

The third was a bright blue aura that compacted itself into a short and stout shape before the color changed into metallic silvers. Unlike the others whose appearances were clearly visible, this one wasn't. Their plain silver shield hid their face while chain mail covered everything else. Only Ravathyra wore armor heavy armor like that which helped identify her. Although it was covered in scratches and fresh blood.

Fourth was a pale yellow light that whittled itself down into the shape of an elf named Thorn Wielder with wild orange hair and bright emerald eyes that matched her nearly bronze skin. She wore a mismatched set of clothes that ranged from a peasant skirt cut at the knees to a noblewoman's blouse long unwashed. Sharp thorned vines were tightly bound around her right arm as she reached for the scythe on her back. Paired with the wild appearance, her expression matched that of an animal backed into a corner.

The final light, a warm red, settled into a calming blue as it made up the heavy robes that formed around the sickly pale woman that was Stostine Swordhand. Dusty blonde hair peaked out from under her hood as she stared forward in shock from the center of the group. Her hands were folded and clutched against her chest as they and her eyes gave off a faint glow of magical power. Meanwhile, stitched inside the cuff of her left sleeve, a small gemstone was glowing baby blue.

As the five figures finished forming onto the screen, Story rolled dice behind it. Rather than have the same malevolent tendrils of dark energy spider out, a new image formed on the screen behind the five adventurers. A large figure looming over them, all details cloaked in shadow. It had the physique of a daunting Bigfoot and the only color was the sick yellow tint his eyes held to them. In one hand the silhouette of chains leading to a mangy wolf was visible. Its predator eyes also the only color that appeared from the shadow.

The picture was so realistic that the girls' minds tried tricking them into thinking they saw blinking or breathing; any movement to prove it wasn't a picture. When they realized that the magic finished its job, they returned their focus to the game.

Some of them psyched themselves up for a moment before picking up and rolling the dice. As each of the five girls counted up their total, all of them slowly arrived at the same two emotions. Dread and disappointment.

Not a single one rolled higher than a ten.

3rd Person POV
Within the Goblin Cave

"Ripper! Claim your prey!"

Rather than unchain him, Klarg simply chucked the chain towards the group and let Ripper run free. The crazed wolf never bothered waiting for a command. It rushed across the cave, paws and claws cutting across rock before it lunged for the closest one; Thorn Wielder.

With a glare, she brought out her vined arm. The wolf's sank into it before it shook violently as though to rip her arm apart to reach the first ounce of fresh meat it had seen in months. However, after a few tugs the wolf was forced to release before coughing blood and thorns across the floor. Its tongue and gums riddled with stabs.

At the same time, Thorn's vines had chew marks but they didn't last long. Wherever the wolf cut the vines, more thorns grew at a rapid speed until her arm looked like a sea urchin of spikes. Then she brought down her scythe.

The wolf side-stepped it, then a second wide arc before trying to lunge at Thorn Wielder again only for her to not only block the attack but the wolf's skull with her buckler. It sprawled to the floor before letting out a sharp bark as Thorn sliced her blade across the wolf's shoulder.

As the wolf got up to try again, driven by rage, Klarg then turned his attention to its first target. All of his foes had yet to charge like the cowards he saw them as. Still, Klarg new better than to run to them. They were all grouped together. So instead, he used his now free hand to pull out a long, bloody javelin and brought it back, weighing his options.

There was the Dwarf in armor. Dwarves were hardy and aside from the frail human with his dagger, she was the only one with a weapon drawn. But that shield dissuaded him. There was the woman with thorns but Ripper had her distracted. The only worthy challenge was the beaten orc who held no weapons but two javelins she had on her back. Though she had not reached for them. Why?

Wait. This one, Klarg realized, throwing the javelin before its target could react. It was another frail human but female and with a crossbow. That was her only visible weapon. It must be some sort of archer, the bugbear figured.

The human held out her hand as the javelin closed in and...

"Sunset?" Rainbow and the others watched her holding out her hand as if she wanted to stop the attack but Sunset started to curl her fingers into a fist.

Time for a gamble, Sunset thought as she tried thinking several steps ahead of Story. "I take it."

"What?!" Applejack stared at her. "Ya got six points! This might do ya i—" "I take it," Sunset insisted.

Whether she was too late or decided it on purpose, Shield never happened. Instead, the javelin sailed right under her outstretched hand and into her side. The spearhead ran through her flesh before emerging out the back.

"Gaaack!" She tried to scream but all that came out was a cough of blood. Whether from the wound or her weak condition, she had no idea but as tears came to Stostine's eyes she weakly stomped a foot in the ground and stared back at the bugbear. She held the javelin's shaft in place so it wouldn't sag and pointed with her still outstretched hand.

"KILL IT," she boomed as loud as her bloodstained mouth allowed.

Quick to obey, Ravathyra and Glemerr ran across the room with hammer and fist raised. Once they closed in, Glemerr ducked under a deadly swipe of the bugbear's morningstar and found herself on the opposite side of her Dwarven ally.

Rava went first, throwing her shield away before taking the hammer in both hands before putting as much strength she had into her swing. But the bugbear saw it coming.

Following through with the swing he cast at Glemerr, Klarg brought it down and slammed the morningstar against the iron warhammer. Splinters and a whole nail broke off but the majority of the weapon stayed firm. Then Klarg pushed on it, bringing the head of the hammer to the ground and Rava leaning down to keep her grip as Klarg bent over her.

"You Dwarves are pathetic," he laid on. "Thinking you strong when all you know is rocks and treasure. Lazy. Lazy and worthless!"

"Ya think so, eye?" Ravathyra whispered. "Eh. Maybe yer righ'. But we got one other notch in our belts too. Fightin'."

Letting go of her hammer, Ravathyra brought up her red head as fast as it would go and rammed into Klarg's jaw, cracking a few teeth and having him reel back up at his full height.

"Thanks," Glemerr shouted before driving her fist forward and—

"Nat twenty," Pinkie screamed like a war maniac, making the others explode in cheering behind her.

Story, while a little upset, didn't show it. "Welp. Three dice for Glemerr then."

"Wait, three?" Twilight paused. "A natural twenty only doub—"

"Savage Attacker," Pinkie dismissed. "Half-orcs like Glem-err get more! Oh, and I have a second punch."

Yep, Story groaned inwardly. And...yeah, that's a lot of damage, he admitted as the girls started cheering louder for Pinkie. Even with the bonus HP I gave Klarg, that's already half. Ouch.

Klarg used his morningstar to keep from knocking over but as he stood back up, Glemerr slugged him again. Then again. The only reason she didn't then do it again was because by that point swung wildly to strike Glemerr. Still, the half-orc was as fast as she was strung and before the morningstar could even connect he had already danced backwards out of the way.

Back on the other side of the cave, Platick turned to Stostine and tried inspecting the javelin. It was hard thanks to Stostine's Light spell going into a strobe effect the second she was skewered alive.

"You need to lie down," Platick told her.

"Just shut up and help," she demanded, startling the rogue. "Kill the freak, then we deal with it!" As if the lack of eloquence wasn't enough, her hands started collecting not embers but flames, setting the javelin on fire as she held it.

"Uh, yeah, r-right," he stammered, turning to the fight as he stood between Stostine and the bugbear out of instinct. But with Glemerr and Ravathyra surrounding it, he took out his dagger and eyed Thorn Wielder.

The wolf had a few more scratches and cuts as well as loose thorns stuck in his side while Thorn Wielder was entirely untouched if not a little out of breath. Some of her vines were starting to brown as both they and Thorn's shield had some new claw and teeth marks around them.

Still, Ripper the wolf was not done. It lunged for Thorn Wielder one last time before she ducked low and drove an uppercut. Rather than her fist come anywhere close to it, her vines gathered against her fist like a boxing glove and she clocked the wolf in its jaw, shattering it before it landed a couple feet away on its back.

"Stop," Thorn Wielder spoke in a language no one but the wolf could possibly know. "I wish for this to be painless. If you keep moving, I cannot promise that."

But the wolf did not care. With any self-preservation beaten out of her, the wolf rose again with weight on only three limbs as she tried to bark against its jaw's wishes. Klarg had taught it to kill and only to kill. A fate, Thorn believed, worse than death.

"So be it," she declared. "Goodbye dear. Creature..."

The wolf fell to its side, the last breath leaving her as Thorn spotted a dagger embedded in the side of its body just where it heart lay. "Thorn Wielder. The bugbear!"

Thorn's head whipped around, her first instinct being to kill whoever would attack a pitiful creature. But as Platick stared right back at her, with a still stabbed Stostine waddling around him and over towards her while holding the still on fire javelin in her abdomen, Thorn remembered the situation.

Klarg brought out his shield, blocking another punch from Glemerr before kicking Rava's hammer away before she could swing it herself, he looked back towards his chambers and screamed "What are you waiting for?! FIRE!"

"If you say so," Stostine breathed, leveling her flaming hand forward. One projectile was fired. With two more following soon after.

The first one hit Klarg between the shoulder blades before spreading across the back of his torso and head, burning off every inch of hair the flames licked. Klarg quickly dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding a sloppy hammer swing from Rava, and trying patting out the flames. Next, two crossbow were shot from within Klarg's chambers from two new goblins summoned by the sound of battle.

The first bolt twanged off of Ravathyra's chain mail, not leaving a single dent before hitting the floor at an angle and skirting off. The second bolt had, unfortunately for the adventurers, found its target in Glemerr's thigh.

Glemerr fought to keep her knees from buckling as they bobbed like pistons before she glowered at the goblin who tried getting in the way of her fight. The goblin sneered back, proud of himself as he started to load his next bolt. But as he pulled the string back, frost built up across his fingernails before each finger turned to an eggplant purple.

As the frost started traveling up the goblins arms, turning more skin purple, the vapor from Thorn Wielder's hand dried out. At the same time Platick ran in, rolling over Ravathyra like she was a railing and reached behind him between his back and cloak, drawing a long thin blade. He made a three-point landing and hopped forward, running the rapier without the slightest resistance.

The tip of the blade went through the goblin's armor, then skin, then straight through its heart before Platick brought the handle of the blade upwards. The goblin, crossbow falling out of its limp arms, glided off of the blade and landed on its back. Dead before it could blink.

Platick quickly flicked the blood off the blade, folded his other arm behind his back, and leveled the rapier under the shivering goblin's chin with the poise of a master fencer. The goblin didn't waste any time thinking and dropped his weapon.

"Idiot," Klarg demeaned. He rose to his feet, catching Glemerr's elbow and throwing it aside as he towered over her once more. "Pick up your weapon! Fight for your leader!"

Ravathyra brought up her hammer once more but wasn't prepared. With speed matching that of Glemerr, Klarg spun and smashed her in the side with his morningstar. The armor creaked for a moment before the Dwarf was torn off her feet and tumbling to the ground.

Glemerr started throwing more punches into Klarg's spine, hitting where the skin had peeled and blistered from Stostine's flames. With a roll of his shoulders he brought an elbow of his own into her fist, dislocating a couple fingers before he turned around with his weapon raised high to pound her to the dirt before a set of vines coiled around it.

"Infestation," Thorn Wielder denounced, pulling her arm to try and tear the morningstar away. Right beside her, Stostine collected the flames on the javelin in her hand to ready another bolt of flame.

Without much choice Klarg released his weapon and went into a squat, stealing Rava's warhammer before launching it across the room straight at the mage. With a yelp she dove to the side, letting the hammer pass where she stood and destroy a thin stalagmite.

It wasn't without sacrifice. As Stostine hit the floor, the end of the javelin got wedged in the ground. The javelin snapped in half at the shaft thanks to the fire that was raging across it but the tension forced the javelin to widen the wound.

Platick turned to do something but only just managed to see the goblin move for the rusted blade on its side. Rather than do the monster in immediately, Platick brought the blade back under its chin.

Finally, with all the other threats dealt with, Klarg looked back to the half-orc in time to catch her fist in his palm. Then the second fist in his offhand.

"It takes five of you to fight Klarg? Pathetic." With a shove, he shoved Glemerr into the wall and the back of her head into a rock. She clutched it, vision swirling and leg on fire from the arrow that was still lodged in it as she slid to the ground as a tired mess.

"You wanna know something? Half-blooded orc?" Klarg drew his second javelin. Counting this one, he had four left. Enough for every coward with the witch already wearing hers. "Maybe if you brought a clan of your kind rather than cowards, you'd live to see Klarg slaughter each and every one of them. Before—"

3rd Person POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Classroom
Thursday, 4:28 PM

"—I got to you!" Story screamed in a monstrous shout. To his credit, the voice had done well to keep the majority of the group engaged. Even if it did terrify Fluttershy at the start. Also whenever Story made fighting motions. Which was every time Klarg attacked.

Story leaned over to his dice and rolled gave the same one he had been using a roll. However, as it came to a stop, his voice caught in his throat.

"Huh," Story sounded after a moment.

"Did it hit?!" "How bad?" The girls asked. After the goblin shot her in the leg, Glemerr only had one hit point left. She was lucky. And that luck was running a bit further.

"...He rolled a natural one," Story admitted with a small chuckle.

"You're kidding." "Yes!" Rainbow pumped a fist. "That means he drops the weapon, right?"

"Well. Well now that you bring it up." Story picked up more dice and tossed two of them out in the open for the group to see. Both had ten sides on it with one reading '80' and the other with a '5.'

"What, wh-what's that for?" Rarity asked, staring down at them. There was no magic anywhere near them like all the other rolls.

"It's a personal thing I have," Story explained. "In boss fights, whenever there's a natural one, I have a small table. The higher the number, the worse for the person. That eighty-five is the second worst thing. So. Pinkie?"

All eyes fell to her. "You get a free attack on him," he said.

Pinkie took a second to blink. "I do?"

"Yep." He nodded. "He misses regardless but you can roll to hit."

Pinkie's face slowly ballooned into a happy grin before she scooped up her die and rolled it with a 'Wheeee~' as it landed onto a '12' with the words '+5 to hit' appearing in bright pink aura beside the die.

"Seventeen work?" She smiled, resting her elbows on the table and knitting her hands together as if to hide her Cheshire grin while the girls looked back to Story.

"Roll damage." The girls then turned right back to Pinkie who plucked her die with a sound effect and rolled with more numbers appearing in the same pink aura.

"Six damage." She and everyone looked back to Story. While they did, they watched the screen in front of him change once more.

Rather than show everyone, this time it was only two figures; Glemerr and Klarg. Both of them were bloody, battered, and ready to keel over as Glemerr sat against the wall of the cave with Klarg standing over her with his javelin ready the same way Story acted out.

Except this time, rather than an image everything was moving in slow motion. Klarg holding the javelin like a battering ram and Glemerr face glaring up at him with a fury none of the girls had seen in real life. The only place they had seen something like this was in films.

So as Pinkie watched, Glemerr's expression tensing as Klarg stumbled on the ground, it was as if she was watching a story she wrote come to life. She didn't come up with a background for Glemerr. Or, rather, she didn't have one for Story Spinner. She was too busy kept coming up with all these wild ideas that she knew deep down didn't make too much sense but she bounced them off him anyway. More to see how much she could get him to react to it. Then she asked him about this imaginary world he made up half out of interest and half because he smiled even more when he was asked.

Eventually, Story headed out and Pinkie ended up asking her oldest sister Maud for some ideas. And, as always, Maud offered her the best idea ever. Even if it was a little sad. Have Glemerr grow up with a whole community of people, or, well, orcs to be more specific, raising her. That way, even if she didn't have a family by blood, Glemerr's would have one of the strongest families there were.

So if what Story said as Klarg was what Glemerr heard, about slaughtering all of them, Pinkie instantly recognized Glemerr's anger. Not only that, but she knew exactly what Glemerr would do next.

"Okay." Story leaned back smiling at her. "Pinkie? How do you want to do this?"

Pinkie watched the screen a little further and stood up herself before she started describing it, watching as the screen reenacted everything she said perfectly.

First, Glemerr reached out, guiding the javelin off target and into the rocks behind her, snapping the spearhead off the wall. Then, while Klarg was off balance, Glemerr bounded up and brought a stiff palm to Klarg's jaw shattering a few teeth in the process. He dropped what was left of his javelin to hold his face, letting Glemerr catch it in mid air before twirling it around in her hands.

One, two, four times Glemerr struck him with the pole, spinning it around like it was a quarterstaff before breaking what was left of it over Klarg's face. Before Klarg could recover, Glemerr reached behind her and pulled out one of her javelins, swinging down and driving it straight through the bugbear's foot.

As Klarg hollered in pain, bending over in agony, Glemerr now stood over him with a look of utter disgust.

"Ya know. Ah got dis code thingy," she explained, ignoring Klarg's cries of pain. "It's somefin' mah Uncle Mord taught me. Da only thing dat separates us from da Red Walkas an' Rot Anglas is how far we're willin' ta go."

Klarg tried to get a hold of the javelin. To tear it free. But Glemerr simply took the javelin in her hand and twisted it, making Klarg a writhing mess.

"Ya see, da Angla's an' Walka's? Dey don't care. Dey'll kill whoever tries opposin' 'em. But Uncle Mord didn't. He used ta tell me neva' kill a person...But ya know what my Sister Rafta always said ta dat? Persons are only persons if dey got humanity. Now, Ah don' know how everyone has dis 'humanity' thing when not everyone's human. But."

Glemerr caught Klarg's forehead in her other hand, crushing it as she held it in place.

"Ah don't think you got any."

With a shout, Glemerr took Klarg's head and forced it down, slamming it into the flat end of the javelin's shaft. The javelin pinning Klarg's foot partially in the rocks before he sprung backwards. He fell to his back, his leg at an awkward angle as all the tension left Klarg's body.

Unconscious. Not dead.

The screen faded back to the image before, the five characters and Klarg and Ripper's shadow looming over them. However, it changed too. Klarg and Ripper faded away like smoke before somewhere in the corner of the entire screen, a new picture of a pathetic, beaten bugbear knocked unconscious appeared. Almost like a badge that got collected.

Pinkie sat back down, staring back at the image of Glemerr that reappeared. That determined grin of hers was infectious.

Pinkie didn't say the whole speech Glemerr gave. Only the part about Uncle Mord's Code. She had no idea who the 'Rot Anglers' were but she remembered 'Red Walkers.' They were a gang of orcs that operated in Alderstone; a city Story had told Pinkie about. However, the girls heard Glemerr give that speech from the screen. Again, it was like a movie to them. And as far as Pinkie was concerned, if Glemerr was talking about the Red Walkers like that, then that meant she was from Alderstone. Something Pinkie would make sure to remember.

Glemerr's POV
Goblin Caves

I stood there, looming over Klarg as the face of every member of my family crossed my mind. Rafta. Myev. Huru. Vola. Keth and Nil. And Uncle Mord. Them and every other neighbor from East Alderstone was right there as though I had never left town.

Like every time we were in one place, I could hear them arguing. Half of them would be calling for this thing's hide and the other half would say to let it wake up and feel his wounds. Uncle Mord would take that second choice.

"How's everyone feelin'?" I called out.

Amidst the sea of groans and ache, Platick cleared his throat. "Before that. What do we do about this one?"

The rest of us turned around to see the frostbitten goblin trembling against Platick's crazy thin sword.

"When'dya get dat thing?"

"Had it all along," he told me. "Like I said when we all met, appearances are deceiving. Besides, I didn't need it until now."

"Just put the dob down already." Ravathyra propped herself up on her elbows. "All it's gonna do is pesta' anythin' it finds 'till it's out ta pasture."

"Nah," I cut in, taking a step towards it. "Let it go. It's ain't fightin' no more."

"Just decide, now, please," Stostine breathed. "And can. Can someone help?" Her voice started to go as she about fell over. Before she could though, Thorn put a hand on her shoulder to keep her steady.

"...Fine," Platick caved before staring down the goblin. "Leave. And if we see you again." He used his sword to make one last slice along its shoulder before making a feint at it, making it flinch.

"Yes! Me leave! BYE," it screamed, running for his life past Platick, myself, and Ravathyra before barreling down the tunnel. Any of us could have done him in but at this point no one cared.

"Okay. Now then." I started towards Stostine, picking up a piece of Klarg's shattered javelin and wrapping it in some of my clean bandages. Then I held it up to the her face. "Here. Put dis in yer mouth."

She stared at it weakly before eyeing me. "W-Why?"

"Because when Ah get dat javelin outta your hip, you're gonna clamp yer teeth hard. Can't have ya choppin' yer tongue out."

It took a moment for her to register what I said before nodding and taking it in her mouth. "O-Okeh. Makesh shense."

Next I took out another bandage and used it to wipe the javelin for any splinters and soot. Stostine flinched a bit before I inspected the back of her hip. The javelin's head had made it out the opposite side entirely. Good. If it was halfway it would have been worse.

"Okay. Now relax a bit. You bein' all tense'll jus' make it harder ta get out." She did after a moment and some careful breathing. "Right den. Ah'm gonna be quick about dis. it'll hurt, a lot, but ya gotta get it now. Dis javelin ain't nearly as clean as one from da streets. And dat's sayin' somethin'. I'm gonna count down from three. Stay as relaxed as ya can, alright?"

Stostine nodded from behind the piece of wood while I pulled out a whole roll of clean bandages. "Good. Now, Dwarf?"

"Gotta name ya know," Ravathyra scolded. "Lemme guess. Need me ta hold 'er?"

I nodded and Rava came over, reaching up to hold Stostine around the lower ribs. "This ain't gonna be pretty." Stostine took another deep breath and stared up to the ceiling where her bag of sand was still floating. The light helped.

"Pinkie? Make a medicine check," he told her. "With all the prep you did and Ravathyra helping you, you get advantage."

"You got it! Don't worry Sunset, Dr. Glemerr's knows exactly what she's doing!"

Sunset smiled and nodded just long enough for Pinkie to look down at her dice. Then she bit her lip at the prospect of it all.

After a little clattering, Pinkie gave a overdramatic sigh of relief. "Thanks Dashie, I needed that! Or, well, Sunset needed that. Fifteen!"

"Here we go," Glemerr warned. "Three—" "GMMMMMMMMMMMMM-!"

The javelin came out cleanly in one tug while Stostine fought against Rava to writhe in pain while her teeth barred against the stick. While they kept squirming, I got the bandage set only for Thorn Wielder to step in. Apparently, as we were getting ready, Thorn plucked the thorns out of the end of her vine as a yellowish moss began growing out.

"What're—" "Bloodmoss," Thorn Wielder answered, taking my bandages and spreading some of the stuff on the inside of it.

"Smart," Platick complimented as he watched the scene unfold. "It's also called Moss Rub. It takes fresh blood and adheres to wounds. Makes good aloe too."

"Arro?!" Stostine said before spitting out the stick. "Aloe doesn't go in open wounds!"

"It's used to make aloe," Platick specified as I wrapped the bloodmoss and bandages around her lower abdomen. "Mercs stuff their wounds with this all the time. Keeps 'em from bleeding out. Like you are."

Stostine slowly stopped writhing as I kept wrapping and spent a few seconds to focus on her breathing. "I've...I've never been. Run through with a. A javelin before."

"Ya? Well, I've never gone toe-ta-toe wit' a bugbear either! Firsts fer all, annit?"

"Well, all except for Vareén and Ricven," Platick reminded. "Still never found out what happened to them."

"Well, ya could try askin'!"

Most of us, except for Stostine who didn't bother, looked over towards the rope bridge. On the other side of it stood Ricven looking completely fine with an injured Vareén and a semi-conscious man draped over her shoulder.

"Y'all alright?" He called out, looking incredibly concerned when he saw the state we were in.

"Alright?!" Platick scowled. "Weren't you the one saying that a Thunderwave wasn't a good idea in here?!"

"Yes I did. However, somebody," he turned to throw a glare at Vareén who stiffened up. The exact opposite of how she was coming in here. "Thought it'd be a good idea ta try countin' goblins on our own. If I didn't set off that powder keg, the two of us would be carved into welcome mats."

Vareén didn't try to correct him. She just nodded along.

Platick held his brow, swearing under his breath before looking back up. "At least tell me they're all dead."

"Splattered on the walls," Ricven raised. "Though it seems I did a numbah ta this cave in the process. Someone mind securin' the bridge on that side so we can join ya?"

Ravathyra decided to volunteer. With a few swings of her hammer, the pegs were knocked low enough into place that the bridge was stable enough for the three of them to bring themselves over. But just as they did, it collapsed in on itself with one side falling into the path below.

As Ricven took a moment to size up all of our injuries, his eyes settled on the bugbear on the floor. "I'm guessin' that behemoth was the leader of these rotten kernels?"

"Yes." Stostine nodded. "He and some...'retainers,' rushed out of his room after the boom. Also, I don't know if it's my being delirious but. Is he still breathing?"

"Yep." I frowned. "Ah don' kill people. Came close dough."

"Well allow me ta be useful." Ricven stepped forward, pulling out the mace at his hip.

"Wait. No," the man on Vareén's shoulder wheezed. "Ke. Keep him alive. He's the one who passed Gundren over."

We all turned to stare at the man for a few moments before Stostine and I started recognizing him amongst all the cuts and purple bruises.

"Sildar." Stostine smiled. "I guess that is one victory for us then."

"There's more than that," Sildar assured. "That bugbear's room? Loaded with supplies. I saw it when I we were first dragged here. They've been here a while."

"Ricven?" Platick looked up. "You're the only other one not falling apart. You back me up?"

"Ta ransack a bugbear's treasure hoard? Ya kiddin'? 'Course I'm in." He started to stroll on over to the entrance with Platick holding his cool sword at the ready. After a few seconds, we heard the gnome call out. "All clear in here! There's a fire goin' too if y'all wanna dry off from the flood."

"You know what," Stostine announced. "I think a fire sounds great right about now."

"Oh. Oh! Ya know what we should do?!" I asked. "Dat cart we were carryin's still got dat Dwarf ale, yea? How's 'bout we crack dat open an' start up a party?"

"Glemerr throws parties too?" Sunset smirked.

Pinkie blew a raspberry. "Of course Glemerr throws parties! You think I would make a character that didn't like parties?!"

"As. As nice as that sounds," Stostine started with a painful expression. "That alcohol still is not ours. We cannot just drink it."

"...Wait," Sildar said slowly. "By any chance, was it in a cherry wood cask? Labeled 'RockVine Red?'"

"Oh yeah," Rava confirmed. "Ah wouldn'ta fergotten a name like that. Felt like knockin' out the magic lass 'ere a few times fer always stoppin' me."

"I am right here," Stostine said plainly.

"Ah know what Ah said."

Sildar chuckled a couple times before he stopped, clutching his ribs. "Gundren you idiot. The whole time on the road he was losing his mind about that cask. He nearly turned around for Dreiweg to make sure he didn't leave it behind. I've never seem him sober that long. It still out there?"

Five faces all nodded at him.

"Then in that case; as your employer, sort of, one of you bring that cask in here."

"YES!" Ravathyra and me high-fived before rushing towards the exit. "Be right back!"

"Bring the tankards," Stostine shouted behind us. She sounded way more excited when she said that. "All of them!"

"Yes ma'am!"

3rd Person POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Classroom
Thursday, 4:45 PM

By now, Story had already packed up half his stuff as the game was winding to a close. The girls still saw their die glowing and the screen had gone back to a normal with the same dragon it had before. Somehow, it seemed much less interesting than the pictures of their characters showing up on it.

"As you all begin splitting off, getting supplies and doing one last scan of the entire hideout," Story narrated. "You find some solace knowing that all the danger has been cleared out. Not only that but as Platick and Ricven soon discover, the supplies in Klarg's room were all from different wagons. These goblins had been attacking honest drivers for possibly a few months.

"Upon going in, some scrap wood is thrown on the fire and you guys find this large padded dining chair that had seen better days as well as a bench with one of the sides propped up with a smaller crate. Even given the goblin smell, it's." He shook his head side to side. "It's not the worst place to set up for the day. Especially considering how exhausted all of you are.

"But as the drinks start getting poured out and Klarg is secured somewhere else, you all give yourselves a chance to let your muscles relax...It's been a long day. And you feel that you deserve a well needed rest. And I think that'll end it."

As Story concluded his monologue, all the magic floated up off of the dice and materials and floated up into the air, forming into seven warm glowing orbs of light.

"Well, except for one thing," Story admitted. "You guys all level up."

One after another, the seven orbs floated down to each of the girls and was drawn into them. They felt a warmth across their body envelop them the same way the they felt whenever they ponied-up. But somewhat calmer.

"Does that mean we get more magic or something?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, some of you get more magic. You and Twilight specifically," Story told them. "You also get some new stuff and some more health."

"Yes," Sunset said excitedly. "How much? I only have six points."

"You all see the die in the hit die box, right?" Each of you roll that die."

The girls took a second to figure it out, some faster than others, before they each one in their hands.

"Wait! Let's all go at once," Pinkie offered.

Applejack smiled. "Ya know what? Yeah."

"I'm up for it." "Sure!" "Alright. On three?" "Two." "One!"

Different sized dice all from different directions were tossed to the center and right away the girls all met with different reactions.

"What?!" "Not bad." "Yes." "Noooo..."

Sunset let her chin fall to the table, staring at her die mixed in with all the others. Most everyone had eight-sided dice or better while she was the only one with a regular cube. And out of all six sides, it landed on a one.

I'm not alone either, Sunset thought as she noticed Fluttershy's die. It was just as bad.

"I guess now would be a good time to mention the mercy rule," Story spoke up, earning Sunset's pleading eyes. "You reroll ones for this."

"Oh thank Celes...err, goodness," Sunset corrected before getting her die back along with Fluttershy. Haven't made that mistake in a while.

They rolled again, with Sunset sinking in her seat out of relief when she saw the '6' show up this time. Fluttershy wasn't as lucky but it was at least not a '1'.

Story smiled. "Add your Con to it and then add all of that to your hit points. And with that six, you're now all above ten hit points."

"Pfft, screw ten, I'm at twenty!" Rainbow gloated only for Twilight to lean back with a smirk.

"Twenty. Three," Twilight said in a rare moment of one-upping the jock.

"What?! How?"

The group spent the rest of the time going over all the stuff that they got as Story finished packing his stuff. By now it was almost five o'clock and that meant they needed to be out of the school before the janitors started busting out their mops.

So as the time started counting down, the eight of them put Ms. Cheerilee's room back the way it was for her and started out the door. Along the way, Rarity realized that there wasn't any sort of group messaging system for the club while Pinkie took it even a step further when she remembered none of them had a way to talk to him outside of the club.

The whole scene was something drastically different from what was happening in the game and none of them thought it was a bad thing. When Tuesday rolled around next week they could get back to whatever was coming up next for their characters. Story had already imagined the same. Which was exactly why he left out a few things to tell them about next week. Like what Sildar knew or what his condition was.

After all, it wasn't like Sildar's leg or wrist had anything to do with what was going on outside of the game. Besides, Story had other things he was more concerned with. Like with what happened to Ms. Cheerilee. She never showed up today.

Weird.

Author's Note

Back when I originally wrote this story, I think this was about as far as I had gotten before I backed off the story and eventually rewrote it. But I think I might be able to get about two more chapters after this one before I need to go on a hiatus for a while.

Until then, I should also mention, this is where the story's going to start getting different. So far it followed the Lost Mines of Phandalin story module that was created for D&D. As it's been mentioned, the game is based in a self-made world of mine and as the story goes on, it'll become less like that module.

That aside, thank you for everyone that has read the story so far! There's no character sheet this time unfortunately but with everyone leveling up that means everyone has something new to show off later.

Until next time everyone!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(12) Downtime Activities

St⍀st⌰⍾e Sw⍀⎍☌☍an☌'s POV
Kl⎅rg'⎐ W⎅r Ro⍀ ⌿??
Thursday, 4:47 PM

"But as the drinks start getting poured out and Klarg is secured somewhere else, you all give yourselves a chance to let your muscles relax...It's been a long day," Story's voice explained, his monologue winding down. "And you feel that you deserve a well needed rest. And I think that'll end it."

Around the room, an odd haze had begun to subside. After the alcohol was brought up, Glemerr and Thorn Wielder had elected themselves to drag Klarg further away from his chambers before tying him up to a stalagmite. Like chaining a dog. Glemerr was also going to tend to his more critical wounds before gagging him so that he would still be with us to interrogate later.

As for the rest of us, we felt this secondary presence leave us at the same time as the haze. It was now the second time this had happened to us. The first time being back on the road where we got ambushed.

"Guess that means we're stuck here for a while," Platick said as he threw poked the fire with a walking cane he found in the hoard Klarg and the goblins amassed. He was referring to the invisible barrier that formed around us on the road when the haze left us. It had acted to keep us nearby until the presence of Story and the girls returned.

"How long's it gonna be this time?" Vareén sat down, turning the tankard in her hand. "Before it was two whole days."

"I pray it is not long," I admitted, holding my hand over my bandaged side. "I saw Thorn Wielder's limping the whole time on the road after the goblin slashed her leg. Two days and her cut never closed." Which means this javelin wound is here to stay with me.

"Oi. If it makes ya feel betta'," Ravathyra said, filling up my tankard before I could stop her. "Keg ain't runnin' lo'. No matter how much we down, it's only a few glasses short a' bein' whole. Ya can keep drinkin' till them girls and the lad come back. That outta dull the pain."

I gave her an odd stare. "Are you telling me to drink for two days straight? I would rather avoid alcohol poisoning."

"Well we don't got medicine," Rava reminded me. "We're out a' magic berries an' healin' powers too. Bes' be diggin' in fer tha long haul."

"...Question," Vareén called out. "Since when did you have an accent?"

"Ah. Somebody finally noticed," Rava reveled. "Well, the lass bossin' me around ain't makin' strides any time soon, so Ah decided ta make a few...Executive decisions."

"Okay." Vareén frowned. "But why a Scottish accent?"

"The only Dwarf Ah know of is that Gundren fella." Rava matched Vareén's frown. "Lass hadn't bothered ta even come up with a single piece a' history fer me. Sides from that Ulaa spiel she coined on da spot somehow. Ah've 'alf a mind ta find mah way outta dis place and knock her upside da head."

Platick sighed, drawing our attention. "About that. I'm sorry, are we not gonna talk about this? The whole 'Teen Girls Run Our World' thing? Ever?"

I furrowed my brow and sipped my drink. Today was the first time I had ever drank alcohol. Or rather, the only time I remember drinking alcohol. When Sunset had me change my mind about drinking once we were given permission, I could tell my disposition changed in kind. "How do you propose we talk about this? We were...created with this situation from the beginning."

"We could start with how it doesn't feel right," Platick explained. "I have whatever tattered memories were imagined for me and I have this awareness about a high school farmer and her friends. I don't think I'm even supposed to know what a high school is."

What Platick said was true for everyone; each of us had two sets of memories. Our memories of this world that had been created thus far as well as this outsider perspective of each of our...Creators? Relatives? Ourselves? That part still didn't sit well with me. It felt incorrect no matter how I considered them.

I took another sip. A deeper one. It was my third tankard of ale and I could feel it hitting me.

To try slowing myself down I put the tankard out of arm's reach so I wouldn't keep downing it. Then I distracted myself by staring over at the only chair in the cavern. Ricven was using it with his leg and head hanging over the arms of the chair with his violin in his lap. He reminded me of a lazy king.

"Ricven," I said cautiously. "You are unnaturally quiet. What are you thinking?"

He let out a puff of air, staring at the ceiling as the flames made the shadows of the uneven rocks dance. "'If. We. Get. Hurt.'"

"Hurt? Who's hurt?"

By this time, Glemerr and Thorn Wielder reentered the room with Glemerr heading directly for the keg Ravathyra had been pouring out into tankards. "Somethin' 'appen?"

"It's what my Player said. Madam Rarity," Ricven explained without looking at us. "She was speakin' through me ta Sunset. Stostine's Player. As if ta make some sorta point."

"Why would she do that?"

"I think to hide it from the Master. Story," Vareén clarified. "It's not the only time either. They're not subtle but those girls are hiding something."

"Probably all this Player, Master, second-mind nonsense. Story doesn't seem the least bit concerned about the magic. The girls are. Maybe they think he can't see it. And maybe he can't." Platick walked over to grab a tankard for himself before sitting himself among the crates piled up away from the fire. "Judging from the part Ricven's thinking about, I'd say they're scared of that magic themselves."

"Yet they ain't runnin' from it." Ricven sat up, watching the fire as he set his violin down against the chair. "They scared of magic yet they ain't runnin'. Now what does that combo typically mean?"

"They're screwing with it?" Vareén shrugged.

"That it's fun?" Glemerr smirked.

I put my fist beneath my chin. "They want to understand it."

"Bingo," Ricven cheered dully. "Give the mage a prize."

"So you're worried that they'll want to control it?"

"I have no earthy idea what they want. That's what worries me." Ricven's expression tensed. "Whenever they're playin', they control us. Make us do or not do whatever their whims decide. And we're aware of every moment. As far as I'm concerned, they already control it. So why be worried about somethin' that already is?"

I sat up, my wound crying out in protest. The drinks made the pain duller but I still rethought my movements. "H-Hold on," I strained. "I would not say they are controlling us. Everyone, has what they made any of you do ever gone against what you yourself would do?"

Vareén folded her hands in front of her. "That depends. Are we counting how our opinions are shifting around too?"

"Ta be fair," Ravathyra interjected. "That's more 'appenin' ta those that don't 'ave as many memories as the rest a' ya. Meself included. Changin' opinions is less controllin' a person an' more shapin' 'em in the first place."

"Regardless, my question still stands." I nodded. "Are their actions different from your own?"

The group fell silent, eyeing each other back and forth to see if anyone was coming forward. None of them did. Especially not myself. When that javelin came at me, I readied Shield and, in that moment, debated just like Sunset if that was really the best idea. That bugbear was strong. If he came at me with that spiked club, that would have done much more damage than a thrown javelin. Thus the Shield spell would be better used there. We were lucky no one got seriously hurt but that could have gone much differently.

"Well, Ah d'ink dis Pink girl's fine," Glemerr admitted. "She coulda had me kill dem gobbos like all a you but she's been keepin' mah code. Plus, ah got ta do dis sweet Tarzan trick on the way here. Ya shoulda been there guys!"

"Tar. Zan," Thorn said slowly. "I...Know name. Why?"

"Great question. But one we'll deal with later," Ricven told her. "Miss Stostine's got a point though. We ain't bein' forced ta do anythang we wouldn't. So I'm willin' ta believe them girls ain't plannin' somethin' sinister. Although, I think it's fair ta assume whatever made us us is that same magic them girls are pokin' 'round with. An' they got no clue how it works."

"And you do?" Vareén raised an eyebrow.

"Notta bit," Ricven relented. "But if we can find out? Maybe we can use that ta our advantage."

I leaned over and got my ale again, taking a slow sip.

"Advantage how?" Platick leaned forward, his interest peaked.

Ricven smirked. "Think about it. This Master's tha one runnin' this world an' them girls are the one's forgin' our memories, right? Ta us, they're the gods above the gods. If we can find a way ta get with 'em, we can have some things go in our favor. Or at least make what's comin' easier on ourselves."

I finished my tankard, downing the whole thing thanks to Ricven's rambling, and let out a heavy sigh. "What do you mean what's coming?"

"Oh please Miss Stostine." Ricven waved a hand at me. "You're plenty clever. Tell me, what makes a good story interesting?"

"...The characters," I answered. That was my thought anyway.

"The drivin' force," Ricven 'corrected.' "The conflict that those characters, or us in this case, have ta face. Ya see, Master Story's runnin' the show. The world. Some a' you may not have any memories of this place so far but for those that do, you know about all the evils of this land, don'tcha? The Lifetime War? The Gausoon Druids?...The Scorched Acrine?"

Thorn Wielder visibly flinched; her vines coiling about anxiously.

"If Master Story's the one behind it, who's ta say he can't make the world a better place? Isn't that what we should all be strivin' for?"

"Master...Made fire?" Thorn Wielder asked. Her face wasn't that hard to read.

"Now hold it there," Ravathyra clapped her tankard on the crate beside her. "What yer talkin' about is anarchy."

"Anarchy?" Ricven snorted. "That's a little—" "Shut it ya eejit," Rava cut him off. "You've 'ad yer piece. Now I'm about ta 'ave mine."

"..." Ricven considered his words for a moment. "The floor is yours. Miss Rava."

"Watch the title," Ravathyra warned. She turned towards the rest of us. "If this Master's da one who went an' made all them atrocities, then ya can't just leave out all da good he's done at the same time. If ya 'aven't noticed, the Coia Ohta, that Lifetime War? It's over. Been over fer three decades now. We still got a nation runnin' fine enough an', above all, we wouldn' be livin' if it weren't fer this world."

Rava turned to Thorn Wielder next. "Dat whole Scorched Acrine thing? That got somethin' ta do wit' yer history, yea?"

Thorn Wielder nodded. "Home was. Acrine...Now Scorched Acrine."

"And Story's the one who made it happen," Ricven butt in.

"Ah told ye ta shu—" Ravathyra turned her back to him, taking a moment to clear her head.

"Alrigh'. Yea, fine. Master Story did it," she admitted. "But Thorn Wielder? That Player a' yers? The Flut'erin' lass? She made ya, didn't she? She created ya. And she coulda spat ya anywhere in this world! But she spat ya righ' dob center a' the flames. Why, ya think?"

"..." Thorn's vines lost their tension as Thorn's expression mellowed into confusion.

"'Cause she though' it important," Rava answered. "An' you think it's important too, don'tcha?"

"..." Thorn looked up, nodding once. "I find fire starter. I bury fire starter."

"An' there it is." Ravathyra pointed to her. "Jus' like all dem events Ricven listed off, there's been a solution ta each of 'em. War's over. The Gausoon thing's settled. Probably. Maybe?" She turned to each of us, earning a thumbs up from me.

I knew about the Gausoon. It happened exactly 1,139 years ago. I knew that because that's what year it was right now. The Gausoon Druids were so destructive, their defeat began a new era. In fact, eight of our twelve months are named after the heroes that stopped it. The Lifetime War started on LR 475. LR stood for Land's Revival; the name of this era.

"Good, yea, Gausoon's dead an' gone," Ravathyra carried on, earning an admittedly dramatic sigh from me. They aren't gone they're just...Ah whatever. "An' now, 'ere stands Thorn Wielder. Wantin' ta bury whatever burned down 'er forest."

"Yes. Bury."

Ricven gave a slow clap as he sat pretty in his nice cushion-y chair. Now he really does look like a lazy king, I thought as Glemerr brought me my fourth tankard when she saw my unimpressed look.

"Well then. Leave it to the paladin to be admirable. From what I've seen a' that sport-kid Player a' yours, I must say that is a welcome surprise."

"Watch it," Rava warned with a glare. "Ye ain't gonna get away wit' rappin' on mah Player like that again."

"Weren't you saying you wanted to smack her upside the head a minute ago?" Vareén took a sip of her own drink as she leaned on the wall.

"Still do," Rava admitted. "But she's mah Player, ain't she? That means Ah'm the only one that gets ta berate 'er. Till she gets me mah own history at least."

"My, what a B-E-A-U-tiful demonstration of character development. Miss Stostine?" Ricven smiled over at me. "I think you mighta been on ta somethin' 'bout the character's bein' the best part a' the story."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I mumbled, my face visibly flushed as I finished another long sip of ale.

Ricven belted out some giggles. "Suppose I shoulda seen that comin'. That's your fifth mug Miss Stostine. Miss Rava, maybe cut the kid off for a while?"

"I'm twenty-one, back off." I turned slightly away from him and took a more restrained sip this time. Besides this was my fourth, not my fifth. At least I was pretty sure. I doubt I could lose count that fast.

"And I'm three times older than you," Ricven pointed out. "Almost seventy-nine now."

"Woah. Dat's old," Glemerr bluntly proclaimed, earning a few snickers from us 'not old' people.

Ricven took that personally. "I'll have you know gnomes live well over 300 years. In human terms, I'm twenty-one as well. Sooo, Miss Stostine?"

"Not on your or my life," I cut him off, collecting more laughter from the others.

For however long we were going to be stuck in here, we were going to make the best of it. Even as Sildar laid near the fire, seemingly frozen in time. It caught us off guard when we first noticed but back on the road, there were a couple birds suspended in the air and the goblins were unmovable.

Since Sildar didn't have a Player like us, that probably meant he was the same as the birds and the goblins. Which meant that until the girls' game starts back up, he was going to keep being unresponsive. We were just happy that he wouldn't have to sit there feeling his injuries.

Not to mention, when he started moving again it would be a good alarm clock for when it was time to start moving ourselves. It gave us some solace to know that we'd have a warning next time. Whenever that would be.

Twilight's POV
School Halls
Friday 7:19 AM

A long, drawn out yawn echoed down the busy hall and right next to my ear. I went ahead and took a couple of steps to the side, rolling my eyes and smirking as Rainbow took the space to stretch her arms. Then I cringed when she started cracking her knuckles.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I was up late trying to finish that chem homework. Thanks for the notes by the way." She started turning her neck around, cracking it a couple of times. Gross. "You need 'em back?"

"Those were copies," I assured her. Only two weeks transferred to this school and already I was forming a routine with being a tutor for these classes. "Keep them."

"Awesome, thanks. I'll probably need 'em anyway when we gotta work on pages 47-50."

I slowed my pace with Rainbow doing the same when she noticed. "Is your class behind mine?"

"No?" Rainbow frowned. "AJ's in your class and she had the same assignment. Why?"

"Because pages 45-50 are due today." I watched Rainbow's eyes go wide as I frowned. "You only did forty-five and forty-six didn't you?"

Rainbow kept waiting for me to give her this 'got you' punchline only fer her to remember who she was talking to. "Can. Can I copy your—" "Not a chance."

I walked past her, sliding up to my locker before turning the tumbler towards the right until it was on '37' and then opened it. Only one number needed.

As I pulled out my books, I reached my hand up over my head as Spike peeked out of the bag, passing a different book to me. I trained him to hold books without putting bite marks into them and he was glad to give himself more space in my bag.

"Ya know, you should really write this stuff down," Spike told her while I smiled into my locker. Good boy.

"What's the point? I'd just lose the note anyways. At least if I don't write it down I'll force myself to remember it."

I snickered. "Except when you don't. Funny how that works, huh?" With the books I needed for first period, I closed my locker and started putting in the first two numbers. That way when I came back to my locker I'd only need the last number to open it next time as well.

"I'll just bust it out during lunch," Rainbow decided. "It's three pages. I can get that."

"Mind number twelve-C on page forty-nine," I informed her. "When it says 'Refer to the previous compound,' it means the diagram on the previous page. Not the compound equation you do on twelve-A and B."

"Okay. That sounds too confusing," Rainbow deadpanned.

"You'll know it when you see it. I spent five minutes rechecking everything because of that typo."

"You see, this is why I don't do homework," Spike explained. "Who decided that letters go with numbers?"

I retract my 'good boy' statement, I inwardly determined, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Okay Spike, you need to go back in the bag."

"You're not putting both of those books in here are you?" Spike asked. English class sometimes called for two books; both of which were bulky. Those, plus my folders and binder, and the new D&D book made it a tight fit.

"Ms. Cheerilee's class is just down the hall. I can carry them." I gave him a smile before he shuffled his way back inside, flipping the flap over the top to hide himself.

"Have you been taking him with you to the games?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I did the first time when Story had to leave early." I adjusted my bag after I felt Spike lie down and started to walk. "And yesterday, Shining came by to pick him up after school. But I'm trying to figure out another solution."

She folded her arms behind her head and followed beside me. "Yeah. Not sure how Story would take a talking dog."

"Actually," I started. "I was wondering if that would be a good way to ease him into the idea about magic. Remember what Applejack said yesterday? About keeping this a secret or not? I agree with her. I think it might be better to tell him."

"Are you sure? The principals basically made it a rule not to tell anyone that didn't already know," Rainbow reminded me. She crossed her arms. "Are you telling me you're fine with breaking the rules?"

"Not in the slightest." That wasn't going to change either. The less people that had to know about magic, the less chance of someone ended up like I did; tampering with something I didn't understand. "However, Story's involved in some way with the magic in the game. Whether that's our fault or not, he needs and deserves to know what's going on."

"No argument here." Rainbow smiled. "If we tell him maybe he'll know not to mess with it. And we could go without another demon. Per. Son..." She flinched when she saw my guilt-ridden face. "I'm so sorry..."

"I'll...Get used to that eventually," I managed to say without my voice folding on itself.

"Don't worry, Twi. She didn't mean it."

Rainbow went from flinch to scared as Sunset turned the corner, leaning on the wall and smirking at the awkward look Rainbow now wore. "I have English too Dash. You knew I was nearby."

"It slipped!" She looked back to me looking more guilty than me. "Twilight! I really didn't mean—" "It's fine," I cut her off, giving her a small smile. "I know. It's okay."

Rainbow slowly closed her mouth and rubbed her arm. Despite what anyone may say about her ego, she knows when to admit her own faults. "I'm. I'm just gonna go. See you two at lunch." She turned to go.

"Hey, wait." But before she could, Sunset caught her shoulder. "I wanted to ask you something."

The bell went off. Four minutes before first period and the students around us were starting to move on themselves.

"Gotta be quick," Rainbow half-joked. "Ms. Harshwhinny's class is on the other side of the school."

"I think you can make it in time," Sunset full-joked, making Rainbow smile a little more. "Fluttershy said you and her were meeting Story after soccer practice. Are you going to tell him the truth?"

And right away that smile faltered back to tense. "You couldn't let me forget about that until after school, could you?"

"Would you rather her remind you at lunch?" I asked, earning a short-lived scowl from the jock.

But eventually she started to nod. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna bring it up. I'm really hoping he doesn't hold it against me."

"I don't think he will," Sunset told her. "If he did, he would have recognized you when we all came to meet him. If anything, I think coming clean would help you not feel as guilty."

She smirked. "You're right. Besides, we're hiding enough stuff from him as it is." She turned and started down the hall. "Okay, I really do gotta hurry. See ya later!"

"Bye Dash," we said in unison, watching her disappear around the corner.

"I hope she gets past this soon," I told her. "It's been subtle but this has been eating at her."

"Oh, I don't think you'll have to be too worried." She smiled at me. "Fluttershy and Story came up with an idea."

"That's good to hear. Wait." I frowned. "Fluttershy and Story? Does that mean...?"

"Come on." She ushered me to follow her with a grin. "Let's get to class."

I walked behind her and we got into the class with plenty of time to spare. Instantly I spotted the tables and chairs that we used for the club, all in their proper arrangement for Cheerilee's typical class setup. Neat rows of tables each wide enough room for two students to comfortably share while her desk sat along the side of the room so that it wasn't in the way of the whiteboard. She liked to have an open space to move around in front of it when she taught.

Except this time there was an ugly TV stand on wheels standing between the tables and whiteboard with an equally unappealing CRT television from the mid 2000's someone had no doubt dragged out of some sort of storage closet.

"Well that's new," Sunset pointed out the obvious, matching the expression of most of the other students already in the room. Those that weren't confused were instead excited for some reason.

Are we going to be watching some sort of educational video, I pondered, leaning my head to the side to look behind the stand and glanced above the board. Sure enough, the collapsed projector compartment looked perfectly fine except for the fact it was folded away.

Is it jammed? Because if that was the case, the wall's flat enough to just use the projector anyway. So why the TV?

"Um, excuse me Mr. Sassafras?" Sunset walked over to the desk. I hadn't noticed because of how caught-off I was but sitting behind Ms. Cheerilee's desk, moving around the once organized supplies to make space for his laptop and a notepad was a someone I had never seen before. A jovial looking older gentleman with a large gray mustache, no hair and a friendly smile.

"Oh! Hello Sunset," he greeted happily. "How are you today?!"

"I'm fine," she returned in kind. "Are you substituting for Ms. Cheerilee today? Is she alright?"

I walked over to join her and kept extra care not to let him see my bag in case Spike was peeking out. Even if he meant well that didn't mean he'd automatically be fine letting a dog in the class.

"I am! But it was rather last minute. The principal had to ask for me herself. So I don't know what came up," he continued without any change in emotion. Then he smiled and nodded to me. "And hello to you too! I'm sorry but I'm not good at remembering everyone. Have we met?"

"I don't think so, I recently transferred here. My name's Twilight Sparkle," I told him.

"My name is Tealeaf Sassafras." He held out a hand which I shook after a moment. Yet another teach— erm, well, substitute teacher, that's nicer than almost every teacher from Crystal Prep.

"I tell students to call me Mr. T but I guess they just like an excuse to say Sassafras," he finished, earning a simple smile from me.

Just then the bell went off, meaning that class was now in session.

"Oop! Guess that means it's time to start." Mr. Sassafras stood up, taking two thin plastic cases in his hands. Movie cases actually.

I frowned. "Wait. We're watching a movie?"

"Yep!" He smiled. "Ms. Cheerilee didn't have a lesson plan for me so I needed a plan B. Movie Day!"

From behind me, a majority of the class started cheering like Kindergartners for recess. Are you serious? Do none of you care how this might affect our schedule? We're going to fall behind on the curriculum.

"Is that what the TV is for?" Sunset him. "Because the projector can play movies."

He gave her a sad smile. "I figured as much but I have no idea how it all works. I guess I'm too old-fashioned."

"I could help set it up," Sunset offered.

"Now that would be impeccable," he thank her, letting Sunset go over to start working on the projector while one of the stronger students offered to wheel the TV back to whatever time machine it came out of. "Well then. Movie on the projector," he cheered, summoning more cheers.

What is with this class?!

"Now then. Let's put it to a vote," Mr. Sassafras announced, holding up one of the cases. "The first one is 'Of Mice & Men.'" There was considerably less cheering this time as I let myself give out a small huff.

Well, alright. That's at least based off of a literary novel. It's on our reading list too. Maybe there's something to salvage from this.

"And the other one I've never seen before," Mr. Sassafras went on, trading the cases in his hands. "'School of Rock.'"

What?!

Right away most of the students started talking over themselves in a craze, begging the substitute to pick that one over the actual literary adaptation.

Are Sunset and I the only ones sensible enough to say n—

"School of Rock?" Sunset perked up as the projector flipped on. "That's not bad."

"Wha—Sunset?!" I cried.

"What?!" She held her hands up. "It's old but it's a good movie! I haven't seen it in almost two years,"

"That's what a lot of people say! I've heard good things," Mr. Sassafras leveled with us. "Alright everyone. School of Rock it is!"

Mr. Sassafras passed it over to Sunset, who shot me an apologetic look as I stomped over to my seat and falling into the chair before dropping my books on the table with a "humph!" I've never even seen this terrible musical-comedy-whatever it is and already I loathed it.

Please let Ms. Cheerilee be back on Monday, I hoped, letting myself slump on the table's surface.

Rainbow Dash's POV
Friday 3:48 PM
The Soccer Field

I let my sports bag fall onto ground next to my feet before sitting down on the bleachers with a sigh. I felt drained. Not from practice, soccer drills are nothing for someone like me. If anything practice has been the easiest part of the day. Ms. Harshwhinny gave out a pop quiz, Mr. Cranky Doodle was as uptight as usual and I had to practically skip lunch just to finish all the chemistry homework. Only for the teacher to move the deadline to Monday!

Mr. Beaker owes me a burger, I vowed. Those questions were so annoying, I could barely scarf down my fries before lunch was over!

Before I could decide whether or not to actually do something about it, a light shined out of my bag. It took me a few seconds to realize it was just my phone before I dug it out. There had been so much glowing magic stuff this week I was starting to get paranoid.

After unlocking it, I opened up my messages and started reading. There had been a few messages back and forth between Fluttershy and Story while my phone was in my gym locker.

3 People: You, Story, Flutter:

Hey I never got to ask. When does sport practice end?

Rainbow's at practice right now. I think her phone's off.

She gets finished at four.

Good to know. I might be late though. Sorry!

That's okay. I'll be there with her when she gets finished.

I smiled and closed the group message. Fluttershy knows practice ends at 3:45. She probably told Story 4:00 so I could relax a bit.

Next I opened the message I just got. It was Fluttershy texting only me.

Hey Rainbow Dash. Did you still want some time? I can come back a little later if you want.

I gave a low chuckle and started typing.

Nah I'm gud. U close?

I'm walking over now.

I closed my phone and tossed it back in the bag before staring off in no specific direction and started thinking about it. All day I kept trying to come up with something else to think about that I never figured out how this was going to go. What's worse, I didn't even know how to start.

For that matter, do I really want Fluttershy here at the same time? I changed started tapping my heel. I'm can't tell her to leave though. Not after her and Sunset talking to me about this. Even after I told Sunset what happened she was still behind me 100 percent.

My heel stopped tapping. I felt my throat tighten as I gave this thousand yard stare at whatever I was looking in the direction of. Then I buried my head in my hands.

"Ugh, I'm such an idiot," I shouted into my palms. Sunset. I didn't ask her! Two weeks of dancing around this and I didn't try asking even once! She literally went through this same thing to us! She knows more about this than anyone. Why didn't I think of asking?!

I used my fingers to rub my eyes before folding my hands in front of my face, my chin resting over my thumbs. Well. In hindsight, that might've been a better idea. I can't imagine Sunset would be thrilled to talk about how hard it was to apologize to everyone.

I sat up and my heels started tapping like pistons. Okay. Fine. It's fine. Just remember how Sunset apologized to you and...do that. That'll work! Probably. Maybe?

I heard the grass crunching from beside me and whipped my head in that direction, startling Fluttershy in the process.

"S-Sorry," we said at the same time.

"I didn't mean to startle—"
"I didn't mean to scare—"

"..."

"I should have probably said somethi—"
"I've just been freaking out on somethi—"

"..."

"Do you wanna go first?"
"Do you wanna go first?"

Both of us stopped talking each time we talked over each other, looking equally more guilty each time we did it. It got so bad that we fell into this awkward staring contest, covering our mouths in the same exact way.

After probably five more seconds of no one saying anything, Fluttershy curled up her fingers and started giggling into her fist. Meanwhile I let my hand slide up over my eyes and giggled just as much.

"Okay," I started, giggling through my smile. "This doesn't work if both of us are shy."

Fluttershy tried holding herself long enough to sit beside to me. "Do you want to be the shy one?"

Neither of us lasted much longer before our giggling turned into a mini-laughing fit. Thank goodness no one else was there to hear us or they'd think we were insane.

I wiped away a tear and sat back up, still smiling. "Thanks. I needed that."

"I'm happy I could help," she returned. "Story said that he had to get a few things. He had talked about how you wanted to work on your character?" Her smiled got a little smaller. "Did you think you would still want to do that afterwards?"

I took a deep breath and blew it out lazily. "I dunno. Guess it depends on how awkward this is gonna get."

"Are you worried about how he's going to feel? It happened a long time ago."

"Yeah but..." My shoulders sagged. "Doesn't make it right. I mean, would you forgive someone who bullied you for half of elementary school?"

Her smile brightened up for a moment. "I did."

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Well of course you did, your Flut..."

I looked her over carefully, my throat getting that tight feeling in it again. Probably from jamming my foot down my mouth so many times today.

"I forgave you, Rainbow Dash," she repeated. "Remember?"

"...yeah," I said almost mutely. "Y-Yeah, I remember. You and Story used to be neighbors. You two hung out all the time. He was like your second brother."

I saw her mouth the word 'second' as though she considered the placement as her smile grew more strained. Oh. Oh right.

A question came to mind to change the subject and before I could even begin to stop myself I asked the dumbest question I possibly could have. "Why did you forgive me?"

The second those words left my mouth, I felt so much worse. Instantly, every time I ever picked on her started playing one right after the other. With each one I could not begin to imagine any way someone could forgive some rotten kid for any of it. Especially enough for them to ever want to be friends with them again.

Before I could take it back, Fluttershy took a slow breath and spoke carefully. "Well. I guess it's because you noticed how it made me feel." Then she began to think back on it. "Whenever you two picked on us, Story and I always walked away. But, after Story moved to a different school and you came to me again, I didn't walk anywhere that time. I froze. It was a new school year and I didn't know anyone, so when recess started I walked away so that I wouldn't bother anyone. And I saw some lovely flowers and wanted to pick a few for my Mom. That's when you found me."

I started folding in on myself, staring at the ground so hard I was hoping a hole would show up so I could jump in it. It didn't help that I already remembered exactly what she was talking about. Third grade just started and first day on the playground, I got bored and stomped right over to Fluttershy. She was pecking at the ground so I started making fun of her about playing in the dirt, probably accusing her for digging for worms or something stupid like that. I had to be the most rotten kid on that playground...

"You were asking why I was picking flowers," Fluttershy went on. "And when I didn't say it loud enough, you said that those flowers were pretty ugly and that I was playing in the dirt for no reason. And when I realized that I made a mess, I had gotten so worried that I was going to get in trouble with the teachers." She giggled for a moment. "In hindsight, maybe I should have picked the flowers instead of dig them out of the ground."

"What?" I paused and looked up at her only to get a confused look in return. "Fluttershy, what are you talking about?! That's not at all what happened!"

She frowned. "N-No. That's what happened. I remember because you started walking me over to the teachers to ask if you could help me wash all the dirt and mud off of my arms. I was so worried they would be angry that I could barely say anything."

"Nuh-uh. No way," I insisted. "I only started helping you after I realized how much I was yelling insults at you!"

Now she leaned her head to the side. "You never yelled at me. And I don't remember you insulting me. All you said was that I was being pretty silly for getting dirt all over myself for no reason. And." She paused to giggle. "You were right. After I got home, my Mom had me wash my hair out right away. Somehow I got dirt in it and didn't notice until it had dried."

That cannot be all of it! I stared off to the side. There's just no way. I was a complete jerk back then, there's no way that's all I said! I remember beating myself up about it back then. For the whole week I was trying to make it up to her. I did everything I could think of.

"For that whole week you were trying to be my friend," Fluttershy went on, shattering my past to pieces. "You sat with me at lunch, we partnered up in class. You even tried to teach me how to play soccer with you. I never was that good at it."

"Y-Yeah. That I remember," I admitted. "That was a couple weeks later though. I couldn't think of anything both of us liked to do so I thought if I could get you hooked on soccer, we'd have something in common. And then I figured we needed someone to play against so we met. Pinkie..."

"And Applejack," Fluttershy added, smiling wider. "Neither of us had any friends that year since they moved away so Pinkie introduced herself and Applejack to us. And we all met Rarity a couple months later. But before that both of us only had one friend each."

"Uh-huh," I mumbled, trying to figure out what I remembered right and what I, apparently, forgot. "Story was your friend and..."

"Hi Gilda," Fluttershy said with a wave.

"Y-Yeah, Gilda." I smiled blankly. "I tried talking to her over the phone a few times after she changed schools but that didn't...Huh?" I looked up to Fluttershy. Hold on. How's come she knows Gilda's name? I didn't talk about her to Fluttershy. How does she know that name?

Fluttershy locked eyes with me and then looked behind me with a nod and a smile.

Curious, I turned around to find a mountain of a girl standing a couple feet away from us. She was our age and had a pair of black jeans and an aviator's jacket with a faded gold shirt underneath it. She had white hair that ended in these light-purple tips that matched the tint of her sunglasses that hung from her shirt collar.

While my jaw was still hanging there, she gave me a cocky grin and folded her arms. "Sup Dash. Took ya long enough."

Meanwhile
Sunset's POV

We watched from the edge of the school rooftop as Rainbow jumped to her feet, looking back and forth between Fluttershy and the other girl in complete astonishment. We were too far away to hear anything but since I had Story up here with me filling me in on his side of the, well, story.

"So that girl's Gilda? And she used to be friends with Rainbow Dash?" I had stopped hiding the last half of Rainbow's name. He already knew it in the first place.

"Yep." He smirked. "When the school districts changed lines, Gilda and I both ended up at Appaloosa West; my old school," he clarified. "That school's elementary was big so I didn't spot her until we finished fifth grade."

"That and she's in your Wednesday game," I pointed out. That's what he told Fluttershy and myself back when we all came together about what to do.

"And that too." He shrugged.

When Rainbow and Gilda came in for a one arm hug, I turned fully to him. "By the way. When did you remember Rainbow Dash was the same person?"

"The day after you guys came to the club," he admitted. "I told my Wednesday group about you girls since they were the ones who came up with the idea. When I mentioned Fluttershy, Gilda recognized the name and asked about Dash. Guess you can thank her for this."

Then Story furrowed his brow. "I don't get it though. Why was Dash so upset about this? She never bullied us like she says. The two of them might've teased us a little too often but they mostly kept to themselves like Fluttershy and me."

I looked back down at the scene again and watched as the three of them sat down. Fluttershy was on Rainbow's right and Gilda on her left as Rainbow seemed to be doing most of the talking. "I got a theory."

"Shoot."

"You said that you and Fluttershy hung around all the time back then, right? And Dash did the same with Gilda?" He nodded and I went on. "Well, when both you and Gilda moved away, that left both of them without anyone. So maybe when Dash teased Fluttershy and realized Gilda wasn't there with her, Dash felt lonely. So if Fluttershy was the next kid she knew most, then she may have wanted to make a new friend. And all the teasing she did before probably felt more mean-spirited the more she got to really know Fluttershy."

We saw Rainbow Dash reach into her bag and pull out a soccer ball before looking to Gilda only for the taller girl to shake her head. When Rainbow looked shocked, Gilda pulled out her phone and started showing Rainbow something on it, catching her awe-struck attention.

"Basketball pictures," Story filled in for me. "I don't know when but Gilda traded soccer for basketball at our school. Ten bucks says she's showing off pictures of her dunking on the other team."

He watched them for a few more seconds before nodding. "I think you're right about Rainbow. From what Fluttershy tells me, they're definitely best friends."

"So you don't have some kind of grudge against her?"

He blew out a raspberry and shook his head. "For what? The worst she ever said was that I'm the slowest runner she's ever met. And she was right so yeah, no, I don't have a grudge."

He drew out his phone and started typing on it. "By the way, I wanted to ask. How did you know the roof entrance was unlocked?"

I chuckled a little. "Oh. You know. Go to school long enough and you learn all kinds of secrets." I made sure my keys were tucked far into my pocket so Story couldn't spot them. One of these days I really need to return this one. I've had it since before the Fall Formal.

But Story didn't notice. Instead, he stopped typing and held out his phone towards the girls dramatically, pressing send before pulling it back into his pocket. A few seconds later, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Gilda all opened their phones, and read the message before laughing amongst themselves.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Just asking if they'd rather I come back in like an hour. They look busy," he said with a sly grin. After a few more moments, they all wrote back and he let me see the messages.

4 People: You, Dash, Flutter, Gilda:

Sorry, I got a little held up. Want me to come back later? I can bring drinks in an hour.

We're not in a rush.

Sure soda works 4 me.

Get me a coffee. U no how I drink it

I'll have a flavor water. If that's okay.

Nah hell get it. Aint that rite Story?

Watch yourself "Glinda the Griffon Tamer"

U SAID U WOULDNT U RAT!!!!

Story unleashed a torrent of maniacal laughter as we could both hear Gilda's angry screaming all the way from the roof. She was looking off in every direction, sure she would find Story hiding somewhere nearby.

"The Griffon Tamer?" I rose an eyebrow with an amused look on my face.

"Like I said, she's in my Wednesday game. Shocker incoming, the screaming jock's a barbarian."

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to walk away from the roof's edge with Story so the 'Griffon Tamer' wouldn't spot her prey. "Right then. That aside, you apparently got an hour to burn now. Want to get something to eat?"

"Sure!"

The two of us walked back inside, with me locking the roof entrance behind us, and we snuck our way out the opposite entrance of the school and across the street to a nearby cafe. From there, Story and I tossed a few stories about our mutual friends before he bought a coffee to appease the furious Griffon Tamer and drinks for the others.

Author's Note

Gilda's a character I've never really written before but always wanted to try. Funny that I end up writing her with a EG story.

I also wanted to write scenes that weren't only built around the game itself and I think that these moments came out pretty well. Some jokes might have been kinda corny but I wanted to write them anyway. A breather from the action and tension but I wanted to get your opinions on it though.

I don't plan on it happening too often but would people be interested in seeing chapters like this peppered in during any of the breaks between the D&D heavy chapters? More focus on the characters hanging out or taking a break from magical nonsense? Let me know what you think, I'm interested to know!

Until next chapter everyone!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(13) Character Introductions

3rd Person POV
Canterlot High's Soccer Field
Friday 4:39 PM

"Seventeen."

Rainbow sat back, arms folded behind her head. "Twenty-two," she countered.

Gilda scoffed. "Oh. Are we counting other sports too?"

"Hey, I don't hand out the trophies Gilda," Dash defended. "I just win 'em. But if we're counting stuff other than soccer and basketball then I have twenty-eight."

Gilda groaned, falling back onto her part of the bleachers. "That means we're tied then. I got twenty-eight."

"Not counting participation, right?"

"Duh." Gilda smirked. "There's the seventeen from basketball. I got three more from baseball in the summers, four from fishing. Bass mostly," she bragged with a shrug. "One from skeet shooting, and the other three in track."

"Since when did you fish?" Rainbow asked.

"Not too long back," she admitted. "My Dad's a huge survival buff and he dragged me into a boat with him a couple years back. Said it always helps him with his anger problems so he figured it'd work for me."

"Anger problems?"

Crap. Gilda's stared back at Dash and her friend for a second, suddenly feeling much more self-conscious. "Uh. W-Well, um. Ya see." The tension didn't last long though as she drooped forward, supporting her elbows on her knees as she closed her eyes for a second and took a breath.

"Yeah. Yeah, I've kinda had a. A few times," she trailed off. "I've gotten better at it but every now and then it catches up to me. Good for whenever I'm doing something active but when it's anything else, that's when it starts gettin' bad."

"D-Does." Fluttershy tried to speak up, fighting through her own tension. "Does the fishing help?"

Gilda thought about it for a moment before bobbing her head back and forth. "I mean, not really? It's not like I blow up at nothing. If I'm already out fishing then there's nothing there that's gonna set me off, ya know? It's dealing with crap on a daily basis that makes me lose it. People standing me up or getting in my way, a string of bad luck, bad grades or too much shit piling up on me. Gettin' yelled at when it had nothing to do with me? And then when people look at me like I'm mental or remind me to breath, like I wasn't already."

She paused to take that exact advice, taking a deep breath when she saw Fluttershy leaning back a little. "...Sorry. I'm rambling. I don't usually know someone enough to talk about all this stuff. At least, not many people that don't already know."

"Nah, it's cool. I understand," Rainbow assured her with a smile. "And is Story one of the people that know?"

"Yeah. He knows." She nodded. "I talked about it after a couple weeks of joining that group of his."

"The Wednesday one?" Fluttershy blinked.

"How'd you end up playing a game like this?" Rainbow added. "It doesn't really sound like the kinda thing you'd look for. The only reason I'm in it is cause we were trying to help Story."

"Yeah, I heard about that." Gilda looked back at them. "After I heard what those three thick-skulled morons did to his crap, I was ready to come down here and wreck house myself. They transferred from the same school Story and me...Well, that I still go to. From what I heard, their parents chose for them. Something about while Appaloosa has sports high on their list, Canterlot's more..." She paused, thinking of a word.

"Well-rounded?" "Academic?" Fluttershy and Dash were quick to toss their own in.

"...Sure," Gilda allowed. Sounds better than 'Nerd-focused,' she thought. If Gilda wasn't going to ask Dash to drop her school pride then why should she? "Let me guess. Those idiots tried wedging themselves into teams they don't fit in?"

"Ohhh yeah." Rainbow and Gilda shared a grin. "I think one of them fit into a team but the others are tossing themselves around."

Gilda nodded. "Sounds about right. But back to the nerd-game thing, I fell into it without even knowing what it was called. When." She paused for a moment but fought through it. "When my attitude started going overboard, my parents figured I needed an outlet that wasn't physical. So they started throwing all these garbage hobbies hopin' they'd stick. Fishing was one of 'em.

"Eventually, when they ran out of ideas they started listing off ideas from online until, one day, they sent me to this board game group. It was nothing but old ladies and the most boring games you could think off." She took a second to huff as she imagined the memory.

"So I'm sitting there, bored outta my mind as some lady's trying to read the rules for the fifth time, when all of a sudden I hear someone describing, in this action movie detail, a dozen zombies getting burnt alive before another guy punches a giant zombie's skull so hard he caves in the front of it with his bare hands. While both the zombie's eyes are dangling like chandeliers, it eats the guy whole before he tries punching a hole through its guts just to climb out and punch it in the face again."

Fluttershy started shrinking back from Gilda again but the excitement from her was infectious to Rainbow Dash. "After about five minutes of listening in I'm thinking that game sounds way better than this one! So I ditch the old ladies and go to the back room where I see Story from school, who I sorta knew, some guy who was as big as I was, four other people and a war map filled with an army of zombies. Some of them bigger than my hand! They let me watch and by next week they gave me this character with an axe so I could help cleave more zombies. Turns out they were marching towards a mountain to kill a would-be lich before he actually became a full on lich. Oh yeah, and some of his zombies could fly!"

"How does a zombie fly?!" Rainbow challenged.

"They were harpy zombies," Gilda told her. "This lich was turning harpies and giants into his own minions."

"Wait-wait-wait." Rainbow waved her hands. "So when you said giant zombies—" "I'm talking twenty-foot tall rotting corpses eatin' you alive," Gilda told with bloodthirst in her voice that scared Fluttershy into a shaking heap neither of them noticed. "And guess what was inside the giant zombies?!"

"More zombies?!"

"More. Zombies," Gilda bellowed, making Fluttershy quickly slide away from the two. "They were freakin' walking zombie beehives, Dash! We'd kill one and then a dozen more zombies came crawling out of its throat and wounds! And when we finally reached the base of the mountain, we met this platoon of griffon riders trying to take down the lich too. But we were way better than them! So one of the other guys talked the griffon riders into carrying us up the mountain with 'em. Well. That is. 'Cept for me," she clarified.

"Wait, you didn't wanna ride a griffon?"

"Oh no. I rode a griffon." Gilda grinned like a mad woman. "I shoved that rider off his bird, looked it dead in the eyes and tamed the Griffon for myself. I flew that griffon all the way with me to the peak, mowin' down dozens of harpy zombies!"

"Awesome~" Rainbow hummed, picturing this Valkyrie-like scene in her head before another thought came to mind. "Is that what Story was talking about with that 'Glinda the Griffon Tamer' thing?"

Gilda let out a satisfied sigh, sitting back down after she realized her and Dash were standing. "Yeah, that's it. I didn't want to bring up the Glinda part. I just wanted to fight zombies so I didn't try thinking of a cool name for her. So now, every time I'm about to do something cool, the guys keep rapping on me with that dumb name."

"Man, I so wanna fight zombies now," Dash admitted, her mind dancing around the idea. "All we've fought is a bunch goblins and a bugbear. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was awesome but it doesn't sound like anything compared to flying zombies."

"I mean, you just started, yeah?"

"Yeah. We only now got to level two." Rainbow sat back. "What level were you then?"

"Like fourteen." Gilda shrugged. "It was kind of hard figuring how all the numbers worked but they walked me through it. That game ended like a year or two ago. We started a new one after a while and since then I got a new girl. Her name's Gekio. Better than Glinda ever was too."

"She got an axe too?"

"Nah. Been there done that. This time I'm loaded with spears and a glaive."

"Awesome." Rainbow Dash took a moment to imagine the kind of carnage that would come from that. She wasn't as into the same level of destruction Gilda was but Dash knew a good action scene when she heard it. And from the few fights Story described with their characters, Rainbow was warming up to the game a little more.

"Hey, you should hear about Fluttershy's character," Rainbow told Gilda, pointing a thumb to where she thought Fluttershy was still sitting. "Her character has this scythe on her back and some crazy vine-snake thing on her arm."

"Cool. I'm up for it," Gilda approved.

"Yeah! Fluttershy, tell her all ab. Out...Fluttershy?" When Rainbow Dash finally turned around to let her other friend get to have her turn, Fluttershy wasn't sitting next to them anymore. Instead, Fluttershy much further down the stands and about five rows up, shaking like a leaf as she tried to get the image of vivid zombie armies out of her head.

"Oh boy," Rainbow breathed. "I think we might've gone little bit overboard." She got up and started walking over to calm down the terrified girl as Gilda scoffed at the scene.

"Aw, come on. There's no such thing as 'overdoing' zombie slaughter," she said with air quotes. "There's not doing it enough and then there's constant zombie slaughtering."

Dash rolled her eyes, snickering as she tried calming Flutters down.

As Gilda leaned back, setting her elbows on the bleachers behind her, Story had started walking in view with a girl Gilda had never met before. "You told them the Mlezziir's Mountain story, didn't you?"

"Hey, they asked," Gilda defended. "Wanted to know why I'm friends with some drama nerd. Is that my coffee?" She pointed at the sealed cup in his hand.

Story smirked and passed it over. "Right down to the sugar and cream. You are way too picky about that stuff."

Gilda made quick work of the tab on the side of the lid and took a second to smell the drink. Even as the heat built against her hand, Gilda took a slow sip and let out a heavy huff of steam and approval. "You pass."

"Thanks. Glinda," he teased.

"I will splash this in your face."

"But then you wouldn't have coffee anymore." Story settled in a cocky smirk as Gilda mumbled something insulting before taking another short sip.

"Sunset, this is Gilda; local jock of all things sports and a barbarian," Story tacked on. "Gilda, this is Sunset. She's in a band with Dash and she's magic." Sunset's face looked as though a thousand alarms were going off before suddenly realizing he was only talking about the game.

"Mmm," Gilda hummed, tossing up a half-baked wave as she set his drink down. "Wait, you said band?"

"Vocals and guitar," Sunset semi-gloated.

Gilda considered it, sizing her up for a second before nodding along. "Good to know Dash still has cool friends. Story, why can't you play a real instrument?"

"The piccolo is a real instrument." He frowned.

"Yeah, real nerdy instrument."

"You said the clarinet's the nerdiest instrument."

"...Touché," she admitted.

"Hey Sunset," Rainbow greeted as she and Fluttershy finally came back over. With more friendly faces, Fluttershy had an easier time calming down. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how everything was going and ran into Story on the way," Sunset explained, mostly telling the truth. She handed over Rainbow and Fluttershy's drinks that they had asked for over text. "We interrupting anything?"

"Nah, not really," Rainbow told her as she cracked open her soda. "Besides, Gilda and I got too much catching up to do to fit it into one day."

"Not to mention we need to pick a day where I can start kicking her butt at every sport we know. We're long overdue for that," Gilda told them.

"Only overdue because that's never happened," Rainbow snapped back. Both of them stared the other down, looking as if they were about to name any sort of competition they could imagine.

"Huh. Guess we are interrupting something," Story mocked. "Sunset? Wanna double back to that café?"

"Yeah, sure! Their music was pretty nice." she played along before the both of them turned as though they were about to walk off.

"Yeah, right, get back here ya dorks," Gilda ordered, snickering along with them as they slowly turned back around. "Like we said, we'll deal with showing who's better, A.K.A. me, later," Gilda laid out. "Besides, I can't run all out in these jeans and I want Dash to see just how badly she really lags behind."

"Uh-huh," Dash hummed sarcastically. "You just want an excuse to train up 'cause you're not at my level yet."

"That a fact?" Gilda stood up, the two staring down in a deadlock again.

"Story, what have you done," Sunset asked quietly with a smile painted on her face. "Now there's two of them."

"I know. Complete utter madness," He celebrated as he pulled a water bottle out of a side pouch from his bag. Meanwhile Fluttershy, who was watching all four of them simply giggled to herself.

After a little more competitive teasing, Rainbow finally backed off and turned to Story. "So. I guess you kinda knew all along, huh?"

"Yeah."

She settled into a sad smile. "For what it's worth, I'm really sorry for picking on you back then."

Story shook his head. "It wasn't anywhere near as bad as you think it was. And we never got upset about it. I think we actually laughed about it a couple times."

Rainbow gave out a low chuckle before walking over and holding out a hand. "So...We cool?"

"We're cool," he said, shaking her hand. "Besides, Gilda was way worse about it."

"Still am," she stated outwardly. "Probably not gonna change."

"Would be weird if you did," Story admitted. "So Dash. Did you still want to talk about that character or did you just wanna hang out with everyone today?"

Rainbow leaned back on her heel, considering it for a moment. "Well...If we're talking about my person, do they have to leave? Cause if not, why not do both?"

Now it was Story's turn to consider it. Out of the three of them, Fluttershy was the only one with a full backstory but even then that was only because her character was a loner in the forest. Not too many details to iron out aside from key points and a few characters.

As for Gilda? Well, the group she was in was in a whole other country where none of this mattered. Gilda also wasn't the type of person to keep information she didn't need to know. Besides, by the time any of this would become important on Wednesday, if it ever did, Gilda would have forgotten it.

Finally, Sunset's character wasn't completely ironed out either. She and Story could have talked about it at the café but it never came up. Like Story said yesterday, a single hobby's an obsession. Besides, it was nice to actually know the girls that joined his club. But if she wanted to work on it here then why not? Sunset had enough to know how her character would act but there wasn't much for Story to pluck and weave into the main plot.

"You know what? You're right," Story decided, slipping his backpack off. He traded out his school supplies for D&D supplies on the way here just in case. "Let's make a thing of it."

"Alright!" "Fine to me." "I think I have my stuff with me," the girls replied, all walking over to sit down on the bleachers.

"We're all in agreement then," Story stated the obvious, pulling a binder out of his bag. "Let's start a story."

The moment he said those words, Fluttershy and Sunset all donned a look of utter terror. They started looking between everyone, for any sign of magic appearing around them. However, that never happened. No magic table, no glowing dice or papers, not even aura coming out of their hands like every time the magic started before. The only change was Gilda letting out a heavy yawn before its contagious sound made Dash do the same.

But Gilda soon chased her yawn away with an expletive and another sip of coffee as Story opened up a binder full of papers brand new and somewhat yellowing at the edges. Information that he obviously had held onto for years. And the splotches of mud and water damage on the binder showed Sunset that this was something that nearly got tossed in the sewer when they first met.

As Story started to read and Gilda and Dash still seemed completely fine, even contributing to the conversation a bit, Fluttershy seemed to write it off as a false alarm as Sunset started to do the same.

He said the words though, she thought. Every time someone has said that, the magic started up...Well, when there was dice involved, I suppose, Sunset realized. Each time the club started, out in the hallway when Rainbow Dash set it off, and even at lunch when, again, Rainbow was holding a die, that's when the magic went off. This time, there was no dice in sight.

I guess that's something to keep in mind. Sunset let herself relax as she pulled out the character sheet she still had in her bag. It was only a thin folder with notes about what background she made up about Stostine as a character so it took up virtually no space. I guess that means we can enjoy a day off from crazy.

She glanced over the Rainbow Dash who returned a smile; thankful that everything worked out. Too bad she wasn't actually smiling. In fact, what Sunset and the others saw might have been Rainbow Dash and Gilda watching and responding normally but in their minds, they were somewhere else entirely.

Sto⎐⍙⌰n⊑ ⎐⋉⍀rdh⎅⍾d's POV
K⍜⎅r⟊'s ⋉ar ⎍⍀om
Meanwhile

I opened my eyes and the sharp pain of the low firelight that came from the fireplace forced me to cover them up tight. I took in breath like a hiss and on top of my brain aching somehow worse than the hole in my stomach that hadn't healed at all in the twenty-four hours we had been sitting here.

It was weird how all of this worked. We didn't need food or water like one needed when regular time passed but we still got tired. Not only that but I've found that if you don't eat or drink anything, your mind tricks you into thinking that you are hungry or thirsty. One full day of fighting goblins had now stretched into four. If our metabolisms froze like time had been I can only imagine what our diets must look like when we're out of limbo.

"Awake?"

I sat up, tensing from the pain before trying to open my eyes again. Stupid alcohol, I cursed, the fire still too bright. But I was able to manage long enough to spot an elf adorned in vines staring at me from the other side of the room.

"Y-Yeah. I'm. I am awake," I corrected. I decided to keep my eyes half closed as I scanned the room.

Ricven was drooling on his shoulder as he sat pretty in that chair, Glemerr was using a log to keep her neck elevated as she slept with her arms wrapped around her body, and Vareén was somewhere behind the pile of stolen goods where no one could see her. Elves meditated rather than slept and apparently Vareén didn't appreciate others watching her.

The others, Platick, Ravathyra, and Thorn Wielder, were already awake. I suppose I was the next lucky contestant.

"You almost let it slip," Platick warned me lazily.

I closed my eyes and took a slow breath. Going right into this, are we? "Why. Whatever are you talking about?"

"That tone of yours," he kept pulling. "You let it drop after you drank one too many. Talked just like a peasant. I almost got whiplash hearing it."

I rolled my eyes under my eyelids, the action still twisting my migraine, before looking at him. "Drop it. Please. We're. We are not being controlled by our Players. We do not have to go through this act of pretending there is some budding rivalry between us."

"Obviously," he concurred. "But you see, that's not what this is. I think the farmer and leader girl want to make this some sort of rivalry where, if the gnome's to be believed, probably ends in some friendship nonsense. But me? I just don't like you."

"I gathered." A statement laced in as many thorns as Wielder's vines. "So then what would you like me to do about it? Because it is not as though I can change my history. Sunset seems perfectly fine in keeping the key points of my life locked in place. And I, even with all the ridges and flaws I possess, approve of it. Can you say the same?"

Platick rolled his jaw and stared at the flames. "Can't say that I do, no. Especially since that farmer didn't bother writing in anything good."

"'Least she wrote somethin'," Rava lulled. She was sipping yet another cup of Dwarven ale. Dwarfs had a high tolerance level for poisons, pleasant or otherwise. "Whatever it was, it's makin' ya hate this lass pretty well. Sounds strong enough."

Platick turned his frown to her. "I meant it literally. She literally did not write anything good. Good. Nice. Positive. None of it. All I got's a terrible tragedy and a name everyone shuns. The only one who's acting like they're in my corner is some psychotic woman I hardly trust."

My brow furrowed into a frown that looked more sinister thanks to my squinted eyes. But I rolled with it, dropping my 'tone' for him for a moment. "Is that what's making ya whine like a brat? Your life's bad?"

He glared as the glint of my teeth shone under a thin smile. "I guess we are rivals after all, Fortuna. Because I got even less than that."

"Is that a fact?"

"Indeed. You want to know my whole life's story?" I let my smile drop. "My mother's dead and I hate my small town mayor of a dad. Thus why I am not 'living it up' as you seem to think I am. The end."

I groaned in pain as I reached behind me and unhooked the waterskin from my hip. It was under my robes along with some other smaller belongings of mine.

Platick scoffed. "That's it?"

"Yyyyeah," I droned out, unscrewing the cap. "Not even an explanation as to why I have magic. On top of that, my Mom doesn't even have a name. I didn't forget, it just...doesn't exist." I took a long drink of refreshing water. Like the keg of ale, the waterskin it didn't feel any emptier. "Which do you think is worse, Platick? Not having family? Or having memories of family that don't have faces?"

Platick opened his mouth to speak but nothing came. Instead, he settled back against the wall and looked at Ravathyra. "Well. On a lighter subject, that brings up something I've been meaning to ask. Ravathyra?"

"Let me guess. On 'ow Ah don't 'ave a face, aye?" She asked. "Ya sure that's sunnier than yer contestin' edgy backstories?"

"...What's it like?" Platick asked. "Does it...Can you feel anything?"

Thorn Wielder, who had remained quiet the whole time, took her time staring at Ravathyra. Ravathyra said she didn't have a face but that wasn't...entirely true. She did have a face but it was wrong. Her face had simple lines that made up basic facial features. Indentations where her eyes would be, a plain nose and a thin line that acted as her mouth. It looked like someone traced a line in a block of wood with a knife.

it seemed as though her entire head was that of a teal blue mannequin. No hair either. Whenever she spoke or drank something, the sound or liquid would faze out of her drawn on mouth would shift from smile to frown with no in between. Everything was like an illusion an amateur mage had not yet perfected.

We weren't sure what the rest of her looked like thanks to the full set of chain mail armor she wore. I had my theory though when I healed her with my hands. I had her remove her gauntlets and we saw that her hands were the same, lifeless teal blue. And they felt as cold and metallic as her armor. Like a metal statue in armor.

Ravathyra's mouth abruptly changed to a smile. "Ah feel whenever Ah need ta. When Master Story describes the magic healin', err me gettin' hit from them mossy freaks we downed? Err the ale. Best part so far," she stated, taking another sip. "Ah got all me senses jus' da same. So it's more a side effect a' that Rainbow girly never givin' me a story. But don't start feelin' sorry on my account."

"I do not think she would do this to you on purpose," I assured her. "From what I have seen, if she saw what happened to you, this Rainbow Dash would most likely work to remedy this until it was done."

"Oh, Ah know it," Ravathyra promised, her smile unmoving. "It's why Ah ain't angry. It's also why Ah'm certain that them girls don't know 'bout us. We'd 'ave it much better elsewise."

"Awake?" Thorn Wielder called out.

"Hmm?" I turned to watch her eying Platick. "What's wrong?"

Thorn Wielder said nothing. Instead, she stood up and walked over to Platick before waving a hand in front of him. He sat there, staring at Ravathyra. Not blinking or breathing.

"Platick? Y'alright?" Ravathyra asked, walking over towards him as well. "...He's still."

"Still?" I took my time getting up to my feet, clutching my abdomen all the while. "What do you mean?"

"I mean like Sildar," Rava explained. Then, with her gauntlet, she leaned forward and started knocking on Platick's cheek. "Jus' like 'em. Solid as a brick."

I watched him carefully before walking over to Ricven. Thorn was already moving towards Glemerr and Vareén was on the other side of the room. So as I reached him, I put a hand in front of his mouth and watched his chest. There was no breathing and his chest didn't rise. And as I touched his forehead, his skin was immovable. I couldn't even move his hair.

This is what happened with Sildar and the goblins. You couldn't even move their equipment. Glemerr even tried to rip a goblin's sword out from its belt loop. She nearly pulled her shoulder before giving up.

"Glemerr statue," Thorn declared.

"Same with Ricven. Do either of you see the haze? Hear the. Voi..."

There was no warning to it. In one blink the three of us were checking the others and walking around a stone cave with a fire being our only light. In the next blink we were all beside one another in a clear bright sky with two suns shining above us and the ground nowhere near us as we stood on thin air dozens of miles in the air; the planet so far below us we could see the globe's curve.

Thorn Wielder and Ravathyra started screaming bloody murder as if they were falling but we weren't. Thorn even went as far as to hold onto my arm for comfort. She didn't have any footwear so to be standing on something and not feel anything must have made the sight that much more terrifying.

I would have been scared too but my focus was on my head and my side. My hangover was gone the moment we were somewhere else, giving my mind sudden clarity as I realized my side no longer hurt either. All my injuries were gone.

"What is this?! Where are we?!" Ravathyra's accent shouted. Her face still had that plain mannequin expression. The only difference was that line acting as her mouth was somewhat frowning.

"Down! Down! Down!" Thorn Wielder repeated the word in frenzy, refusing to let go of my arm.

"Girls, calm down," I pleaded, fear still obvious in my voice. "We. We're not falling! We're okay! Look!"

"No look," Thorn refused. "NO. LOOK!"

"Where's da ground?! Where's da blessed gro-ho-hound," Rava sobbed.

I bit my lip and scanned the area. The ground was where the planet was; below us. We seemed to be completely still in the air and there was no sign of walls or floor to keep us aloft.

Desperate for answers, I began verbalizing arcane words as careful as my fear would allow as I brought my hand up beside my face. Then, with a flick, I waved my hand over my eyes and my eyes were layered with a light blue aura that wisped off of my eyes like flames. The spell was called Detect Magic and did exactly as the name implied.

Only two things seemed to glow at once. The first was my spellcasting focus; a small gem stitched inside my robes at the cuff. The second was Thorn Wielder's vines; glowing with an aura that gave off an unsettling necromantic glow.

Something to ask later, I decided. However, despite what I had hoped, we were not standing on any magical barrier. Unless the magic was too strong for a simple first ring spell to detect. Although, as I kept looking, I began to pick up some other magical signature. Multiple signatures. All of which were behind us.

I turned on my heel, forcing Thorn to do the same and attracting Rava's attention at the same time. Ahead of us, about thirty feet away, was a figure. They stood as tall as Klarg had but was more filled out in terms of muscle tone. They wore furs and pelts that did little for protection but plenty for warmth as a heavy black cloak with shimmering silver trim lined the edge of it.

They stood there, head down, holding onto a menacing glaive with both hands. It wasn't pointed at anyone. They held it perpendicular to the direction they stood; towards us. From her stature and face I could tell that they were a Goliath; a race with giant blood in their veins. It was the closest any humanoid race was to being a giant themselves.

"...Now who's this?" Rava's voice cracked. "What's goin' on?! Who are ya?!"

"I should be asking you that," they said in a growl. The voice was gruff but it was certainly female. "Where am I? How'd I get here? Start talking." She brought up her glaive and drove it into the nonexistent ground. The blade was still visible but I could tell it sank about six inches deep before she let it go.

"You think we did this?" I asked, my heart pumping three times faster. "We only now arrived. We are as scared as you are."

A crackle of lightning ran from her wrist up to her neck before we spotted her toothy grin from under the hood. "You think I'm scared?"

I heard the sound of shifting metal before Ravathyra stepped out in front of us with her hammer and shield out. "Ah ain't gonna lie an' say we ain't, lass. We want no trouble. If anythin', we want as far outta yer sight as you do. So 'ow's about we play nice now?"

The woman stared down at us, sizing us up one at a time only for her smile to fade into unimpressed. "You know. This isn't the first time I've been summoned to kill. Won't be the last either. But it's the first time he's given me such a sad, easy job. Every other time it's been a challenge."

He? I blinked. Who is she...Wait. "Hold on," I begged, holding up my hand. "Wh-When you say he, are you referring to. To..." I tried picking my words carefully. The woman sounded like she held 'him' in some regard. "To the Master?"

That made her lean back, tilting her head up so she could down on me further. "Master?"

"Y-Yes." I looked to Thorn and Rava. They were giving me this look that told me they had nothing to add. "The Master. We. We hear this voice. His. He controls what's going on around us. Is that the voice you hear?"

She kept watching us without changing her expression. Although I could see the gears turning in her head. She definitely didn't expect that but it was enough to make her stop.

Okay, maybe it's not the same thing, I realized. Still. The crazy murderous psychopath paused. I bought us some precious seconds at least.

The three of us waited until the woman started chuckling. She seemed to have figured out something. "Okay. I think I know what this is. This is a hazing thing, isn't it?"

"Haze?" Thorn perked. "You see haze?" Not that kind of haze Thorn.

"Lord Deniz did say he was seeking an army of warriors," she told us. "Aside from the creepy turquoise one in the armor, you look a little frail to fit in. Then again? I guess I was like you. Once."

She reached over and set her hand on the pommel of the glaive. "When I let go, this glaive will vanish after a minute. You got that long to show me a good time. Bore me and the three of you will be meeting its business end all at once. Got it?"

Rava sighed. "Yer crazed."

"Oh, I better be." She grinned once more. "Because when Lord Deniz makes a move for Umberlee's crown? He'll need the craziest of them all leading you small fries. That's gonna be me."

Lord Deniz? Umberlee? What is going on? I took one last look around us. No one else was showing up. The others from the group weren't here and we were the only ones in sight.

Ravathyra tightened her grip on her hammer as Thorn pulled out her scythe, ready for the obvious fight about to break out. The woman watched in anticipation, lightning surging up and down her entire body.

"Just. Just one more question," I said as I held up my hands in preparation to cast a spell. "Who are you?"

"Good question," she complimented. With her hand still on the glaive, she reached behind her with her other hand and removed the hood from her head to reveal raven black, braided hair and war paint on either side of her face that crackled with static electricity.

"My name is Gekio. Sole survivor of a dead clan from the northern shores of Skel. Kingdom of Giants." Gekio drew a spear from behind her back. "Oh. And your new leader. Get used to it."

3rd Person POV

Gekio released her glaive and opened her eyes wide, allowing the crackling lightning dancing across her skin to burrow into her sockets. As her gaze glowed with a wild static, she gave out a battlecry as a boom of thunder rolled across the area, startling the three lesser adventurers.

Thorn Wielder accepted the challenge. The two ran forward, meeting in the center. Thorn Wielder put her momentum into a twirl to put some strength behind her scythe. But as she brought it forward, aiming to severe Gekio's ankles, she wasn't there.

Instead, Thorn Wielder could only watch as Gekio brought a knee into her jaw, cracking it before using her weight to send Thorn Wielder onto her back, her head taking the brunt of the fall before Gekio went into a roll and came rushing at Stostine and Ravathyra without any speed lost.

Rava dove in front of Stostine, using her shield to deflect Gekio's spear and soon the Goliath herself as she tried shoulder checking. Rava stood firm, her feet only sliding an inch or two before the electricity leapt from Gekio and across Rava, frying the Dwarf.

Without a choice, Stostine rolled out from behind the shield and shot a Fire Bolt point blank into Gekio's face. Instead of making the Goliath step back, Gekio took it with a laugh. Then she bent backward before throwing herself forehead-first at the thin mage.

Thinking fast, Stostine held up her hands and formed her spectral Shield, catching Gekio's headbutt. But as she got ready to pull back, she was forced to keep her hands up, keeping Shield active as Gekio pulled out a second spear and used both of them to try forcing her way through the barrier.

By the ninth hit, Stostine vision became clouded with blood as one of her eyes turned red. The amount of magic she was forcing herself to spend all at once was wrecking her but it was better than being skewered again by an even stronger monster.

Still, the cracks on her Shield were forming and Gekio saw them too. So in an attempt to lay it all out, the barbarian pulled back both spears for a pincer strike. She brought them forward with a shout, electricity condensing on the ends.

But one of the spears was pulled backwards out of her grip by a thorned vine, the spearhead cutting into Gekio's thumb and fingers. Only one spear was left to strike the Shield, shattering the protective spell to pieces. The resulting force launching Stostine across the floor in a slide away from the woman.

The Goliath didn't pursue. Instead she turned around, admiring Thorn Wielder as she stood there, nose broken and bleeding as her vines kept wrapping tighter against the spear shaft until a loud crack symbolized the weapon's destruction.

"Very good," Gekio growled with a Cheshire smile. "You didn't die yet."

Just then, a heavy hammer slammed into Gekio's side, nearly knocking her off her balance before a radiant flash and a cold blast of energy fed into the woman's bones. That extra power was enough to force the Goliath back as Ravathyra pulled back her still glowing hammer.

"Ye might be stronga," Rava told her. "But ye ain't walkin' away from a three v. one without a few new scars."

Gekio let smirked and fixed her footing before pulling out yet another spear from under her cloak. "I wouldn't have any other way. Tell me turquoise. What's your name?"

"Ravathyra," she obliged.

"Ravathyra what?"

"...That's it," she admitted in a huff. "Ah don' got a full name. Consider it a workin' title."

Thorn Wielder cut the talk short. As she closed in, Gekio spun around and tried impaling her with one stab after the next. Thorn responded with her scythe, spinning and twirling it in one direction or the other to parry the strikes. Within the whirlwind of blades, the hairs on the Goliath's hairs stood on end before she swung her spear behind her like a bat to slap away an incoming Fire Bolt.

Before the next one could come, Gekio caught Thorn Wielder's scythe in a clamp with both spears and ripped it out of her grip before bringing the heel of her boot into Thorn's gut, making her double over. At the same time, another burst of lightning enveloped Ravathyra' stunning her long enough for Gekio to steal her shield and use it to start blocking a barrage of Fire Bolts as Stostine staring walking closer.

After one more Fire Bolt, Stostine changed it up. She brought two fingers to her tongue and drew them outward as her saliva crystallized into ice. With Gekio behind the shield, no one was able to watch as Stostine essentially became a sword swallower, pulling a complete Ice Knife out of her throat.

Remembering how Platick did it all those times with the goblins, she flicked her wrist and the Ice Knife cut through the air before embedding itself in the ground at Gekio's feet. The barbarian glanced down for a second to stare at the object before it burst like a grenade, sending dozens of shard of ice across her torso.

She cried out in pain, dropping the shield as tried wiping away the shards that were already melting away to leave open cuts. "Alright. Now this is what I'm talking about! I'm starting to see what our Lord saw in you three."

"Oh shut it, ya scrote," Rava screamed through the static. "We ain't 'ere cause a' this Lord Numbnuts! We were dragged 'ere jus' like you!"

"How dare you insult the might of Lord De—" Gekio brought up her spear to finish off the Dwarf at her feet only to freeze mid attack. "You...You're not?"

"No!" Rava stared back up at the woman twice her size. "An' you weren't either! This is all cause a' Master Story an' dem Players!"

"Master Story?" She blinked. "And Players? What Play..."

The three watched as Gekio's anger melted away as the lightning coursing against her had slowly begun to fizzle out. Her jaw slowly fell further open and the grip she had on her spears went slack enough that one of them rolled out and tapped along the invisible floor next to her foot.

"Master...Story...Master Story," she repeated. "Master. And P-Player? Player...Gil-Gil. Gilda? Gilda's my...what?"

As the last of the lightning sputtered out, Gekio's eyes became visible again. Her irises were a bright blue that betrayed the dull grays and blacks that made up most her appearance. Even without the lightning, they gave off this attractive glow to them as they seemed to be filled with a clarity Ravathyra and the others recognized on themselves.

"Where. What's going..." Gekio suddenly looked very unnerved, looking around her before realizing that the only three people around her she had nearly beaten to a pulp. And as far as Thorn Wielder was concerned, she was beaten to a pulp.

"I. My name. I-I'm...Huh." She cupped her chin in her hand and thought hard for a second. "What's going on?"

"You just woke up didn't you?" Ahead of the Goliath, Stostine approached her carefully and kept her hands folded in her sleeves. She didn't want to startle the giantess. "Don't worry. It's supposed to be confusing."

"Y-Yeah?" Gekio blinked. "Are you sure? 'Cause this feels," she trailed off. "It. It feels like a lot."

"Let me take a crack at guessin'." Ravathyra chose to stay on the ground and sat up. "Ya got this whole life story a' who ye are but ye also got memories a' yer Player. Gilda ya said? An' ta make matters worse, everythin' about yer world that ya thought mattered suddenly don't no more. Am Ah spot on?"

Gekio didn't say anything and instead gave a worried nod.

"Don't worry. It gets easier," Stostine assured her.

"It does?"

"No." And Thorn Wielder destroyed that hope.

"Well I am choosing to think so. We are only four days your senior." When she got close enough, the mage extended her hand formally. "Stostine Swordhand. I and my acquaintances here were previously in Leodaav."

"Gekio," the barbarian said stiffly, enveloping Stostine's entire hand as she shook it. "I was in Skel. But I think you already heard me say that. Well, me being...um..."

"We know what you mean," Stostine assured her with a chuckle. "Welcome. You have many questions."

As Stostine began to introduce Thorn and Rava, the two taking their time recovering or nursing their new wounds, the three amateur adventurers started answering every question Gekio had. As they did, they began asking her a few of their own. Most of them were aimed at how much Gekio had remembered. However, once they discovered that she had existed for a while before waking, the questions soon became more lighthearted as they asked about who she was personally.

The four found small comfort in talking to a new face thousand of feet in the sky. If only the four of them could see the two other faces that had been their the entire time. One of the faces belonging to a girl with rainbow hair and a storm cloud symbol on her T-shirt while the other was a larger teenage girl with an aviator jacket and hair that ended in purple tips.

These two had been there the entire time. And just like Gekio they had so many questions.

Author's Note

I think the hardest part about writing this entire chapter was filling out Gekio's character sheet. I'm not kidding. This character's a higher level than what the Main Seven's characters are at and has more than one class. Just fitting everything on the pages was a migraine in the making. :raritydespair:

That said though, I had this interesting thought. Ya see, Gekio's biggest character trait is that she believes her Patron has a master plan with her life all mapped out. But what happens when someone like Gekio realizes her world is one big fabrication? What's the plan then?

Thanks as always for reading the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Not sure if the next one will come for a bit. A lot of stuff is piling on me all of a sudden and I need to tend to it.

So until next time everyone!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(14) Character Creation

Rainbow Dash's POV
⎅⟒⍀⊬⊑ ⍙☍⊑ ⋉⍀⎍⍜☌ ⍀⟟ ⌇⎍⌰⌿⎅

"What is this?! Where are we?!"

"Down! Down! Down! Down! Down! Down!"

Both Gilda and I turned around to find three new figures that were definitely not there before moving around like we were. Two of them were terrified when they saw that we were miles above the ground standing on effectively nothing while the third one was looking around, spotting the planet and the clouds below us as well as the two suns high above us.

Wait. I rubbed my eyes and looked closer. Yesterday, when we were fighting the boss in the game, there were a bunch of our characters that showed up on Story's screen. These three didn't make all of them but they were definitely the same.

Thorn Wielder, Stostine, and...Ravathyra, I listed, stopping as I saw her. She was in the same armor the picture had her in but her face wasn't a face. Instead, her entire head was...like my head. The same shape, ears, everything. Only it didn't have any hair and its skin color was off. It looked bleached blue all over and the eyes looked carved in rather than there being eyes at all.

My spine started shaking as I watched Sunset's character try to calm the other two down. What was so weird about it was that the three of them as they spoke and screamed from how high up we were all sounded like us. Stostine sounded the same as Sunset and while Thorn Wielder was screaming I could imagine Fluttershy talking just like that.

"Is that your guys' characters?" Gilda asked, a complete loss for words.

I nodded and turned back to her. "Now do you believe me? It's magic! How else does any of this happen?!"

Back on the bleachers with the others, we started resting our eyes for a moment only to open them and realize everything was gone. We were suddenly standing with the bleachers or school nowhere in sight while the thin clouds glided beneath us and the two suns, one blue and small and the other orange and larger, overhead.

Gilda took it better than I thought she did. After she realized she wasn't falling but instead standing on air, she started looking wide eyed at everything around her. I guess the cool factor was better than the fear for her.

"I. I-I mean," Gilda tried to backpedal. "I dunno Dash. I'm still more sold on thinking Story and the bacon hair chick laced my coffee with something."

We had been here for maybe three minutes now and I spent it trying to come clean about magic. By this point screw the stupid 'No telling on magic' rule! I wasn't about to keep this from Gilda. Now if only I could get her to believe me. If I had Spike and a couple dog treats this would be settled with by now.

I groaned into my hands and Gilda sighed. "Alright, fine, look, I'll go with it for now. Magic. Got it."

She turned back behind us and looked up at the fourth other person that was here. A mountain of a lady maybe a whole foot taller than even Gilda standing with a dark cloak draped over her large frame while her hands held a giant spear I wanted nothing to do with. In all, she looked like a viking giantess.

It was Gekio, Gilda's character. She was another thing that Gilda gawked at before trying to take out her phone to take a picture. Only her phone wasn't turning on. Not that it surprised me. I was starting to realize that things are never that easy.

"How's come she ain't moving though?" Gilda asked as she stepped up right before the spear. And like Gilda said, Gekio hadn't moved. No breathing, blinking or otherwise.

I turned back to our characters. By now Stostine had given up trying to calm the others down and I could see her speaking a few words to quiet for me to hear as she moved her hand around. Finally with a flick of her wrist, blue ghostly flames spilled from her eyes and she started looking around again.

"No idea," I admitted. "Actually, I don't know about any of this stuff. Sunset's always been the one with the answers."

Stostine settled on Thorn Wielders vines for a second before I watched her perk up as though she heard something. Then, without warning, she turned around to stare directly at us; the blue flames still licking off her face.

Woah, I thought tensely as I stepped back. Gilda noticed and looked back as well only to copy my movements. "Uh...Hey there?" I slowly tried waving out towards them. Are they really there then? Can they see me?

For a brief instant I remembered the run in I had with Applejack's dream a few days back where a kid was fighting a training dummy. The not-elf that was watching that heard me shout and then reached out and touched me. That thought made another shiver run down my spine. One that forced my shoulders to join in.

Gilda, meanwhile, took a moment to try tracing Stostine's line of sight. "Uh, Dash? I don't think she's lookin' at us."

As though to prove it, Ravathyra and Thorn Wielder soon spotted Gekio themselves and tried to ignore their situation.

"Now who's this?!" A heavy Scottish accent cracked. My character's Scottish accent. "What's goin' on?! Who are ya?!'

Stifled chuckles became a torrent of laughter as Gilda rested on her knees. "That. That was your voi— hahahahahaaa~!"

I don't sound anything like that!

I stared her down as she leaned back to lean on Gekio's glaive for support. However, where her hand would have grabbed the handle, it instead faded through it like the spear wasn't there in the first place.

She tumbled backward, her laughter shifting to a yell as she fell backward, through the spear and partway through Gekio's body. Then, as she was halfway to the ground, Gilda's body seized before her momentum suddenly shifted to the side as Gilda tumbled to the floor.

"Ahhhhh," She cried, clutching the back of her her as she twisted in pain and anger. "Gah, stupid friggin' spear! Banged mah God dang head on the piece a'—" she cut herself off as she kept hissing and rolled onto her knees.

I was there beside her in an instant, helping to sit her up. "What happened?! You okay?!"

"Okay?! No I'm not friggin' okay," she roared. "What a dumb question. I hit my head on the stupid spear!" Her anger was getting the best of her. "Ugh...Am I bleeding?"

I checked the back of her head. "No. No, you're good. Wait, spear? You didn't hit the—"

"I should be asking you that," a deep voice growled from right next to us. It sounded like Gilda if she made her voice deeper. "Where am I? How'd I get here? Start talking."

Gekio moved the glaive to her dominant hand and rose it up before driving it down at the ground. At us.

I wrapped my arms around Gilda and before I realized it tried using myself as a human shield but it didn't matter. With my eyes closed as tight as I could make them, I heard Gekio let out a breath and then the longest second of my life before the sound of metal wedging itself into the ground from underneath us.

I tensed even tighter with Gilda complaining for me to get off of her. She was still alive. I was still alive. I forced one of my eyes open just a crack and found the shaft of the glaive emerging out of my throat and through Gilda's spine. And we were fine.

"You think we did this?" Stostine's voice called out. She was only a little nervous. "We only now arrived. We are as scared as you are."

I let Gilda go, giving her enough space to sit back up and turn around to see the glaive harmlessly passing through her body as I turned around in time to see a spark of lightning dance across Gekio's wrist and to her neck before she gave the kind of toothy grin you'd find on an axe murderer.

"You think I'm scared?"

Gilda glanced back up upon hearing her own voice and right away read Gekio's expression. "Uh oh. That ain't good."

"What's not good?"

"Well, uh..." Gilda thought her words over. "If that's actually Gekio? Then they just called her a coward. I usually, um, killed whoever called her a coward."

My character stepped between Stostine and Gekio, shield and hammer ready. "Ah ain't gonna lie an' say we ain't, lass," she admitted. Gilda didn't feel like laughing this time. "We want no trouble. If anythin', we want as far outta yer sight as you do. So 'ow's about we play nice now?"

Gekio seemed to consider this for a moment. "You know. This isn't the first time I've been summoned to kill. Won't be the last either. But it's the first time he's given me such a sad, easy job. Every other time it's been a challenge."

Gilda and I got our feet and backed away from the giantess as I grabbed my hand to keep it from shaking so much. Okay. We need out. How do we that?

"Hold on," Stostine spoke, holding out her hand. She was more worried now. ""Wh-When you say he, are you referring to. To...T-To the Master?"

I glanced over at Gilda who just shrugged.

"Master?" Gekio sounded just as lost.

"Y-Yes." Stostine ran with it, sounding so desperate. "The Master. We. We hear this voice. His. He controls what's going on around us. Is that the voice you hear?"

What is this about?!

Gekio watched them carefully, wearing the same kind of expression Gilda has when I tried telling her about magic. Only this time, Gekio looked to have a breakthrough. "oooohhh," she hummed quietly. "Okay. I think I know what this is. This is a hazing thing, isn't it?"

Hazing?

"Haze?" Fluttershy's character asked, sounding too close to the real thing. "You see haze?"

"Lord Deniz did say he was seeking an army of warriors," Gekio went on, resting her chin on her finger. "Aside from the creepy turquoise one in the armor, you look a little frail to fit in. Then again? I guess I was like you. Once."

"Oh yeah," Gilda hummed. "Yeah, I remember making that up. That's some of the backstory crap I made up for the game."

Ravathyra sighed, her mouth and jaw not moving. "Yer crazed."

"Oh, I better be," Gekio promised with another crazy smile. "Because when Lord Deniz makes a move for Umberlee's crown? He'll need the craziest of them all leading you small fries. That's gonna be me."

"Yep." Gilda nodded along. "Made that up too. I can't believe she actually knows all of this stuff."

"Gilda?!"

"What?! It-It's a thing I did," she defended. "And she knows it! I mean, she's her, so I guess that makes sense but..."

"Just one more question," Sunset's character asked as she looked like she was about to do more magic. Meanwhile Thorn Wielder took out her scythe while Ravathyra readied her hammer. "Who are you?"

"A good question." She reached back and removed her hood, letting us see the hair and war paint that pulsed with more electricity. "My name is Gekio. Sole survivor of a dead clan from the northern shores of Skel. Kingdom of Giants. Oh."

Then she drew a spear from inside her cloak. "And your new leader. Get used to it."

"Oh boy," Gilda sighed just before Gekio let out a war cry with spit and static spraying out in her frenzy before a small boom of thunder rang out from her, making us flinch as she took off towards the others.

"Gilda, we gotta stop her!"

"WE?!" Gilda spun around towards me and glared. "Are you kidding?! Check the muscles on her! I might be strong Dash but I ain't strong enough ta stop that!"

"Well we can't just let her kill them!"

"Alright, then you think of something!"

"Me?!"

"Yes you!" Gilda glared. "You're the one who was spouting off about all this crazy magic, cult nonsense! You know what's going on, you figure it out!"

"I told you, it's not a cult, it's..." My focus fell to the fight as Gekio jumped over a swipe from Thorn Wielder's scythe before she brought a flying knee to her face and using her weight to take her to the ground.

Thorn let out a cry all the way down that sounded way too much like Fluttershy for me to ignore. Gekio, on the other hand, didn't care as she rolled back to her feet and kept running.

"DASH!"

"I. I-I-I don't know!" I screamed back. "I don't know this! Magic is Sunset's thing!"

"Steal her thing then," Gilda commanded. "You said she's your friend, yeah?! Then you probably saw her handle this before! Just. Do what she does!"

Gekio's spear glanced off Ravathyra's shield in an ear-piercing screech before body checking the armored girl out of the way. Then she went to plunge her spear into Stostine before she created this magical barrier between them.

At this point, Gilda took my shoulders and turned me away from the fight. "Dash. Think! That spear went through us, yeah?! We can't touch 'em! Think of somethin' else!"

"Okay, okay," I shouted, taking in handfuls of hair from the sides of my heads with my eyes darting around towards the ground which was still the planet below our feet.

She's right. Do what Sunset does. Think it through, I told myself. I decided to start from the beginning. Alright, well, we all showed up here. Gilda and me first. Then Gekio. Then the others. Gekio wasn't moving and the three of ours did the second they showed up. I tried telling Gilda about magic and she thought I was crazy.

Next, Sunset's character did some magic and her eyes glowed. Then she looked at us. No. Not us. Gekio. They can't see us like the dream not-elf lady did...

I blinked. Wait. Not-elf lady. She touched my face. I felt it. Gilda fell through Gekio and hit something. She felt that! She thought it was the glaive but it wasn't. I saw her go through it and the glaive went through both of us. The weapons can't hurt us. Instead, Gilda fell into Gekio's chest and. And...

"Gilda, quick, you're head," I started as Thorn Wielder and Gekio squared off against one another. "What'd you hit it on?"

She frowned. "Well you saw it, didn't you? I hit my head on her glaive."

"No you didn't." I shook my head. "The glaive passed through us remember? You started falling through Gekio and hit your head somewhere on her."

I saw her try to replay the moment in her mind, holding the back of her head. "That doesn't make sense. I felt it. I've been punched in the back of the head before and it wasn't like that. It was definitely solid."

"Well either way, you hit your head on something else." I tried to roll with it. "You hit your head, fell out of her, and. And then..." I turned to watch the fight some more. Gekio spun around just in time to parry a flying shot of flames from Stostine before blocking another scythe swipe and gut kicking Flutter—Thorn Wielder. The gasp sounded the same either way.

"I think there's something inside of her," I blurted out. "You were phasing through her chest and you hit something. Then she started talking."

"So, what, you think there's some kinda switch in her?!"

Another cry, this time my own voice, rang out from the fight. Electricity leapt from Gekio and into Ravathyra's armor, electrocuting her. As she fell to her knees, Gekio then ripped the shield out of her hands and used it to start blocking more fire blasts as Stostine started moving in again.

"You said you hit something," I reminded her. "So, t-try hitting it again!"

Gilda watched as Stostine reached up to her tongue and pulled a shard of ice out of her mouth before aiming it at the barbarian.

Gilda swallowed her fear and stepped forward as Stostine flung the ice shard. It dug itself between Gekio's feet and started to glow before suddenly exploding like a grenade with shards of ice flying everywhere. One or two of them even phasing through Gilda's jacket before she could flinch.

"Oh, you better be right about this Dash," Gilda screamed, making me feel so worried as she kept inching forward.

Gekio tossed the shield aside and gave a heavy breath as the shards of ice stuck in her melted away. "Now this is what I'm talking about! I'm starting to see what our Lord saw in you three."

"Oh shut it, ya scrote," Ravathyra screamed back. She was lying on the ground in spear's reach as Gekio stared her down. "We ain't 'ere cause a' this Lord Numbnuts!"

Gilda slid in behind in behind Gekio, flinching again as she whipped around to stare down my character on the ground. "We were dragged 'ere jus' like you!"

"Sure this'll work?!" Gilda shouted back at me, arms ready.

"N-No," I shouted back, clamping my jaw shut before covering my mouth. Why didn't I just lie?!

"GREAT," Gilda screamed, plunging her hands into Gekio's back. She phased straight through and started feeling around blindly.

"How dare you," Gekio growled, raising her spear to run the armored girl through. At the same time, Gilda perked up with her arms towards the center of Gekio's back. "Insult the might of Lord De—"

...

"You...You're not?" Gekio asked in a daze.

"No!" Ravathyra stared right back with defiance. "An' you weren't either! This is all cause a' Master Story an' dem Players!"

I blinked. Then I blinked again. What?

"Master...Story...Master Story," Gekio repeated, sounding suddenly very familiar with the name. "Master. And P-Player? Player...Gil-Gil. Gilda? Gilda's my...what?"

Gilda slowly backed up, pulling out a round stone object that was still in her grip as she did. "Uh. Woah. H-Hold it." Then she looked to me. "Did she just say my name?!"

"And. Story," I added on. "Master Story..."

Gilda took a moment to process this and then stared down at the ball in her hands before abruptly dropping it at her feet. It made a clang that none of the characters seemed to notice. "Okay! I want out. I've had my fun. This was cool. The whole standing in space-sky thing. Seeing my...I don't know what I'm calling this. I want out. Now. How do get out?"

I started looking around again. I had nooo idea. "Uhhhhhh..."

"Come on Dash!" She shouted. "We're not just gonna be stuck here forever!"

"I know, I know," I shouted back. "I'm thinking. Um." I tried going through everything like last time. We're in space-air. Sunset and the others aren't here. The game people are here. They can't see us. There's a...What is that thing?

I stared down at the stone ball. Well, not ball actually. It was carved to have a bunch of flat surfaces all over it and had numbers set in. Each. Of them...

It was a die. A die made of stone with amethysts made into the shape of numbers and symbols on each side. It was the size of a cantaloupe but there was no doubt it was just like the one die that kept changing with whoever held it.

"I think with that," I told her. "I think that might be a start."

Gilda reached down and picked it back up. Despite being solid stone it didn't look like Gilda had much problem holding it up. "What is it?"

"That's a good question." As we spoke, the characters all started introducing themselves before Stostine came forward towards Gekio.

"Well I am choosing to think so. We are only four days your senior," Stostine explained about whatever they were talking about. Then she held out a hand. "Stostine Swordhand. I and my acquaintances here were previously in Leodaav."

"Gekio," the giant woman replied stiffly. "I was in Skel. But I think you already heard me say that. Well, me being...um..."

"We know what you mean," Stostine assured her with a chuckle. "Welcome. You have many questions."

Gekio let out a single laugh and shook the shorter girl's hand carefully as not to crush it. "Yeah. I do."

"Why's it made out of stone," Gilda asked, bringing my attention back to her and the die. "It doesn't feel that heavy."

"Yeah. It's sorta weird." I let myself smile a bit. "Mine was a piece of cloud, I think, but it still rolled like a piece of plastic."

"A cloud? Wait, you have one?" Gilda turned to see the group start to sit down, talking amongst themselves. "Is it in your girl?"

I went to answer but said nothing. Instead, I turned to see Ravathyra sit down cautiously since she couldn't see the ground. "I don't know."

Too curious to stop myself, I walked over behind Ravathyra and crouched down behind her. Then I looked at my hands. "Does. Did you feel anything when you were reaching for yours?"

Gilda thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Not really? It was like feeling around in the dark."

I nodded along and curled my fingers a few times. Well...Won't know until I try. Taking one more breath I reached forward and watched as my hands went through Ravathyra's armor like it was nothing. Then, after fighting the urge not to freak out I started feeling around.

It only took a second. Ravathyra was much smaller than Gekio and even smaller than the others so as I found the object, it took up a lot of the space in her chest. I then went to pull it out, expecting it to be stuck or something, but it came free right away. Like I just picked it up off a table.

And when it was out of her chest and in my hands I instantly recognized it as the same thing it had looked like at the game; a condensed storm cloud that had lightning shining from inside. It was that same lightning that lit up the numbers and symbols that were on each of the flat sides of the die. Also, like Gilda's, it was the same size.

"Woah, why's yours look like that?" Gilda frowned. "Gekio's the one with lightning, that one should be mine!"

I let myself smile a little. "Sorry Gild. I'm keeping the cooler one."

"Pfft. Whatever," she mumbled, glancing over towards the other two characters. "Think they have one each?"

I shrugged. "Makes sense. The die changed for Fluttershy and Sunset too." Still curious, I scooched around the circle of the girls until I was behind Stostine and started feeling around a little. Again, it was pretty easy to find the die. Except now, I couldn't pull it out.

"No good," I told her. "It won't budge."

Hearing that Gilda glanced over at Thorn Wielder. "Let me give it a shot."

She lowered her die towards the floor and tossed it aside before—

"Gekio?!" "GILDA!"

I ran over to where Gilda was standing, running through Ravathyra to do so, while the girls all stood back up to look where Gekio sat.

"Where are you?!" Ravathyra shouted, looking around. Then she started shouting. "Gaaaaaghhhh! Come on! What now?!"

"Calm down," Stostine told her, biting her thumb. "Something, more than likely the Master and our Players, brought us here. It makes sense that they might be the reason she left."

"Why?" Thorn Wielder asked.

"Well, this Gilda Player is not one of the seven girls," Stostine reasoned. "Perhaps she was only with our Players momentarily and then she left."

That's one word for it, I thought. Then I glanced down at the big die in my hands.

"Alright. Then tell me this," Ravathyra began. "'Ow's come we're the only ones endin' up 'ere? Every time they've played the game, they're all in one spot."

Stostine stopped biting her thumb. "Perhaps you answered your own question. They are not playing the game this time."

She was right. We all showed up to work on our characters. And the only ones there were those whose characters were here. Fluttershy, Sunset, Gilda, and me. Then Gilda and I got tired and showed up here.

Tired, I thought. We got tired...We're asleep!

I looked around some more. That's what this is! Gilda and I got tired and now we're here. That means that Sunset and Fluttershy are outside. Maybe? I wonder if they're watching what's going on. Maybe they woke up Gilda and she's telling them all about it!

Then why aren't I awake yet?

"Then what're they doin'?" Ravathyra frowned. "If not playin' that game then what else?"

"We have control of ourselves," Stostine pointed out. "There is no haze. Which means that they are not 'rolling dice' or whatever else the Master instructs them to do. So they are not controlling us."

Dice. I looked down at the giant die in my hands. Then I looked around. Gilda's die wasn't where she tossed it. That's where she tossed it, I'm sure. It must've vanished when it stopped.

I'm not awake yet I focused on that. If they woke Gilda up then they should've already gotten me by now. I'm pretty sure I'm a light sleeper. So then what's different?

I turned the die over in my hands. Maybe...Maybe I toss mine? Dice were meant for rolling and that's what Gilda technically did.

"I know it may not be the most settling," Stostine went on. "But I believe all we can do is wait this out. There seems to be no action we can take and we are trapped here by what Master Story and the Players may have done. It may be up to them when we leave."

Thorn Wielder let her shoulders sag before sitting back down where she was and hugging her knees while Ravathyra sighed. "Great. Just great. Stuck 'ere till the girl that didn't even make me a face decides ta stop lollygaggin'."

I didn't...give her a face? I shuffled in place for a moment. I mean, yeah, I guess I didn't. When Story tried setting me up for the game I just wanted it over and done with. So I wanted to skip all the useless parts. Is that why her head looks...like mine?

Ravathyra sat down beside Thorn Wielder. "'Least in them smelly goblin caves we 'ad the ale. Ah don' even got a drink round 'ere."

Thorn Wielder thought about this for a moment before she started to take out her things. After some digging she dug out this rusty looking canteen and poured out the water. Which actually went through the invisible floor toward the planet below.

The others watched her with confused expressions before she started unraveling some vines and held them in her hands before muttering some words that I was pretty sure wasn't even a language. But not too long after, I watched grapes, ripe and purple, begin growing out of her vines.

She set the canteen between her feet with the cap side up and began to pluck the berries one at a time. With each of them she would carefully squeeze them so the grape juice would fall into the canteen. After about four grapes, Ravathyra started laughing.

"Ah can't believe it," she spoke. "Are ya actually tryin' ta make wine?!"

"Yes."

Ravathyra giggled at the idea. "Lass, Ah 'ppreciate the thought. But it's gonna take ya hours just ta fill the skin there!"

"Time," Thorn Wielder answered, squeezing another grape. "Have time. We have." As she tossed the remnants of the grape aside it, like all the other berries, also fell through the ground towards the earth below.

"Thorn Wielder?" Stostine looked awkward. "I do not much about wine making but I am pretty sure that is not—" "Shhh, hehehehehehe!" Ravathyra giggled softer. "Nah, leave 'er be. She'll figure it out."

I smirked along with her but still had this pit in the bottom of my stomach as I kept staring at the die. This is so weird, I thought. My head, my voice. Sort of. She looks and acts like me. And I've seen what Rarity and Fluttershy and Pinkie made up for their characters. Even Applejack had something for her person and she hated that she got a thief. Meanwhile, I didn't even come up with Ravathyra. Story wrote that.

"By the way. Thank you for trying to protect me. When she initially charged at us," she clarified. "You blocked the spear."

Ravathyra snorted. "Ah please. Ya get yer fancy Shield spell a' yers. You'd a' blocked it anyhow. Way Ah see it, mah shield needs some use of it's own, don't it?"

She's just me. Me with a Scottish accent. I frowned. Fine. If that's the way it is, I'll make something awesome. Even if this is all some fake dream, I'm gonna feel horrible if I leave her hanging like this.

With a nod, I lowered my arms and then tossed the die high into the air. Second I'm out of here. I'll tell Sunset all about this weird place and then fill in all those blank spots I have about her. The die hit the floor and started clattering and spinning around before finally land—

Rainbow Dash's POV
???????????????

Everything was dark.

There was no bleachers next to the school or double suns with a planet below me. In fact, I didn't see anyone or anything at all. Just nothing. A black void where I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my...

Wait, what? Where? WHERE ARE MY HANDS?!

I tried looking a...

I can't feel my eyes. I can't feel anything! What? Where am I?! WHAT IS THIS?!

Okay Rainbow Dash. So, what did you want to start with first?

It was another voice. Story's voice. Both his voice and my own didn't come from anywhere. Any voice that happened felt like it was everywhere and nowhere. I wasn't even hearing them. I DON'T HAVE EAR—

Calm down. Calm. Down.

That was Story's voice. He sounded completely chill. As if nothing was going wrong at all. As far as I could tell, it sounded the same as when he was talking to me back with the others at school.

What do you mean start? Start what?!

Okay Rainbow Dash. So, what did you want to start with first?

You already said that! Wait.

Actually, it sounded exactly like what he said. Like a recording.

Ugh...This is more magic, isn't it?!

Okay Rainbow Dash. So, what did you want to start with first?

If I had a hand or a forehead they would have been slapped together by now.

Okay. More magic. Gilda's not here so maybe she's in her own Nightmare Land. I hope she's okay. She's probably more lost than I am right now. But alright. I got here when I rolled that die. I can hear Story's voice so maybe that means I'm closer to getting out now! Alright Rainbow Dash. Think this through some more. You only hear Story's voice. You can't feel anything and you want to get out. The only thing you have to go off of is—

Okay Rainbow Dash. So, what did you wan—

SHUT UP!

That one thing he keeps repeating, I summed up. He keeps asking where you want to start. And we were talking about my character before all this crazy stuff went down. Maybe he's talking about that. In that case...

Um. Okay then. We we're talking about Ravathyra, right?

Well yeah. What part about her did you want to start with?

Wait, that was different! YES!

Well yeah. What part about her did you want to start with?

And of course it repeated. I imagined another hand to forehead meeting before 'speaking' up again.

What's there to start with?

Well, anything I guess. Her name, her appearance, where she's from. Whatever you have an idea for first.

Alright. Then let's try...Appearance?

As my voice echoed that there was a flash in this dark void. I didn't have to turn to look at it, I was kind of able to see everywhere which was a weird thing to describe. But somewhere in this void I saw Ravathyra floating there. She had none of her armor and was just in a simple pair of shorts and a shirt with my face and a blue body like mine if it was all one solitary bleached tint and squished to look like what I assumed a dwarf was supposed to look like. It also had no hair and it's eyes were the same bleach blue as the rest of her.

Oh boy. She was like that this whole time? Ugh, I'm so sorry.

Cool. In that case, let's start with this. Roll me...

I heard the sound of book pages being flipped around before he listed off some dice. Which I had no hands or eyes, let alone a table, to roll with. So instead, the void decided to cut me some slack because directly above Ravathyra some numbers started flashing around like they were from a slot machine.

I looked at all the numbers and didn't really see any point to them. All of them were pretty small basic numbers.

...

Soooo...What're the numbers?

Aw come on, I gotta read 'em out? Fine! There's a one and a two on the left and the right has a two and a four.

Story's voice mumbled something that the dark void decided to make impossible to understand but whatever it was, it sounded like there was sass in there.

Okay. Now for math and...Alright! Ravathyra's three foot eleven and a hundred and thirty-nine pounds.

Is it really necessary to know her weight?

Sunset!

Sunset, can you hear me?! HELP! I'm trapped in a dark void and I can't feel anything! Also Gilda's somewh—

Meh, not always. But there's some stuff that calls for knowing how much someone weighs. Like traps for instance!

You sound a little too happy to say that.

Wha—Gilda? Was that Gilda's voice?! Is she...

No. No, this is more magic, isn't it?

As if to answer me, I watched Ravathyra begin to shift to fit the weight and height Story came up with. I was kind of built like a runner but now with the muscles she had on her, Ravathyra looked like a weight class above me. Dwarf aside that is.

Huh, I huh'd. Well at least it's not a carbon copy anymore.

Next, try picturing what she looks like in your head.

Done. Literally already done.

Then describe her to me. What are you seeing?

I focused in on her and tried to do just that. I imagined what he really meant was try and come up with how I wanted her to look. To start with, I didn't want her to look like me.

To start. How's about a different shade of skin? I don't think bleach blue is the way to go. So I pictured something else. To start I tried picturing her skin tone changing into anything other than a bleach blue. It made her look as if I drowned which was freaking me out the most.

In the end she had tanned skin with some clay red mixed in with it. Way different than the blue and rainbow combo I had. And as I kept thinking, I watched as this bright red hair spilled out from the top of her head, going past well her shoulders before it all started braiding and folding itself until it was one ponytail in the back. Then to make her way more normal, I quickly imagined eyes. Eyes with...blue irises. Yeah, that looked pretty nice.

Not bad! By the way, did you want her to have a beard?

I...Wait, she can have a beard?

Wait, how does that make sense? Rainbow's character is still a girl, right?

Girls can grow beards sometimes.

N-Not. Always...?

That's true with humans. However, Ravathyra's a Dwarf. Dwarves can have those kinds of genetics. That is if Rainbow wants her to. And even then it wouldn't be a full on beard.

...

Rainbow Dash, you're not actually considering that, are you?

I say do it. Hahaha, sounds cool!

You're not helping.

Stop.

The voices all went quiet as I watched Ravathyra grow out a stubble. It looked cool in a weird way, but I know the others might have said something. I could almost picture Rarity falling out of her chair.

So it was tempting. Verrrry tempting.

...

I had the stubble fall away into the void.

She shaves, how about that?

Works for me.

This is so childish.

But, Sunset, your smiling.

I am not!

When everyone finally dropped the great beard debate, they started asking few more questions that helped shaped what Ravathyra looked like. Scars, does she look tired, how does she hold herself, does she take care of her appearance, and a few other questions from the girls until finally Ravathyra looked like a different person in every possible way. In a lot of ways, she looked completely different from me.

The last though took me a lot longer to come up with an answer. What was her name.

I know you had me just fill in a name but with a lot of dwarves they have a birth name and then they have their clan name. Usually the clan name is a mix of two words like Ironnail, Trueblood, Fireforge, Axefist, stuff like that. Or it can be something fantasy sounding. Darahln, Trissker, Revnorr, so on. Do you have an idea?

Again the dark void tried to help. Instead of numbers rolling like a slot machine it was words: Redhammer, Heavypot, Steelfist, Anchordeep; the combos kept going. Every time I had an idea of my own pop into my head, the slots had it show up at the same time. It made me believe that maybe the slots was my own head trying to come up with something.

Finally, after maybe a couple minutes of watching the names line up, I had the slots stop spinning and rewind a few options back. That one, I thought.That's the one.

Ravathyra Dagarkin.

Daggerkin?

Da-gar-kin. Not dagger.

Kin like family? I think that sounds nice.

Not having dagger sounds right. Too try hard otherwise.

It's decided then! Ravathyra Dagarkin it is. There anything about the Dagarkin clan you can think of?

...Yeah, actually. I think I have a few ideas.

I started giving off a few smaller ideas which my friends took and then asked some questions. One idea kept connecting to others and before I knew it, I started to walk through all these ideas. At the same time, this dark empty void began to fill itself in with lights and shapes, people and places. All of it based around Ravathyra Dagarkin until it ended up being more than I could have tried filling in on my own.

By the time I finally realized how much time we were spending on this, I felt myself blink. Then I felt the sun beaming down on me with all my friends sitting around me. I felt my throat getting dry as I reached for my soda that so far only had one sip taken from it. I guess I never drank any while I was dreaming or in the void. It was still a little cold too.

When Story started writing down all the info from the background I was coming up with, I looked over to Gilda and gave her a careful look.

"Hey," I whispered. "Do you remember any of that? The uh..."

"Yep," she muttered with a nod. "I rolled that die and then woke up some space. Then ended up here...That happen to you?"

"Uh-huh." I took a deep breath, glad that I wasn't the only one that remembered. "You gonna be okay?"

"...I'll manage," She said, opening a bottle of water. She had finished her coffee a while ago now. "But when we're done here? I wanna talk."

We shared a smile and went back to going over Story's game. The whole time we were there, Gilda and I were the only ones that got to do much about our characters. Sunset seemed like she was interested in the idea too but she wasn't going to have time.

Oh well, I thought. Guess she'll have to wait till next time to do whatever we did.

3rd Person POV
⎅⟒⍀⊬⊑ ⍙☍⊑ ⋉⍀⎍⍜☌ ⍀⟟ ⌇⎍⌰⌿⎅
Meanwhile

Stostine laid on her back, listening as Thorn Wielder and Gekio worked together to squash grapes into now both of their canteens with too much focus. She wanted to save her water and knew that if she tried to help them either canteen would only get crowded by two people trying to pop grapes above them.

Her and Thorn Wielder never left the space. After Ravathyra had vanished, they were worried of what may have happened to both her and Gekio. Stostine had begun to worry that this was not them leaving safely but instead something far more sinister. Thorn Wielder had thought the same as well but tried to mask it with her idle work.

Except, eventually, Gekio came back. She reappeared and looked a little different too. The fur pelts that made up her outfit looked vastly different and she instantly started to talk to Stostine and Thorn about everything that had happened. How she grew up alone in a cabin far from civilization as a teenager.

She then talked about her clan and how she suddenly gained all these memories about them. Learning how to hunt, how to speak the tongue of Giants, her clan's wrestling bouts children were taught to compete in. And then how she would lose every one of them despite all the training she did on her own.

They weren't all good memories but Gekio was elated to tell them anyway. She admitted that she never had them before. It was something that made Stostine instantly feel relieved about. To learn that rather than cease to exist, Gekio was taken to get more information about her own life. Simple childhood memories.

It made her hope that Stostine would get whisked away herself while Thorn Wielder instead passed a pile of grapes to invite Gekio on her mission to make wine. Gekio and Stostine didn't have the heart to tell her it would only result in subpar grape juice so instead Gekio played along.

About an hour and a half passed as the three continued to sit there. By that point, almost all of them turned around when they heard the loud clanking of armor as the fourth member of the group was walking over to them.

Standing at exactly four feet, with red braided hair tied together in a ponytail was a Dwarf, beaming in glory as a silver necklace with the symbol of Ulaa, Goddess of the Hills and Mountains, clattered against the breast of her armor.

Her chain mail armor was all made up of chain links of brass giving it this golden brown color to it as the shield on her back was designed with a sheet of metal made to look like a large circular red gem with the outline of a mountain range above it made up of a silver inlay.

As Ms. Dagarkin's bright blue eyes settled on the three she held out her arms in a 'behold' like manner and laughed. "Well?! What do ya think?!" She asked in an accent that somehow sounded heavier and Scottish'er than before.

Thorn Wielder smiled. "Face."

"Ah gotta face," Ravathyra beamed even more. Then, as if to show it off, she opened her mouth wide and took in a deep breath of fresh, five mile in the sky, air. "Oh, You've no idea how much Ah love this!"

Stostine stood up and approached her. "Glad to see you for the first ti—yeeeeeeem!"

Stostine went into a high pitched yelp as she was scooped up off her feet and pulled into the biggest bear hug she ever felt in her life.

"Oh, gotta warn ya on that one, lass! Ah'm a hugga apparently!"

"I-I can tell," Stostine squeaked. "Please...can't breath."

Ravathyra put the thin mage down and turned to see Thorn Wielder offer her a canteen. It was only half full of her grape juice and her hands were purple from all the work she put into it.

"Wine," Thorn Wielder presented as she passed it on.

"Why thank ye Thorn," Ravathyra gave a small bow before downing the entire canteen, only putting it down when she was sure every last drop was gone from. Then she gave a deep satisfied breath. "My, that is the best set a' grapes Ah've ever 'ad! That vine a yer's a gift a' the Gods!"

Thorn smiled as her vines nestled against her arm happily.

"You seem chipper," Gekio pointed out.

"An' why wouldn't Ah be," Ravathyra proclaimed. "'Ere Ah am! A place no one's ever beheld before! Surrounded by ladies all over tha crust a' Prima! Leodaav, Drakehead, Cortás, an' Skel!" Ravathyra said, pointing to Stostine, herself, Thorn, and Gekio in that order. "All in one spot! Tell me. How often is anyone so lucky ta see that kinda beauty gathered up?"

The others took joy in the new attitude; almost as much as Ravathyra herself did.

"So then, Ravathyra? I ta—" "Sorry lass," Ravathyra cut in. "But the full name's Ravathyra Dagarkin. But if it's a mouthful, Rava's works just as well."

"My apologies." Stostine gave a mock bow of her head. "Rava. I take it your Player gave you a backstory as well?"

"Right ya are," Rava cheered. "Siblin's, hometown, an uncle, a mission, a church, Mum, Da, and a whole ton a' drive ta see everythin' the light touches! But Ah gotta be careful now," she said in a stage whisper. "You an' Platick may got yer secrets. But don't think Ah'm without me own."

"In that case. Would you like to take a seat with us? Rava?" Stostine gestured to where the imaginary floor they had been resting at. "We would love to get to know you."

"An' Ah'd love ta tell ya."

The four went to sit back down, Ravathyra rubbing her hands together greedily as she started going into as much about her own story as she wanted. Most of it true and others just tales that she thought would earn a smile at least half the size of her own.

Author's Note

Back when I originally wrote this, Ravathyra Dagarkin (character sheet) was the same abrasive dwarf she was up until this point. Not only that but I had Rainbow Dash put on a voice and play along during the game all the way from the beginning even with the history between her and Story. It didn't feel right for her to play along like that until something happened.

Gilda on the other hand? Her and her character is an entirely brand new concern from the original draft.

I never really have a set schedule for this story and since this next week or two is going to be busy this may be the last chapter for a bit. So I guess consider this a small hiatus for now.

So then for now I would like to ask; what do you think of the story so far? What parts do you like and what parts do you think I need to improve on? And on top of it all, what do part of the story seems the most interesting?

When I can write the next couple of chapters I want to make sure that I'm focusing on what people are interested about. So that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Until next time!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(15) Game Plan

Rainbow's POV
Outside Canterlot High
Friday 5:42 PM

"I thought Agix was the capital."

"It is." Story nodded. "Agix is the capital of Leodaav. Cragen's just bigger. The Drakehead Mountains used to house its own kingdom, primarily Dwarves, and Cragen was its capital back then. During the Lifetime War, the Dwarven kingdom merged with Leodaav and Agix remained the capital. Although, Cragen is still an older and larger city."

"And it's underground," I tacked on, trying to keep the basic facts in my head.

"And it's underground," Story parroted. "Whenever they start running out of space, Cragen mines the cavern's outer walls further and deeper while ensuring stability."

"And the Dagarkins get to be one of the important families down there, right?" I asked him. I wanted to have Ravathyra be something big like a ruler or something but Story talked me down. So instead, we agreed that she would be a noble. Not as awesome but it sounded cool enough.

"Clan Dagarkin can be the third clan of Cragen. Third underneath the Stonebreaker," he relented. While making her backstory, he told me what some of Leodaav's nobility was like. Most of it was pretty boring, I never cared much about political whatevers, but I forced myself to focus about as much of it as I could. I wanted to do this right for Ravathyra.

From what I remembered, Stonebreaker Sichedai was the lord of Cragen. Underneath him was a number of clans that were set up like a leaderboard. They went all the way down to something over twenty before they were regular clans at that point. The Stonebreaker was considered rank 0 since there was no debate he was on top. So for Ravathyra's clan to be rank 3 meant that they had to be pretty important.

The rest of Leodaav's nobility doesn't have that leaderboard gimmick. It was just land barons, wealthy merchants, and other stuff that makes the nobles big shots. But, since high ranking clans held a lot of sway over Cragen, where there were dozens of precious metal or gem mines, they treated the higher clans as equals if not suck up to them sometimes.

My character being a Paladin of Ulaa was good for her Clan's image. It made the clan seem really, uh. What was the word? Oh yeah, honorable. However, Story made sure I knew that in Leodaav, nobility was ruthless. If I did anything that would look bad, Ravathyra and the clan would suffer for it. No way would I let that happen though. Especially since I was giving Ravathyra almost Pinkie Pie levels of friendliness.

I'd like to see those nobles try now, I thought defiantly.

"So what made 'em rank three?"

Story paused. "Well, there's a number of businesses or activities they could do that would keep them in that kind of position. But you don't need to really go that into detail about this."

"No, I want to," I told him. "I want to try and learn as much as I can about everything about her."

He gave me a careful look before speaking again. "Rainbow Dash. You don't need to know everything about her, to make her a great character. I mean, I won't stop you or anything but trying to keep up with an entire life's story is kind of hard. End of the day, she's still a fictional character."

Shows what he knows, I thought. What if she was stuck in there all braindead or something before I got to sky-space? All because I didn't bother trying. No way was I letting that happen.

"Nah, it's cool. If I'm gonna do something I want to go all out," I excused with a grin. It was the kind of lie that was mostly true. Only Applejack ever saw through those. Then again, Applejack wasn't here, so... "By the way, how big are Dwarf clans supposed to be?"

Story let out a low chuckle and shook his head before pulling out a thinner book than what we were reading from. "Well then, I'm definitely not gonna stop you." He found a tab sticking out of the pages and opened it towards the center. "Go ahead and roll me. A...D10."

I looked over at the space on the bleachers between me and Gilda. At some point while we were in that void, Sunset passed her dice to me since I didn't have my own. Something I should probably fix. "Nine."

He nodded to himself. "And now a D8?"

"What's this for?" Sunset asked as I rolled the next die.

"Seven," I read aloud.

Story took a moment to look to the side with a look of disbelief. "Okay...You have ten siblings."

Fluttershy coughed some of the water she was sipping as Gilda just let out a whistle.

"How many?" Sunset blinked.

"A-Are," I stuttered. "Are they all older than me?"

Story read the book a little further and with a bored look picked up his own dice. "I'll spare you the sprained wrist and roll for you." But before he could, his phone started buzzing against the metal bleacher louder than if he had just left the ringtone on.

He picked it up and nearly stuffed it in his pocket before seeing the name on the screen and stopping. "Uh, I-I gotta take this."

He got up and walked away a few feet, leaving me free to pull the book over to my lap so I could see it. Somewhere under the word 'Sibling' was instructions on what to roll for, which made my eyes go wide.

"For each sibling?" I half-whispered. Ravathyra, you better appreciate this. I picked up some dice and started to roll.

"Hey mom," Story spoke too low for us to hear. "Yeah, I'm still here with my friends...What? It's not that...Oh wow, it's almost six...Yeah, we're still at the school...Hear about Ms. Cheerilee? No. She wasn't here today...WHAT?!"

All of us stared at him before Story held up a finger. "Don't? Don't te—Hey, slow down! Sorry, please so slow down? What are you..."

Whoever was on the other end, they talked quick and direct. But before we could try and hear anything, Story excused himself and walked further away.

"Something's wrong." Sunset crossed her arms.

"Story's mom is a surgeon," Fluttershy reminded us. "Maybe she needs his help driving again?"

"Nah, her car got fixed. Story said so on Wednesday," Gilda informed us. "Apparently she's got a second phone she calls him with if it's important."

"How do you know that?"

"It says 'URGENT' on the Caller ID. Every now and then me or the others in our group spot it. She sounds cool though." Gilda shrugged. "Every so often she has Story smuggle in cookies for us."

"The peanut butter cookies?" Fluttershy smiled.

"Those things are so good," Gilda breathed, matching her grin. "Not gonna lie, I think I'd commit crime for those things."

Shockingly enough, Fluttershy nodded along, sending me and Sunset into a spiral of questions. But before we had the chance to ask any of them, Story was walking back with his phone tucked into his pocket and a very conflicted look on his face.

"Is everything alright?" Fluttershy asked.

"Ya need to book it?" Gilda tossed in.

"Uh. Well, it's nothing serious," he told us as he struggled to find the words. "But Mom wants me to head back to the house...And I can't say why."

"You don't need to explain any family matters to us." Sunset gave him an assuring nod. "We won't be upset."

"R-Right, but it's not family, it's..." He rubbed his hands together. "I'll-I'll text you all later. This is a...ugh. It'll come up." He left it at that. "Rainbow, are you rolling all that?"

I glanced up from the book. I was drawing tally marks on the corner of a paper as I got maybe halfway through all the siblings. "Uh, yeah. Here, you need your book back, right?"

"It's fine," he said before packing up the binder and book he took out of his bag. There wasn't nearly as much stuff to pack as last time this happened. "Keep it. I'll just swipe it back on Monday or Tuesday. Besides, there's other stuff in there if you really want to keep working on it."

With everything else put away, he slung his bag over his shoulders and we all said our goodbyes before he started off for the parking lot, leaving the four of us on the bleachers and the magic around the papers and dice to fade away. Except, as we all watched the magic fade, Fluttershy and Sunset quickly realized that all of us were watching the magic.

The two of them watched with wide eyes and held breath while I could swear I almost heard their minds screaming in worry. It almost made me laugh when they took in a deep breath at the same time as Gilda but for a completely different reason. It was even worse when Gilda set a glare on them, making both girls flinch.

"Okay. Start talking," she commanded with no humor. "No one's leaving. Until you tell me...how the heck I woke up in sky-space!"

Fluttershy leaned behind me while Sunset went speechless. "Sky. Sky-Sky-Space? W-What are you talking about?!"

"Don't dick with me," she snapped. "I thought I was gonna get stabbed. I thought Dash was gonna get stabbed! I pulled a rock out of a woman's chest, woke up in the middle of a thunderstorm. I somehow changed her life with my 'effin mind!"

Fluttershy started shaking while Sunset started to shrink back for a moment.

"Dash said it was all magic. I thought she was crazy. Ha! Ya know what? I believe her now. And she said you were the magical girl. So get your friggin' wand. Get your friggin' sailor uniform. Get your lies outta the way! And tell me what's going on!"

As she let out a huff that was borderline growl, Sunset suddenly recognized what was happening. Even though I knew Gilda didn't mean it, Sunset thought she was trying to intimidate her. A lot like what Sunset did before she became our friend. Only louder and angrier.

"What. Are you talking about?" Sunset stood with a flash of courage to stare Gilda down only for Gilda to repeat the action and tower over her again. That didn't scare Sunset a second time. "None of that happened! We have been here the whole time. The magic didn't even go out of control!"

Gilda opened her mouth to shout again only for Sunset to sneer. "Quiet," Sunset demanded, making Gilda freeze. "I am a foot in front of you. We're not at a rally. We are outside. Where other people might hear us. In case you haven't noticed, we're not exactly trying to show this stuff off. Now I'll answer your question but Please. Stop. Screaming."

When I saw Gilda's white-knuckled fists started to tremor, I closed the book before reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. Her head whipped around to glare me into a puddle which only worked to terrify Fluttershy further. But in my case, I stared right back at her with a calm frown and simply shook my head.

"..." Gilda rolled her jaw for a moment before she realized where her head was at. I watched her fists loosen up as she took a few deep breaths. It did nothing to help the rage on her face but her voice seemed passive enough to face Sunset again.

"So then," she exhaled. "You admit it? This magic crap's real?"

Sunset watched Gilda for a moment, processing what she was watching before watching me for another clue. When she saw that I was doing my best to stay calm for Gilda, I think it clicked for Sunset that Gilda wasn't being personal about this.

"...Yes," Sunset answered after a breath of her own. "There's no use denying it to you. I just saw you watching magic. So yes. it's real. But I swear, Gilda, nothing about this 'sky-space' happened. We've all been here. The entire time. Alright?"

"Actually. We haven't," I told her, visibly taking the wind out of Sunset. "Remember when Story said the magic words?"

Gilda out a heavy scoff. "Is that really what you're callin' it?"

"We have to be careful not to say those words ourselves," Sunset covered for me. "I'm assuming he says it for your group too? That corny line at the start?"

Gilda rolled her eyes. "What? You mean 'Let's start a st—' mmph! mm-mmph-mmm!

Gilda started flailing hard, nearly flipping me over her shoulder like a wrestler before I called for her to relax. After a few tries Gilda heard me and I could feel her breathing into my hand.

"Yes Gilda. Those words," I told her. I let go of her mouth only after she stopped talking. "Whenever anyone says it, that magic starts up. Story's said it and I've said it now. It goes off every time."

I took a step back and watched as Gilda grabbed the sides of her jacket, straightening it stepping back so she could see all of us in front of her. "Okay. Then explain this: I've played in Story's game for years now. And today is the only time it's ever happened!"

Sunset cringed. "That's probably because it's our fault. When we started playing on Tuesday, we somehow got our magic into the game. That's why you haven't seen it until now."

Gilda frowned. "What do you mean you put magic into it? How did you get magic?! Magic's not even supposed to be real! Magic's supposed to be some made up thing for babies and cults!"

Sunset smirked at that and looked away. "And ponies," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"No, not nothing! You're telling me everything! I'm in this now!"

"No offense Gilda," Sunset started with all the offense in her tone. "But I don't like giving out my secrets. Something I'm sure you might understand."

I cringed. Uh-oh. That's a tone I haven't heard from Sunset. Not since the Fall Formal anyway.

"Is that a fact?" Gilda leaned even further in Sunset's face, cracking her knuckles.

Sunset didn't back down. "Try swinging. You don't scare me."

"I should."

"O-kaaaay," I announced, pushing the both of them away from each other. Gilda versus Sunset: No one wins. "Gilda? Trust Sunset on this. It's fine. Alright? She's cool, I promise."

"..." Gilda took a deep breath. In and out from her nose as she pulled out the sunglasses on her shirt collar; not once blinking away from Sunset who stared right back. Then, after a few long seconds, Gilda flicked her wrist and she unfolded her shades before sliding them on with a single hand. After taking another deep breath, she forced herself to take a step back. Then another. And then a third before turning partly away to stare up at the sky and focus on her breathing.

"...s-sorry," she mumbled. "I'm sorry. I didn't..." Gilda swallowed and took another slow breath. "Yeah. Alright. This is your thing. I get that. It's your call how this works. Not mine. Dash told me as much earlier."

Sunset took a moment to calm down as well, feeling just as guilty when she saw Fluttershy almost at the point of hyperventilating. Then she gave me a look. I didn't know what I looked like right now but however it seemed, it made Sunset feel that much more set on trying to cool everything down.

So when she thought she was calm, she walked until she was in Gilda's peripheral. "I'm sorry too. In the past, I used to understand how magic works. But recently? Even before the magic you just saw, I still don't understand it. And the one po...person," she corrected. "That had just as much of an idea as I did? I lost contact with her. I know you want answers. I do too. And normally? I have them. And believe me, laying them all out to help everyone feel less worried about what might happen would make this so much easier. I hate seeing my friends get worried about magic. But...the more I keep seeing about this magic? the less control I feel I have. So, I'm sorry, but until I figure out how this all works? I'm as lost as you."

Sunset... I bit down onto the inside of my cheek. She...Is that all true?

Gilda never looked back. She just kept staring up at the sky and breathing in and out. She was nodding along and her shoulders slumped when she learned she wasn't going to get all her questions but she kept calming herself down anyway.

Sunset losing the book to Twilight really did hit her, huh? I know she said it wasn't my fault but...I feel so guilty.

Sunset let her words sink in. She didn't want to rush Gilda's breathing as she inhaled. Then exhaled. Inhale. Exhale. Still looking skyward until finally she said three short words. "It wasn't there."

"There?" Sunset blinked. "What wasn't?"

"The magic. At the game. Wednesday game," Gilda deciphered. She turned around to face Sunset fully from behind her violet lenses. "You said that your magic started all of this on Tuesday, yeah? Well, on Wednesday, Story said Let's...the words," she substituted. "Like every other game before then. And nothing happened. There was no magic. No changing lights...Sky-Space. None a' that. Just a normal game."

Sunset let the words process in her mind while she folded her arms. "So you didn't see it? And I'm guessing everyone else there didn't either?"

Gilda shook her head. "Aside from Story, I'm the best poker face at that table. Everyone else there wears their hearts on their sleeves. Even Big Mac."

"That's....Th-That's right." Fluttershy peeked out from behind me but still under her hair. She didn't look up at anyone either. "Applejack said her brother plays too. An-And he's seen the magic before at Canterlot. If he saw anything, he would have told us about it by now."

"You mean he knows about this too?" Gilda sighed. "Always the quiet ones, huh?"

"So he hasn't seen it either," Sunset determined. "Good to know."

Gilda furrowed her brow. "You make something from that?"

"...Possibly." Sunset thought it over very carefully. "So far, the only ones who have seen the magic in action are us and Gilda. That is much different than every other time magic's happened here. Before, everyone could see it clearly. And now we're also the only ones to have used it. Allegedly. If I'm right, Gilda must have been effected by it since we were with her. So, perhaps, the magic spreads and becomes visible to who has it."

"Like a disease?" Gilda frowned. "But again, didn't happen Wednesday. And Story was both at our game and yours, right? He runs 'em. Wouldn't he...spread it?" She looked as if she didn't understand her own words.

"He's. An exception. I think." Sunset sighed. "We're not sure, but I think it's possible the magic doesn't work on him. He doesn't see any of it. Even when he rolls the magic dice himself. So, if we're going along with the disease theme, I'd go as far as to say he might be immune."

"That's good though, right?" I asked. "If he's immune and the magic doesn't happen when we're not around then that means we have nothing to worry about! The magic's safe with us!"

"Not exactly." She shook her head. "Gilda and her group had no way of seeing it. And Story can't see it. Just because they can't see something doesn't mean it's not there."

"You think it's unchecked," Gilda translated. Sunset nodded. "That's an easy fix then. I go in on Wednesday, pretend like nothing's wrong and then report back to you guys."

"That...is a great idea," Sunset complimented. "If the seven of us go, there's no telling how the magic might respond since we have our own. But you don't. You're just able to see it now. You could find out what's happening!"

"What about the others?" I glanced between them. "If us playing with Gilda made her see the magic, what if the same happens with them? Gilda can see magic, so if she gets them magic'd, they'll start freaking out and we won't be their if something goes wrong."

Gilda's smirk fell off. "Hold up. Does that mean I'm not allowed to go without screwing them up? I didn't even want this!"

Sunset grimaced. "No. You-You need to go." Her expression screamed 'rock and a hard place.' "Look. There's two possibilities. Either one; it spreads from whoever can see the magic to someone else. Or two; it spreads because of us."

She gave Fluttershy and me a look that explained exactly what she meant.

"And you're cool with testing that on a bunch of strangers?" Gilda frowned. "I don't mind bein' bait but, like I said; hearts on their sleeves. They see something, everyone's gonna know. Not to mention we play at a game shop. There's a good ten other people there at any time."

"Does it have to be at the game shop?" Fluttershy asked. "Can't Story have the game at his house?"

"Probably not." Gilda shrugged. "That shop gets loud. If he could have had it at his house, we'd have moved there a long time ago."

"Your house?" I offered.

"You remember my house Dash? My family's never moved."

Oh.

Her house didn't have a dining room, so no big table to set up at. From what I remembered, Gilda and her family always ate in the living room on the couch. And that living room wasn't big enough for a whole group to play. Not to mention her Grandpa was the type to nag and complain nonstop.

"...Big Mac," Sunset suggested. "What about Sweet Apple Acres? They have a barn, right? It's quiet, no distractions, and no one will be nearby that isn't part of the group."

Gilda rolled her jaw, thinking it over for a second. "Well...Yeah, that might do it. One of the other players is a friend of mine I invited. She's pretty good at talking. She could probably convince the others to go along with it if the place works out."

"We can head over and check right now," I offered. "AJ and Big Mac are probably home already. We can gather up the rest of the girls and figure out a game plan."

"All of us?" Fluttershy scrunched her face.

"Why not?" I shrugged. "Today's Friday. We can stay up as late as we need!"

"But Applejack and Rarity are the only ones with cars," Fluttershy reminded us. "Applejack's already home and Rarity can only fit five of us in her car. And it's already 6 PM. It'll get dark soon."

"Right." Sunset frowned. "There's seven of us that need to get to Sweet Apple Acres. Unless AJ drives all the way to town and back, we can't all get there."

"Good thing I brought my second helmet then." Gilda grinned.

We all looked at her. "Helmet? You have a bike?"

"Course I gotta bike! Fast too. Hell, I could probably ferry some of you there with how fast it rides."

"Do you even know where the farm is?"

"It's a farm! I'll ride until I see a silo." Gilda laughed. "Whoever's riding with me should borrow Sunset's jacket though. Your arms are gonna feel bad otherwise."

"I guess that means I'm riding then." Sunset smirked. "Only I wear my jacket."

"..." Gilda eyed her for a moment before letting out a tense huff. "Better hold on."

Sunset cracked a smile. "Why? I thought Dash was the fast one."

Gilda fixed her glasses and grinned. "Oh, you're on, Bacon Hair!"

"Try me, Shades," Sunset stepped up, their stare down reminding me of myself and AJ.

That is gonna be an interesting ride, I thought as I opened my phone to start calling everyone.

Applejack's POV
Sweet Apple Acres
Friday 6:47 PM

"Alright y'all. Here we go."

Big Mac and I each pulled the barn doors wide opening, letting the setting sun's rays spill into the interior. The girls took the moment to peek inside but there wasn't much to see. Just two carts, a dozen empty bushels, and then plows, hoes, and any other manner of farm equipment we stored near the entrance for easy reach. We had crates that we packed any apples for shipping but we stored those in the silo. It helped with the clutter.

Further in were stalls that lined the walls. From what Granny said, Sweet Apple Acres used to have more livestock than the slim handful of animals we have now. None of them slept in this barn now though. Instead, most stalls had bales of hay while the rest had odds and ends that hadn't seen the light of day for months at best. Since we repurposed the silo to hold the crates, any feed we had went to the barn. It might have sounded backwards but, again, not a lot of livestock. The feed took up less space.

Finally, all the way in the back were things that hadn't been touched in years. To the right was an old car with a piece of the front poking out from under a hole-ridden tarp. The thing had been gutted for parts long ago, with some pieces tangled up nearby. The left side was less interesting. All there was to see was a pile of junk and debris no one took to the dump. Broken crates and scrap metal. Some of it was older than myself or Big Mac.

Apparently there was something appealing in here that only the girls saw. They didn't have their jaws hanging or anything overboard like that but I could have sworn I heard a couple audible gasps of awe. Aside from possibly Rainbow Dash, I don't think any of the girls had ever seen the inside. Since the farm was so out of the way, the girls never really came down here.

Before I took a shot guessing who was impressed, Pinkie bounded in with her fingers stretched out in front of her to make a box. As if she were looking through a camera as she stuck her tongue out. "You know, this kinda reminds me of one of those find-it picture books! You know, where you have to look through all the clutter to find a tennis racket, and a roller skate, and a dish, a swan, and a fedora before you go to the next page! Except they always hide the roller skate in the rafters for some reason! Not to mention, who uses one roller skate?! Like, what happened to the other roller skate? Is it on a different rafter? But that just sounds silly. Why would you go roller skating in the rafters?! You can only go back and forth on one of the beams which is such a waste of good roller skating! They should probably hide the fedora in the rafters so that whenever you need one in case of fedora emergencies, you can just hit the wall and have it fall on the top of your head as if you're in the movies! Like this!"

Pinkie slid up beside one of the columns and brought a swift elbow into it before nodding her head down. Then, as though the heavens wanted to humor her, a dusty white fedora landed on her head. We all took a moment of silence just how the heck any of that happened as the only part of Pinkie's face we could see from under the hat was the pearly whites of her smile.

Who's fedora even is that? I pondered. I looked to Big Mac for some help but he seemed just as lost.

Rarity decided to take point on ignoring all of that and proceeded to walk over towards one of the stalls. After sizing it up, she tried to run a finger along the top of the low partition to investigate the dust before she suddenly pulled back in a flinch. Between shaking her hand I noticed a gnarly splinter wedged badly in her finger.

"I-It could do with some..." She took a moment to pluck the splinter before flinging it away and holding her finger. "Slight attention."

"Slight? A leaf blower couldn't make a dent in this dust," Gilda accused as she and the rest of the girls entered.

"Proven fact," I admitted.

"Eeyup," Mac backed me up. If anything, leaf blowers made the dust worse whenever we tried.

"Be that as it may," Rarity restarted after taking the finger out of her mouth. "After some...alright, a lot of care," she surrendered. "This barn would make for a lovely reception area! You know, rustic themed weddings are finding their greater audience lately."

I shrugged. "Maybe, but they ain't gonna try here. Barn's too well insulated. This place gets hotter than a oven at a luau when summer hits. And winter don't make a dent either."

"Eenope."

"We'll get some fans then." Rainbow shrugged. "Not too big a deal."

"That wouldn't solve the problem." Twilight set her bag down, letting Spike step out and stretch. "That would only push the heat around. You would need something to cool the space."

"And that's where we got an option," I told them. The girls started smiling until I shook my head. "Don' get too excited. It don't get any cleaner. Big Mac?"

He nodded and started guiding the rest of us towards the back wall before he started shifted around the pile of trash. Piece by piece, he cleared out a path before finally the girls saw what I was talking about. A door. Any paint that was on it was curling off in places and the doorknob had fallen off at some point. The frame around the hinges looked extra brittle too, making the door tilt in place.

The girls' excitement all started to plummet before Big Mac forced the door open. He had to stop once or twice to kick around the trash and nails before he could scrape the door against the floorboards wide enough for someone to presumably walk inside. That is, if it weren't for the real problem.

Wall to wall, the room was filled like a storage unit. Random pieces of furniture, boxes of hobbies family members had lost interest in, as well as paperwork and files that had no reason to exist anymore took all the space. Then, as if it couldn't get any more unappealing, there was this awful stench wafting at us as though the room was trying to scare us away. And as far as my family was concerned, it had worked.

However, in the far corner of the room towards the ceiling there was a single metal rectangle attached to the wall. The only thing that made me think of this room when Rainbow had called to fill me in on Sunset's plan. An AC unit. It was an old model but aside from age, it looked in perfect condition. From this side of the doorway at least.

"Far as Ah know, that thang should still work. Might need a wire or two replaced if a rat ever chewed through but we can fix that. Also there's a huge game table in the middle a' the room."

"Heh. Where?" Sunset asked half-jokingly. Although, to tell the truth, you couldn't see it from the entrance with all the garbage in the way.

"Granny said way back that she'd bring friends back here fer poker night. But when the group cashed out fer the last time, it became storage. Then just plum forgotten. Ah've never stepped foot in here before."

"Nnope," Big Mac included. Him neither, huh?

Gilda clicked her tongue. "Well this is a bust."

Spike stepped up and started sniffing around before bringing a paw to his nose and backing out. "Blegh! Smells like rotting fruit in there!"

"Did that dog just talk?!"

"Magic," I, Rainbow, and about half the room answered.

"...One of these days I'm breaking into Grandpa's liquor cabinet," the girl confessed.

"It gets easier," Spike sighed.

Gilda pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yeah, uh, please don't say...anything. Please?"

"Well, do we have any other ideas?" Rainbow asked. "Because if not, that means we're testing magic at that store."

"Not an option," Twilight enforced. "We have to avoid magic in a public setting by any means necessary."

"Should we even be testin' this at all?" I asked. "Again, we should be comin' clean with Story an' jus' save the headache."

"Yeah, I'm kinda fallin' on team Tell All here," Gilda rose her hand.

"Seconded," Twilight added as she did the same.

"Eeyup."

"I know. I know." Sunset closed her eyes. "At this point, I'm for telling him too! It's the right thing to do. But, regardless, we still need to test how the magic works. Gilda's group has six players with only her and Big Mac in the know about all of this. By now, the issue isn't telling Story about magic. It's telling Story and four random people about magic."

Rainbow turned to Gilda. "You said one of those players was a friend you invited, right? Can she keep a secret?"

Gilda's abrupt mad, cackling laughter did nothing to lift our spirits.

"No! No, she can't keep a secret! Gabby lives up to her name," Gilda said between laughs. "Like, she even has her own blog! No, if she finds out about this, half the town and them some are finding out."

Big Mac didn't say anything. He just hung his head in defeat.

"Well that's not good." Rarity bit her lip. "And that would also mean we can't convince them to cancel their game. To do so would mean having to explain why."

I nodded sullenly. "Tellin' Story the truth sounds much simpler now, don't it? We do that an' we can convince him ta cancel that game before somethin' goes worse."

"It might already be too late," Sunset warned. "Their group's already met up once, remember? If the magic already happened and they didn't see it, they may already be a part of this. Not only that, but we learned with Gilda that the magic can spread. Just because Story's immune doesn't mean he can't pass the magic on. If that's what happened, then all of them may have already been caught on Wednesday."

Twilight took in a sharp breath. "You're worried that this may spread."

"I'm worried it already has." Sunset turned back to Gilda. "I need to ask; the other four players. Do you know if any of them play games separate from Story's table?"

Gilda thought about it but didn't have an answer.

"Eeyup," Big Mac answered, earning every eye in the room as he held up one finger. "One fella."

"Big Mac." Sunset walked up to him. "Please think very carefully about this. Have they already played with another group since Wednesday?"

Big Mac shook his head. "Nope." That put me and the rest of the girls at ease. "Monday."

"Well that's a relief," Fluttershy said as Pinkie happily nodded her head.

"...No, it's not," Twilight corrected as Pinkie frantically shook her head. "That only gives us the weekend to find out how this magic spreads. That, or find a way to delay that game without telling them. Otherwise—"

"Otherwise those nerds will play with other nerds, who will play with more nerds, and by the end of the month all the nerds will have magic," Gilda summed up. "Which I'm guessing means, what, total nerd anarchy?"

"I think they call those conventions," Pinkie informed her. "Which means we're gonna need a lot of goodie bags!"

"Not if we can help it," Sunset assured us. "Before that happens, we need to figure out one question: Does it spread to anyone that plays with someone that has magic? Or just when they play with the seven of us?"

"And now that Gilda can see the magic, we have a way of determining that theory." Twilight nodded. "All we need to do is have Gilda's group convene before Monday. If the test results in the best possible outcome, then we'll know how to limit magical transference from then on."

Gilda blinked a few times, pointing a confused face at Twilight. "So then...I watch what happens and tell you?"

"Correct."

"In that case, I'm all in." She smirked. "But, in exchange, you're gonna keep me in the loop about all this magic stuff from now on. Right?"

"Obviously." Rainbow Dash grinned. "With you helping us out, will have all the backup we'll need!"

"Right on." Gilda and Dash shared a fistbump before Pinkie appeared behind the large of the two with a cord in her hand.

"In that case...Welcome to Sonic Rainbooms, Gilda," Pinkie cheered before giving a large tug on said cord. From the other side of Gilda, somehow hidden from the rest of our view, a colorful cannon launched a colorful menagerie of streamers that pelted the entire back wall.

As Gilda ducked her head low from the sound of the explosion, Pinkie clambered up her back. "What instrument do you play?!"

"Uhhh." Gilda glanced up at the lightweight girl, too confused to care about personal space. "I don't?"

"Okay. Triangle it is!"

"Wha—no, I'm. I'm not playing anything! And get offa me!" As Gilda tried reaching for Pinkie, who took it as a game of tag as she crawled around on the taller girl's back, the rest of us gathered up.

"I take it this means we will be preparing this space then?" Rarity gestured to the back room. "Can we get everything ready in time?"

"If everyone chips in, Ah don' see why not," I told her. "Big Mac can use his truck ta cart everything ta the dump and Gilda err myself can go with him ta unload it."

"We'll also need one or two of us to convince Story to go along with the idea," Twilight told us. "We can use that time to tell him about that magic too."

"In that case, we'll leave that up to you and Fluttershy," Sunset told her. "Fluttershy knows him the best and Spike's a good way to prove it if he doesn't believe you at first."

"I can vouch for that." Gilda rejoined us as Pinkie let herself get carried under her arm like a pillow. She was also wearing the fedora now. "A talking dog sounds way better than waking up in Sky-Space again. Though, I probably would've called bull and thought you put a speaker on his collar."

"I can imagine." Rarity placed a hand on her cheek. "Whatever this Sky-Space was, it sounded absolutely startling. It sounds unlike anything we had seen so far as well."

"⏚⊑⎅☍. ⌿⍀⎐⍙⍜⏚," Rainbow mumbled in that garbled language. She looked guilty but with that stupid filter there was nothing we could do but be here with her.

"Actually, I think I have an answer for that," Twilight said without looking up from a notebook she was flipping through. "Remember when Rainbow Dash said the phrase and the table appeared in the hallway?"

Most of us were nodding except for Gilda who took a second to snap her fingers beside each of her fingers. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"Rainbow Dash used the magic herself in the hallway," Twilight repeated. "In the process, she summoned a large table and we were. Able to...You didn't understand any of that, did you?"

Twilight didn't bother finishing when she saw the look on Gilda's face get worse the more she kept talking. And when Twilight asked that last part, Gilda slowly shook her head. "Was I supposed to? How'd you even make that noise?"

"Garblin', right?" I asked her, earning her attention. "It happens whenever ya hear one of us say somethin' that yer apparently 'not supposed ta know,'" I said in air quotes.

"I have it written here: 'If anyone attempts to learn about something they are not supposed to know, the information is made impossible for them to understand.' That's where the garbling comes from," Twilight said. And by Gilda's reaction, she seemed to understand that just fine.

"I'm guessin' writing stuff down doesn't work either?" Gilda shoved her hands into her thick jacket's pockets before trying to keep subtle about shifting it around. The barn's heat already at work I see.

"It actually looks worse than the garbling sounds," Twilight explained. "The writing moves."

"Pffft, no way! Show me." Gilda's expression flipped like a switch and Twilight only had to turn a few pages in her notebook before showing the same thing she showed the rest of us already.

⍀̶̛͕̞⍜̸̛̫̍ ̵̭̈́⟊̷͔̠̊̓⍙̸̞̀͜͝⋢̩́⌖̵͇͈͗⍙̴̧̧̐͝⋏̵̱͈͠ ̵̠̍͠⟊̶̜͙̇͛☊☊⋏̵̥̜̓̾⎐̵̹̇̀⊬̶̱̈́☊ ̶͍͔́͘☊ ̵̨̮͐͑⎍̶̬̔̚⋏̵͚͖̌⟊̷̡̼̓̍⏃̸̨̇̈⍙̵͇̏ ̸̮̓⟊̵̝̪̊☍⌖̶̟̳̐́⎅̷͉̭͂͐☊ ̶̘͗̔⋏̷͓͉̉⍾̶̮̳̎⍀̷̍⍙̸̧̏⌿̷̺̼͌ ̴̠̫̍͝⍾̶̛̙⋏̸̯̯̕⊑̶̠̜̽ ̵̯̼̆͘⟊̴͙͇̓͋⏃̴̠̂⋏̶̛̣͐ ̴̢̀̅⍙̷̬̉⌖̶̤͙̑͝ ̵͎͖̋̿⊬̵̘̄⊬̷̼́̚⌖̸̻͍̅⋏̴̡͆̊⋔̸̨̯̉ ̷͓̃⌖̷͈̚ ̶͙͝⏁̸͚̫̈͠⍙̸͖̺̊̓⌖̴̪̃⎎̷̛͖͘ ̷̱̎͊⌖̶̥̙̒̃⏃̶̪̩̈́̈́ ̸̯͚͐☊⍾̷̘͙̕⋏̷̣͜͠͝ ̸̺̇͗͜⎍̵̪̣̈́͝⋏̵͉́͗⟊̸̬͌̌⋔̶͉̙̏͛⋏̸̣͒⏃̷͇̽́ͅ ̶̭̖͌⋔̴͍̚⌖̷̝͉̽⋏̸͈̂⏚ ̷̪̥̀͝⍙̵̛̪͉͊⌖̶̰̇ ̷̦̆⎎̸̙̈͝⟊̷̻̹͗⍙̵͉͑☊ ̷͍͙̎☊ ̷̨̝̓̓⌖̸̱̈͛ ̶͙͎̓⏁̵̫̐̍⍙̶͙͂⌖̷̺̓⎎̸̩̻̐,̴̳͑̽ ̶͈̔͝⍾̶̙͉́⋏̸̩̬̀̅ ̴͙͍͋͠⍀̴͎̿͆⍙̸̼̞̑̊⍜̵̘̮̈́̏⌖̵̦̎͆⏃̶͎̈́͝⎐̶̘͓̂⟊̷̠̜͛⍀̵̢̦̈̿⌖̴͉̅̅͜⍙̴̡̂ ̵͓̑⍀̸̭͆͘ ̶͓͚͂͆⎐̷͓̮̐̄⟊̶̝͐⋔̴̩͠⋏̸̣̇̋ ̵̘͋⍀̸̱͈̋⎐̶̠̫̂́⊬̸̪͓̈́͒⌖̶̦̩͗̚ ̶̤̥͠⍜̷̮͖̉⌖̸̮͗͝⏃̵͍̪̈́ ̴̙͗͋⍾̶̝̗̍⋏̴̱̿̂⎐̵͕̣̇ ̸͕̜͝͝⌖̶̼͚͆͝ ̷̤͂⎅̷̢̰̀⍙̵̹͜͝⋔̶͖͔̈́̕⋏̴̦̓⏃̵͙͌͐☊⟊̴̘͑⍙̵̣́⋔̸͔̞͝.̶̺͔̀ ̸͎̆⌖̴̰͔̀͝⍙̶̯͍̚⌰̵̱̥̂⋏̷͉̻̓̚ ̶̲̋̏ͅ⌖̸͚̰͋⍙̶̯̗̈́͘⋏̸͖̪̑ ̶̠̬̽̀⍀̸̧̪̿⏚ ̸͎̪͐⟊̷̨͔͌⎍̵̼̗̊⎍̶̜͚̆⌖̶̬́⎎̸͖̉͆⋏̸͚͕͋⋔̵̨͎̿̀ ̷͉̅̇☊⌖̶͍̺̕ ̶͇͊̂⏁̶̙̮̓͝⍙̷͚͔̓⌖̷̳̟̅͗⎎̵͕̐ ̵̥̻̓☊⍾̵̟̋̉⟊̶͚͋☊ ̷̝̦̽̂⍀̵̘̣́͝⍙̶̫̉̈́⍜̴͖͗̀⌖̶̭̝̃⏃̷̛̫͝⎐̶̼̱̎̂⟊̶̪͛☊⍀̴̤̿̅͜⌖̶̡̏͝⍙̷̗̔,̶̣̃̐ ̵̢̤͠⍀̷͓̀☊ ̸̖́̚☍⋏̷͚̔̂⌰̵̠̋͛⌖̸̡͍͛⎐̶̲̑̏⋏̴̥̃͝⏚ ̶̓̚⊬⌖⏚⏚⍀☍ ̶̻̳͝☊⌖̵̪̞̚ ̸̥̣͛̈́⎅̸̨̱͛͝⍙̴̱͕̀⋔̸̠̉͋͜⋏̴̰̚⏃̴̨͂̈́⏚☊⟊̸̡̋̿⍙̸̫͇͛̀⋔̶̨̀ ̴͍̜͗͐⌖̷̛͖̈́⍙̸̪̒⌰̷̙̿̿⋏̷̳̖̐ ̸̢̈́̌⟊̶͖̲̈́⌿̸̦̻́̕⟊̶̢̾̈́⍀̷͕̗̊͐⍙̴̳͊.̵̗̤̅

Gilda kept her eyes glued to the paper like a kid to a static TV screen as she reached forward to tap the words. When that didn't do a thing to stop the pencil lines dancing across the paper Gilda took a step back and nodded. "Okay, that's freaky."

"Right?" Dash grinned.

"That was rule eight." Twilight turned back to the rules and passed it to Gilda. "And I think rule seven has a clue about what happened with Sky-Space."

"...Rule seven," Gilda began reading. "When the participants and leader agree to start the game in unorthodox conditions, such as being in multiple locations or a willing participant incapable of playing, the game creates a solution to try accommodating the situation. Example sleeping, question mark and...More of that garbled writing," she passed it back to Twilight and pointed it out.

"Magic Table," Twilight read allowed, earning an eye roll from Gilda who still heard garbling. "I guess that means we can't share information as easily as we hoped."

Gilda shrugged. "Fine. I guess I don't need to know everything about this junk. Besides, weren't we talking about the magic spreading around? We can care about Sky-Space later."

Ah'm with ya there," I tossed my two cents in. "Fer somethin' like this, we can only take it one problem at a time. And Ah say we only got one choice fer now."

"Then I believe we're in agreement then? No objections?" Rarity looked towards each of us to see who would speak up. None did. "Perfect. Then we can prepare the space tomorrow. Assuming Granny Smith will be alright with us borrowing the space."

"Eeyup," Mac answered. He's right. Once we tell Granny we're clearing out the back room, she'll be happier than a bee on honey glazed ham. She might even have us take a pass on our chores around the farm so we can focus on it. Poor Applebloom...

"In that case, we should head back home for the night so we can get some rest," Fluttershy offered. "While there's still some light out."

"AJ, can I just crash here for the night?" RD asked.

"Ah'll check with Granny but it shouldn't be an issue. Guest room's empty."

"I'll go ahead and take your spot in Rarity's car," Sunset said instantly.

"What, you don't want another ride?" Gilda chuckled.

"Not the way you drive," Sunset fired back with equal humor.

"Fair." Gilda came in on a street bike. I didn't know much about motorcycles but I knew the wrong pothole or tree root would do enough damage. The bike would be a goner too.

"How about we agree to meet back here, say, 10:00 AM at the latest?" Twilight asked. When the others agreed, she went to load Spike back in her bag. "And Fluttershy and I can stay in town to talk to Story."

There wasn't too much else to say after that. We tossed a couple more pleasantries and I and Gilda were properly introduced but after that there wasn't too much else to talk about that couldn't be saved for tomorrow.

Rarity's car and Gilda's bike pulled out of the farm and back towards the paved roads while I and Big Mac led Rainbow inside to ask Granny. Before we could even get the words out, Granny was calling for Applebloom to get one more set of silverware for Rainbow to join us for supper. Thankfully, all of us had plenty to talk about at the table that wasn't magic related.

But by the time we were heading upstairs to talk about our own business, both our phones started buzzing at the same time about a message. It was from Story directed to all of us and given how late in the day it was starting to get, it had caught our attention.

8 People: You, Story, Flutters, Dash, Pinks, Sunset...:

Hey girls. Sorry for late message but I need to tell you all something.

Is everything alright?

What's wrong?

U ok?

Yeah, I'm good. Flutters, Sunset, Dash, you know how I got important phone call before?

Yeah

Ye

Yes.

It's about that.

My mom asked if I could come home because a neighbor got in a car accident.

Wat?!

They ok?!

You daid athome? How condition?!

Condition good.

Are they alright?! When did it happen?

You said at home*

It happened yesterday. They came home today.

Yur mom surgen, yea? Wat surgry?

They needed surgery?!

Can they have visitors? I can keep company!

Me too

^^^^^

Calm down!

No surgery. Wasn't that bad.

She saw my Mom at the hospital is all and my mom helped her home.

Thank heavens!

Yay, no surgery!

It might have been best to have led with that, darling.

I didn't bring up the surgeon part!

My bad. Sry.

To be fair you and RD both have blue text.

Don't blame me. Rainbow has a RAINBOW of colors to choose from!

Wait.

Story. Why did you need to let us know? You said 'it will come up' back at the school.

Right. Well, that's because it's our teacher. Ms. Cheerilee.

WAT?!!!!!!

What?!

NO! IS SHE OKAY?!

How did it happen?! Is she okay?!

Rainbow and I didn't send anything back while the rest of the girls kept typing a mile a minute, taking whatever Story was trying to type and hiding it amongst their messages in the history. As for Rainbow and me, we just stared at one another in silent horror.

I get get well soon cards!

Did anything get broken? How is she doing?

Dose she need help wit anything? I know che doesnt have teachers aid.

I can have every student sign cards before Monday! Is she coming in on Monday?! Can she stay home?

Story has added 'Clockwork Teacher' to group'

GIRLS! Everyone slow down!

Oh

Clckwrk Teachr?

Crap! Yu werent sppsed to se that! So sorry!

...Keep it. It nice

Ms. Cheerilee? Is that you?

How are you doing?

Story tell bout crash! U gud?!

Rainbow! What was that?

Wut?

I see grammar like that I take points.

Huh?!

Rainbow only looked up from her phone to glare at me for laughing.

We didn't see you at school today. No one knows you were in an accident.

Good Sunset. Thank for takng time to txt well.

Ms. Cheerilee, are you okay?

I fine. Hard to type fast with ome hand.

Do you mean one hand?

After a few seconds, a notification popped up saying that Story was sending a picture to the chat. All the girls went completely silent in the texting as we waited for the loading bar to fill up. When it finally did after what felt like longer than it was, we saw a picture of Ms. Cheerilee lying on her couch. She was in old slacks that were a little short for her and a simple T-shirt; much different from the outfit she normally wore to school. Although, with all the injuries, no one faulted her for her clothes.

Across her body was numerous small bandages as well as one towards the center of her forehead that pushed her hair into this permanent cow lick. She had several pillows to help keep her head and leg elevated as she was holding the phone above her with her right hand. That last part was important because Ms. Cheerilee was left-handed. And she couldn't use her left hand due to the heavy cast it was in.

In fact, most of her injuries looked to be on her left side. She had this ankle compress on her left leg too. She was trying not to let it bother her too much as her frustration was instead set to the phone she was trying to type into as she held it above her.

Suddenly, a lot of stuff made sense. Why Ms. Cheerilee wasn't there for the club yesterday as well as classes today? Plus, none of the students were in the know about this. They probably wanted to let Ms. Cheerilee rest for a day before sending a swarm of phone calls and emails to act as more noise.

And we were just as concerned as any of those students would be. I mean, we are her students after all. And when we saw our teacher in pain like this, our only answer is to drop whatever we had going on to to make sure she was okay.

Author's Note

I found out something interesting with the garbled parts (This: ⏁⟒⌇⏁⟟⋏☌). Up until now, I wrote on Firefox. I decided to test Edge for a couple of weeks for other reasons and right away FimFic on Edge does not like it when I do a few tricks on top of alien characters. But apparently you can still copy paste the broken characters as they appear in the story and they copy/paste as normal. So if your browser's giving error blocks, that might help you see what the characters are supposed to look like.

Sorry for the delay between last chapter and this one. And also sorry in advance for the next short delay. I'm currently writing this on my 8~ year old laptop because a PC I got crashed due to hardware problems. Again. After sending it to the manufacturer where they replaced the same part. Yay...

I hope you enjoyed the chapter all the same! This story is part mystery after all, the group needs to come together to solve the problems that they find. Poor Ms. Cheerilee though...

Until next time everyone.
Cheers,
-Zeke

(16) Game Night

Pl⎅⍙ic⋏ F⍀rt⌖⍾⎅'s POV
⋏la⎍g'⎐ W⎅⎍ R⍀⍀⌿
⍙⌰⌿⊑ ⌰⎐ ⎐⌖⟒⋔⊑⎎⍙⌰⊬⊑

"I guess we are rivals after all, Fortuna," Stostine told me, rubbing it in even more. "Because I got even less than that."

"Is that a fact?" I asked boredly.

"Indeed. You want to know my whole life's story?" She finally dropped that fake craved smile. "My mother's dead and I hate my small town mayor of a dad. Thus why I am not 'living it up' as you seem to think I am. The end."

She let out a dull groan as she reached inside her robe, pulling out a waterskin that she had hidden. She was probably her pain and the woe-is-me story to try rending some kind of sympathy out of me. I just scoffed.

"That's it?"

"Yyyyeah," she droned, unscrewing the cap. "Not even an explanation as to why I have magic. On top of that, my Mom doesn't even have a name. I didn't forget, it just...doesn't exist." She let that try to sink in too as she took a long drink. "Which do you think is worse, Platick? Not having family? Or having memories of family that don't have faces?"

I wanted to shoot her back down but decided against it. Starting another fight wasn't worth it. Besides, I wasn't about to stoop to her level. If she wants to rub my face in it, fine. I'm not about to be that cruel.

So rather than give her any sort of response, I settled in against the wall and looked to the expressionless blue face of Ravathyra. As unsettling as it was, at least the new voice made it more bearable. She didn't remind me of the training dummies anymore.

"Well, on a lighter subject, that brings up something I've been meaning to ask. Ravathyra?"

"Let me guess," her voice suddenly spoke without anything moving. "On 'ow Ah don't 'ave a face, aye? Ya sure that's sunnier than yer contestin' edgy backstories?"

Edgy? Come on.

"...What's it like?" I asked carefully. "Does it...Can you feel anything?"

Thorn Wielder turned to listen to Ravathyra's answer. I chalked it up to her being curious as well. And after a moment, the thin line on Ravathyra's jaw shifted to a plain smile. It was the only time her face ever changed.

"Ah feel whenever Ah need ta. When Master Story describes the magic healin', err me gettin' hit from them mossy freaks we downed? Err the ale. Best part so far." As though to demonstrate that, she took another s—

"—arned Ah got 10 siblin's!"

Like a blink, Ravathyra wasn't drinking anymore. Her tankard now sat on the crate beside her as she, Thorn Wielder, and even Stostine were all sitting cross-legged on the ground where they were all set up before.

"T-Ten?! Wait." Stostine started looking around before her eyes rested on me. When she kept staring I stared back with a look that got increasingly uneasy. "Platick's moving!"

"He is?!" "Awake," Ravathyra and Thorn responded.

"What the..." Ricven let out a heavy yawn as he stretched from inside the large chair. He started rubbing his eyes as his long-winded yawn finally died out. "Was goin' on? An' who's screamin?"

"All awake," Thorn Wielder noted as she got up and walked to Glemerr who was still sawing logs with how loud her snoring was. At the same time, Vareén wordlessly peered up from the crate she had bedded down behind.

"We're back," Stostine answered vaguely. "We came back fro—ggaaAAHHH!" She clutched her side as she tensed from all the pain of her stab wound. "I-It came ba...Ahhhh!"

"I's alright lass. I's alright," Ravathyra cooed as she hurried over, discarding her gauntlets as she did. And as she crossed the room, I, Ricven, and Vareén all had our eyes following her with every step. As her voice sounded exactly the same as before, if not a tad less gruff and scratchy, her form was entirely different.

For one thing, she no longer had an empty blue head anymore. She had a brown skin that looked somewhat red in the light with brighter scarlet hair spilling out from the top of her head. All of it was braided into larger locks with metal tips at the end to help keep its shape. Then, said braids were tied up in a high and tight ponytail.

Her armor was drastically different too. Before it was only this one solid color armor that had no design to it; it was like what a kid thought basic armor looked like. But now it was obviously chain mail, with each individual chain made up with a golden brown brass. There were also a few iron plates in strategic spots for added defense, each with unique pictures either painted on or carved into the metal. But they were blurry and impossible to interpret as they were.

Finally, resting around her neck was a very obviously displayed necklace that had a design matching the front of her shield; a mountain's outline with a ruby underneath it. I knew from a memory forcing its way into my mind that this was a holy symbol; something important for religious types.

Ravathyra kneeled beside Stostine and took the mage's hand in her own, holding her in place with the other. "Shhhhh, shh-shh-shh. I's okay. We're all 'ere. Jus' breathe, alright? Breathe. It'll be fine. Fer all that pain ya got, jus' put it towards crushin' me hand. Don' worry. Ah can take it."

Stostine tried following her instructions, seizing in pain and trying as hard as she could to break the Dwarf's knuckles. She made no progress but it helped as she went from screaming to tightening her jaw as if to defy her lungs.

"Uh-uh. None a' that," Ravathyra chastised. "Keep that jaw open, missy! We can't have ya go grindin' them teeth. The world'll lose out on another darlin' smile otherwise."

Ricven gave a low chuckle. "My, that is a great line. Lady Ravathyra, ya mind if I steal that?"

"Take what ya want. I'd rather ya trade me though," she told him. "Get me a cloth and damp it in cold wa'er. An' Thorn? Get us some more a that bloodmoss, would ya? The lass's due fer some clean bandages."

Thorn Wielder nodded and worked to follow her orders while Ricven slid out of his chair and lazily pulled out a waterskin . At the same time, Vareén stood up and walked next to me as Ravathyra started to lay Stostine down on her back.

"What happened?" Vareén asked me in Elvish.

"No idea." I shook my head with the same language on my tongue. "I asked the Dwarf whether she could feel anything and suddenly she looked different. And Stostine forget she had a hole in her gut."

"I didn't forget," Stostine groaned from the ground. Also in Elvish. Oh right, she knows Elvish. Then she tried sitting up to face us. "It was gone...Didn't know it'd come bac—urrrgggh!"

"Stay still Stos," Ravathyra told her. "Don't bother gettin' up, Ah'ma jus' force ya right back down. Don' think Ah won't wake Glemerr fer that, either." Stostine gave a heavy sigh but didn't say anything else. "As fer you two glooms," Ravathyra glanced at us over her shoulder. "We'll answer yer questions so start askin' if ya want. Ah can multitask."

"Alright then," Vareén accepted after a moment. "How's come you suddenly know first aid?"

"Heh. Well, admittedly, Ah don' know much," she told us. "But Ah've given mah fair share of help at the church. Even helped assist a few births too."

Stostine chuckled weakly. "I can assure you, I am not pregnant."

"Well not anymore," Ravathyra smiled back to her. "Remember? It was a bouncin', baby javelin."

"Without a doubt, one a' the ugliest babies I've eva seen," Ricven kept it going. "Hold a tick, you said church? What church?"

"It's known as the Grand. The-The Grand...erm..." Ravathyra shook her head and got back to work on Stostine's wound. "Dang. Guess the Dash lass missed a few spots. Heheh. Dash Lass. Ah think Ah'll call 'er that from now. Rolls off the tongue nicely."

"You mean your Player?" I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"In sky," Thorn Wielder said, pointing straight up. "We go at sky. Meet other. Rava get face."

"The sky? Other?" I tried deciphering that but I, and Vareén and Ricven, looked completely lost. "Someone want to elaborate?"

"That's sort of difficult," Stostine said as she kept her back straight. By this point, Ravathyra was wrapping Stostine's abdomen with bandages laced with bloodmoss while she instructed Ricven to dab Stostine's forehead with the cloth. "When Rava was answering your feeling question, all of you stopped moving. Like Sildar."

I glanced over at the guy who...yep. Hadn't moved. His leg was still broken and he was stuck in place, staring at the fire. "Did he move?"

"All no awake," said Thorn. "We go at sky. Come at cave now."

"Ya say that as if you've been gone awhile," Ricven noticed. "Seein' as how Miss Stostine forgot about her wound, I can only assume it's been some time."

"About two hours." Ravathyra finished the bandage and took out her bag laying it down for Stostine to use as a pillow. "Maybe more, maybe less. Hard ta tell when yer standin' far in the sky."

"'In the sky,' you all keep saying that," Vareén lamented. "It's not helping."

"Unfortunately, that's all there is," Ravathyra filled in. "One second we're 'ere, the next? Miles in the sky, screamin' our throats out. Not fallin' though. Jus'... standin' there."

"Well, you two were screaming," Stostine said as everyone backed off to give her some air. "I was calm as I recall."

"Right, right. You were the brave 'un," Ravathyra dismissed with an eyeroll. "Either way, we calmed down and found another person like us. Had a Player an' everythin'."

"You mean there's others like us?" Ricven rose an eyebrow. "Did they have any answers?"

"Questions, actually," Stostine corrected. "We watched them...become aware? She acted like this world was real and then suddenly knew about her Player and the Master."

"So like us at the start then?" I frowned. "That means, so far, we've been around the longest."

"Ah think we may be the first," Ravathyra suggested. "Gekio, the girl from the sky, said she 'ad a group of 'er own in Skel. But she didn't think any of 'em had Players themselves."

"In Skel?" Ricven sighed. "That's far north from here. We're talkin' a month's travel at least! And that's without runnin' inta some kinda problem."

"Ah'm more concerned with what's goin' on with 'er," the Dwarf told. "Think about it. If she's got a Player like us, then she's sittin' there, surrounded by folk who ain't awake like her 'til the Master meets their Players. Least we're in a group."

I hummed dully. "Sure. Here's something else though. Her Player's not one of ours, right? So what happens to her when our Players come back and the world starts moving again? Is time still frozen for her or is she free?"

"That...is a very good question," Stostine admitted. She folded her hands together as she eyed the ceiling. "Sadly, we do not have any way to verify that."

"On the contrary, we sorta do." Ricven wandered back towards his chair. "We're assumin' her group will meet up like ours eventually, yeah? When it does, we'll still be here without our Players. We'll find out first hand."

"Ah wish we had a way ta talk to 'er." Ravathyra sighed. "Ah don't think a lass like her gets lonely easy but who knows if we'll ever see 'er again."

Stostine bit her lip. "...There are some solutions."

I gave her a look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Stostine saw my expression and returned one equally annoyed. "We will not have access to it for some time. However, there are spells that exist for long distance communication."

"You're referrin' ta Sending, ain'tcha?" When Ricven saw the rest of our faces he turned to the full group. "Sending's a spell that let's ya speak a message long distances. Even ta other planes of existence."

"Planes?" Vareén repeated, curiosity peaked.

"Basically, other worlds," Ricven defined. "Let's say that this 'sky place' these three say they wound up in is real." "Yes," Thorn Wielder answered. "...Right," Ricven said carefully. "If it wasn't from Prima, our plane, and was instead a different plane, we could use Sending ta speak ta whoever's there. Provided we know 'em."

"Would that work on our Players too?" Ravathyra asked.

Ricven moved to answer but froze in place. Not like Sildar but more like his mind needed a minute to register. "I...I-I dunno. Admittedly, Lady Ravathyra, the thought had not occurred."

"But could it?" I asked him.

"...I-It's neva been done," he said slowly.

"Obviously," I told him. "We're the first ones to have Players. Probably."

"No, I know that, but I meant..." He scratched his head. "I-I mean...It ain't all-powerful. It's just. If it was, we'd 'ave heard a' someone that could speak ta the gods directly."

"Would ya?" Ravathyra crossed her arms. "Comin' from someone who now knows folk strong enough fer that kinda magic, they already speak ta their gods. In a more modest form, aye, but still speakin'. Although, how would anyone outside a' their church know the difference? If they ask me, Ah'd say Ah speak wit' me goddess ev'ry day."

"And arcane practitioners would not bother," Stostine reasoned. "There is plenty of proof that the gods exist in this world. Divine magic, blessings, the two suns. What would using a spell like Sending, a spell that does not require the target to respond, on a god prove? Either they respond and people claim the wizard is crazy or they do not respond and nothing changes."

"Maybe they just want to see what happens. Decide to screw with something they don't understand." I shrugged. "Sounds like something magic people would do."

"Maybe it's not worth caring," Vareén shot us all a glare. "Allow me to remind you all something. This world's fake. Created by a Master who's age is younger than any of our own."

"Ya sure on that?" Ricven challenged with a sly smirk. "Maybe you don't remember, but we were created about four days ago. We're the young ones. Furthermore, if our memories are from a world created by the Master, that means we only know as much as he does. In fact, I know we know less. There's secrets a' this world he created that we don't know."

"Alright. Ah think it's mah turn ta bring up some midlife crisis philosophy," Ravathyra said as she started putting her gauntlets back on. "Ah've been lettin' you an' all yer negative attitudes ramble fer long enough."

"I'm pointing out how it i—" "Nope! No excuses. Mah turn," Ravathyra gave Vareén a stiff frown that made her go quiet.

"...Some of ya say this world's fake, aye? Ah hear it from plenty a' ya. But ya keep twirlin' 'round the fact that we're a part a' this world too. We got memories, an' family, an' experiences. True, maybe it ain't all sunshine an' lollipops." She glanced towards me, and then Stostine, for a second. "But it matters enough apparently. Y'all arr keenly aware that these stories are made up by kids but we're so hung up on what binds us 'ere all the same.

"Ricven? Ya pointed out we're only four days old, aye?" She waited for him to nod before rested her gauntlets on her hips. "Well, in that four days, I, Glemerr, an' Stostine all got somethin' outta our Players. Somethin' that filled us out jus' that much more. An' we all know what our Player's are like. Are they cruel? Are they uncarin'? Ah know mine ain't. An' from what Ah've 'eard an' seen a' yers, Ah don't think any a' them are eitha! Look, Ah know it ain't easy. Ah know it first 'and. Up 'til now, Ah grumbled about havin' it the worst. Ferget not havin' a history, Ah didn' 'ave a face! But Ah 'eld out 'til mah Player came through. An' what Ah said as a grump still stands. Moment Ah see 'er Ah'm givin' her a right bump ta the noggin!

"But all a you? Yer spittin' on the small moments they gave ya! They at least came up with somethin' when they coulda done nothin'. If mah ugly, stoic head weren't proof enough, the Master didn't force 'em ta come up with what ya look like. Ya coulda been as bleach blue as me but nah. They decided ta think of it. Ya got faces, moments in time, history ya can fall back on. An' yeah, some of us got some problems. Stostine's got that illness. Platick's got beef with his name. Thorn lost 'er forest. But like Ricven's been sayin', this is all one grand story! Amirite? So then why is it a bunch a' sweet, little girls made somethin' that feel so destitute on the surface?"

Vareén looked away from Ravathyra, biting her lip before noticing that I had a clear view of her concern. Her eyes locked with mine before she forced her hood further over her head so no one could see her.

So she's got a problem too, I surmised. Why indeed.

"Ya got yer reasons fer hangin' yer heads. Ah get it. Ah do," she started to finish. "But as someone who was just given some of a life of 'er own, maybe give 'em a smidge longer than four days 'fore ya blame 'em fer not gettin' it all filled in! Alrigh'?! Don'tcha think that's a fair request ta ask of 'em?"

All of us took a minute as Ravathyra stood next to the fireplace, looking between each of us individually. None of us were giving her any applause nor did we plan to. If anything, most of us just started looking anywhere else that wasn't at her.

It's all easy for her to say, I thought. She's the one that just got everything she's wanted for... I bit my tongue. That thought was such a bad taste in my mouth. Like she said, she had it worse than everyone else. Everything I said just felt entitled. Like something some scum noble would whine about.

When I realized that, I looked towards Stostine. She was staring at the ceiling with her eyes moving around as if she was studying something important. She didn't look too thrilled about any of it either. Just about everyone shared that same look. Probably because Ravathyra was right.

So I looked to Thorn Wielder. She was the one who I felt probably had all of her history too. She had so much of it that I knew about it. Heck, I knew more about her and Scorched Acrine than I did my own life. It made sense she was the only one that could keep looking at Ravathyra after that speech. Not even Ricven managed to do that.

Still, she seemed apprehensive. Was it because the Dwarf brought up her forest?

Finally, I reached for the necklace I had tucked under my armor. A platinum coin on a string with an emblem on it. I wasn't there, or 'awake' exactly, but I knew it was Applejack that gave me some sort of memento of the Fortuna name. Why?

This name was nothing. It was worse than nothing; it was a curse. The only thing I knew about this name was all the problems that came with it. Not to mention that I needed to keep as many people from figuring out about it as possible. If I didn't, life would just get harder. And why? Who was after me? What did they want? I had no idea. As far as I knew, they did it for sick kicks and this coin was just a stupid target for people to look for.

All of that only made it more confusing. Confusing because I cared. Why do I care so much about this dumb thing? There's no point! It would be easier to get rid of it. But every time the thought crossed my mind some ridiculous instinct felt like throttling me every time. Then my throat just feels tight. Why does it feel tight?

Why do I care?

"Platick?" Thorn Wielder called quietly. "Face water."

What? I glanced up at her and felt the heat of the fire hit my cheeks in this odd way. By instinct, I went to scratch my face and...

And I stared right back at the ground and started rubbing my face dry. Gahh! None of them get to see that! None of them. Stupid farm girl! Why does this necklace matter?! Just. Just throw it...urggh...no...

I was worried who other than Thorn Wielder saw that but I wasn't about to look up now. That would only prove it to anyone that thought I was... I hate all of this.

"Two weeks," Ricven said without his jovial voice.

"Two weeks fer wha'?" Ravathyra asked.

"I'm givin' Rarity two weeks." I looked up and saw Ricven staring into the fire. The same look he had as when we first ended up stuck in here. "Knowin' her type, I know she's one fer a finer hand fer detail."

"Uh...I think you mean finer eye for detail," Stostine corrected awkwardly.

"Eye? How're ya supposed ta do any work with an eye? That don't make a blink a' sense." Ricven shook his head.

"...Lick," I told him, too confused to remember to keep my head down. "People say 'lick of sense.'"

"Lick? First eyes, now tongues? You and Miss Stostine have some weird kinks," the gnome shot both of us a look that made us look at the other to see if we were the crazy ones.

"Agreed," Vareén eyed the Dwarf from under her hood.

"Thank you," Ricven accepted it by mistake. "I think they should honestly keep their perverse thoughts to—"

"Not that you oblivious dork." Vareén turned her glare to Ricven until he shut up. Then she leveled it back at Ravathyra. "Admittedly, my Player Twilight did give me some history. Not enough to say I have a life, but some. Two weeks is fair. After that? They won't get a pass."

I scoffed. "Please. What would you all even do? We're stuck in here."

"With enough strength." Ricven spoke level as he kept staring at the fire. "One could deliver more than just words through the planes."

"As Ah said." Ravathyra stood firm. "Give 'em time. Threatenin' 'em like this ain't fair! Fer all we know, they may not even know what's goin' on. They're probably innocent in this."

"No. My Player," Thorn Wielder told all of us. "My Player mine. You no Fluttershy."

"...Yes," Stostine breathed as she closed her eyes. "This is all in the pretense that we each are made by our own Players. Just because one of us is unhappy does not mean that you get to harm all of the girls. That is not fair."

"Fluttershy mine," Thorn Wielder insisted.

"Fine," Vareén relented. "I guess that means the Fluttershy and Rainbow girls are fine. But Ravathyra? If these girls are as innocent and great as you claim, then what we're asking for shouldn't be a problem. They're teenagers. They're not that busy."

Ravathyra met her stare with a defiant one of her own. I half expected there to be some sort of shouting match or a fight to break out. Ravathyra did seem much more devout now. However, rather than that, Vareén watched as the Dwarf suddenly cracked a bright smile.

"Yeah! Ya got a point there." She nodded. "There ain't nothin' ta be worried 'bout. So jus' ya wait Vareén. Them girls'll come through in no time. And no amount a' negativity will make me fold ta that."

Vareén tried to scoff but it caught in her throat when Ravathyra's calm smile kept pounding against her sneer. So much so that eventually Vareén turned away. "You know, I think I preferred you when you were gruff and angry."

"Ah didn't," she returned. Then she started to approach the elven archer. "In fact, Ah think ya need a hug, Ms. Edgelord."

Vareén abruptly backed away. "No. Don't you dare."

"Word of warning," Stostine smile as her eyes stayed closed. "Rava's hugs are a little bone crushing."

"In that case, still no," Vareén enforced as she walked around crates in order to put something between her and the grinning armored Dwarf.

"Rava?" Ricven had a smile play along his face. "Is that supposed ta be a nickname a' sorts?"

"A' course it is!" Ravathyra left Vareén alone and turned to the gnome next. "After all, Ravathyra Dagarkin's admittedly a mouthful. Rava's much more pleasant an' faster ta roll out, aye?"

"Why, I think you may be right, Lady Rava," Ricven said in a mock bow. "And while I got the chance I must say, I am in love with that brilliant new face a' yours."

'Rava' giggled for a moment. "Thank ye Ricven! You're a sweet one."

"Am I?" He asked with a shift in tone that made most of us roll our eyes. "Exactly how sweet are we talkin'?"

"An' ya jus' soured up." Her eyes did all the laughing for her while her smile stayed friendly. The room felt a little lighter as she said that. "Maybe if ya didn't go in fer the kill so quick, the ladies wouldn' mind."

"Uh. I-I'll keep that in mind," Ricven said awkwardly with a chuckle.

"AaahhhAAaAHhhhhAhh...AaaaaaAAhAhhHHHAAaaahh...mmph-mmm..."

We all turned to watch Glemerr moving her head back and forth as she let out this long yawn that almost sounded like throat exercises before smacking her lips like a bored child. "Aaahhhh...Hey guys," she yawned out. "Glemerr miss anything?"

"You've been asleep the whole time?" I stared.

"Yep! Glemerr needs her beauty sleep too!" She sat up and looked around at all of us. We had formed up in a wide circle when we had talked. "Were y'all tellin' stories?"

"Rava," Stostine called out. "I think you may have to tell that speech again."

"...Aw, screw that," 'Rava' declared before turning on her heel. "Ah'm gettin' more ale. All that depressed talk made me throat dry as a mound."

Glemerr stared hard at the back of her bright red-headed ponytail as I could almost see steam rising out of her ears. "Hey, are you da Dwarf?" She asked bluntly.

"Yep," Rava called out from over her shoulder. "Ravathyra Dagarkin at yer service, Glemerr. Or Rava fer short."

Glemerr said nothing as she squinted her eyes and stared intensely at the back of Rava's head as a thought came to my mind. No, I thought. No, she can't be that stupid.

But as I prayed she wouldn't say what I think she would, Glemerr cracked open her jaw. "Really? Ya look different dough. Did you—" "She has a face," I nearly yelled.

"Nah, dat ain't it," Glemerr dismissed with a waved hand. Then, as I was screaming into my hands, it all connected for her. "Oh! Ah got it! Yer smilin' now! It looks great!"

Rava giggled again. "Ah know it! Ah'm glad ye noticed Glemerr." She went along with it anyway.

"Ah always notice smiles," the half-orc told her. Then she flinched. "Ugh. Mah 'ead hurts. A lot...Is there more ale?"

"There's always ale," Rava said dreamily. "I'll pour ya a pint. In fact, one fer everyone comin' right up."

Sunset's POV
Sweet Apple Acres Barn
Saturday, 5:46 PM

I and a few of the other girls let ourselves fall into our seats from inside a now semi-clean back room. It had taken us all day and nearly five trips to the dump, but the room was finally cleared out well enough. Like Applejack told us, there was a large hexagonal table in the middle of the room set with a green cloth iconic with poker tables. And aside from the stains and a few rips and tears along the cloth, the table was great.

Then, Applejack gathered chairs together from either the barn or her house directly. None of them matched but there were enough for a full group to play. Tonight.

Earlier this morning I and the girls paid a visit to Ms. Cheerilee to see how she was doing. Aside from us and Story, no one knew what happened to her; a car accident. From how she describes it, all four of her tires suddenly ripped apart as she was driving down the street. She careened into a telephone pole and some kids who were nearby called 9-1-1.

The doctors say she was lucky she only got the injuries she did. Her car swerved and hit the pole driver's side first. And somehow, all she got was cuts and bruises, her left arm broken, and a badly rolled ankle. With proper healing, the doctor says she should be okay to walk freely in two weeks.

We originally went over there to check up on her and see if there was anything we could do to help but instead she ended up helping us. When she asked about the magic she saw flowing out of us and into the game we explained most of what had happened as well as our plan to get Story's other group to play at the barn.

"Why not have a game tonight?" Cheerilee proposed.

"Tonight?" Pinkie's eyes lit up. "You mean like a surprise game night party?!"

"Ah ain't sure that's somethin' we can pull off," Applejack told her. "Ta see if the magic spread, we need ta round up Story's group from Wednesday. We already got mah brother and another girl but there's still four other folks ta ask."

But Ms. Cheerilee shook her head. "I meant, what about your group? If you're still playing, why not have your game tonight and the other group's tomorrow? It is the weekend. And you would be able to watch the magic twice over."

At first we didn't know if that was something that Story would go along with but again, Ms. Cheerilee came through. She told him to go since, because she wouldn't make it to school this week, our game on Wednesday would be cancelled. And Cheerilee would feel terrible if she was the reason her students couldn't have fun!

Then, as though that wasn't enough, she agreed that we should tell Story about magic. The sooner the better. She reminded us that the rule against talking about magic was to keep the students safe from people outside the school. So if Principal Celestia had anything to say about it, we were told to point her to Ms. Cheerilee.

With that weight off our shoulders, all of us ran back to Sweet Apple Acres to help Big Mac and Gilda finish the back room in record time. Which left most of us resting while some of the girls went to get food and drinks for the game.

"We're back," Rarity called from out in the barn proper. And speaking of...

After a few seconds, Rarity walked into the room and brushed open the curtain we had put up at the entrance. We didn't have a door to replace the old one so this was our next best plan.

Rarity opened her mouth to speak but paused for a moment to enjoy the blast of cool air that greeted her. "Sorry for the delay. Is everything ready?"

"It better be," Gilda groaned. She was straddling her chair so that she could prop her head on the back of it. "Mac and I've been at this since the morning before all of you snuck off. If there's any more crap, you're doing it."

Rarity gave Gilda a pout before switching it into a sly smirk. "Such a shame. And after Rainbow Dash had spent so long begging that we get pizza for all of us tonight. But, if you would prefer to lie do—" "Alright, alright, I'll play nice. Fine," Gilda surrendered through gritted teeth.

Rarity bore a triumphant grin as Rainbow shuffled past her with four pizza boxes balanced on one hand. "Hey girls! AJ and Pinkie are getting the drinks ready. You all set?"

"I think so." Fluttershy settled into her seat. "I feel a little nervous though."

"Why?" Gilda scoffed. "Isn't all the weird crap that's happened to you outside of the game sessions? You said all that happens here is glow-y dice."

"So far, yes." Twilight nodded. "But this is still new to us. And this time we're playing the game with you and Applejack's brother watching." Fluttershy gave a silent nod. Maybe that was the real reason she was nervous.

"We'll be fine," I told them. "We're all here together. If anything happens, we'll be here to handle it."

"Yeah. You don't have anything to worry about Fluttershy," Rainbow said before setting the pizza pile down between all of us. "And I got a pizza pepperoni deluxe for you!"

Fluttershy smiled happily as Gilda rolled her eyes. "One's of these is half Hawaiian-style too," Dash added, making Gilda grin as Fluttershy's smile curdled for a moment.

"By the way Rainbow Dash?" I got her attention before opening the pizza on top. Cheese. Fine by me. "You left a couple of papers on the table before you went with Rarity to get the food. All of them were garbled. What're they about?"

"Oh yeah, those," she said before sitting at the chair where those papers still were. "Remember how Story left me that book? Well, it had a bunch of weird charts and names so I messed around with it. I ended up finding some cool sounding names for all of Ravathyra's brothers and sisters."

"Right," Rarity hummed. "You said that she had ten siblings, was it? That seems like a rather arduous task."

Twilight didn't seem as pleased about that. "Wait. Did you say you 'messed around with' the magic that we've been trying to understand?"

"..." We watched in real time as Rainbow realized what Twilight meant and then remembered something else that calmed her down. "It's fine though! There wasn't any magic when I did it! Besides, I didn't have any actual dice so I only rolled dice with a phone app I found."

I chuckled. "From what we've seen so far, magic doesn't work well with technology. Unless it's specially designed for it." Twilight snickered a bit at that herself. "I think she's in the clear. You should probably buy some dice eventually though Dash."

"Oh. Ya don' gah dice?" Gilda asked through a slice of pizza in her mouth. She wiped her fingers on her jeans and got up. "Gimme a minute. Ah gah some."

"Really?"

Gilda took a second to swallow her food and held the crust in her hand. "Yeah. I got a saddlebag on my bike where I stuff all my junk. I got too much dice anyway so you can have some of 'em. I'll be back."

"Thanks Gilda," Rainbow called back as Gilda ducked through the curtain.

Rarity settled into her seat. "So you said you found names for all of the siblings?"

"Yeah," Rainbow switched gears and looked at the papers in front of her. "She had ten of 'em so I had to figure out how old they were, brother or sister, their names, and then I had to figure out their backstories. I don't really know how much is enough though."

"Enough for what?"

"For Ravathyra." Rainbow sounded as if it were so obvious. "I mean it's her brothers and sisters, right? If I had any of those I'd want them to be as real as possible too."

I frowned. "Are you trying to make a life story for each of them?"

"Obviously! That's what I just said!" Rainbow crossed her arms. "Kinda wishing she didn't have this many siblings though. Wait, is that a bad thing to say?"

I took a low breath and looked her in the eye. "Rainbow Dash. I don't think you should take all of this so seriously. Magic or not, this all stems from a game."

"Me?" She frowned. "What about you? You're the one freaking out about magic spreading to everyone."

"That's different," I defended.

"How?"

"...Look. What I meant was, I know what you told us. About Sky-Space. About seeing Ravathyra looking so odd. But even then, I'm not sure if you should take it the way you are right now."

Rainbow stared me down for a second. "Then how am I supposed to take it? I made a person with my mind. So did Gilda. And we were watching them! They were talking about stuff I never knew before. How do you even explain that?"

"Simple." Twilight folded her arms. "Programmed Illusion."

"What?" Dash turned to her.

"An illusion?" Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"Think about it." Twilight frowned. "The dice and materials at the game glow. Writing appears when needed. We saw a moving image on a screen. Only we can see it. It's obvious that all of this is some sort of illusory magic. So the Sky-Space phenomenon you and Gilda watched was more than likely a programmed illusion created with the events of the game."

I watched Rainbow's eye twitch. "No. No way! That was real! All of it was!"

"Did you feel anything?" Twilight shifted to the offensive. "You were miles in the sky, yes? Did you feel the breeze? Was the air thinner up there? Could you feel the floor? Could you feel anything?"

"There was no floor," Rainbow insisted. "You can't feel what's not there!"

"Exactly my point," Twilight confirmed with a smile. "What if none of it was there? An illusion. An illusion programmed to make you see what the magic wanted you to see."

"We-Well...If it's all an illusion then why is everyone so worried about it, huh?" Rainbow glared. "If it's all fake then there's nothing to worry about!"

"Wrong." Twilight straightened up. "Illusions can be just as dangerous as anything else. If everyone started seeing monsters chase after them, real or not, there would be chaos. That's what we need to make sure doesn't happen."

"But all of it?" Rarity questioned. "The lights and such I can imagine but us falling asleep? And this Sky-Space? That's an illusion too?"

"..." Rainbow glanced around the table, looking for something specific. I started tracking her gaze as she checked her pockets, then eyed everyone's piles of dice. She was checking each of them carefully.

"That's what makes it a programmed illusion," Twilight went on. "It has specific details or triggers. Sleeping may be a result of it."

Rainbow settled her eyes on my dice, even standing up a little. She was searching mine even carefully before something started to cross her mind. She then quickly glanced at Fluttershy's dice.

What is she...NO!

The same time Rainbow found it, in Fluttershy's pile of dice, we both lunged forward. Fluttershy made an 'eeeep!' noise as she ducked away with her pizza as her dice went flying. My hand landed on top of Rainbow's fist.

Crap!

"Rainbow Dash. Don't," I told her, pinning her fist to the table so she didn't have a chance to roll it. "What would this even accomplish?!"

"I can prove it's not fake," Rainbow told us. "All of us. Right now. We can go to Sky-Space and I can show you it's real!"

"You don't even know if it would cause Sky-Space," Rarity accused. "For all we know, it would require Story to make it work. Darling, this is more harm than it's worth!"

"But it's an illusion, right?" Rainbow asked, mocking Twilight's tone. "If we know it's fake then what harm's an illusion do?"

"Drop. The. Dice," I told her carefully as Fluttershy shuffled away from us. "This won't help."

"..." Rainbow Dash racked her brain for a minute to try and think of some way to make me play along with this. After a moment, her eyes told me she found something. "Stostine was there."

I took in a breath and froze.

"Stostine, your girl, she was there," Rainbow went on. "So was Thorn Wielder." Fluttershy stopped moving at that. "They were there. They had your voices. Well, sorta, it was the voices you gave them. Same thing! They were talking about everything. Stostine was trying to understand it, just like you were. They knew who we were."

Even Twilight felt a chill go down her spine "They did what?"

"You heard me." Rainbow shot her a look before turning back to me. "They talked about all this stuff I didn't get. Master. Player. Haze. Waking up. Hearing voices. Our voices," she stressed. "There's no way it was all fake. Sunset. You gotta believe me!"

I said nothing. I was still holding Rainbow hand to the table but I was shaking. Honestly, she could have torn herself free and rolled and I would be too confused to blink. The same was true about Twi and Fluttershy. No one else was in the room to hear this though.

This...This isn't. I started chewing my lip like a starving dog. That's not illusion. Even if it was a programmed illusion like Twilight thinks, it doesn't feel right. It sounds more like...Like...

Dunamancy. It all came back to that, didn't it?

"Not tonight," I told her. "Rainbow Dash, we can try Sky-Space later but not. Tonight."

"Sunset?" Twilight gave me a look.

"This might be more than illusions," I told her, earning a sigh of relief from Rainbow Dash. "I really hope it's not but...We can't do it now."

"Tomorrow then," Rainbow pressed. "It's real. They're real! I know it."

"Sunset? Is everything okay?" Fluttershy asked me. Rainbow didn't see the worry on my face but it was there.

No, I thought by instinct. "No it's not," I said. By accident. ugh... But when their eyes all fell on my harder, I grimaced. "Just...We should play the game. Play it and act as much like we think our characters do. No matter how frustrating it might get. Okay?"

Everyone started to give me a real odd look. "What is that supposed to mean?" Rarity asked.

Oh boy. How do I explain this? I took a breath through my teeth and let go of Rainbow's fist. She didn't seem like she was about to roll it at least. "So, this will be hard, but...We need to try and keep everything stable. If we try and act in a way that may be different from our characters, there may be...consequences."

"You know, for keeping secrets, you girls talk pretty loud."

All of us tensed up as Gilda, accompanied by Applejack and Pinkie, pulled back the curtain. They were the only ones there. Thank Celestia.

"Story's not here yet is he?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nope. But it'll be any minute," Applejack said. With two pitchers held in one hand, she used the other to gesture to her phone. "Big Mac just messaged me. Spotted Story's car at the main road an' he's leadin' 'em in. But we got long enough fer you ta spill some beans, sugarcube."

Just...great. I rubbed my eyes. "Alright. Short version? It's not illusion magic. It's something else. Something old and dangerous."

"So a super doozy?" Pinkie asked as she started setting down cups.

"That sounds about right," Rarity deadpanned.

"From our end? I think we're fine. In fact, we are the safest anyone can be," I went on with an ironic chuckle. "But to keep it that way, we need to play like these characters are...Are real."

"So then there's nothin' ta worry 'bout an' we're totally fine? Why don't that match the face yer wearin'?" AJ set down the pitchers next.

"That..." I heard the sound of engines outside the barn. "Takes longer to explain. Listen, I know this all sounds crazy. But I—" "Ya need us ta trust ya? Yeah?"

I watched all the girls around me all turn and smile. Each of them were genuine and not wavering in the slightest. Even Gilda, while a little haggard, gave me a nod after she saw the amount of trust all my friends had in me. We were all on the same page.

"We're with you," Rainbow assured.

"'Til the tippy top!" Pinkie added.

"We'll help get to the bottom of this Sunset. You have our word," Rarity included. The others all started to add in their own encouragement at the same time we heard car doors.

"Alright then. In that case, all we need to do is play along. Play as our characters as if it's just a regular game and there's nothing to worry about."

"Playin' a sourpuss rogue ain't mah idea a' fun," Applejack admitted. "But Ah think Ah can manage. Deal me in." She sat next to me and flashed me another smile. Everyone else who was standing followed her lead and soon enough we were all ready to enjoy an, admittedly weird, game night.

I love my friends.

Author's Note

Starting next chapter, the story will be following the game. And since the group's meeting outside of the school, that means they don't really have a time limit for how long they can play. Which means back to the D&D world for a while.

And right before that happens I wanted to post this: Thorn Wielder's Character Sheet. Before I had posted her lvl 1 sheet back on ch. 9 but I'm putting her lvl 2 sheet here. Instead of editing the character sheets, I copy them and save a new one with the new level. It helps in case I need to use the lower level ones later. For...Some reason...

ChaosStar0 pointing out in a comment that Fluttershy got a subclass at level two; which is basically a specialty that Fluttershy has for Thorn Wielder. Everyone else gets one of those at level three except Sunset who's had her own since the beginning. Although that won't be shown off just yet. Sorry! :twilightsmile:

That aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! As I said, the mystery stuff will trade out for the adventure next chapter. So until next time!

Cheers,
-Zeke

(17) Where We Left Off

Story's POV
Sweet Apple Acres
Saturday 5:57 PM

Big Mac and I got to work pulling out everything I had stored up in my trunk, from vinyl maps to small boxes of miniatures all split up and organized. Since the club was at school, I had to get there early and Ms. Cheerilee had to let me into her class to stow it all in her room. Because of that I couldn't really bring everything except for the essentials.

But this time? Nah, screw essentials! Without worrying about smuggling stuff onto schoolgrounds, I was free to bring as much extra stuff as I wanted. I mean, I am a drama nut after all. Bringing small props for a performance seems pretty par for the course.

Besides, from how Ms. Cheerilee described it, both the girls and Gilda and Big Mac cleared out this room for D&D nights. I don't know who among them came up with that idea but if Gilda of all people was coming in to help then that meant I couldn't be the only one slacking off here.

"So Mac," I started. "Your family's really okay with us using the barn like this?"

"Eeyup." He had my bag and a few maps slung over his shoulder.

"Awesome." I grinned. "One of these days I really need to meet Granny Smith. She seems so nice!"

"Eeyup!"

We strolled through the main doors and Mac took a moment to close one of them while I took in the space. The barn air felt stale and the heat had already hit me but I didn't mind for now. I figured the girls had something in mind to keep the heat from bothering us. Aside from that, the place looked good. There was junk and farm stuff piled along the sides of the barn and some dusty floodlights lighting up the place but the center path looked neatly cleared out.

But it was the back of the barn that looked the most cleaned up. One side had some car hidden under a tarp with a few workbenches full of tools and supplies but the other was entirely organized. Not a single shred of trash as a single doorway stood proudly with a heavy cloth acting as the door.

"Wait a second, all of you made up some stupid voice?"

"What you call stupid, Gilda, I would call investing! Besides, it was all in good fun at the time."

"Fer most of us we don' really have some over the top voice. That's mostly Rare an' Pinkie."

"Ah dink ya mean Ricven an' Glemerr!"

I heard Pinkie's now familiar war cry followed by a few chuckles from the rest of the group. They really were interested in playing another game, huh? I sorta wished they gave me a bigger warning than this but I suppose it wasn't too bad. Homework was slow this weekend anyway.

While lost in my headspace and glancing around the room, Big Mac continued past me and towards the curtain as I fell in line. Before I could even offer, he used his elbow to push aside the curtain and peered in to get the girls' attention.

"'Bout time," I heard Gilda say. "Drama nerd behind you?"

"Eeyup," Big Mac told her.

"Hey!" I gripped. Not that I cared, she was right. And as I got close enough to peek in I saw a few of the girls holding their laughter. They better not start doing that too. Then I started glancing around this room.

There wasn't much to look at along the walls. Only a single window opposite of the entrance with closed blinds and then on the right wall, an aged AC unit with a few rust spots and thin pale blue streamers flapping around the vents. Despite the age though, it hummed quietly and the room felt all the better for it.

The hexagonal table in the center showed just as much age. It was massive, giving enough room for all eight of us to play and then some with a dusty poker felt laid along the top of it. Rarity was absent-mindedly picking at the dust and trying to sweep it away from her side but no one else seemed to mind.

In fact, the center of the table was laid out with fresh pizza and two pitchers of lemonade and apple juice. This place was definitely set up for a game night.

The girls and I all traded hellos as Big Mac helped me bring in my mountain of stuff into a side of the table everyone had left alone so I could set up. There was also a dining chair for me to use but it was a little short compared to the table.

Oh well, I thought. If that's the price of using this room, consider it paid!

"This room is amazing," I gushed, gently setting my bag on the ground. The rhythmic clinking of a few glass props reminded me exactly why I was careful. "And Big Mac mentioned the place was a storage shed?"

"We got the splinters ta prove it," Applejack told me. "Still, it weren't nothin'. 'Sides, Granny was flyin' higher than an uncooked turkey in December when she heard we were sprucin' up the place. She'll be usin' it whenever it's empty."

"Eeyup!"

"Sorry that we only asked today," Fluttershy apologized. "We originally just wanted to ask if you wanted it for tomorrow."

"Gilda asked me about that. She said her, Big Mac, and Gabby were already interested." Not that I was against it. Honestly, it seemed like a fun time to me. Not to mention Gabby was probably going to corral the others into saying yes.

"This won't eat into your time for class assignments, will it?" Twilight blinked.

"Nah," I wrote off. "It's a couple of workbook pages. I can knock those out whenever."

"What about the paper?" Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"You mean for Ms. Cheerilee's class?" Rainbow Dash blinked. "She's taking the week off to rest. She's not gonna be grading papers."

"Actually, that's about all she can do," I told her. "She told me they're due on Thursday now though."

Rainbow groaned. "Fine. That's two extra days at least."

"And typed," I added. "Since her arm's out of commission, she's not grading them by hand. Which means she wants everyone turning in a flash drive."

"Really?" Rarity rose an eyebrow. "She's always asked for hand written papers in the past."

"No idea why," Sunset muttered. "My hand writing's still pretty bad."

"Even better." Rainbow shrugged. "Typing is way better than writing."

Pinkie laugh gave room for a few snorts. "You only say that because of the spell checker!"

"Guilty," Dash admitted. "Either way, easiest paper I'll ever write for that class." The girls all shared a laugh while Twilight decided to roll her eyes with a smirk. That is, before her eyes settled on the pile of stuff Big Mac helped me bring in.

"Hey Story? That seems like a lot more than usual."

"That's because it is." As if to show it, I started taking a few things out. First was the basics; my DM screen, books, and notes. But as I started bringing out a small cloth bag that jingled with coins, an old tiny key I hung on the corner of my screen, and a couple of small glass vials with leather wrapped around the body, the girls got interest interested.

"I figured if you went through all the effort setting up this space, I should try harder too. Usually I only bust out some of these props for one-shots or something. Glad I have a reason to use them again!"

"How am I friends with you?" Gilda asked with a facepalm and a ghost of a smile.

I saw a hand from the corner of my eye reach out and take one of the vials. "Huh...I wonder..."

"Something wrong?" I took my attention off my stuff and glanced up to see Sunset giving a careful look at the vial in her hands while some of the other girls watched intently.

"Oh. No, not really," she dismissed, bringing the tiny glass up to her eye to look closer. Not sure why, it was dry and empty anyways. As long as I've had it, I've never taken that old, rotting stopper out either. "I'm just trying to figure out how this fits in as a prop."

I thought for a moment and gave a mocking shrug and a vague smile. "Some of them are important. Others are for show."

Sunset weighed my words for a moment and then noticed the looks the other girls were giving her. Seeing them, she wore a confident grin at them. "Guess there's only one way to find out."

From there, we spent a little bit talking about nothing while I kept setting stuff up. We talked about Ms. Cheerilee, about Sweet Apple Acres, to Pinkie suddenly driving the conversation into cheese somehow, before eventually the group bore witness to something no one had ever seen before.

Fluttershy, and Gilda, heatedly debating pineapple on pizza.

V⎅reé⍾'S POV
K⍜⎅⎍g's ⋉ar ⎍⍀⍀m

"I just don't see why anyone could like it," Fluttershy's voice insisted.

"You just said you've never tried it!" A loud angry voice, which we eventually discovered was named Gilda, accused.

"And, I'm sorry, but I never want to. It sounds...well, it sounds a little unpleasant."

"Unpleasant?!" Gilda shouted. "It's pineapple's ON pizza! What's there to hate?! Hey, I saw that eyeroll, don't give me that crap!"

"Gilda, Fluttershy, can we just drop it?" Sunset asked exhaustedly.

"Yes! Please!" Stostine shouted towards the ceiling. The voices echoed out in every direction but I guess the mage had to pick somewhere to direct her pleading. "Some of us would like to begin so that they can deal with the hole in their stomach!"

A few of the others winced at that. When we heard all of their voices fading in like the last two times before, we readied ourselves for everything to start back up as before. Each time, the group met up two days after the last. Only, we realized, they had met up today a few hours later than they normally did. Their voices caught us off guard.

But for "some of us," their patience was wearing thin. Especially since their wounds weren't going to start closing until the Players started their game.

"They. Can't. Hear us," Platick reminded her.

"I know," Stostine breathed before lying back down to Ravathyra's relief. "But I want to stop being in pain. Can you blame me for that?"

"No." Thorn Wielder shook her head. Last time this happened, her leg was cut open for two days thanks to that ambush.

"Okay. Look," Gilda said, leveling her voice. "Fluttershy? You've had pineapple before, yeah?"

"Yes."

"And was it good?"

"Of course. I loved it."

"Alright. And you've had pizza before?"

"Everyone's had pizza before. We're having it right now. Where are you going with this?" Story asked in confusion.

"Whuzza pizza?" Glemerr asked the rest of us.

"Food, I've gathered," Ricven informed her. "Although I'm more curious what this pineapple thang they keep referrin' to is. The apple part I get but what makes it pine flavored?"

"Maybe they grow on pine trees," Ravathyra thought.

"No." Thorn Wielder shook her head. "We pine trees. No pine fruit."

"She's right," Platick admitted. "Why would the Master give us pine trees and leave off the fruit?"

"Oh sweet gods. Who. Cares?" Stostine asked.

"...Ya know, maybe they should play this out," Platick said after a moment.

"I can still throw fire at you," Stostine threatened, holding up her hand as it light up for emphasis.

"So if you like pineapples, and you eat pizza, what's wrong with combining them?"

"Would you combine pudding and corn?"

"Ugh! That's an affront to all pudding! Wait," Pinkie paused. "Do you mean putting shucked corn in the pudding? Or dunking cobbed corn in a pudding cup?"

"Does that matter?!"

"Those both sound terrible," Rarity gagged.

"Exactly." I could almost hear Fluttershy nod as she spoke.

"Fluttershy, you came up with that metaphor incredibly fast," Twilight, my Player, noted.

And what a confusing metaphor it was, I thought.

"How can anyone be that close-minded?!" There was a brief pause. "Dash. Talk some sense into her! Tell her pineapple pizza's good!"

"...Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy's voice got dangerously close to Thorn Wielder's for a second. "What do you think?"

"Uh, woah, wait, I-I'm stayin' out of this!" Rainbow shied out. "This is between you two."

"Cop out," Gilda scoffed. "Fine then. Big Mac? Pineapple pizza? Yep or nope?"

"Uh. U-Um..." A deeper voice, one we've never heard before stumbled for a moment. "U-Uh..." After a few seconds we heard the sound of heavy stomping get further away.

"Wow, you two are a force ta be reckoned with," Applejack complimented.

"Who even was that?" Platick asked.

"No one important, apparently." I shrugged.

"Dash," Gilda tried again. "You're the only one that can break this! What's it gonna be?"

"Rainbow?" Fluttershy gave another near-Thorn tone.

A silence cast over everyone. Well, mostly silent except for the frustrated groan Stostine had. She was at her limit.

"...C-Can't we just agree that mushrooms are disgusting?!" Another silence followed before, one by one, we heard several voices hum along.

"Yeah." "That's fair." "Who would even attempt such a thing?"

"Now hold on a second," Sunset started, clearly angered.

We all turned to watch Stostine slowly hide her face behind her hands before shaking her head back and forth. "...I'm gonna have to kill her," she decided. "There's. There's just no other choice. I have to kill her now."

"'Cause of an argumen'?" Rava frowned. "Come on lass, that hardly seems fair."

"No, not that." Stostine moved her hands to calmly fold them over her torso. "She likes mushrooms. For that she must die."

"She's ya Player," Ricven pointed out. "Don' you like mushrooms?"

"No. I don't like mushrooms. This is a fact I decided yesterday," Stostine told us. "What did Rava call it again? Executive decision? I made one; no mushrooms."

"You like mushrooms?!"

"Sunset! I don't even know who you are anymore," Pinkie cried.

"SO, last time on Gobblin' da Gobbos," Story began as the sound of a table getting slammed echoed out. And at the same time, the world quaked for a moment, startling all of us.

"After surviving an ambush of goblins on the road, you all looked across the wreckage of the carts they had used as a blockade and discovered the cart and its horses had once belonged to Gundren Rockseeker and Sildar, the very employers that hired you. You then found a trail and, after some debate, Glemerr led the charge down the road, plowing through every trap and patrol in her way while the others followed behind."

"Hey, he's talkin' 'bout me!" Glemerr grinned. "You guys shoulda been there!"

"We saw the aftermath," I told her, crossing my arms. This is so weird.

"After arriving at the cave, you guys went for the stealthy approach, taking down the lookouts and freeing the wolves captured by the goblins before they could be trained. But as you got deeper, you killed a goblin on the bridge as another handful of goblins nearby noticed, leading into an assault."

"I think we all remember." Ricven sighed as the guilty among us looked away.

"Powering through, you split into two groups; Ricven and Vareén to the west and the others to the east. Ricven and Vareén happened upon the remaining goblins; all four of them. Through their...combined efforts," Story said awkwardly. "They dispatched the goblins and found Sildar, battered and wounded, but alive."

"Urrrggh," Sildar wheezed, slowly coming to life and catching us all off guard.

"Simultaneously, the rest of you were left against the mighty Klarg, leader of the goblins, and his mangy wolf. The five of you put the wolf to rest and took out Klarg's goblin guard before Glemerr brought the last punch. Knocking him out," Story made it a point to remind them. "Rather than killing him. You all gathered up to lick your wounds and take your time to relax as you set up around a campfire with a keg of expensive ale...And a large amount of merchant's goods the goblins had since accrued.

"And with that..."

Like the last two times before, a colorless haze spilled into our vision. It had no origin. In fact, we knew it didn't come from anywhere because the haze was within our own eyes. With it, our sight and our minds began clouding up for the third time now.

"Let's start a story."

"Awrite everyone," I heard Ravathyra say. "See ya on the other side!"

"Agreed," Stostine responded. "Time for us to watch for now."

Her voice ceased to be heard as did everything from all my senses. From that moment on, each of us felt our consciousness not fade out but instead become unimportant to whatever our bodies did. We had once again become a backseat to whatever our Players would decide while we watched.

Vareén's POV
Klarg's War Room
After the Battle

Ravathyra and Glemerr made it back to Klarg's room just as we took care to set Stostine and Sildar down on the floor. Ricven was kind enough to pull out a bed roll for her to lie down on while I brought Sildar over to what I assumed was Klarg's 'throne.' The bugbear didn't need it anymore since we planned on tying him down somewhere else until we had a permanent plan.

"We got de ale!" Glemerr announced as she and Ravathyra marched into the room with a decent-sized keg and a number of tankards carried by the two of them.

About time, I thought, folding my arms impatiently as they took care to set the keg down. "Sildar, you called this RockVine? What is that?"

"It's a well-known vineyard underneath the Drakehead," he told me. "Compared to other vineyards, they're not that old. Maybe about twenty years or so. Still, they've become a quick favorite among the upper class. Especially for dwarves."

"Explains why Gundren was so keen on takin' a sip," Ricven thought aloud.

"How'd he afford something like this?" Platick asked. "It's for nobles, yeah? Hard to believe a Dwarf like Gundren could afford it."

"It was for the right occasion, he said." Sildar eased into the back of his chair with a groan. "He thought he'd sneak a flask's worth on the trip to Phandalin before it reached all three brothers."

"That doesn't answer my question." Platick frowned. When we were tending to Sildar and Stostine, he and Ricven had been gathering the stolen goods into a single pile to search through later. "How'd he afford it? For that matter, how did he afford any of this? He promised two-hundred gold to each of us. Not counting you, that's 1400 gold plus whatever that ale costs. Where's the money coming from?"

Sildar's jaw tightened and his eyes closed tight in thought. Said too much, I thought at him.

"...Should I tell them?" I asked in a language I believed none of them knew. Draconic: Language of Dragons.

"I won't stop you," he responded in kind. "But Gundren made me promise. I can't tell them."

"What are you two saying?" Platick narrowed his eyes.

I sighed. Guess I'm telling it then. "...Sildar's a member of an adventuring guild. The Whiteblades. He knew Gundren personally so he took the story about the mine and brought it before his guildmaster. Gundren and his brothers were given a loan to do the work."

"Adventurin' Guild?" Glemerr scratched her head before taking a quick glug of ale. "Whuzzat exactly? Aside from de adventurin' part. Ah think Ah know dat part."

"They're basically merc groups," Platick answered with some disdain. "Because this kingdom revolves around money, people with money are obsessed with turning a profit. When the war ended, adventurers became a dime a dozen and the rich tried taxing that dime. Adventuring guilds are how they do it."

"It's ta be expected that only 'registered adventurers' can be trusted by the common folk," Ricven went on further. "If you don't have a guild backing ya, them commoners are expected to look elsewhere. Otherwise, what's ta stop a buncha freeloada's from takin' yer coin an' shovin' off?"

"That's what the rich would have you believe," Platick continued. "And since nobles and merchants are all on the same side, gossip spreads quick."

"...The Whiteblades," Stostine said distantly as she stayed laid down. "If I recall, they are a guild particularly allied with merchant caravans. They take jobs that businesses post. Gundren's would-be mine would fit into that category."

"You're right," Sildar admitted. "The Whiteblades typically take escort jobs. Whatever they see as small risk, they outsource them to freelance adventurers."

"Basically, we get shafted for crumbs and the guild pockets the rest," Platick interpreted. "But Vareén? How's come you know all of this?"

"I'm a freelancer," I huffed. "When Sildar needs help, he hires me. And I don't need to be tied down to the Whiteblades. Regardless, I got hired just like all of you did."

There was more to it then that but that was need-to-know.

"Well, nothin' much ta do 'bout it right now," Ravathyra told us with a soft but heavy accent. "So 'ow's about we take the good we've done today as a vict'ry, aye? Them goblins er quelled an' they won't be causin' anymore heartache fer the honest folk passin' by 'ere anymore."

Rainbow put on a great smile and held her imaginary tankard high. "Ah say we drink ta that! Any otha takers?!"

Every eye inside the Sweet Apple barn was set on Rainbow Dash with shock and awe plastered across their face. Rainbow tried her best to ignore it as she realized exactly how different she was taking the game compared to last time but her trembling hand holding a tankard made it obvious.

"...Uh...gals?" Rainbow said as she felt more and more uncomfortable with the looks she was getting. "W-Why ya lookin' at me like tha'? Som...Somethin' wrong 'ere?"

"ah...I..." Rarity's voice was dead on arrival but it made Rainbow stare down at here with desperation in her eyes and she was shaking the fist she was using to 'hold the tankard.' "It's...That was...That was very good darling!"

"Yeah, that was scary," Gilda tacked on. "How'd you even do that?! I know we saw... said, we said your Dwarf," Gilda corrected in front of Story. "Was Scottish but. I didn't know you actually could do that!"

"I. It's nothin' special," Rainbow dismissed, still deep into her accent. "It's jus' somethin' Ah an' me Mum got."

"You're still doin' it, sugarcube," Applejack pointed out.

Rainbow's eyes went as wide as everyone else for a moment as her cheeks blushed so bad they almost resembled blueberries. Furiously, she cleared her voice and kept looking down. "I, erm. I-It was an accent— accident! It was an accident. That last part!"

"Well, we can tell that," Sunset said in a chuckle. "But it sounds so real. It doesn't even sound forced."

Rainbow Dash nodded weakly. "Me mum's sida a' da fam....My mom's side of the fam-i-ly," she articulated carefully. "Is Scottish. Mum's accent sinks through and she 'ates it. So she hides it. And whenever my Aunt Brilliant Borealis comes to visit, she teases her by laying it on thick with the accent. Which trips up Mom. I grew up around the teasing, so now I get sucked into it too whenever Ah 'ear it...Hear it," she corrected, not rolling her 'R' the second time.

She buried her face deep into her palms and groaned. "This is so uncool."

"Are you for real?!" Gilda beamed. "What's wrong with Scottish accents?!"

"Absolutely nothin', far as I'm concerned," Applejack stated. "Rainbow, take it from me. Ya got no reason ta be upset 'bout an accent. 'Specially if it's comin' from yer kin. It's just who ya are."

"Yeah, I know. I-It's just. A thing." She took a heavy breath. "A thing Ah don' like anybody else knowing about. Alright?"

"I think it sounded nice," Fluttershy assured her.

"Same here." Twilight smiled as some of the other girls and Story nodded along to.

"If it helps ya dere," Pinkie started in her gruff, English accent. "Ah'll talk like me gurl Glemerr all night! Dat way ya ain't on yer own! We'll boff be frum Jolly old England!"

Rainbow's shoulders jumped as if she laughed. "Don't let my aunt hear you say that."

"Oh please!" Rarity said, slipping into the Louisiana voice she had for Ricven. "Yer aunt ain't even here, Lady Dash! An' if it makes ya feel more comf'table, I'll match you an' Miss Pie all night as well, if I gotta."

Rainbow smirked after a second. "You'd do that?"

"Sure thang! Consider it a dare," Rarity told her in a mock bow and extended her hand out to shake. "You in?"

"..." Rainbow took a moment before letting the tension wash away from her. Then she sighed with a smile. "...Awrite. Yer on, lass." She took Rarity's grip in her own and the two girls shook.

"But if any of you," she took her own voice back for a moment. "And I mean any of you. Speak a word about this?"

"They'll answer to me." Gilda said as she cracked her knuckles. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," half the room answered as the others nodded. It was all smiles for a moment before the game went right back in.

Stostine's POV
Klarg's War Room

After the suggestion from Ravathyra, the group lightened up on the questions and got to work clearing out the caves for the day. Since it was only about two in the afternoon, people were only exhausted, not tired. So we split the work.

Well, the others split the work. I and Sildar stayed to rest.

Thorn Wielder went to the wolf den to make sure that the canines were gone before checking up on the oxen. They were left alone, detached from the cart so we thought that they would have run away but surprisingly no. They were out of sight of the cave's entrance but Thorn Wielder convinced them to follow her back towards the cart. After a few 'words,' they seemed content to stay nearby until tomorrow.

At the same time, Glemerr and Ravathyra cleared out the bodies. In case there were any other patrols that intended on coming back, they'd see the pile of corpses and hopefully take it as a warning. At the same time, Vareén and Platick dragged the bugbear away and found a space in the stream to tie him down. His lower body was going to be nothing but a hairy prune but that was all the better.

That left only Ricven, Sildar and myself in the war room for now. Sildar, after being bandaged by Glemerr and Ravathyra, let himself drift off to sleep. With whatever hell the goblins put him through over the last two days, he must've been exhausted.

"Miss Stostine?" Ricven called. He couldn't let me rest with the only cup of alcohol Ravathyra would let me have. "Ya mind if I ask ya a personal question? Nothin' untoward, I can assure ya."

I felt my brow bend inwards before I could could keep my expression blank. "Sure. Although I reserve the right not to answer."

"Of course." He shrugged. "Platick tried sneakin' me a few tidbits about ya. 'Bout your magic. Said ya had some healin' properties."

Of course he would, I thought. Someone was bound to tell him anyways. I tried to shrug but that just made my javelin wound ache all over again. "He was right. I used it on Ravathyra before the bugbear arrived."

"A smart move." He gave me that. "But not one arcane folk typically got. 'Specially novices."

"Is that so?" I angled my head so I could see him. He was lazily looking through some of the supplies. He didn't want to take any of the work like the others. "As I seem to recall, you mentioned having a spell that could heal the injured yourself. You used Thunderwave instead but you said it was necessary."

"Fer fixin' a certain archer's mistake, yea. But that's the difference between me an' you. I'm what one would call well-walked."

"I think you mean well traveled," I corrected.

"Travellin' can mean all sorts a' methods. I myself mostly walked." Not what I meant but okay? "But amongst all that walkin' I picked up plenty a' tricks from plenty a' folks. Some of 'em healers. And from how Platick and Ravathyra described your healin'? Plus that Bless spell ya mentioned before we came in here? That ain't the moves of an arcane user. Then again, you got no holy symbol. Not one visible at least."

I sighed. "I am not of a cult."

"Didn't say ya were." He hopped off the crate he was digging through and walked until I could see him without tilting my head. "But that leaves the question. What are ya?"

"..." I looked up at the ceiling. Unresponsive.

"Can I roll anythang ta see if Ricven would know?" Rarity asked, keeping her accent like she promised Dash.

Story gave Sunset a short look before returning Rarity a small nod. "Either arcana or religion. They both give you different answers."

After a moment Rarity nodded to herself. "Arcana it is."

She rolled her die and like before, the magic came to life around it. The die itself flashed brightly as a powder blue aura formed the words 'Arcana +3' as well as 'Jack of All Trades +1' to the side of it. In that moment all the girls saw it. Even Gilda. The only ones who couldn't were Story and Big Mac.

"Twenty-one total."

Sunset looked over to Story who was already walking over to whisper Rarity the result.

"...So that's it," Ricven said absently. That was all it took to make me look back at him. "It ain't a religion thang at all, is it?"

"..." I stared right back at him without moving my head. He wouldn't get anything from me.

"But why hide it?" He asked. More to himself when he saw I was done talking. "Sure you would stand out but...Not fer the wrong reasons."

"..."

"How deep is it, I wonder." I felt his eyes staring into me and felt as though everything I had was being untangled by him. It didn't help that I could feel my eyes starting to shift around nervously. That carefree gnome's demeanor wearing a look of wisdom.

"...Oh well!"

In a blink the attitude snapped back to normal and he turned on his heel, whistling as he strolled back to the crates. "Say, you got any more magic left in ya fer today?"

"...why?" My voice low.

"Well, all sortsa merchants had to have been caught by bad luck. And these crates have a pretty wide variety to 'em. Now, I could pick through every square inch of this junk. Or, you could lend me an eye."

"Hand," I corrected again. "The saying is hand."

"Not this time, it ain't," he told me, spinning around in a flourish. "One a them spells ya had. Ya said it was Detect Magic, yeah? Do ya mind?"

Oh. That's what he wants, I mulled it over before rolling my eyes. "Sure. I wouldn't hold my breath. The only civilization down this road is a frontier village. They would have no reason for any real magic."

Regardless, I held up my hands, breathing deeply to fight through the aching before I focused on the arcane words. Each syllable carefully spoken before I flicked my hand across sight, completing the spell. In that moment, my eyes were layered with ghost-like blue flames that allowed me to see whatever magic was nearby.

I turned my head and focused on the pile beyond Ricven. And, to my surprise, a few things began glowing.

They were all fuzzy and I could only see silhouettes but they were there. Three piles in all. Two of them were liquid, both glowing with evocation magic, and the other was a solid; transmutation magic. Detect Magic let the user tell what kind of magic they saw, and each school of magic had its own style to it.

"A few things," I told him, earning a welcome grin. I pointed each of them out. "Underneath that large burlap sack, inside and towards the top of the small crate, and then that satchel laying on the ground."

Ricven got to work on each target and after about a minute, he produced a total of four items. Three glass vials of liquid and the satchel.

The vials were easy to tell instantly. The liquid was a light red color that had a weak, constant flow of bubbles rising to the surface as though they were caffeinated. Healing potions. Ricven recognized them right away.

"Perfect timin'. Here, take one of 'em no—" "No," I shot him down. "Give it to Sildar."

"What?" Ricven gave me a look. "These are Regular Healin' Potions! He's got a broken leg. It ain't helpin' him."

"Maybe but, believe it or not," I said, forcing myself to sit up no matter how much my abdomen punished me. "His other wounds are worse than mine. Plus, he's been tortured. I'll be fine in the morning."

"Pfffft, hahahahaha~!" Ricven nearly doubled over. "You got skewered by a javelin not one hour ago! You say yer gonna be right as snow in the mornin'?"

"..." I gave him the same look as when he figured me out. And then he figured it out all over again.

"Yer serious?" He stared at me. "Consider me surprised." He turned and walked over to Sildar. "Very well then. Yo Sildar? Open yer eyes, we got a present for ya."

Sildar took a moment to stir as Ricven uncorked the potion with a satisfying phoomp! and held it under Sildar's nose. They say the smell of that potion was potent enough to wake a person from death's door.

"Is. Is that a..." Sildar looked up at Ricven. Then to me with guilt. I gave him a 'go ahead' motion and after some reluctance, he took it in his good hand and slowly let himself drink it.

We watched as a few of the weaker cuts and bruises on his body sealed and repaired themselves with each swallow. Then, to my relief, I saw the smaller of his two bad injuries recover; his wrist.

It was heavily swollen and a sickening purple as if he rolled it or tried blocking the swing of a club. But once the vial was empty, the wrist simply looked bruised.

With a satisfying gasp of air, Sildar took the potion in his now slightly better hand and chucked the potion towards the floor, shattering it into glass shards and making Ricven stare in utter shock.

"Wh-What the...Why?!" He demanded. "That was a perfectly good vial! What're ya thinkin' smashin' it all over the floor like a fool?!"

"What?" He stared back at Ricven like he was the crazy one. "Haven't you heard? It's good luck to smash a potion vial after drinking it."

"We could have used that," I told him with irk in my voice. "Like, for instance, putting another potion in it."

"Oh. I-I'm sorry," he told us. "I thought, since you were adventurers, you knew these kinds of omens."

"Knew 'em or not, Lady Stostine's correct. That was a perfectly good vial! Remind me ta never give you one eva again."

Story, looked towards the center of the table where he had placed three small vials and proceeded to take one back behind his screen.

"Regardless, you're down to two potions now," he told the group as he pushed the two remaining vials towards Rarity. All while Big Mac and Gilda were chuckling to themselves in the background. "And Ricven's in possession of them."

As Rarity reached for them, the girls watched as the once empty vials magically fill up with a light red liquid. Carbonated, just as Story had described. Not only that but she could smell a somewhat potent smell leaking out from the corks.

More magic illusions, Twilight concluded, writing the results in her notes. Makes sense seeing as Story brought props into this. Still, they seem harmless. Not only that but these potions are supposed to represent healing.

"I give those out as tokens," Story told the group. "That way we know who has potions and how many. I used to use red stones but then this cool antique shop opened up."

Pinkie took a deep sniff before falling back into her chair. "Mmm! They smell like cinnamon!"

Story chuckled. "Yeah, that's the potent smell that...How'd you know that?" The girls all froze for a second before Story seemed to realize something. "Right! It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it."

The girls all took a collective breath. Too close, some of them thought.

Soon, Sunset decided. After the game we tell him.

"Well, into the satchel they go," Ricven decided before putting them in the same satchel that Stostine pointed out. Then as he did, he did a double take inside the bag. "Wait. Is. Is this the other thang you were talkin' about?"

Ricven reached deeper into the satchel and fished around for a little bit as he went elbow deep into the bag.

No way! My eyes lit up. Is it. Is it the bag itself?! Did we really happen across a— But my hopes were quickly destroyed as Ricven plucked out a small set of keys all attached to a single brass ring. Right away the transmutation magic my spell found left the bag and floated around the key ring.

"Oh," I hummed boredly.

"Oh what?" Ricven looked at me.

"Oh nothing," I dismissed. Of course it wouldn't be the bag. Get ahold of yourself Stostine! I got serious and tried staring at the keys, trying to figure out what they were as Ricven did the same. But with them in his grip, I had no clear view of them.

So instead, I watched as Ricven's eyes lit up in recognition. "Ohhh! These're Mystery Keys!"

"Mystery Keys," I repeated with no confidence in my voice at all. "What are those exactly?"

"Oh, poor, poor Miss Stostine," Ricven chastised as if I were a toddler. Something I did not approve of.

Then he held them out for me. With him being fifteen feet away, I frowned and whisked my Mage Hand to life, letting it sail over and scoop the keys so that I could bring them in my own hands.

Like Ricven said; keys. Three to be precise. Each one looked to be cast iron and were formed in the shape of question marks. But as I ran my finger along the bits that would go into the lock, they squished inward like wet clay before reshaping into a different combination.

"Mystery Keys are a poor man's skeleton key," Ricven explained. "Simply tap 'em against whateva lock you find yourself in front of and there's a slim chance that the lock magically opens! But the more keys bound to a ring like that, the higher the chance you got a' the lock playin' nice."

"So then if there is only small chance with one key..." I started to form.

"Then there's double the chance with two. Or triple with three," Ricven said. "If I recall, one key made up...Oh, let's call it a one-in-twenty chance? So those three keys combined—" "Makes a fifteen percent chance on any lock."

"Correct," he congratulated me. "Here's the kicker though. When that chance finally pays off, one a them keys falls off and breaks. Then the Keys become ten percent. Then five. Then nothin'."

"Good to know." I told him. I placed the keys back on my Mage Hand and ferried it back to him. "In that case, do you want them? I am not. Well, much of a..."

"Low life?" A voice called out from the entrance of the cavern. Platick. Great.

"I was going to say sleuth," I admitted.

"Uh-huh. Sure." He frowned, looking between both of us as Vareén walked past him and to the keg of ale. "Well speaking of sleuthing and low-lives, none of that stuff belongs to either of you. Unless the wizard here has some pedigree that proves it."

"For the last time," I droned. "I am not a noble. My father's title is more a formality than anything else anyways."

"Point still stands. It's not yours."

"So?" Vareén gave him a look. "This stuff was taken by the goblins. And other than Sildar, do you see any hostages?"

Platick gave her a look before he walked over to the pile and swept a moldy blanket aside to reveal a large symbol stamped onto the side of one of the crates facing us. A large bird talon clutching a covered wagon.

"You see this? This is the brand of the Griffonbound Vendors. A general store chain across Leodaav. It belongs to them."

"The keys don't," Ricven reasoned with a grin. "Neither does anythang else I mighta pulled outta there. Far as I see it, Griffonbound's only got claim ta what's in their own crates. Everythin' else is free game."

"He has a point." Sildar frowned. "Just because it's in the same pile doesn't mean it's theirs. In fact, there's no laws against keeping what was once stolen goods. If their crates have armor that any of you could use, you're fully entitled to it. Not that it would. It's probably tools and building materials seeing as how it was headed to Phandalin."

"Cool. I ain't a handyman anyhow." Ricven shrugged. As he did, we could hear the others start to walk back up the tunnel towards are room. "Ah, perfect timin'! Now that we're all back, I think it's best we get ta splittin' the goods."

Ravathyra, Glemerr, and Thorn Wielder all walked into the room in time to watch a small gnome try his hardest to push a low filthy chest along the rocky floor. After about three heaves, he huffed and stared up at his audience.

"Well?!" He demanded. "Someone' gonna help or are all of ya watchin' fer ya sick kicks?!"

Ravathyra took that as her queue and hurried over, picking the chest up by both handles and bringing it to the center of the room where we all, myself included, had a good view of it.

"I believe this is all you," Sildar told us. "But, if someone would be kind enough to pass me another tankard?"

I smirked and let my Mage Hand get to work again, gathering a tankard and setting it under the tap of the keg before using its thumb to turn the valve enough to get the ale pouring. When it was all done, I shut the tap and floated it over to him.

"Carry on. I see nothing," he told us before taking a gleeful sip.

"Righ' then." Ravathyra returned the smile. Then, with her armored foot, she kicked the lid open and scanned the fair pile of some sort of coins. As well as a cute little statuette of a frog on top. It was made of jade and had gold orbs for eyes.

"So? How we dividin' it?" She asked before swatting Ricven's hand away like a scornful mother.

"Ow! Oh please, I ain't a baby! I was addin' to it." Ricven reached out again and dropped the keys and a small pouch of silver coins. "That money's from one a' the goblins. I think he was some sorta big short 'fore he bit it ta my Thunderwave."

"When'd you get that?" Vareén frowned.

"While you were feedin' them berries ta Sildar," Ricven admitted. "Two people can't feed a man at once. So I spent my time elsewhere."

"Frog." Thorn Wielder pointed to it. "Me frog."

"Do you even know how money works?" Platick asked.

"No money. Frog."

"Traveler help me," Vareén muttered.

"Hm. Looks like...420 copper pieces," Glemerr told us. "And 120 silver pieces! Not bad!"

"There is no. Possible way. You counted that in the span of three seconds!" Platick glared.

Sildar lowered his tankard and glanced over. One second later: "No, your friend was close. 422 copper pieces and 120 silver."

"Shut up," Platick demanded. "How did you two even do that?!"

"Frog," Thorn Wielder repeated.

"You're not getting the frog!"

"Fighting solves nothing," I declared sternly. "Everyone, please, remain calm about this. Remember that we are still getting paid two-hundred gold for our current job. We can be charitable."

I watched from the corner of my eye as Sildar instantly looked guilty. "...Sildar," Vareén spoke out in a tone that made him close his eyes. "Something you want to share?"

Everyone spun around to face him as he dreaded what was probably about to happen. "That. Money..." He took a moment to swallow a mouthful of ale to give himself some courage. "...Was on Gundren as we got captured."

"..."

"...What?" A voice, I'm not sure who's, asked. If words could kill, that would have been a stab to the gut.

"He dropped some of the money as a down payment at Phandalin," Sildar tried to cover himself. "When you bring the cart there, you'll still get paid. Just...not as much."

As I stared at him, suddenly aware that I let myself get stabbed for something less than two-hundred gold pieces, I could see Platick slowly pull a dagger from the corner of my eye.

"How." Platick spoke even and slow. "Much?"

"..." Sildar downed another gulp of ale. He was probably almost out now. "...There's two-hundred exactly. If you split it evenly, it's about twenty-eight gold—" A mace went flying, embedded itself partway into the seat's back only a few inches from Sildar's smashable head.

"Twenty-eight gold?" Ricven asked, his arms still held out from when he threw his weapon. "Twenty-eight? That's what this was all worth? Nearly gettin' ourselves killed by the pit stains of forests?! Fer twenty-eight gold?!"

Vareén drew a handaxe, her only melee option, from a belt loop and leveled it towards Ricven. "Back off."

"Oh put the toy down ya hooded joke." Ricven dropped all pretense of manners. "Allow me ta remind you somethin'. You. Dragged me inta a room a' four goblins and decided ta go commando on 'em! And then hid BEHIND THE GNOME for protection when you sucked eggs at it!"

From under the hood Vareén got heated. "And you think you deserve any of it? The entire time we were guarding the cart, you lazed on top of it! You never helped set camp. Up until then you were useless."

"Well at least useless is better than hindrance!" Ricven returned fire. "The only reason yer alive is 'cause a' mah Thunderwave! A spell that nearly got all a' them killed in the process!"

"Yeah, Ah'll admit. Dat coulda gone much betta if we got da drop on 'em," Glemerr told them.

"Like you're one to talk," Platick sneered. "You ran off without us at the very start! If you stayed with us, we could've reached the cave without you stumbling around half-dead."

"Err maybe you shoulda jus' come along wit' Glemerr in da first place!" She challenged. "Besides, ya nearly stumbled in da water an' gave us away before we even got inside."

"Why does that matter?!" He tightened the grip on his dagger. "I didn't. I caught myself and did my job. Like we planned."

"An den ya got washed out by da water when we was inside too!" Glemerr jabbed a big meaty finger into Platick's chest before the two were staring down one another. "Did you even help fight off da gobbo's?!"

"Did you?!" Platick used the dagger to batter away Glemerr's finger, making her snarl in his face. Still he didn't back down. "If I remember, you ran ahead again and started bleeding out on the floor! Thorn Wielder had to run in and save your sorry hide!"

Thorn Wielder, seeing Vareén and Ricven and then Platick and Glemerr distracted, took her chance. Stepping forward towards the chest, she bent down and picked up the jade frog, clutching it close to her chest like a little girl with a doll.

"Frog."

I huffed. "Thorn Wielder, put that down. you do not even know how valuable that is."

Ravathyra sighed, slowly removing her left gauntlet. "I's come ta this..."

She shook her head and held it tighter. "Frog."

This time, I used Elven. "Thorn Wielder, I know you understand me. Put the statue down. You are not keeping it."

She gave me a curt look and shook her head again. "I take it, so it is mine. Frog is mine. Not yours," she explained in Elven.

"It's not anyone's until we have a resolution! I am not asking again, put it down or one of them might think you're stealing it. Someone will end up hurting you."

Then Thorn did the one thing I didn't think she knew how to do. She scoffed with a condescending look in her eye. "Like you? You hurt. Also sick. I not scared of you."

I felt a part of me snap. "You don't want to do this. Final warning. Put. It. Down! NOW!"

Thorn Wielder watched me for a moment before suddenly the focus of her face vanished and she gave me this thousand yard stare as she leaned her head to the side. Like a little girl not getting her way.

"Froooog~" she said dumbly.

"That's it!" I held out my arms to force myself to stand, one of them lighting on fire. I'll teach her to play dumb wit—

CLANG!

Vareén fell to one knee, holding her bleeding nose as Ravathyra passed by.

CLANG!

Ricven was laid flat on his back.

CLANG!

Platick took one to the jaw.

CLANG!

Glemerr clutched her ear and temple.

CLANG!

The frog statue was knocked out of Thorn's arms and into the fire.

Then I watched as Ravathyra spun and threw her gauntlet at me like a boulder.

I screeched and made the sigil for Shie—

CLANG!

I fell back onto the bed roll, the gauntlet slamming into my forehead.

...I had used the last of my magic for Detect Magic.

Each one of us stood there in a daze as Ravathyra dusted her hands off. One with a gauntlet and now one without. Then she clutched her holy symbol and said a quick prayer of forgiveness under her breath.

"Honestly," Ravathyra said calmly. "Ah've 'elped mothers give birth ta lovin' bundles a' life. And both their cryin'. COMBINED! Don't stand a testament ta all the bellyachin' Ah'm 'earin from grown men an' women! Now if ya don' stop cryin' right this instant, Ah'ma give ya all a proper round two! Now haud yer wheesht!"

"What's that last part even mean?" Story asked as each of the girls started writing on their papers. Rainbow's crusade dealt one damage to each of them, with Sunset and Twilight now both at only one hit point.

"Basically? Shut up," Rainbow defined as she sat back, grinning as she watched everyone finish writing their new hit points. "Learned tha' from me Mum as well. Ah deserved it back then too, honest."

"F-Frog." Thorn looked destitute as her jade frog sat engulfed by the flames.

Ravathyra removed her second gauntlet, scaring Thorn into backing away. But rather than go after her, Ravathyra used it to roll the frog out of the fire and onto the floor where she put a boot on it.

"Al. Alright..." Ricven groaned as he tried peeling himself off the ground. As did I. "Per. Perhaps Lady Ravathyra's got a point. We can't start rippin' each other ta shreds. After all, it ain't our fault the money's gone."

The others started to recover to with Vareén realigned her nose with a crack as Platick spat out a small glob of blood. Sildar was untouched but resettled in his chair on the side that didn't have a mace wedged into it.

"...Okay." Glemerr nodded after testing to see if her ear still worked. "Ya got me. Ah needed dat."

"I didn't," Vareén countered but the looks she got made her stand down.

Ravathyra contemplated it for a moment before nodding. "If it helps, Ah didn't take pleasure in tha'. We jus' needed ev'ryone ta be silent."

"...Yeah," Ricven groaned as he teetered on his own balance for a second. "I believe the Lady's right. We're too loud."

"Whatever,"Platick grumbled as he spat another small glob of blood.

"For now, let's rest. We're exhausted, we're all injured," I pointed out as Ricven and Platick were previously untouched until now. "And regardless of what we do, we're out two-hundred gold. Let's split the money we do have, cool off for the night, and pick up tomorrow."

"Yeah," Platick concurred. "You're right. Split it fair and move on. Anyone got any suggestions?"

"Frog."

"Other than that," Platick specified tiredly. Thorn Wielder frowned.

"Ah got one. Platick?" Ravathyra used the tip of her boot to kick the frog statue as if she were a star soccer player and kicked it into his hands. "Be a dear an' pluck out them gold eyes, woulda?"

Confused, Thorn looked between the two while Platick rolled his eyes and obliged. Without trouble, he wedged the tip of his dagger into the jade sockets and popped them out like corked bottles.

"Now let 'er 'ave it," Ravathyra told him. "She don' want money, right? Jus' the frog?"

"Good point," I said. "We split the money amongst ourselves and she gets the frog. It gives everyone a larger amount as well."

"Seventy copper, twenty silver, and thirty-three gold pieces each with a remainder of two copper and two gold for Thorn to be exact," Vareén said matter of factly.

Everyone gave Twilight either a bored or humored look as she proudly knitted her fingers together. Mental math had its uses no matter the scenario.

"All that leaves are the two gold eyes from the frog," I pointed out as I saw them sitting on the ground.

Ricven tapped his chin for a moment. "I suppose they'd go to whoever did the best work. Although, given the spat we just had, I'm not sure we're fit to handle that."

Sildar thought about it for a moment, eying his now empty tankard. I'm not refilling that, I thought. Although it did remind me I had my own tankard I hadn't touched right beside me.

"How's about this." Sildar got our attention. "Who took down the bugbear?"

"Oh. Dat was me," Glemerr said with a raised hand. No one challenged her; she obviously did the work there.

"In my opinion, there's eye number one," Sildar told us. And without further debate, Ravathyra picked up both eyes and tossed the first one to Glemerr who took it in stride.

"Then how's 'bout de second goes ta whoever took down da most gobbos?" Glemerr offered. "Ah'll stay out since Ah got dis eye."

"In that case, I stand with at least four," Ricven told us. "One on the road plus three more with Thunderwave."

"That beats me," I admitted. "If I brought any down it was only one. Everything else I only injured."

"I got three," Platick announced. "Although if you count the one we let run, I coulda killed him too. That would be four."

"You let one get away?" Ricven frowned. "If anythang, that's a negative point."

"Also four," Vareén spoke up. "One at the ambush, one lookout, one running for reinforcements and one of the reinforcements." She walked up to Ravathyra to claim the orb.

"That means we're tied," Ricven stressed. "Ya don' automatically win a tie."

"I know." Vareén snatched the orb from Ravathyra's hand and tossed it to Ricven. "But I also know that we tied for the highest count. And I surrender. You win."

Ricven held the orb in his hand and looked back to Vareén. "Really now?"

"You covered me. I got cocky. Take it." It was stiff but this was probably Vareén's way of apologizing.

Ricven grinned. "With deepest pleasure, Miss Vareén."

"...What happened to Lady?"

"You'll get that title back when ya make up for the blunder. I only use Lady for those that prove themselves. Like Lady Ravathyra." He winked.

"Call me Rava fer short," she said with a tired smile. "Ah'd rather everyone did as a matter a' fact. Much simpler than Ravathyra Dagarkin, the gob full."

"Rava. Fine by me!" Glemerr grinned. "Say, what say ya ta a drinkin' match Rava? Ah' gotta practice fer when we get Gundren back!"

"Challengin' a Dwarf?" Rava grinned back. "Yer in fer a rude one missy! But yer on!"

"Con Saves, right?" Pinkie asked, still remembering from the last time she did this.

"Yep. Rava has advantage, cause Dwarf," Story told Rainbow, making her scoop up a second die from her pile. Unbeknownst to her, it was the magic die she had swiped from Fluttershy earlier.

The sound of three dice, despite one of them being made of thunder clouds, clattered across the table. Then a fourth.

"Sunset?" Story asked.

"I'm assuming that javelin wound still hurts bad, right? I think Stostine deserves this," she reasoned. Not to mention, if Rainbow was onto something with seeing our characters, 'Stostine' might want to dull that pain as much as she can.

"Fourteen," Pinkie called out.

"Sh-Shhh. Shheventeen," Rainbow replied with a hiccup, trying to keep it together as a handful of drunken nights suddenly danced across her mind. An experience for her given she had never drank before.

"...Four," Sunset said after a moment. Although this might not have been the best way.

Story took a moment before glancing at the three of them. "The contest goes...About the way you'd expect. The Dwarf winning and the thin mage...not."

Author's Note

And so the game picks back up! As I said last chapter, the next few will be on the game itself as the group finally begins heading out of this bleak cave.

I like writing these chapters! It's like playing a game of D&D and writing at the same time. Not to mention the adventure side and the mystery side switching makes it easier to keep myself from getting burnt out as much.

I think I'll post our resident bard's character sheet now. For those interested in stats, Entertainer backgrounds normally are skilled in acrobatics and performance but Ricven's pretty lazy. So instead, he is skilled with persuasion and performance for storytelling.

I'll be posting on the story's page the links to character sheets from here on but only the ones that have been revealed. There will also be a spoiler tag so make sure you're caught up in the story before looking at any new links!

That said, see you all next chapter!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(18) Onward to Town

Thorn Wielder's POV
Former War Room
The Next Morning

After everyone passed out small metal pieces, the yelling was done. Everyone became calm and the Dwarf, Glemerr, and the robed human set themselves around a barrel to try drinking this alcohol as fast as they could while everyone cheered them on.

But halfway through the contest, I had to catch the human in my vines before she collapsed and reopened her wound. She must have been tired.

From then on, we enjoyed the night in peace. The gnome played music with the curvy piece of wood he carries while everyone took the time to drink more alcohol and relax. I let myself drink from the alcohol too after Glemerr asked. It felt...warm. I liked the warm.

I may have liked the warm too much. Because the last thing I recall drinking more alcohol...and then nothing.

With elves, we don't sleep. We go into what others call a 'trace.' It was like deep meditation but when we did it we almost left our bodies to fall deeper into our minds. We can come back whenever we want, usually if there's some sort of loud noise or if something important happens. I couldn't this time though.

I've never had alcohol before. It did not come from my forest. The stream was always water and the fruits only offered juice. I did hear of passing travelers talk about alcohol as I watched them pass. They spoke of how it made their worries leave.

And it did! When it was warm, everything was nicer. The stories others talked about were more exciting and the food tasted better. And I somehow fell into my trance despite the sound of the gnome's curvy wood noises. I don't even remember going into a trance last night.

But now? As I opened my eyes, I realized some things. I was face-first on the floor, I tasted nothing but this terrible...taste, and my head hurt. A lot.

"Urgelemonminnow..." That was all I could say. I don't know if that meant anything and I don't know what language that was. It took all I had to turn my head up from the floor and...

"Ahaahhhhh," I groaned as I tried to cover my eyes. The fire. It was so bright! Is the cave on fire? Can rocks be on fire? The bright hurts!

"Ah, look who's up," A voice. A loud voice said happily. "Sleep well Miss Thorn?"

"Suh. Slee-ee-eep?" I closed my eyes and curled up around my frog. Oh right. Frog. I have frog. Yay. "Elf. N-No sleep."

The gnome rose his shoulders only to lower them again. "Coulda fooled me. You've been face down on the ground fer over ten hours. 'Fore she passed out, Lady Rava kept checkin' on ya ta make sure ya weren't dead since ya don't snore. Also yer, erm...vines? They unraveled."

Huh? My vines?

I turned my head and brought forward my right arm which felt as though dragging a dead body. When I finally pulled it up to where I could see, all that was there was my arm.

My arm? Where's my...

I sat up in a jolt, clutching my head as it pounded like a drum. Once the instinct wore off, I glanced at my arm again before my panic and fear left. The vines were still attached. The gnome, the human male with knives, and the Dwarf gave me worried looks. They were the only ones awake inside this room.

The injured human male was still in the chair but unconscious, as was the human female in robes in her bedroll. The elf huntress and Glemerr weren't here right now.

"Thorn?" The Dwarf asked. "Them vines...Are they. Suppose' ta do tha'?"

I gave her in odd look then looked back to my right arm. Where the arm bent was a vein. That's where the prime vine grew out from my body. From there, I wrapped my vines around the outside of my arm until I needed them. I didn't need to focus to keep the vines bound. It was like keeping one's mouth closed; you don't need to think about it.

The entire group, plus Big Mac who had come back from not hiding from a pizza argument, all looked at Fluttershy with confusion and a general disbelief of what they were hearing.

Gilda was instead grinning like a mad woman. "Can I sit in on all a' these?!"

"Fluttershy?" Applejack gave her a long look. "...Why?! Why would ya make this?"

"So that she always has a piece of her forest wherever she goes." Fluttershy smiled innocently, seemingly unaware of the dark undertones.

"...Pffft!" Pinkie suddenly cracked, falling apart into a fit of giggles. "Oh! I get it! Veins? Vines? Vein Vines!"

"Vein Vines?!" Mac and Gilda said in unison, locking eyes before staring at Story.

"Story!" Gilda shouted, suddenly anxious. "Is that anything like the purple vines from the—" "Stop," Story demanded, holding a hand up to the basketball player.

"None of that," he said strictly and with an expression that told nothing. "You two have your campaign, the girls have theirs. No fraternizing on that," he instructed.

"Can you at least tell us who came up with the vine thing?" Rainbow asked him.

"Are you kidding?!" Pinkie's beamed. "Not knowing makes it so much more fun! Keep it a secret, keep it a secret!"

"Yes, please," Rarity said after a moment. "I'm not quite sure if I'm prepared for the answer myself." As she said that, Rainbow and Applejack both got a chill down their spine and switched gears to agree the secret stay that way.

And Fluttershy was perfectly fine with that.

Huh. When did they unravel?

I let my head go and began rewrapping vines. Or at least tried to. My vines felt sluggish and heavy and they didn't move as easily. They felt like deadweight although I could still feel the life in them.

After probably a minute they were in place, even if they did sag a bit. When my vines were wrapped back, I sat back and held my other hand to help will the pounding in my head to go away. It didn't help.

"...Cortás Scorch," I said aloud, making the Dwarf, gnome, and human male pause. Then I pointed at the human with my thorned arm. It took some effort with the vine's new weight. "You. You talk Scorch. Yesterday."

"I did," he admitted. I had heard him talk to the elf in the hood about it. He knew me. "What of it?"

"'Small town.' Acrine no small." I brought myself to my feet, picking up my scythe that was lying away from me. My frog I would get before we left. "Acrine big. Was big."

"I know the forest that got torched is called Scorched Acrine now," he told me. "The name was changed after the fire."

I nodded.

"Do ya know what caused it?" the Dwarf asked. "Legends of the 'Thorn Wielder' come from that forest. Back when it was lush an' green. We right ta assume yer that Thorn Wielder?"

I nodded again. "I Thorn Wielder. I...No know. Fire all. Ground. Trees. Sky. All fire."

"So you've no clue eitha'," the gnome realized with a frown. "Shame. Plenty a' folk wanna know that legend."

"Here's what I want to know," the human told me. "The Thorn Wielder's an old story. Over a hundred years old. That story reached Leodaav by chance because of scout sightings from the war."

Another nod. "They no harm forest. I no hunt." All three of them stared back, considering my words carefully. "They...offer."

"Offer? What you mean offer?" The gnome asked. Rather than speak, I held out my scythe.

"Offer shrine. I keep." I went to sheathe my scythe behind my back, watching them all look to the human.

"Platick? That story ya 'eard," the Dwarf said. "There ever a scythe in it?"

He shook his head. "No. The story goes that behind the Drakehead mountains is a forest free of perversion. The people of Leodaav called it the Verdant Hoard as though the Drakehead guarded it from them. That was before the Cortás Scorch though. Now it's called Scorched Acrine by everyone. But, while it was tended by the Cortássian Druids, it was protected by a lady of thorns: Thorn Wielder."

I scoffed, regaining their attention. Tended by druids? What druids? Where were druids when MY forest burned?

"Every tale has another side, it would seem," the gnome noted from my scowl.

"The stories change what Thorn Wielder was," the human went on. "A lot of them say it was an archdruid while the more fantastical stories called her a dryad or pixie. Some even called her a demi-goddess since they made offerings to her shrine." A warmth spread across my face out of nowhere. Huh. Is alcohol back?

"Then again, they would speak of the way bodies would be found mutilated in the trees. That Thorn Wielder would hunt any who harmed her forest without care. She would also adorn herself with their clothing after they bled out from the thorns. Those stories end with calling her a hag or a demon. The more superstitious leave it at vengeful spirit."

Hag? More thorns grew from my vines as those words did away with that warmth in my face. I no hag. I only punished those who harm forest...And I need clothes. Bleeding part true though.

"But in every tale there's one key fact. Thorn Wielder used the forest to fight. She'd call upon wolves, carnivorous plants, the ground opened and swallowed people alive, and she'd strangle and hang people with vines especially. There was even one part about the trees coming to life."

The gnome and Dwarf again watched me but I only looked confused. Trees already alive. What that mean?

"But she never brandished a weapon."

"Ah've heard some a' them stories," the Dwarf admitted. "Shrine especially. Apparently those passin' through the forest left offerin's ta appease the protector. Even brought their own firewood from outside a' the forest ta keep from choppin' at trees."

"And yet a legend like that had trouble takin' out trash in this wood? Why?" The gnome gave me a skeptic look that made me stare at the ground.

"Weak," I responded. "I weak. Forest gone." I held out my arm, moving the sagging vines so they could again see where they met my veins. "Forest make offer. Life."

"Life?" The Dwarf blinked. "Ya mean...A forest offered ya its life? That what yer sayin'?"

One more nod as I tightened the vines up. "Vine is forest."

The human rubbed his chin. "That might explain it. It's been twenty years and they say all of Scorched Acrine hasn't grown anything except tufts of grass. I won't pretend I know magic but the fact nothing's grown back on all that land? It's unnatural."

"I'll say," the gnome agreed. "Alright. Assumin' that's all true, why are you here, Miss Thorn? Cortás don't take kindly ta outsiders. Elves there don't fancy leavin' their kingdom neitha."

"Cortás? No." I shook my head. "Home forest. Not Cortás."

"Ah'm gonna take a swing an' say she don't care much fer politics." The Dwarf chuckled softly. "Sounds like a good friend fer you, ya grump."

The human grunted. "Don't hold your breath. She may not be lying but that doesn't mean we work together. She might go off on her own once we leave this cave."

I thought about that. Before the goblins. There was no strong reason to stay. There still isn't. The only reason I came is because I met the Dwarf that hired us outside that town we left from.

Come to think of it, he was attacked then too. Not by goblins but bandits. I hunted them because they killed a pack of wolves while waiting to ambush the Dwarf. They didn't even have the curtesy to use the remains. Hunters have a reason; they hunt for meat or hide. They don't let death go to waste. Those bandits? They let the wolves parish for nothing.

Right. The wolf.

I tried to ignore my head and stood, pushing my feet one in front of the other into the chamber where we fought the leader of the goblins. The bugbear was tied elsewhere and the bodies were carried outside. But left in the cave was the body of the wolf that had attacked us.

When he tried to bite into me I knew right away; the wolf was diseased. He may have seemed active and dangerous but he was in great pain and had been so for some time. Probably from how the bugbear treated him or whatever diseased meat he was fed.

I covered the wolf's body in frost last night so that he would not rot as quickly while we rested. That frost melted now, leaving the body in a small pile of water.

He needs rest, I determined. Not in cave. Especially not cave where torture was. I moved my arm forward to bring forth the vines, only to watch as they fell off my arm and onto the ground with a dull splat.

Right. Heavy vines. I frowned and started rewrapping them again. There were no plants in this cave either. I couldn't use them here.

"Need some help?"

I clutched my head as if my fingers were going to bury through my skull. In this room, voices echoed off the walls. The Dwarf's metal armored made loud noises now too. Too loud! Why?

I turned to see the Dwarf give me a look before she suddenly grinned heartedly. "Oof. Looks like a monster of a hangover," she said with a laugh. "Last night yer first time with a pint? Poor lass."

"P-Pint?" I blinked. My eyes hurt too. "What pint? What hangover?"

"Ah meant the ale. Alcohol," she told me, speaking softly to be less loud. "When ye drink as much as ye did, ye get a hangover. Lemme guess. Everythin's loud an' bright, ya got a bad taste in yer mouth and yer head's buzzin' like a beetle?"

I nodded frantically. Ow. Hangover. So alcohol does this?

"It's prob'ly why yer thorns are all soggy too. Don't worry, it'll pass. Just takes time. An' you'll be all the better fer it next time ya drink."

"Drink? No." I shook my head. If alcohol do this, I never drink again...

But the Dwarf just laughed. "We'll see lass. So." She pointed at the wolf. "Want me ta get the fella for ya?"

I took a deep breath and thought about it. If plants no help...Oh, wait. I shook my head again. "No. I lift. Need breathe."

"Breathe?" She raised an eyebrow. "What ya mean breathe?"

"Breathe."

I backed away from the Dwarf and took a wide stance. Then I took a few small breaths. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. When I felt ready, I began to picture it. Like he had taught me.

Once the image was clear I took a deep breath, letting my lungs fill as much as they could and held it. Until they were ready to burst. Then, while I held that breath, I took another deep breath.

My torso began to double, triple, quadruple in size as curved horns grew from my skull. Auburn fur spilled out as I let myself fall forward, slammed my fists into the ground with so much weight, the rocks cracked. The Dwarf nearly fell over.

She and the others watched in shock as my body shifting in a hundred different ways in moments while I kept holding that breath; using it to fuel every change. When all was done, I turned to face the Dwarf, my face now at eye level with her as I stood on four legs.

"Are...A-Are you a," she stammered. "Yer. Y-Ye-Yer a...Huh?!"

My reply was a loud bellow that echoed against the walls.

Vareén
Outside the Cave
Meanwhile

I wasn't too much of a drinker myself. Alcohol made people sloppy, and I didn't trust myself to drink around others. So when the morning hit, I was awake first and knew the rest of the group weren't going to be ready until later.

That was fine. It gave me a chance to practice something.

I glanced around me. I was standing in the center of the blind those goblin lookouts lounged in yesterday. I had ripped armor scraps off their bodies and hung them, spaced apart, from the trees like practice dummies. After my blunder in the cave, I needed practice. But not with my bow. I left it set against the rocks behind me.

Now, I had my hatchet clutched in my hands and was sweating buckets onto the grass beneath me. For last two hours I had been trying to get this one ridiculous technique to work. One that my mentor had tried to teach me.

'It's not something you think about,' I remembered her telling me. 'You set your sights. You say the word. You GO.'

It was insane how she did it. More insane that the others understood. It came so naturally for them. She said 'do' and they did. I tried but I always held back. What if it went wrong? How would you correct it if you didn't think about it?

With an arrow you could miss or perhaps snap the bowstring. Fine. Reposition, restring, and fire again. But with this? There was no correcting it. It worked or you crashed.

I tightened my stance and readied myself. Focus. Focus, I told myself. I recited the word in Draconic a few times before I was ready.

"...Temep!"

Every blood cell erupted like fire, forcing my body beyond adrenaline. By the time I blinked, I already cleared ten feet and barely had enough time to tag the first dummy.

I turned to face the second but my body moved on its own. I couldn't raise my axe in time so I was forced to headbutt it.

The third attack went worse. I couldn't turn my head in time and my body flew off course into the thicket. Every spiked branch dug into my face and arms. I screamed in anger— or pain, I couldn't tell anymore —and punched the ground.

Thanks to the magic, my fist embedded itself a few inches into the ground. All the force nearly broke my wrist but at least the energy left my body.

Growling to myself, I pried my face out before a large hand grabbed me by the collar and hoisted me out. I let out a scream that was a little too high pitched.

"Oop! Sorry d'ere!" Glemerr tried to set me down gently before I shoved her hand off of me and landed on my own two feet. Only for her to grab my arm as my knees started to give out under me. "Ya okay? You've been shoutin' awhile."

"I'm fine!" I tore my arm free and tried to get my balance.

"Uh-huh. If ya say so," she said with a snicker. Then she eyed me a little closer. "Say, yer hoods down."

Every joint in my body tensed up. Crap! I tried fumbling for it but my fingers weren't cooperating either. They, like my legs, were terribly numb.

"Ya know, ya don't need ta hide any a' dat. Ya look pretty," she tried to compliment me. "Ah kinda thought you'd 'ave orange hair like Thorn. But black hair looks nice too."

I finally got my hood back on and stared at the ground. "What are you doing out here?"

"Jus' trainin." She shrugged. "I'm tryin' ta get dis one trick right, yea? Ya see, me Uncle Mord talked about 'ow he did it an' Ah've been punchin' trees ta get it just right! Which is much better than punchin' stone like Ah did back on de streets an'—" "Stop."

I held a hand out at her face and she obeyed. "Training. All you had to say."

"Well, maybe, sure, but." She shuffled a bit. "It looked like you were doin' the same thing, righ'? Practicin' a trick?"

"So you were actually watching me." I glared.

"This last time Ah was. Ya kept on screamin' that same word, tempest err whateva, so Ah thought Ah'd come watch! Then Ah saw ya eat dirt."

"Leave," I told her. "I don't want you here."

I turned around to look for my axe. I dropped it after the first swing and I needed to retighten the knots on the second dummy before it fell off the branch.

"You were too stiff~" Glemerr sang under her breath.

"I said leave," I repeated, holding my hatchet in my hand. But Glemerr didn't obey me that time.

"...What was dat trick you were tryin'?" She went on, making my fists shake. "In case ya didn' know, Ah'm kinda amazin' at fightin' close quarters. Ah could give ya some point-ahhhhs~"

I groaned. All this moving had me too drained to chew her out. "If I tell you, will you leave?"

"Nope." A blunt denial. "But Ah will get off ya back a tad."

Ugh. Worth it, I thought. "It's called Zephyr Strike. Magic. You got any 'pointers' for that?"

"Ah thought you were an archer?"

"I am." I folded my arms. "Used to think that was enough. But after seeing Ricven and the other magic types hold their own I...got second thoughts," I told her. "Figured I'd try what someone taught me."

Glemerr took in a deep gasp and grinned. "Ya mean like a teacha?! Ah got a teacha! We're the same!"

"No. No, we are not," I snapped. "You're wild and uncontrolled. I'm the opposite."

"Ya sure 'bout dat?" She set her fists on her hips. "'Cause that Strike move ya tried? Dat was pretty wreckless! And dat's comin' from me."

"That's not how the spell's supposed to go." I frowned deeper. "It's supposed to make you move quicker. With alacrity and grace. You don't even know what that is."

"That righ'?" She reached for her belt and drew a small club, holding it at me. "Tell ya what. You land one solid hit on me wit' dis, Ah won't say a word 'til we reach town. Total silence."

I looked her in the eyes as she returned this smug grin on her face. "No you won't."

"Nah, Ah swear it," she assured, pushing the club into my hands. Then she unrolled some of the bandages on her arm and started tying her wrists together in some advanced knot. "Ah'll even make it fair for ya! Ah won't use me 'ands. Seven swings sound good enough?"

Twilight stared cautiously at Pinkie who sat there with her jaw nestled in her hands as she leaned on the table.

"Are...Are we fighting?" Twilight blinked.

"Nope," Pinkie said in her gruff Glemerr voice. Like Rarity, she was keeping the accent all night for Dash. "You're fightin'! Well, tryin' to! Ya ain't gonna hit me dough."

Twilight narrowed her eyes and slowly drew up her die, taking the bait. "Okay..."

Pinkie glanced over at Story. "Dodgin'," she told him.

He shrugged. "Alright. Twilight? Every attack's disadvantage," he told her as Twilight quickly understood how this would probably end.

The club itself was a belaying pin made of polished wood. It had a few nicks and scratches but was otherwise in a perfect condition. Glemerr never used it yesterday but it was always on her belt. It fit pretty well in my hand though. Well enough to knock Glemerr down a peg.

But my first swing Glemerr simply sidestepped, lightly shoving me back with her forearms. Eager to use that to my advantage. I spun to swing down on her wrist but she twirled in place. Not only did I miss but she came back and shoved me with the momentum behind her elbow.

Glemerr chuckled as I struggled to keep my balance which just made me mad. So I tried lunging for her. She went low. Before I could even bring the club over her head, she ducked down and connected her shoulder to my thighs, flipping me in the air as she walked past. I landed on my back and had the breath knocked out of me.

"What was dat you were sayin'? Alacrity an' grace? Ah don' know 'bout you, but Glemerr dinks she knows which of us knows more 'bout gracefulness. Hehehe..."

I growled and tightened my grip on the club. "I thought you said you were making this fair."

"Ah am." She grinned wider. "'Aven't used me 'ands once. Said nothin' 'bout usin' everythin' else dough."

"Okay. Screw it," I told her. "Now I'm just hitting you."

"Dat's more like it! Too bad ya can't."

I rushed at her again. Deciding a direct approach was a waste, I swung for her shins only for her to jump up and over me with a "Weee!" before landing on the opposite side.

She spun to face me and sucked air before limboing underneath the club after I chucked it through the air. "Hey! What was da—"

I didn't give her the chance. I came at her again and tried for a punch. It was stupid, I know, but in the moment I thought I had her off guard. Instead, she pivoted to the left and let me run past her before I scrambled to keep my balance for the second time.

"Almost 'ad me! Got one swing left," she reminded me with a smile.

I took a few breaths and glanced down at the club now at my feet. Then back to Glemerr. This...This isn't working.

"Well? Come on," She encouraged. "Dat was a nice try!"

I bent down and picked up the club. I decided to inspect it and in the process found a small stamp on the pommel. It was some symbol of a raft on the water.

I let my shoulders slump and walked up to Glemerr. She eyed me for a moment and furrowed her brow before readying herself as I brought the club up.

Only for me to drop it on the ground. "Whoops. Missed again," I said with no emotion.

She smirked for a second and pulled her hands apart slowly, letting the bandages slip apart as though they had never been tied. Fake knot, I realized. She really was screwing with me.

"Yer too choreographed," she told me before bending down to pick up the club. She dusted off the grass and slid it back in a belt loop. "Every swing ya had? Saw it comin' a mile away. 'Cept fer da throw. Dat was cleva'. Guess wit' shootin' arrows, ya don't gotta worry 'bout bein' all predictable. But wit' comes ta close quarters? Ya can't think too 'ard. Gotta let the body guide ya, ya know?"

'It's not something you think about.' My mentor's words came to me again. 'You set your sights. You say the word. And you GO.'

"People keep telling me that." I crossed my arms. "But that spell's not about attacking. It's about moving."

"Weavin' an' duckin' yeah?" She gave me a toothy grin. "Ya mean like Ah was doin' when ya kept eatin' dirt?"

"I didn't eat dirt...Constantly." I rolled my eyes. "How was I supposed to predict you flipping me?"

"Ah saw ya shift yer foot at the last second. Dem's yer instincts," she told me. "Dose are supposed ta help ya. Ya don't fight 'em. Otherwise ya eat dirt."

I huffed. "Okay, I ate dirt. How do you propose I not eat dirt?"

"Well, ya came ta da right person." She planted her dinner plate hands on my shoulders, making me regret this already.

"Stop touching me."

"Oi! Oi Vareén! Glemerr! Ya out there?!"

"Oh! Dat's Rava," Glemerr announced as if I didn't know. But it made her let go of me before running to the cave entrance, so that was something. "Yeah Rava?! What'cha nee...Horn donkey?"

I processed that word for a second before walking over myself to see...What?

We backed up as a large ox with auburn fur and a mass of vines on its front leg was led by Ravathyra as the dead wolf from yesterday was carried atop its back. What was weirder is that the oxen stopped to stare at us with this awareness. It's eyes were also bright emerald in color.

Glemerr leaned down towards me as neither of us dared look away. "Vareén, yer learnin' magic right? Is dis magic?"

"I...I think so?" My voice sounded nowhere near certain but Glemerr nodded anyway.

The ox snorted a heavy breath at us before it started walking past Ravathyra and deep into the forest as we all stared.

"...Well," Ravathyra said with a clap, recovering her perky attitude. "Not ta worry! She'll be back before we shove off! But as she's doin' tha', um, would the two of ya be so kind as ta help us start loadin' the supplies? Oh! An' Ricven an' Stostine will be interrogatin' the bugbear as we do it. We still gotta get some info on this 'King Grol' fella!"

"I'm sorry, you said coming back?" I eyed her suspiciously. "What do you mean it's coming back? What was that?"

"A horn donkey, obviously," Glemerr answered, earning a swift glare. "But how'd it get in da cave? Did the gobbos steal her too?"

Ravathyra opened her mouth but shut it just as quickly. "Ye know? Ah think it'll be less confusin' if ya wait ta ask her yerself. Till then, let's hurry. It's climbin' towards noon and we've still a trek ta go till town."

The Dwarf turned on her heel, purposefully leaving us widely confused until we had no choice but to trudge in behind her blankly. I would've prayed that the day wouldn't get weirder but I knew the answer to that already.

Stostine's POV
Former Wolf Den
One Hour Later

There's a simple spell called Prestidigitation. It has a myriad of uses but I only needed to use it twice since waking up to that stupid cow's cry. The first time was to clean up the robes from all the bloodstains from the fight yesterday. The second was getting rid of the bad taste in my mouth and replacing it with something nicer.

Too bad it doesn't help the headache, I thought solemnly as I held the side of my head in my hand.

I closed my eyes tight for a few seconds before looking ahead of us. I had my bag of sand floating with Mage Hand against the ceiling with a gentle yellow light as we stood inside the cavern that once held the captured wolves. Klarg was on the opposite side, shackled to the wall by his neck like the wolves once were. Thorn Wielder appreciated the irony.

I reached in my backpack for a moment before pulling out a piece of parchment and an ink pen. If we did get any answers from him, I would want it written down so I could come back to them when my head was clear.

"...Do it." I spoke low with a horrible scratch to my voice. "Charm him."

The bugbear glanced up at us with hatred in his eyes. One of them anyways. The other was swollen shut; almost as bad as his broken jaw. Glemerr didn't waste any actual bandages for him when she treated him. Just rags and leather straps she found around the caves. In every way this 'warlord,' or whatever he thought of himself as, had fallen.

"Do I gotta?" Ricven asked with disdain. "I'd rather not waste it."

"It would make this end faster." I frowned.

Klarg snarled. "How do you stand? I impaled you."

"I got over it," I said plainly. "We have questions."

He barked a laugh at us. "Questions? Klarg won't answer to a frail human girl! You think these chains can hold me?"

"Unsure," I spoke calmly. "But they have so far, haven't they?" His cocky grin died at that.

Ricven and I were the only ones here. Sildar had been moved to the wagon's bench and the others were trying to load the merchant's goods onto the cart. It was going to be tight and some of them would need to carry a few things but we would get it all to Phandalin.

"..." Klarg glared at the floor.

"Well?" I looked to Ricven.

"Alright, fine, I'll do it," he relented. "But if it don't work, we'll need ta call some muscle." Regardless, he stepped forward and stopped a few feet away from where Klarg's chains reached. He didn't need to walk right up to the creature for this.

"Say, big guy," Ricven began, his fingers tracing small sigils behind his back. "We don't wanna draw this out no more than you do. So I've a proposition for ya! Could ya kindly." As he said those words, he crushed his hand into a fist, shattering the sigils as the magic wisped outward toward Klarg. "Play nice with me an' my darlin' compatriot here? We just need a few questions. Then we're outta your hair!"

The magic seeped into Klarg's face, through his skin and into his mind as his expression began to soften. His eyes tensed up as though he deeply considered Ricven's words. The moments began to pass as Ricven's fist stayed tightly held behind his back to the point where he was almost trembling, before finally we had our answer.

Klarg looked deep into the gnome's expression. Then at mine. And he smirked.

"Of course," he said softly. "I'd be happy to help. What do you need?"

I took a low breath and stepped forward. "To begin, Klarg, your warband captured someone we knew. Dwarf, male, black hair, very gruff voice. Probably had an attitude," I added. When I saw Klarg nod in recognition I went on. "You ambushed him from the road and kidnapped him. Why?"

"It was a command. From King Grol," Klarg specified. "He sent a goblin with a message to watch for the Dwarf and capture him and his stuff. Especially paper."

"Like a map?" I asked, earning a nod.

"The king asked for it specifically. Said it was as valuable as the dwarf. So we made sure that we had acquired it as well as per his command."

Ricven took a moment to look proud of himself. "Thought I should mention, his vocab's gonna be a little better while the spell's up. Don' make him speak new languages but it helps him talk ta my standards. Personal touch."

"I like it," I said absently as I kept writing. "Why does your king want the dwarf and the map?"

Klarg shook his head. "He doesn't. He wants payment. Someone that goes by the Field Baron paid for our strength."

"And who is the Field Baron?"

"No idea." Klarg frowned.

"...Sir?" I turned to Ricven. We agreed to use no names while we were in here. "This spell. Does Klarg still have the ability to lie?"

"What?" Klarg looked at me with a painful look in his eyes. "I wouldn't lie to you! I want to help."

"He's right," Ricven told me. "He could lie but he doesn't want to. We're best buds! Ain't that right Klarg?"

"Of course." He smiled weakly. "I'm glad to hear you say that."

Wow, this works too well, I thought. "My apologies. How long has the Field Baron asked for your king's help?"

"Several months now. He had King Grol assign small bands of goblins patrol near the small town. Made us work alongside these humans." His mouth curled into that same sneer he had at us not two minutes ago.

"Who are these humans?"

"No idea." His face softened again. "Another warband maybe? They can fight."

"And do you think your king would keep the dwarf alive?"

"He's worth less if he's dead. Field Baron's paying more for the dwarf's life."

Ricven scratched his chin. "And where is Gund..." I had the light abruptly flash to catch Ricven's slip up. It hurt my headache but it was worth it. "Sorry. Where is the dwarf, bein' held now?"

"At the Dark Pit Keep," Klarg admitted.

"A. A keep?" Rainbow blinked. Twilight and Sunset had been the ones taking heavy notes but Rarity and the other girls were listening too. "They own a keep? Like, is this an actual army?" Her expression got excited.

"Ya said there weren't any kings we knew of, right?" AJ asked, earning a nod. "It's startin' ta sound like a tall order."

"Maybe that's just what these bugbears call it." Sunset frowned. Then she cleared her throat and spoke with a calm tone. "And how far is this keep from here?"

"About a day and a half travel," Story went on in a guttural tone that had once terrified the group. When Rarity's spell made him calm down, everyone was all the happier to hear the voice now. But then Story looked worried. "You're not thinking of going there, are you?"

"Of course." Sunset finished her writing. At least we're getting answers in the game, she thought. "We need to get that dwarf and fix the mess you made."

"You...You can't," he warned them. That caught the girl's attention. "I may be King Grol's strongest bugbear, but he has more than me! Dozens of goblins, lesser but strong bugbears, even hobgoblins. If you attack, you'll be slaughtered!"

"So it is an army." Rarity, with Ricven's voice, bit her lip. "That's upsettin'."

"It sounds more than that," Fluttershy believed. "One bugbear was scary. And what are hobgoblins?"

"Generally, people know they're goblinoids like goblins and bugbears," Story said with a nod. "But they're well-trained. They take war and violence seriously."

"Ah ain't sure we're ready fer that," Applejack mumbled.

"Your concern has been noted." I started writing again. "We will take our chances."

He stared at the ground, truly worried for our safety. Comical.

"How long 'til the dwarf's sold off ta this Field Baron?" Ricven asked.

"Ten days?" Klarg shrugged. "Possibly more. The king hates the Field Baron's commands. He'll try asking for a better reward. Plus the dwarf probably only arrived this morning. We sent him the night before you attacked."

"Good. This is good." I started looking over my notes, ignoring my hangover to make sure I had everything we needed.

"Hey." Platick peeked his head in the entrance. "Everything's loaded. How's it coming?"

"Better than anticipated," Ricven told him as I passed over my notes. "In fact, I think we got what we need. Any more questions, Miss?"

"No. But I have a request. You have good timing, right?"

"I'd like ta think so. Why's that matter?"

"Do you think you could end the spell right as he starts answering my next question? At the perfect time?"

I watched as a playful smile filled his face. Then he gave me a mock bow. "The floor is yours, Miss."

"Thank you."

I walked up and crouched down so I was eye to eye with the bugbear. After this interrogation, I wasn't the least bit scared of him anymore.

"You know Klarg," I started, wearing a saddened face. "When we first met, you were incredibly rude. You failed to even give us the chance to explain ourselves. That hurt."

"O-Oh?" Klarg's face was flushed with guilt. "I didn't consider that."

"I know. But here's what hurt more." I gestured to my robes where there was still a large hole. The shirt I had underneath was ripped too but it was less noticeable. "This robe was a gift. And that javelin truly hurt. And after all this time, I have yet to hear a proper apology."

I stood back up and took a specific amount of steps away from him. "Do you think I can hear one now? From the bottom of your heart?"

Past his guilt and sadness, Klarg saw this as a glimmer of hope. One chance for his moment of redemption. "Yes! Yes, I will!"

From behind me I heard a snap of fingers.

"I am so. Deeply sor. S-Sorry..." Klarg's expression went slack for a moment before, slowly, twitch by twitch, his guilty face twisted into one of demented fury and bloodlust. His eyes looked to Ricven with a clarity of what happened before his real anger of what he just said fell to me.

"...uuurggggghhhhAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!" He pounced at me like a rabid dog, the chain around his neck nearly chocking him as his long arms tried so hard to reach me. To get his vengeance for the humiliation I put him through.

I took another step back and flicked the spit off my cheek.

"Sirs? I think it's time we left." I turned around to face Platick and Ricven, who kept their guards up as they stared at the monster tried so hard to reach me.

"YOU WITCH!" He screamed. "I WILL USE YOUR BONES TO ADORN MY ARMOR!"

"Goodbye Klarg. Enjoy your new war room." The second I and the guys turned the corner, I held covered my ears and quickly rushed out of the cave before Klarg's cries for blood could wrack my brain any further.

Ravathyra's POV
On the Road
Some Time Later

The walk to town was somewhat tense.

Sildar and Stostine rode on the wagon's seat as the rest of took up positions around it. Thorn and Glemerr took the front, Platick and Vareén were on either side of the cart, and Ricven and I were walked behind the whole group to make sure that nothing fell out of our overstocked wagon.

Glemerr and I were both left carrying armfuls of items that we couldn't fit in the cart but that wasn't a huge concern. Besides, all of us were fairly certain there weren't going to be anymore issues on the road after the madness we just dealt with.

Most of the trip was in silence. While the caves might have broken some of the ice for us, too many things plagued our minds. Ricven and Stostine told us what they learned from Klarg which made many of us wary about how to deal with it. A cave of goblins was one thing, but an entire force in a fortress? We were only seven people.

For some of the time, our focus fell on Stostine and Thorn Wielder. After everyone learned Thorn Wielder turned into an ox, there were so many questions that Thorn's vague answers hardly quenched. Not only that, but apparently Thorn being an ox for the hour got rid of her hangover which made all of us have our own theories.

But more curious was the speed at which Stostine recovered. When she woke up, I went to redress her wound and the whole thing had mostly healed. All that was left was tender skin and a blotchy scar. Of course Platick had more questions but Stostine never answered him. He eventually gave up.

After that, a few of us tried small talk but it was obvious that we just wanted to reach civilization. We hadn't had a proper warm meal and camping every night had worn on our morale.

But after about four hours of nonstop travel, we finally got our wish.

Sildar perked up from his seat and used his good arm to block the suns' rays from hitting his face. "Heads up everyone. I see farms."

"Wooooo!" Ricven gave out a dramatic cheer. "'Bout time! My feet are gettin' rubbed raw from all a' this walkin'."

"This was half a day's travel," Vareén reminded him. "Stop complaining."

"Ah relax Vareén," I told her with a grin. "Ya can't deny yer as glad as he is ta find a roof ta sleep under."

She didn't have a comeback for me.

"I know it would be a luxury," Stostine started. "But I would love a bath tonight."

"What about that cleaning spell?" Platick asked her. "You used it on each of us. I haven't been this clean for weeks."

"Some things only a hot bath can solve," Stostine reasoned. She was right, you know.

"Unfortunately, you're going to be disappointed," Sildar told her with a chuckle. "The Stonehill Inn doesn't have a tub. But, they do have six rooms and they're almost always open."

"Platick and Ricven can bunk," Vareén proposed.

"Agreed," the rest of us, minus the guys and Thorn, all said in unison.

"Why am I not surprised," Platick grumbled.

"If it's all the same to you," Sildar told us. "I'd like my own bed. I need to give my leg some space."

"In that case, Thorn? Wanna bunk wit' me?" Glemerr asked.

"Bunk?" She cocked her head. "What bunk?"

"It means ya can sleep in mah room!"

"Elf. No sleep," she reminded us. "Trance. I trance forest."

"It'd be safer if ya took the bed," Ricven told her. "There's more of that 'infestation,' as ya call it, remember? Klarg said they patrol outside town."

"..." Thorn's shoulders slumped. "Town...New."

"The town's not dat new." Glemerr thought to herself. "Gundren said it's been dere awhile."

"Ah think she meant that she's never been in a town," I informed her. "Thorn Wielder's always been in the wild."

"No town," Thorn Wielder confirmed.

As we all kept talking, we started to pass by a few farmhouses. One of them had a dog lazily watch us from its porch.

The other was a field that was currently being tended to by someone. They were taking care to till the soil since it hadn't rained for a number of days and the soil was starting to get a little too dry. It was hard to tell at this distance what he was growing. Whatever it was, the crops were subterranean and all the group could see were the leaves that sprouted out towards the sun. Regardless of what was being grown, the group could be well assured that the proper amount of space was put between each individual crop to allow for the best result the family could find. The field might not have been perfect in how well the space was being used but—

"I'm sorry, why are we focusing on this one farm so much?" Twilight asked, cutting into Story's sudden monologue.

"Oh that?" Gilda sat up. "Every time he screws up something farm-related, Mac gives him this stink eye. It's become this whole stupid thing now."

Applejack turned to give Big Mac a unamused look. "Big McIntosh, are you serious?"

Big Mac said nothing as his head sunk to the floor. Then AJ turned back to Story. "Feel free ta ignore him. He might be a stickler fer details but Ah sure ain't. He tries again, ya let me know."

Story gave her a happy nod and got on with the point.

A human teenager was tending to the field before pausing to watch us pass. Out of politeness, Glemerr gave him a huge happy wave and, after a few seconds, the boy hesitantly raised a hand in return before getting back to work.

Heh. Good lad.

"Sildar." Platick looked up at him. "Vareén mentioned you and her were in Phandalin recently. Any details you can tell us?"

"Let's see." He crossed his arms. "To start, this town's about seven years old and it's mostly mining families. It's mostly a near even split of humans and dwarves. It's got silver mines but they aren't nearly as plentiful as the mines up north. However, the mine Gundren found was expected to be a diamond in the rough."

That good, huh? Explains a lot.

"Phandalin was also built over what used to be a Cortássian settlement long before the war. Needless to say there's some bad blood towards Cortássian elves. More so than normal, that is."

"Does dat mean Vareén an' Thorn're gonna be in trouble?" Glemerr asked.

"Not me," Vareén assured her. "I'm not at all Cortássian. Thorn Wielder's a pure example though."

I bit the inside of my cheek. She was right. The differences between elves of Cortás and elves from anywhere else were obvious. Cortássian elves had a sheen to their skin as though they wore some kind of precious metal personified and sported tiny horn-like protrusions on the tips of their ears. Their hair was said to always resemble the color of leaves found in nature and their eyes should shine like gemstones in the sunlight. That is, if all the rumors or bards in the kingdom were to be believed.

Thorn Wielder was proof that most of those rumors were true, at least to a point. She had a bronze-pale skin, her hair was a bright orange with a heavy streak of green on the side and eyes of emerald, although they weren't 'shining' by any means, and the tips of her ears had thin horns that poofed at the end like a mushroom. Everything about her stood out just as much as the scythe and vines that she carried. Even the way she walked had a unique gate to it.

In contrast, Glemerr mentioned what Vareén looked like under her hood before the lass made her shut up. Vareén had jet black hair that she kept cut above shoulder length. She had tan skin with only a small hint of brass sheen in a few spaces and blue eyes that weren't too bright. And, she walked just like any other sourpuss who didn't want to be seen. With her hood up and armor on, you couldn't even tell whether she was elf or human. A distinction a lot of elves in her situation preferred to keep, unfortunately.

By this point, the winding road we were travelling down began climbing over a hill to give us our first glimpse Phandalin. The town proper consisted of forty or fifty simple log buildings, with some built on old fieldstone foundations. As we got closer, we could tell the old buildings from the new as a few key structures stood out with small signs signaling their importance.

Next, we saw more town folk going about their day. Children played in the grass with sticks while the adults all watched as they did their chores or errands. Many of them stopped to see us passing by but while some of them kept staring, especially at Glemerr and Thorn Wielder, the rest went about their business.

"...Town," Thorn Wielder said as she took in the sights. She locked eyes with a few people before they started to hurry on their way somewhere else. No doubt to tell everyone else of the ragtag group of folk that arrived. "Many people."

"Compared to Agix? This is nothing," Platick said under his breath. But from his voice, he was taking peace in the change of scenery.

"Certainly," Stostine agreed. She didn't seem upset about that either. "To begin with, where do we take the supplies? Gundren originally said he would meet us here to pick them up."

Sildar nodded. "There's a handful of small shops but the place Gundren dealt with was Barthen's Provisions. They'll take everything off our hands. Including the cart. It belongs to him. Then he'll take the oxen to the stables for us."

"Take oxen?" Thorn frowned. "No take."

"Hey, it's okay Thorn," Glemerr promised her. "Stables are like big houses fer da horn donkeys! It's warm and, uh. Um...Oh! And it keeps de rain off!"

"Rain off?" Thorn Wielder took a second to consider it.

"We'll deal with that later," Platick told us. "If they're taking the cart, we need to return the Griffonbound supplies first. Otherwise they'll have us carry the crates the rest of the way."

Ricven smirked. "Good thinkin'. Thankfully everythang's set up along the main square ahead. Sildar? If you'd be so kind as ta guide us?"

"Of course. Thorn Wielder?" Thorn glanced up at him before he pointed further down the road. "Please guide the oxen that way."

???'s POV
Griffonbound Vendors
Meanwhile

The front door was thrown open, striking the bell with enough force to knock it off of its hook and onto the floor with a clatter. Standing above it and in the doorway was a petite woman with auburn hair tied into a messy bun and white with gold trimmed acolyte robes. She straightened her thin framed glasses before beaming at me.

"Sister Garaele," I sighed. "Please stop beating the crap out of my bell. It's bad enough the thing's dented, you don't need to make it worse."

The Sister closed the door behind her, blushing as she tucked her hair behind her somewhat pointed ears. By now I knew that she meant nothing by it. She let her excitement get the better of her too often.

"My apologies," she said as she scooped the bell up of the floor, holding it close to her chest as she approached my counter. "But I come with news of great fortune for you!"

I rolled my eyes, my 'saleswoman' smile never leaving my face. "Really now? Is this like any of the other times you've promised me my great fortune? Because I think the rent's past due." I had my chin rest on the back of my hand while I rubbed my index finger and thumb together. A habit I had whenever money entered the conversation.

"Oh come now Leanne," Sister Garaele assured me with a pout. "I mean it! Just now, a large wagon with dozens of crates arrived! It must be that caravan you've been talking about!"

You mean the one due half a month ago? And only four crates worth? Doubt it. This shop dealt heavily in finished goods and business was good since we were the only ones who could provide them out here. But when said goods never arrived, there was no reason for anyone to shop since Barthen's dealt in food and materials. The moment we were out of stock, I was reduced from shopkeeper to maid. Who knew a shop could get so dusty without customers?

"Sister, just because it's a caravan doesn't mean it's for us."

She only glared. "Now how can you ever collect good fortune if you deny every chance of receiving it?!"

"With my head held high," I told her sarcastically.

"Well that's. I mean. You shouldn't. Th-That's...That's bad business," She finally stammered.

"On the contrary, it's shrewd business," I promised her. "You show your hand to your customers and you'll lose your advantage. You need to learn to hide your intentions better, Sister."

She didn't have a response. Instead, she turned away from me and pretended to peruse my dwindling stocks.

"...How's your shrine holding up?" I changed the subject.

"Better," she told me. "The blacksmith is trying his hand at silversmithing. He says he might have a new set of scales for me by the end of the week." Her positive attitude shriveled a bit. "I wish I still had my old set though."

I gave a sorry look towards the floor. "I know. I'm sorry I can't do much more for you."

"Leanne, are you kidding?" She turned back to me with a renewed smile. "The scales you lent me are help enough! I have to be careful to hide my gems but I can still grant Augury to the townsfolk. And the town is all the better for it! A great many fortunes are owed to you!"

And we're back to the great fortunes, I thought before resting back against my counter. "If you say so Sister Garaele."

From behind her, the front door opened up to reveal a human man in a brown cloak and leather armor. He wasn't local either, which told me he was a traveler. And with any luck, possibly an adventurer. "Excuse me, are you the owner?"

Sister Garaele answered before I could. "Why yes, she is!" Oh no. "This is Leanne, representing the Griffonbound Vendors in our lovely little town! And you are one of the group who have arrived with a wagon full of supplies that rightfully belong to this shop! Leanne's been so desperate to restock!"

"What, no I haven't!" I nearly shouted. Don't just say that, people will expect a reward!

The girls all balked at the boy sitting behind his little screen who took in their shocked expressions as a compliment.

"You can do female voices too?" Rarity asked, forgetting to keep up Ricven's voice.

"Rarity? Yer accent?" Story reminded her, speaking in a near perfect replica of Ricven's voice. Rarity started to clear her voice while Pinkie's smile just got bigger and bigger.

"So you can do impressions!" She cheered. "Do me next, do me next, do me next!"

"I. I, well..." Story let out a defeated breath and then cleared his breath. "Alright, fiiiiine, I mean you did ask a lot of times," he said with an impression that made Pinkie bounce in her seat. "I mean, if it was only one time, I probably wouldn't. Same with two, three, four, or six times! But that last one was the fifth time which is a pretty good number if you think about it! And if you did say it more than five times, we'd have to wait until you looped it back around to ten times!"

"Or fifteen," Pinkie realized.

"Or even twenty-five," Story repeated, making the rest of the room stare back and forth between the two. "But definitely not twenty!"

"Urgh, of course not," Pinkie blanched. "Who would ever want to ask for the same thing twenty times?! That's way too much!"

The rest of the girls kept watching this before slowly marveling at the trick. "How are you doing that?" Sunset finally asked.

"A lotta practice," Story said with his own voice. "I used to watch cartoons and then repeat the voices into a tape recorder my Mom got me. Then when I started running these games I realized I had to use female voices. That was always fun to explain to people."

"So you can just copy someone's voice whenever?" Rainbow sat back. "That sounds pretty sweet."

"You'd think," Story told her. "But when some people find out, they like asking for favors. When people started asking for me to cover as their parents to get them out of class, I stopped showing off."

"Why would anyone want to skip a day of school?" Twilight frowned. Slowly, a couple of smiling glances settled on Rainbow.

"I wouldn't go that far, guys," Rainbow defended. "I don't skip school!" When the rest of the group backed her up, Story took that as a sign to bring the game back.

"Sorry about her," he spoke with Leanne's voice towards Applejack. "Is it true though?"

"Uh...Yes, actually," he said awkwardly. "We came across them on the way here. How did you..."

"YES!" She cheered, startling both of us as she reached her hands to the sky. "This great fortune has been brought to you in part by our goddess Tymora! In your face Leanne!" She shoved a finger in my direction.

"Uhhh..." The man trailed off. "I. I think we'll come back later." He turned and began to walk out.

"Wait, what?! NO!" Sister Garaele rushed the door, grabbing the man's arm and dragging him in against his will. "Come back! The fortune must not be denied!"

"Get off'a me!" He shouted in return.

I buried my face in my hands. Please leave him alone.

The man shouted in objection before getting picked up by the short priestess and pushed back into my shop by force. Then Sister Garaele started to close the door.

"I'lljustbegoingnowBYE!" And with that bundle of syllables, I was left alone with this stranger. "Hello travelers! Welcome to Phandalin!" Her voice still reached inside the building as she shouted at more people outside.

Both of us sat there in utter silence as I massaged my brow with my eyes shut tight. "I am...so sorry about that. She cares for the shrine in town and she's. Um, well she's..."

"Energetic?" Platick offered.

"Crazy," I responded. "She's crazy. You wanna start over?"

He took a few second to consider it before slowly nodding. "Sure. We found four crates with the Griffonbound symbol stamped on them. Three of 'em were full."

"And the fourth?" I frowned.

"Mostly empty. There were some small wooden cases but all ransacked." Wooden cases? What would have been stored in there? I ran over the inventory list in my mind to try and find an answer.

"What were in the other three crates?"

"Furniture pieces, candles, sewing kits, erm, buckets, pots, pans, some lanterns although a few were cracked...a handful of other things, really."

The weapons, I realized. "I called for a shipment of crossbows. Black Shot make. Were there any nearby?"

The man slowly cringed. "The supplies were in a cave full of goblins. And the ones with crossbows were all firing black-feathered bolts." He shook his head. "We left them there. Goblins are all dead though so the crossbows are unguarded."

It took a lot not to openly curse my bad luck. Besides, if I did, Garaele would storm right back in here and make everything weird again. "Well, three outta four ain't bad. By any chance, did you happen to find a bell among all that?"

"We did." He nodded. "Goblins used one as an alarm. Thought it was weird how brand new it looked."

Woohoo~! I reached for the bell Garaele put on my counter and swept it behind the counter on the floor as it made a pitiful cling sound. "Mister, you have done this town a great service. By any chance, are you and your band all adventurers?"

"We're not a band," he deadpanned. "But I guess you could call some of them adventurers. Why, was there a reward?"

"Of sorts," I told him before walking around the counter. I deftly untied my apron and in one motion I had it off and flung over my counter in a flourish. "You said there were pots and pans, yeah? They should be cast iron which means heavy. If you could give me a hand I'll sweeten the pot. No pun intended."

I brushed past him, patting him on the shoulder before opening the door. I imagined a brand new chiming sound in my mind as I beheld the group of folk from all walks of life working to unload my supplies from their cart. Judging from it all, they made room for my crates out of curtesy.

And speaking with one of the adventurers with a hood and a bow strung over her back, Sister Garaele turned to me and happily began ringing my new bell in a frenzy.

I smiled heartedly and began to issue out some directions on where the crates were to be placed. What do you know, Sister was right for once. There really was great fortune today.

Author's Note

Welcome to Phandalin, Frontier of Silver!

I think a lot of you may have noticed that, up till now, while the story has bounced between the mystery and the game, the characters being focused on most was Rainbow Dash and Ravathyra.

Well, the two have had their arcs now. However, there are other characters in the game who haven't and the other girls haven't had much time either. So from here on, the focus of character will shift.

There's another thing I wanted to bring up. Up until now, the story in D&D game have been from an actual campaign the creators of D&D designed. In that game, an important character is called the Black Spider. This chapter, that important character is replaced by the Field Baron.

From here on, the story will begin diverting from that campaign in small ways. So, if anyone is interested in playing it, I encourage you to seek out a group of your own! D&D's fun and that campaign is free online. Seriously, just Google 'Lost Mines of Phandelver PDF' and you'll find copies of it pretty quick. It has almost everything you need to play up to this point in the story and beyond aside from building a character.

Okay, weird advertisement-thing aside, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! There will be a character sheet next time. Until then!

Cheers,
-Zeke

(20) Split the Party

Platick's POV
Bloody Caves

WITCH

I had to step back and crane my neck to see the entire message. Bugbears had long arms so Klarg had smeared blood almost up to the ceiling. And it, like the bloody footprints, was long dried by now. The amount of blood coupled with the sickening copper scent made it hard to focus.

Should've killed him, I thought. Why did we just leave him here? What was she thinking? He was no use alive!

"Platick," Story called out, looking to AJ. "Make a perception check."

The girls, who by this point were entirely lost, turned to Applejack in mass confusion. Klarg's message, as well as most of the scene, was garbled for everyone else so they had no clue what was happening. So they were patiently waited for their turn only for AJ's face grow tense. That's when they started to worry.

"Is. Is he in here?"

Story shrugged.

"That ain't an answer." AJ glared but rolled her die anyway before taking a breath. "Twenty-one?"

Story nodded and let Applejack's fears set in for a few more moments. "The stream is flowing outside the room, so it's not deathly silent. However, as your senses go on full alert, you begin picking up another sound. Quiet at first but as you try and listen further you realize what it is. One. Two. Three footsteps, each slow moving and getting closer each—"

"Ah point mah sword straight at it," Applejack cut in, gripping her dice.

A quick gasp echoed into the chamber as Leanne brought up her dagger against my rapier, the two blades clashing as we stood still as statues.

I let out a heavy breath, and lowered my rapier somewhat. "What are you doing in here?"

"You think I'm gonna stand outside alone?" She gestured towards the cave's mouth. "You ran in here like a crazy person! What if there's an ambush outside?"

I thought it over for a moment while glancing at the bloodstains. "No...No, that won't happen," I convinced both of us. "This place is abandoned."

"Really? You're sure?" Leanne gave me a look.

"Yeah...Yeah. In fact, we're as safe as can be." I took a moment to put my rapier away and scoop the torch back up. "How long is it going to take for us to load your crossbows?"

"Depends on how big this place is. You said you moved all the weapons into the room you slept in?"

"So that any goblins coming back would have to fight through us to get 'em. There were crossbows and scimitars."

Leanne nodded slowly and tucked the dagger into her belt. "Good. If we get at least ten, I'll cut my loses and we'll leave." She rolled her pack off from around her shoulder and started digging into it feverishly.

I nodded along, reviewing scenarios in my head. Klarg has it in for us now but that wasn't too much of a concern. Only if he got reinforcements would it be a problem. The real issue would be if Klarg ran back to Deep Pit Keep to warn his friends.

Would he though? I thought. Klarg sold out his 'King' and was defeated by seven lucky idiots. His leader may not take kindly to that. He wouldn't lie about our strength either; he's the proud, stupid type. Not to mention he hates us. To talk us up would mean admitting we're better than him. So what does an injured, proud, moron do when he breaks out?

The more I played out Klarg's options, the more I calmed down.

"Calm down. Let's take our time with this," I told Leanne.

"Huh?" Leanne produced a torch from her bag and held it up to mine to light it faster. "How's come?"

"As I said, we're at our safest," I reminded her. "Nothing's coming back here. And we didn't make a full search of this place the first time. There's bound to be something we missed."

"And your frien..." She rethought her words thanks to my stare. "Your group, will be fine? You all seemed pretty set on getting a few things done today."

"Aside from one of them, I think they can keep their noses out of trouble for one day." After all, they were in a quiet village. What could possibly go wrong?

Stostine's POV
Back in Phandalin
One Hour Later

Houses began lifting free from the ground, the earth beneath them turning into melted butter as large balls of cloth inflated out whatever hearths or chimneys stemmed from their structures. Like hot air balloons reaching into the sky.

I had never seen one in real life; a hot-air balloon. No one has because they didn't exist. They were a concept still being looked into by tinkerers and inventors. However, here they were, reaching into the gelatinous red clouds, narrowly avoiding capture as they weaved and ducked away.

That's when I noticed one of their front doors opening. I watched in awe as this thin-framed hound poked his head out the door, waving at me as it barked heartedly. He seemed excited to go flying.

Then, to my right, I felt the earth rumble as the distant mountains began leaping in the air and spinning upside down, their foundations in the sky and their tops held the ground as though doing handstands. They teetered back and forth, not used to keeping their balance as they quacked like ducks.

Behind me, I looked through the windows of the building I was standing out of. It was an empty office with no light aside from the suns which were now both red with one circling around the other. But one of them weren't giving out sun rays anymore. Instead, long strands of hair reached down to the ground like a fairytale.

I pictured where I would end up if I climbed up to the sun. A burning land of fire sounded pretty accurate, but, then again, too obvious. Of course the sun's on fire. So what if it was a forest instead? A forest where the trees are made of solid light and the lakes are hot springs?

Hot springs? I chuckled. Wow, I really do want that bath, huh?

"Those hot springs are very pleasant this time of year," an attractive voice hummed beside me.

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Come on. As much as I would love to believe that, you will no longer get me with silly stories."

They clicked of their tongue and leaned forward, part of their face falling into view their chin rested on their hand with their fingers curled against the front of their mouth. "A shame. What happened to that childish wonder you had? One would think seeing the world would expand it."

I smirked and watched as sixteen moles burst from the ground, each tearing out a blade of grass before using them to play a chorus of kazoos. Two of them were offkey but no one wanted to make them feel guilty. As for the remaining fourteen, their ensemble helped to further set the mood.

I glanced to my side but the voice leaned back in kind, keeping me from seeing anymore of them. Not that I was trying to see them. I knew how they behaved. "If this isn't childish wonder, than what is it?"

The voice chuckled. "Freedom. You should enjoy this more, Stostine. This is what you sought. And what you needed."

Without any source, a heavy creak of wood echoed across the area, making my mole musicians stop to look around as the mountains began to sink partway into the ground so that they weren't balanced so precariously. Simultaneously, a V-formation of trees flapping their branches passed by overhead, leaving behind a breeze that tasted like vanilla.

"Oh? Looks like he's finally here," the voice told me with a content sigh. "I believe you have a job to do."

I huffed and closed my eyes. "I guess. But. I miss this," I admitted. "We haven't spoken in a while."

"True," they admitted. "Although something tells me that may change."

I furrowed my brow. "Why? What's next?"

"Nope," they said in the tone of a beep. "You know how this works."

I sighed but smirked regardless. "Had to try. Still, thanks Tabbrius."

I could feel their joy. "Happy to visit."

With a stifled yawn, I opened my eyes and lifted my head to observe my surroundings. Everything was as it should be. The houses back on the ground, the mountains right-side up and stationary, no mole kazoos, and no spinning suns. Like every other time, my daydreaming had nothing to do with reality.

I was leaned up against the building for some time now, waiting for him to arrive. It was well past noon and still no sign of him. In contrast, the entire town was already up and moving before even I woke up.

But as I rounded the corner and looked through the window, I saw the form of a somewhat rotund man setting down a couple books on the only desk in the room. He took a moment to stare down at them with his back towards me before letting out a heavy breath as his shoulders slumped forward. Then he began taking his seat.

Perhaps he's a late riser, I assumed. I should introduce myself before he gets too deep into his work.

I took a second to straighten my robes and remove my hood before walking onto the porch of the building. There was no bench or any furniture out here which was why I was leaned up on the side of the building.

As I reached the door, I reread the notice that had been nailed to it:

REWARD
Cortássian Elves Spotted!

North of town, lurking along the mountain trail, is
the elven menace. They have assaulted numerous
travelers and townsfolk and must be stopped.

Those capable, please inquire within.
-Harbin Wester

I frowned at the paper. Despite the war having been over, there was still hatred for Cortás. And the kingdom of Cortás, in kind, hated everyone in return. Its borders were even closed off to foreigners after their heavy losses from the war. Cortássians themselves would freely come into Leodaav though.

Some did so to move away from Cortás and live peacefully in Leodaav's flourishing nation even though some citizens weren't as welcoming. Meanwhile, other elves would come for personal spite to do or act as they pleased. And thus the cycle continued.

Adding 'elven menace' was not necessary, I concluded before opening the door to the Townmaster's Hall.

Past knowledge of politics told me townmasters were elected to run the town but there was a caveat to that. They were not elected by the towns. A council that lived elsewhere elected someone to be put in charge. This meant most townmasters were more than likely not from the towns they were in control of.

Villages like Phandalin had townmasters. Actual small towns had mayors, like my father. Although they were pretty small too. Cities were then run by governors, and then finally Agix, the capital, was controlled by the Queen and the Leodaavian Council.

In my experience, people generally disliked whoever was appointed for their town. They tended to make up rules that worked against the commonfolk because they didn't know how things really worked.

All that said, I kept an opened mind. I gathered every ounce of etiquette Father drilled into me and bore an expressionless face before pushing open the door.

Inside was basic furniture setup with a few bland decorations and nothing that proved the townmaster was a sentimental man. Everything was in its rightful place with no personality that made it obvious the townmaster didn't spend much time here.

As for the townmaster himself, his name was Harbin Wester. A middle-aged man that wore a vest that was tight against his rotund body and a well maintained face with spectacles. He had little hair on the top of his head and the thin shadow of a moustache as he glanced up from the papers on his desk. Wester didn't seem to mind the distraction from whatever the papers were upsetting him about.

"Good afternoon," he greeted plainly. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes, there is." I nodded before closing the door behind me. "My name is Stostine Swordhand. I arrived yesterday with a member of the Whiteblades ensuring a delivery's safety."

Wester didn't waste time processing those words before giving me his undivided attention. "I understand you are busy," I went on. "But I wanted to see if you could assist myself and my group with a few questions."

He took in a slow breath and let himself relax. He seemed tense when I told him who I was. "I suppose I could help." He told me. "I had just returned from speaking with their representative and another of your group now. You'll have to excuse my apprehension, but the woman with the bow was...quite rude."

I took in a breath and held it. Oh, Vareén, what did you do?

"I would like to apologize for anything she may have done on her behalf. You see, we had to deal with an organized group of monsters on the way here. It is actually what I am here to speak with you about."

"Sildar had said the same to excuse his...bodyguard," Wester told me. "He also explained the situation in full." I lightened up at that. Good. I won't have to go over everything then. "He told me that you learned of a location called 'Dark Pit Keep?'"

I nodded. "That was what the bugbear we had interrogated told us, yes."

He gave a hollow chuckle. "Well, while I appreciate your understanding compared to that of your compatriot, Ms. Stostine, there are no landmarks near here by that name. To my knowledge, at least."

"I expected as much. Those monsters more than likely came up with that name themselves. Due to that, do you by chance have a record of nearby landmarks we could search through?" I folded my arms into my sleeves. "If we can get a list of promising locations in the area, we could cross-reference them to find what may match that name."

He scoffed lightly, his professionalism slipping somewhat. "I'm sorry, but I hardly see how that would help. For all we know, they could have come up with that name for a hole in the ground."

"Possibly, but I fail to see how it would hurt." I frowned. I looked over at the bookshelves. There were only about seven or so books plus the few he had brought in with him now. They had to be records of some sort. "It would not take us long either. Possibly a day at the most."

"A day of thumbing through my only pages?" He was skeptical. "I am sorry, but those records are in my possession for a reason, you see. They are not intended for anyone to come in and peruse when they may see fit. I'm afraid I will have to decline."

What? "Townmaster Wester, with all due respect, I do not see any reason for that," I pressed. Then I watched him roll his jaw. "A man has been kidnapped by an organized faction of monsters. The very same monsters that we have proof of patrolling your town! Do you honestly believe that the safety of innocents is a lesser priority than letting us use those books for their intended purpose?"

He took a quiet breath and nodded. "I do. You see." He got up from his chair and walked around to the side of his desk. He was half a foot taller than me as he looked down at me as best he could. "I am aware of those patrols. A few prospectors have sighted them now and then. However, they do not currently appear to be doing anything. Nor have they for the last month."

My mouth fell open for a moment. "Wait. You knew about them? And you've done nothing about it?"

He chuckled hotly. "I don't know where you come from, Stostine, but this is a growing frontier village. We are as far from any major city as one could conceivably be. Do you think we have the manpower, resources, or moreover the funds to mount up an attack against every threat against us?"

"That is why we are here," I repeated. "My group has the ability. We do not require any funds. All we need is information that you already possess. We can take care of this problem for you. Without cost."

Again, he shook his head. "That may be but I am not about to take any chances. How am I supposed to trust that your group will not simply destroy my records? Or, let's say you do go after those goblins. What then? What if they get aggravated and decide, rather than patrol the town, to attack the town?"

"Then we help," I told him. "It is not as though we are the only thing that can aggravate them. What if other travelers happen across their hideout and attack? Then they're aggravated anyway! That line of reasoning is flawed. If something happens, we can be here to help!"

"But will you?" He challenged. "What guild are you with?"

My retort died in my throat. "I'm. I'm sorry?"

"You are not with an adventuring guild," he stated, folding his arms. "With a guild, one could hold you responsible. Without that, all I have is the word of some girl and her elves."

I felt something in my brain crack. "What did you just say?"

"Those elves," he repeated without any guilt. "If you haven't noticed, they're been making the townsfolk anxious. Especially the one with the vines."

"That one is my friend," I told him through gritted teeth. "And we haven't heard anything from the townsfolk. Not about her at least."

He gave me a tense glare. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"From what I've heard, from several people, you seem to have a bit of a bandit problem."

He gave a snort. "It is not a problem."

"They're forcing shops to pay protection money," I spat venomously. "That is a high crime of Leodaav!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he assured before sticking his nose in the air. "There is no such extortion here. Only light haggling. Perhaps those shops should grow some thicker skin."

Both my hands went ablaze, startling the fat pig in a start.

"Insight check," Sunset ordered, already rolling her dice before Story could say yes. Then she growled under her breath. "Eight."

Story gave her a second to calm down, as well as Rarity and Applejack who were getting equally upset, before rolling a die of his own.

"...You stare him down as he eyes your flames in a panic," Story narrated. "But from that anger, it's hard to focus. You're not sure if he's denying you because he's condescending, because he knows something, or simply that he dislikes you. But as you keep trying to read him, the townmaster digs up some thin amount of bravery to look away from your flames."

"Get out!" He shouted as my fists tightened in the fire. "You were guarding a delivery, yes? Then I believe your job is done. Perhaps you and your elves should move on."

"Me and my el—I mean, my friends, are not going anywhere!" I told him. "Like I said, someone's been kidnapped! And you don't seem to care!"

"It sounds to me that he wasn't properly guarded," Wester fired back. "Are you going to make us responsible for that as well?"

The flames threatened to burn into the cuffs of my sleeves as I was this close to making a mistake. "Well! I guess that means we're staying to fix both ours and this town's problems then."

He glanced down at the flames again and caught a second bout of anxiety. "Wh-What do you mean by that?"

"You say there's no bandits? That these Redflans aren't a nuisance of their own?" I flicked my wrists, sending harmless embers into his floorboards as the flames doused. "I know what commonfolk think of leaders like you. They hate hearing you and your type lie. So I'm going to personally see to it that you didn't just lie to me. We'll be taking care of them. Free of charge."

I turned on my heel and started out the door.

"N-No! I can't let you do that!"

What'd this blob just say to me?

With my back to him I cast Prestigitation across my face before whipping my face around to him. He saw a very furious woman staring at him with veins of blue light grow across my face as my eyes lit up in dominating white; like beacons.

The girls, again, couldn't understand the scene through the garbling, but easily read the light fury on Sunset's face. To her, this was starting to remind her of times she sat in on Princess Celestia holding court with Canterlot nobles. She didn't like their better-than you attitudes, even if they were semi-subdued for the princess. But she definitely hated it when it was targeted at her.

"Make me...an intimidation check," Story told her, making Sunset approve of the idea. "Make it advantage."

"Why, from the spell?"

"No." Story left it at that, leaving Sunset to her imagination as she rolled two dice.

When the dice came to a stop, the higher of the two only came to a ten which made Sunset grimace again. "A fourteen."

The townmaster withdrew from me folding the hand he tried reaching to me with under the other as his expression dropped further in fear. "Please! I assure you, they are of no concern. You're not going to help anything by doing this!"

"But you are not helping at all," I told him plainly. "The only reason they're getting away with extortion is because we're not near the capital. There's no guard to evaluate anything but the reports you deliver them. All lies, probably."

"What. Wh-What gain would I have from that?!" He tried challenging me. "I gain nothing from lying about extortion! Feel free to look into my own affairs. My lifestyle! I've nothing to hide! I have no private savings of my own. I get nothing from them!"

"Then why are you protecting them?" I let the magic fade. My scowl was good enough now. "I've heard situations like this. If you turned them in, Agix may give you a bonus. They might give you a bonus for reporting nothing! What do you lose?!"

Wester gave a shaking breath and stormed back to his desk. "Unless you want to know the answer to that personally, I advise you leave town. Soon, if possible!"

I turned up my nose. "Is that a threat?"

"No...A warning." He lowered himself into his seat and fixed his shirt as a trembling hand reached for one of the papers beside him. "They seem like common thugs at first. They're not. They're worse. Especially to outsiders."

I sneered. "Sounds familiar. Maybe you're a member."

This time I made it past the door, slamming it behind me. It earned the attention of a few passersby as I stood there, breathing heavily. That interaction took a lot out of me. I felt weak.

Why? Why's he doing this?! I took my time getting down the two steps leading up to his porch and slowly walked towards the inn. Ricven said he'd be there all day and Vareén was too more than likely. I should tell them what happened.

Maybe apologize for saying we'll deal with the bandits too. I brushed my hair out of my face as I walked. I even told them I wouldn't make any promises. Now Platick actually has a reason to hate me. It's what I get for letting my emotions get the better of me.

Thorn Wielder's POV
Outside Phandalin
Meanwhile

It had been about seven or eight hours since I left the inn. During the start of that time, I watched the people of this town. Sometimes as a cat and other times as squirrels or dogs. There was one time I tried disguising myself as this odd, plump white-feathered bird that lacked the strength to fly. I think the people called it a 'check-in?'

Apparently, the people do not like check-ins walking where they pleased. When I began leaving the pin I saw these creatures residing, a human screamed at his child to catch me. That's how I learned the hard way check-ins do not fly well. That, or my powers weren't strong enough. Even back in my forest I could never become something with the power of flight.

For ten minutes that child chased me, convincing other children to help as we ran. But I got away. I ducked past people and into a few crawlspaces until I was outside town where I could revert back to myself and rest.

Since then I decided to do the other thing that was asked of me; find signs of the Infestation. Since then, I began shifting into a wolf to resume my hunt. Or rather, tried.

After hours of tracking, I only found dead ends. Old footprints, broken camps and, unfortunately, two more wolves killed and left rotting as only some of their meat was used. Their bodies were wasted. That made me angrier.

That last discovery was an hour and a half ago. Since then, I found nothing. Smaller animals evaded my form and the one other wolf I met wanted me away from his hunting grounds. None of them could or were willing to give me aid.

But there was one thing I discovered.

Not far from town, about five minutes away from the nearest farm if you knew the trail, was a large wooden structure atop a hill with a cliff's edge. It was elven in design, meaning it was constructed in a way that avoided altering the land. Humans didn't do this. They built homes as they pleased, flattening the earth and chopping large trees.

Elven homes were unique because of their design and it forced them to take care of the land. I suppose that was the reason I liked their homes. Then again, the homes humans constructed seemed more humble. They also felt more comfortable. What structures do I like better, I imagined.

The structure, some sort of hunter home once, was long and had three stone pillars poking through the roof to hold it up. Then, built into the side of the structure were once beautifully carved wooden doors that had rotted over time.

The doors were also left ajar as I approached. I took moved silently towards them, taking care to move around a snare trap left behind, and then stuck my head inside.

There was much to look at. The majority of the structure was a large open space with heavy wooden tables lined up along the center. They were once beautiful but now poorly managed. The chairs around them, in contrast, were of all sorts of designs and sizes as four of them were being used by humans that were gathered together as they held small pieces of paper in their hands.

"Alright." One of them, a female with long brown hair, looked between the others. "Time to show. What'cha got?"

The other three, two males and another female, each had unique reactions as they started placing the small papers on the table.

"Pair a' sixes."

"Three kind. Tens."

"Flllll-ush!"

That last voice sounded particularly happy while the other three groaned or grumbled something in a low fury. That last voice, belonging to a shorter man with curly hair, started pulling a small pile of coins together. "Sorry y'all. Better luck next time."

"Shove it Glenn," one of the females told him.

Shove? I leaned my head to the side. Shove what?

"Hey!" A distant fifth voice called out as I decided to sit down at the doorway as I listened. "Anyone up there?!"

"Four of us," One of the quartet shouted back towards a part of the structure beyond them. From where I was I made out a staircase leading down into the earth. "What you want Sten?!"

After a few seconds I watched 'Sten,' a Dwarf, walk into the room. "Trying to find where everyone else went. Was gonna try hunting some meat in the forest and noticed most of the crossbows are missing. There something I don't know about?"

"Oh yeah, that." The short curly-haired man sat up. "Anbera and Tristen decided to scare off the travelers. They brought a guy with a broken leg so some of the others think they might be sticking around. Boss don't like that."

The Dwarf flinched abruptly. "You're kidding! How's come no one told me?! I want in on this!"

"Some of their group already left town," another human told him. "Some guy left with the Griffonbound lady and the freaky elf's been missing since last night. Probably went dancing in the woods or something."

Or something, I repeated in my mind.

"Either way, it's too late now Sten," one of the females told him. "By the time you throw some armor on and run down there, they'll have already dealt with 'em. They left like five minutes ago."

Five minutes. I stepped back until I was fully outside again. Structure five minutes from town...As person, I imagined, glancing down at my four legs.

Fluttershy looked around at the others, a bundle of nerves. None of the others were reacting to anything her or Story were saying. If it was anything like the garbling Fluttershy heard from Applejack or Sunset's scenes, they were probably just pretending to listen.

I don't think I can ask them for help. Fluttershy bit her lip. What do I do? Um. Well, Sunset said we had to act like our characters. So...Then what would Thorn Wielder do?

Fluttershy started to notice the looks that the girls and Story were giving her. Story was letting her take her time to decide but the girls had no idea what was going on.

R-Right. She shuffled in her seat for a moment. Well. Thorn Wielder would be brave. She would want to fight the goblins. But what about the bad people? Well, Sten said he would go hunting, but...no. He wanted to hunt for a good reason. Thorn Wielder's okay with that.

So if there's no goblins and she doesn't want to attack the bandits, maybe go find the others? She knows the bandits are after them. She doesn't want Glemerr to get hurt. Or Ravathyra. And if they might get hurt, then...She would leave!

"I. I-I want to go back to town," Fluttershy told Story anxiously. "Uh. Please?"

Story nodded. "That sounds fine. But first, could you roll me one more perception check? Since you're a wolf, you have advantage."

Fluttershy took a breath of relief, happy to oblige if it meant getting away from this. readily rolled the same die twice and looked at the magic writing that appeared beside it. That writing, plus her character sheet, all changed when she had Thorn Wielder become a wolf. It was easier for her to follow along that way too.

To Story, he simply thought Fluttershy had memorized it all. She did love animals, after all. Maybe playing as one was lethargic for her?

"Eighteen," Fluttershy announced as her die gave a flash of light, proving her success.

I leapt over the snare and took off down the trail before cutting through the trees and down a steeper part of the hills. It took five minutes walking down the path but going down the hill, on all fours? I could beat them.

People may fear a wolf running by but that did not matter. Together, we can defeat the Infestation. I could not do that as I was now. If others are lost, we not fight Infestation. Must warn.

At one point, part of the earth broke out from under me and I was forced to slide down some slick grass. It was unexpected but after finally reaching the bottom it got me further down the hill faster than I expected. Even if I was a little further from the path than I expected, it was a simple run from here on out.

Maybe two minutes now, I thought. Those hunters probably just reached town. Good. I know where others are. I can make—

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"

My ears flattened against my head. That scream was shrill and young. Child, I thought. Was he out here looking for me? There were a lot of children chasing me when I was a check-in.

Then, from the same direction, I heard a heavy roar. One full of wrath. It didn't belong to a wolf or any sort of animal I knew of yet it seemed familiar. The same kind of roar I heard from the caves. From the bugbear.

"Get back here!" The voice demanded before the child let out a another scream of terror.

Infestation, I imagined. Bugbear. Bugbear hunt child!

I slid to a stop and turned around. The child was opposite of the town but near. I could save the child but those hunters would reach the others. But if I warn others, no one was here for the child.

What do I do? I looked back and forth, both options closing themselves off. What do I do?

3rd Person POV
Game Room

Fluttershy's relief of getting back to town folded into crisis as she held the sides of her head in her hands, clumps of pink hair clutched between her fingers. It was taking a lot not to fall into a panic attack.

Oh I wish you girls could hear this, Fluttershy desired. What do I do? What do I do? What. What does Thorn Wielder do?!

With the seemingly random tricks and magic the game gave so far, Fluttershy hoped the game would just give her an answer. Or maybe Thorn Wielder could simply tell her what to do. If Rainbow said that Thorn could talk and move on her own, then was that too hard to believe?

Wait. Maybe... Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash. Maybe I can?

"Uh, excuse me. Rainbow Dash? Could I see the, um, the. The lucky die?"

"Huh? Oh, ohhh," Rainbow hummed, catching on. "Y-Yeah, sure. Here."

When Rainbow passed it over, the die's appearance went from storm cloud to spikey seed pod as Fluttershy took it in her hand. Rainbow, like the others, couldn't hear the scene so she had no idea why Fluttershy wanted it.

Fluttershy turned the die over in her hand, considering it for a second. Okay, she thought. Well, if it's magic, maybe it can tell me. So. I guess...Ten or higher I stop the bugbear, less than ten I help my friends.

After another moment, Fluttershy meekly let the pod roll out of her hands and onto the table, only for the die to not even roll. Instead, it slid a few inches against the surface, refusing to even humor the idea.

Child in danger.

A voice strikingly familiar to Fluttershy echoed in her mind. One that filled the girl with worry as her eyes shot open wide.

Infestation. Hunt Infestation.

The next time, it was a foreign hatred. One that Fluttershy tapped into herself.

Others many. Child one.
Bandits no matter.
Infestation harm forest.
I still weak. I one.
Group many.
Child no fight. Child weaker.
Infestation hunt weak.
I weak but...hunt.
Hunt.
Hunt.
Hunt Infestation!

Each thought held an emotion that fueled Fluttershy with emotions that were coming out of nowhere. The bombardment of ideas frightened her. Although, this is what she wanted. Wasn't it?

It didn't even matter what the die landed on, or that only Fluttershy could see the die acting strangely. The answer was obvious to her now.

"I. I fight Infestation," Fluttershy told Story, speaking as Thorn Wielder as much as her timid nature allowed her at that moment.

Ravathyra's POV
Outside of Town (Northern Mines)
Meanwhile

With a content sigh, I crashed on top of a fallen log and felt my feet cry tears of joy. Seven mines. There were seven mines in all that wanted me to give them Ceremonies. And I delivered each and every time. I knew how the Ceremony of Ulaa worked before but I had never gotten it to work until today.

Not only that but with how strong the spell had gone each time, I was starting to get worried. Not to brag on my own well-doings but I wasn't sure if the Miner's Exchange could keep up with paying out all the silver those miners were about to start finding.

Hopefully, the directors were going to plan around that as they push everyone to do their best. And with how tight-knit those miners were, I wouldn't doubt they'd find the rhythm to do it. More than once I heard them talking about how they wanted to get back to town to have a few rounds since they were in high spirits.

Unfortunately, that's when that positivity would shrivel up and they'd get sullen and mope.

Apparently, it used to be that the families hung around the inn like a town hall while the people working in the fields and mines would drink themselves ragged at the Sleeping Giant. But, like the barmaid told us last night, that pub was well and lost now.

The local thugs appropriated it and the bartender inside didn't seem to care either way. The miners say that since those Dullbrands pay handsomely for their drinks, the owner won't dare kick them out. Even if the money they're using is pilfered out of good people's hands.

I scowled out at the fields as I let my legs rest. Maybe we should go introduce ourselves after all, I thought. I know Stostine's interested. Maybe Glemerr too. If we can get one more in on the plan, I'd be comfortable starting a heated row.

Then I shook my head. No. Hold it Rava, I told myself. As much as those thugs need a stern talking to, you've gotta put your priorities right. The town's been dealing with those jerks for over a month it seems. Gundren's got a week. Help those that need it most then work your way up.

I folded my gauntleted hands together and ran over everything in my mind. Gundren, the Redblands, old watchtower zombies. There was a lot more work out here than I first envisioned. I thought I would have trouble finding problems to solve, not finding myself with a heap of trouble. What was the best way to help everyone?

A short span of time passed as I contemplated before a low whistle ring out from my left. "Ya know. That armor's pretty shiny fer a lass comin' outta the mines."

Hearing the Dwarven dialect, I turned to see a trio of people approaching me; two human males and a Dwarven woman between them. Each were armed in worn leather armor with pristine crossbows and beat up shortswords missing their sheaths. Not only that, each of them were wrapped up in these grungy red cloaks.

Bet all the silver powder in my pockets I know who they are. I kept my expression pleasant for the moment.

"Tell me," the Dwarf went on, the lads letting her do the talking. "What's someone with that getup doin' in our borin' home?"

I decided to take that as a compliment and gave her a welcoming smile. "Ah, jus' passin' through fer the momen'! Gotta admit, Ah'm pretty jealous a' ya. Ya get ta see this gorgeous sky ev'ry day! Us folk down in Cragen ain't as lucky."

She hummed with a devilish grin. "Oh. A city lass, are ya? Hope ya ain't expectin' us ta meet any lofty standards. We don't have the kind a' luxuries ya probably expect. Perhaps you'd wanna try elsewhere?"

"Funny, that. It's all the better if ya ask me!" My smile doubled as she rolled her eyes. "Ah wanted ta see what places outside of that ol' cavern are like! Luxuries would only make it feel too much like the same. Ya get me?"

"Oh yeah. I get'cha," she said neutrally. By this point I discovered the freckles dancing across her face as she spoke. They looked beautiful on her. Too bad that ugly cloak distracted from them. "Well, if ya'd like, we can give ya a tour a' the place. You'll see what ya need to an' then yer on yer way."

"On mah way?" I snickered. "Ya tryin' ta get rid a' me?" I leaned foward a bit. Not that it mattered seeing as how I was fifteen-ish feet away. "Is it me accen'? Ya know, folks err always tellin' me Ah got a strong tone in me throat. Makes it an ache fer 'em ta keep up."

I watched her smirk for a moment before one of the guys, a human built like a brick wall, stepped forward. "Alright, look," he started. Uh oh. Subtlety's over. "You and your group need to move on. You're not welcome here."

"Ya know, ye're righ'." I took the chance to stand up and rested my hands on my hips. One purposefully resting on my warhammer. "Ah guess that is one complaint Ah got about the town. Yer welcomin' committee seems a might bit out a' practice. But! Ah see ye're correctin' that 'ere. Betta late than neva' Ah s'pose! Thank ya kindly mista'."

The man gave me a long poor-tempered look before drawing the sword out from his belt loop. "Can we just kill her and be done?"

I rolled my eyes. "Ah, come on fella. If ye're gonna mug a sweet, charmin' lass, the least ya can do is make this a smidge interestin' fer the rest of us!"

"I wouldn't waste yer breath," the woman replied in Dwarven. "Ralf's new ta this. Doesn't know how ta keep it goin'."

"Yeah, Ah figured," I admitted, speaking in the same language. "He shoulda jus' kept quiet. He was much more intimidatin' that way."

The two of us had a short laugh before she brought out her crossbow. I settled for the good old hammer and shield combo. All while Ralf over here just growled. "Alright, enough a' that," she told me in Common so the guys could follow along. "A real shame but I'm gonna have ta ask you an' yer kin move on. Oh, and strip the armor."

I smiled like a doofus. "Not even gonna take me ta dinner first? Well, sad ta say, yer gonna have ta work fer it."

"Why couldn't I help kill the outsiders at the inn?" Ralf muttered under his...Wait, what?!

"Others?!" I felt my gauntlet grind against the handle of my hammer. "What is this?"

"Did we not mention?" The Dwarf gave me a sick grin. "We got another group roughin' up that gnome an' the archer at the inn. Oh, but don' worry! We're only keepin' the gnome fer ourselves. Bar's been too quiet lately."

Alright. Nice Rava's checked out. Never thought Mean Rava would be stepping up to the plate twice in one week.

Vareén's POV
Stonehill Inn
Meanwhile

The entrance to the inn was thrown open, slamming against the wall as a thin growl and a heavy breath erupted from the culprit.

"Why if it ain't Miss Stostine," Ricven cheered as he let his illusions play a few simple notes for background music. "Good afternoon darlin'! What's got you so up in a dizzy?"

"Tizzy," Stostine corrected through her breathing.

"Nah, I know what I said," Ricven defended. "Ya look ready ta pass out."

"Thanks." The door was slammed shut.

The both of them were in the taproom of the inn but I wasn't. Instead, I was in Sildar's room, leaned up against the wall beside the door and across from Sildar's bed. Like Platick suggested, I had been shadowing him all day and aside from 'convincing' the pompous townmaster to see Sildar, I hadn't left the inn.

Even when Glemerr woke me up at the crack of dawn to work on training, we only practiced in the yard beside the inn. I was sore for the rest of the morning because of how foreign the exercise was, but...admittedly, I think it might've helped. Still didn't have the move down yet though.

Sildar sat up from his bed to stare at the closed door. "She sounds upset. I take it she met the townmaster?"

I scoffed. "Not surprised. Guy was sneering at me half the time."

"Vareén," he leveled with me. "You forced him to meet me. That wasn't easy to smooth over, you know."

I settled into my spot and nodded along. It was a good thing Sildar still had his guild badge with him, otherwise it would have taken longer.

"Elsa," I heard Stostine call out from the taproom. The door into Sildar's room was closed so all we could do was listen in. "Could I have some ale please?"

"Not tea?" Elsa's voice answered. "That bad huh? Comin' right up."

Willing to bet she couldn't get anything from him either, I determined. That makes three of us now. None of the townsfolk knew anything about that Dark Pit Keep and aside from the stray goblin sighting, which might have been normal around these parts, there was nothing newsworthy either.

But what there was news about was that same lousy 'gang.' For the few times I sat around the taproom, passing townsfolk kept trying to pitch me the idea. Ricven thought it was my attitude, so rather than change it I just came back in here.

Would be nice if one of the others found something, I dreamed. Shouldn't hold my breath though.

When Sildar saw the look on my face from under my hood, he leaned back against the headboard of his bed. "What do you think you'll do now?"

"Good question." Assuming Thorn and Platick don't ditch us, I figured we would compare notes. If no one finds anything, we'll probably hunt the patrols tomorrow. Still, we had ten days to find Gundren when we left the cave. After today, we'll be down to eight.

I heard the front door open again before a few pairs of shoes stepped onto the floorboards. They sounded heavy. Miners maybe?

But as I wondered, I heard the accompaniment of Ricven's song turn more quiet as his violin stopped playing. That's different.

"What are you doing here?" I heard the owner, Stonehill, ask. He didn't sound pleased.

A new voice chuckled. "That's pretty rude. Is that how you talk to all your patrons?"

"You're not patrons. Get out."

"Aww, come on," a second voice cooed as a set of footprints walked further into the taproom. I think they were approaching the bar because they passed Sildar's door. "You don't have to be rude about all this. I mean, I know people don't get along with us, but it's not like we're doing anything wrong."

"Tell that to Thel," One patron muttered.

"Who said that?" A third voice, a female one, demanded. When there was no response, she kept going. "Come on, who was it? I didn't quite hear—" skkreEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!

A sharp screech cut across the room, making even me shake my head. It didn't help that Ricven had his illusions copying the horrible sound.

"Oops! So sorry," Ricven said pleasantly. "I've been practicin' this one numbah, ya see. Only a handful a' notes but it's a beautiful tune when done right."

"Is that so?" The first one asked. "Well, good to hear. Because we came here personally to invite you to play at our bar. Call it a new venue. What do ya say?"

"Heh. Already bein' promoted, am I? How kind of ya."

"Oh. That for me?" "Huh?! Hey, you can't just ta—" "Thanks!" The voice ignored Elsa's objections as his laughter went quiet for a moment before he let out a satisfied sigh. "Not bad. The Giant's got better drinks though."

"Then go there." Stonehill tried to sound stern. "I'm sure Grista doesn't care."

"Maybe that's what makes her the better bartender," the same voice responded.

"That was my drink."

It was faint from my perspective, but undoubtedly Stostine's voice.

"...Huh." I heard a couple of steps walking away from Sildar's door. "You're one of the travelers like your gnome friend over there."

I watched as Sildar reached behind the headboard and carefully pulled out a rusty shortsword. It was Platick's old one before he replaced it at the shop. Then he locked eyes with me and nodded to the door.

Right. I took the hint and crept up in front of the door with my hand on my own shortsword. I bought it from the store for myself after failing to hit anything with my old hatchet.

"Wait. You're the hooded girl?" The voice asked Stostine, suspicious. "You don't look like much of a fighter. Or an archer. Where's your bow?"

Must be wearing her hood up. They think she's me. That made me tense up. They knew who Ricven and I were. And there were three voices. All probably from the Redbrands. This wasn't them strong arming the innkeeper. They're here for us.

"Do not need it," Stostine told them. "Although, with the size of this room? A bow is not a bad weapon of choice."

Why would she say...Clever girl. I let go of the sword's hilt and brought out my bow before taking hold of the doorknob.

"Sucks to be you then." The voice didn't care. "Look. Like my friend said, we're reasonable. We just don't like outsiders. Especially the shifty kind that brings in elves."

Keep talking. I turned the doorknob as far as it would go and pulled. The door opened inward and, thankfully, didn't creek.

I stopped after a few inches and peeked out to get a look at the room. There were five innocents; three patrons, Elsa, and Stonehill. Just left of my door was the table Ricven stood on top of with one of the patrons shuffling closer in worry.

Then, the thugs. Each of them wore dark red cloaks and they were across the taproom. One was blocking the door close to Ricven, another was in the middle of the room downing a tankard of ale with a despaired Elsa left to watch, and the third was seated across the table from Stostine at the same table we used last night.

That table was about fifty feet away and a straight shot from my door. No civilians in my way either as the other two were still seated away from everyone else. Bow's not a bad weapon of choice at all.

"We are the shifty ones?" Stostine challenged after locking eyes with me for a moment before leaning her elbows on the table. "You are the ones making everyone nervous. One would say you are worse than us."

The man at Stostine's table let out a dry laugh. "For someone without a weapon, you sound pretty full of yourself."

Stostine leaned forward. "We will give you one chance. Leave. Or if you want a fight so badly, we will be happy to oblige outside."

I could see his cocky smirk from behind him. "Ya hear that guys? She's gonna let us walk away while we can."

"Sounds like she stole our line," the cloaked woman at the door grumbled.

"Maybe ya shoulda been quicker ta say it," Ricven replied as he started tuning his violin. "But I'd listen ta the lady if I were you. She's a fire when she's mad."

"Not now," Stostine corrected him. "I would prefer not to burn the inn."

"Ice then?" Ricven offered.

"Exactly."

The guy let out a roar and threw away the table standing between him and Stostine before pulling out his blade halfway. "This is our town. Not yours and not some guild's!"

The patrons at the table tried getting up to leave but the guy that stole a tankard from Elsa shoved one back in his seat before glaring at the other to follow suit. They were trapped in here with us.

"I..." Stonehill swallowed his fear. "I told you leave. You're not welcome here!"

"You sure about that?" The same bandit stared Stonehill down before dumping out the contents of a tankard on the guy he was holding down and walked partway to the bar. Stonehill took a few steps back. "You know what happened to the last guy that said that, right?"

"Mr. Stonehill," Stostine abruptly asked. "Would you like me and my friends to take care of this? I cannot insure the room will stay clean but I can promise these Sweatglands will be gone."

"The name's Redbrands, girly."

"I know what I said."

Stonehill took a deep breath and summoned his courage as all eyes rested fell on him. "...By all means. Please."

"Thank you." Stostine gave him a small bow and held up her fingers dramatically. "Then, if my friend would be so inclined." She locked eyes with me.

The bandit closest to her drew his sword fully. "I'd like to see you—"

Stostine snapped her fingers and my arrow sailed across the room, sinking into the man's shoulder as he started screaming. Every Redbrand turned to see me standing in the doorway before drawing their own swords for one bloody barfight.

Author's Note

Here's the thing about strength in numbers: they can hit more at once.

The fight itself I wanted to save for a separate chapter. After all, the last time I tried wedging a fight with the story at the same time, the chapter ended up over 15k words. Like I mentioned, I prefer keeping these around or under 10k words.

That means next chapter will be all three fights at once! Guess I gotta draw up some maps...

In the meantime, it's time for another character sheet! This time, it's Stostine's turn! Or rather, I'm trying to do that. That stupid gargling got into the character sheet! (As letters because the garbled characters unfortunately do not work on the sheets.) Oh well. It didn't hide anything too important, right? Besides, it'll buffer out later. Kind of like Applejack's character sheet just did! Sorta...

All that aside, here's to a brawl next chapter!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(21) Attack of Opportunity

3rd Person POV
Sweet Apple Acres Barn

Story looked across the small audience around him as a wide span of reactions emerged from the scenes as they played. He took a moment to pride himself on it as he readied his things from behind the screen.

He didn't actually plan on gunning them with the Redbrands like this. He set it up so that when they visited a set number of places in town, that's when the Redbrands would confront them. Except, they visited Leanne's store, the inn, the townmaster's hall with Stostine, the townmaster's house with Vareén, Eglath's orchard, the old hunter's lodge, and the mines all in one day.

That was seven places. He didn't expect them to split up that much so soon. So if he was going to be consistent, that meant the Redbrands were getting pushed forward. Meanwhile, Thorn Wielder's bugbear was just poor luck for her.

Now then. Story sat back. Providing the worst doesn't happen, this shouldn't take them all down. And if it does, not all of them are in town. He eyed Applejack while she talked amongst the others. She'll be the failsafe. Should the worst happen...

"Alright." Story said after a second. "Give me a minute to set the maps." He got up and reached for the pile of black voids beside him.

"Map-sah? As in plural?" Twilight bit into her knuckle.

"Yep," Story confirmed as he scooped up a handful of the top maps and started sifting through them, finding the first one to put down.

Where there girls once saw an endless void now revealed itself; a simple dirt path that curved to the left. It was drawn on pale yellow construction paper and as Story reached for a few more things, the lines that were drawn onto it began surging faintly with magic.

Like previously, the game did its best to bring the visuals to life. While it still wasn't perfect, everyone saw the rigged dirt of the earth and tufts of grass that grew natural and uneven across the map. A tree stump even grew from the paper as Story brought out a cinnamon stick from his bag and placed it on the map. It represented the tree trunk Ravathyra sat on. As the magic enveloped it, the cinnamon began growing bark.

The illusion was cleaner than last time and, for a simple map setup, looked as realistic as video games from the late 2000's. Last time it only managed colors and poorly-detailed images.

It's gotten stronger, Sunset noticed as Story brought out miniatures. One for Ravathyra and three more for the bandits attacking her. Since the game had garbled what Rainbow and Story said, this was how everyone else discovered what happened to her.

It's not the extra supplies Story brought. That wouldn't make sense, Sunset determined. This proves it. This isn't illusion magic. If it was, the magic wouldn't grow and improve like this. It's definitely dunamancy.

While Rainbow was calming a few of the other girls who were getting worried for her, Story put out the next map. One of a somewhat dense forest. The map was drawn onto this long rectangular piece of cardboard paper that made the ground seem rough even before the magic changed it.

The dozens of circles drawn with sharpie began sprouting holographic-like visuals of trees that were as detailed as the first map. They only grew about two inches off the map before the magic faded but its point was made.

Then there were the low-resolution bushes and patches of grass that covered the cardboard. The magic even tried adding flowers but all it could manage was messy colored blobs without detail.

Story added three more minis to this map. A wolf for Fluttershy, a bugbear, and a small human child. When the group saw that, the child was the first thing all of them started asking about which only confused Story to no end. The child was the whole reason Fluttershy was fighting. Did I screw up or something?

Sunset, meanwhile, brought her hands under the table and pulled out her phone as stealthily as possible. There it is. That's what I was afraid of.

When Sunset told the others they were perfectly safe playing this game, that was the absolute truth. They were safe from this game. To them, it might as well have been illusions. That was proven when their characters got hurt or passed out and yet they were unaffected.

As Sunset started typing, Story laid out the last map. A large square room with different sized circles that the magic quickly transformed into tables and chairs. There was then a large rectangle that became the bar and about a dozen lines Story had drawn in multiple colors to resemble glass bottles behind the bar. All of it redefined with magic as well.

This was the inside of the inn Stostine, Vareén, and Ricven were stationed. The magic even tried forming the walls of the building and the doorways leading into the kitchen and downstairs rooms, one of which Vareén and Sildar were inside of. But like the trees of the forest, they only went up so far until fading out.

That's when Story brought out the final set of minis. The three players, the multiple bandits, and five innocents left completely at the mercy of this game. When Sunset saw the innocents, her hands started shaking.

Them, plus Sildar and the child in Fluttershy's fight, make seven. Seven people. All of them in danger. Sunset quickly finished her message and glanced over it to make sure it was short but direct enough to make her point.

Then she hit send.

Simultaneously, the phone of every girl in the room began to buzz, chime, or beep. Story looked up from her screen and across the table as some of the girls started checking their phones.

"Everything alright?" Story asked, instinctively checking his own phone that lay beside him.

"It's nothing," Sunset assured, pretending to check her own phone as she gave a curt nod to Applejack who was visibly displeased. "Ms. Cheerilee's just asking if our game's going well."

As she explained that, Rarity and Twilight caught on and reaffirmed Sunset's lie. They didn't need to context to know to trust Sunset's command.

"Oh, alright." Story chuckled. "I almost feel left out or something. Tell her I said thanks for encouraging us to play."

"No prob," Rainbow told him, playing along as Gilda slyly glanced at the message from her own phone. Reading it out, she figured it was because of the magic but she didn't understand why it was that important.

8 People: You, Flutter, Twi, Sunset, Rarity, AJ...:

Whatever you do, dont let innocents get hurt. Keep acting as characters. Well get through this.

Sunset told them they were fine. But anyone else? That's what scared the fiery-haired girl.

"I think everything's set," Story announced while the girls started tucking their phones away. "Now then, for those of you on the maps? Roll initiative."

"Do ya want Pinkie an' Ah ta step out like last time?" Applejack asked while the sound of dice echoed.

"I'll leave that up to you," he told them. "We'll probably have a break not long after the fight though so everyone can get some fresh air."

"Sound good to me," a young dog's voice called from under Twilight's chair. "I've had to go for a while."

Several of the girls started screaming in their minds as Twilight quickly reached down to lightly put her mouth over Spike's muzzle.

"Who was that?" Story asked.

"Oh, i-it's just. He, erm. Well. He. Is. M-Myyyyyy..." Twilight's stuttering turned to a single held note as she looked around the table. Rarity and Fluttershy were silent, Rainbow was biting her lip, and Applejack held her face in both hands.

"It's not important right now," Sunset said bluntly, earning an off look from Twilight and Spike alike. "How's about we talk about that after the fight. Okay?"

"Talk about...what, is there someone in here?" Story asked, making a confused glance around the room. Then, in a lack of what to think, he bent down to look under the table only to lock eyes with Spike who matched his owner's concern.

"Story?"

He sat back up and looked to Gilda who shook her head. "Trust me, Bacon Hair's right. Do the fight first, they'll introduce ya later."

"Do you have to call me that?" Sunset's focus faltered for a moment as she bore a thin smile.

Without a proper reason, Story was forced to play along. "Alright, erm, if that's what everyone wants. I guess?" He shrugged. "In that case, uh..." Story reached down for his dice and started rolling for the enemies.

The moment the first die landed, four spindly tendrils of dull red, almost like bloody brambles, extended out and at the girls, regaining all of their focus and nearly startling Gilda out of her seat. Three were pointed at Rainbow Dash alone and the remaining tendril split towards the end to point at Twilight, Rarity, and Sunset.

Story rolled again. This time, a bulky brown tendril grew and writhed like a wild animal as it was pointed tall and daunting for the moment. Fluttershy hated to look at it but she was pretty sure it was the bugbear.

Finally, with one more roll, something entirely different happened. Rather than aggressive tendrils, seven plant-like stems grew out from behind him in a row; five tall ones, one short, and another that looked ready to break. Each, like the tendrils, symbolized characters from the fight but these were the innocents Sunset was concerned about.

Once they were done growing, the bugbear tendril whipped around and pointed at the smallest stem as though poised to strike. The bugbear after the child. That made Sunset turn to Fluttershy to meet her gaze.

It's up to you Fluttershy, Sunset said inwardly. I believe in you. You can do this.

"Alright then. Let's get started," Story said indeterminately. "Anyone above twenty?" Story looked up, entirely unaware of the tendrils and stems. "...No? That's alright, neither did they."

The girls all took a collective sigh of relief at that. "Twenty to fifteen?"

"Seventeen," Sunset spoke up with a raised hand. But still none of the others answered.

"...The commoners are at fifteen," Story told them. "They go before any of the threats."

"Oh. Thank goodness," Fluttershy said in a huge breath.

Story nodded. "Fifteen to ten?"

"I'm ten! Ten." Rarity practically lunged at the chance.

"Anyone else?" Story called. When, again, no answer, he nodded. "Bugbear got an eleven. Ricven's right after."

"But I'm not fighting...that, correct?" Rarity asked as the bugbear tendril coiled in response, still focused on the child.

"Nope," Story responded, not looking at Rarity as he continued writing, "Now then. Ten to five?"

Twilight and Fluttershy gave their numbers while the bandit tendrils swayed about as well. As Story wrote it all down, Rainbow Dash let her head hit the table as she groaned.

"Ya do realize yer fightin' three of 'em by yerself, right?" Applejack asked her.

"Do you think I wanted to go last?" Rainbow countered, turning her head so she could see the cowgirl from the table's surface. Then, when she saw Story finally catch up on numbers and glance at her, she sighed. "Four."

Story wrote the number and tossed his pencil away. "Okay. Now that we got that, let's take it from the top. Stostine, as you snap your fingers, the man takes an arrow to the shoulder from across the room..."

3rd Person POV
Inn

Stostine quickly stepped out from her seat and backed away. As she did, she glanced out the window and noticed two more bandits perking up at the sounds of screaming.

The red tendril focusing on Twilight, Rarity, and Sunset, split apart fully, revealing five dull red vines that twisted in a frenzy between each of them. Rarity put a fist in front of her mouth, hiding her emotion while Sunset gripped the edge of the table tightly.

Need to save them. Save them all, Sunset chanted in her mind, rethinking her stretegy.

"Guys," Stostine shouted. "More outsi—" She cut her warning short as the bandit swung wildly with one hand while trying to reach for the arrow in his back with the other.

Stostine ducked and weaved best she could, narrowly dodging each attack as she focused her mind on the water gathering up and freezing against her fingers. Then, as the man missed his fifth swing, Stostine took her chance.

The sound of cracking ice echoed as a Ray of Frost glinting across the bandit's sword. Ice froze the whiskers off his face but missed as it sailed across the room.

Elsa gave out a scream as she held up a platter to shield herself. Thankfully she didn't need it when the ray came nowhere near her and instead smacked into the wall, pooling outward into a frozen puddle. That was enough to distract the Redbrands.

"Everyone," Stostine screamed towards the patrons. "Get to a room or upstairs! NOW!"

"That includes you Dahlia," Ricven told to the young woman standing next to his table. Before the Redbrands arrived, he was having such a lovely chat. But with magic and arrows flying across the room, that hardly mattered anymore.

So instead, Dahlia obliged and rushed into the first open door closest to her; Sildar's.

"Woah, watch it!" Vareén shouted, pointing her bow to the ceiling as Dahlia passed right in the line of fire.

"SORRY!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the patrons did the same. Elsa threw her platter at the bandit closest to her, distracting him long enough for her to safely run behind the bar with Stonehill before they both ran into the kitchen. At the same time, the two patrons trapped at their table took the same chance to start up the stairs. One of them made it up in record time while the other tripped at the landing halfway up.

"Right then." Ricven spun on his heel, facing out to the crowd of bandits and allies as he put the violin back to his chin. "Let's start this brawl right! Ready?"

Rather than voices, Ricven's illusions gave off the affirming sounds of accordions and lutes. "Good! One, two, one, two—and!"

The party started.

Ricven let his band play their part as he instantly brought his violin three octaves higher. The sound was more akin to a screech that seemed to burrow into the ears of the bandit at the doorway. She desperately clutched her bleeding ears to shut out the song but it only made the notes rupture her mind it seemed.

After biting into her lip, drawing blood there too, she glared at Ricven with contempt. "I'm gonna chop those kiddie fingers right off!"

"Jus' try it," Ricven challenged as he fell back in a rhythm with his illusory band. As the two readied themselves for a duet, Vareén stepped out of the room as Dahlia slammed the door behind her.

"Thanks," the archer curtly responded, readying to fire once more at the bandit on Stostine. However, on her right, the bandit Elsa distracted noticed and chucked a tankard at her. The mug then slammed into Vareén's bow, forcing her to release the arrow into the ground.

"You're all mine, wench," the man called as he closed in, Vareén dodging his blade and returning with a punch across the face.

"I think I prefer Knife Ears to that," she bit back.

He chuckled darkly before bringing his blade back for a stab. With a table beside her, her only option was to bring up her bow to block it. It protected her neck but the iron still cut across her wrist, making her hiss in agony.

"What's happening in here?!" The bandits from outside ran in, screaming over the music as they eyed their friend holding her still bleeding ears.

"Kill 'em all" she demanded before rushing Ricven with one hand on her ear and the other on her sword. When she reached him, the lady used all her momentum to severe his shins. Unfortunately for her, all Ricven had to do was jump over the obvious swipe before landing and ducking low, dodging both her and the crossbow bolt one of the new guys at the entrance fired.

To finish up his retort, Ricven jabbed the woman in the eye with his bow, making her step back to recover as he stood up "WOO! Don' know 'bout y'all, but this is gettin' fun! That the best ya got?!"

The second bandit from the entrance ignored him and went to back up the guy squaring up on Stostine, making it a two on one fight as he brought up his blade to chop her in two.

With a frightened shout, Stostine brought up her hand with a sign and watched as the weapon bounced off an invisible force. As it did, the first man came to stab at her and hit the same force. Although, rather than let it bounce, the man took the handle in both hands and put his weight behind the blade, plunging deeper.

Right as Stostine turned and realized what was going on, the blade was shunted through like a nail through a wall, stabbing the mage in her hip just as a javelin had once done.

"GAAAARGHHH!" She screamed. "Same spot, really?!"

Her cry was ignored as the guy kept pushing, shoving Stostine into the wall before pulling the blade up, taking her up off her feet as she slid up the wall.

Stostine tried to speak but her words devolved into screaming as she thought fast. Instead of talking, she brought her hand up to her mouth and wiped off the spit before crystalizing into a vicious, jagged Ice Knife.

She began stabbing the bandit stabbing her one, two, three, as many times as she had to into until he finally stepped back and took his sword with him out of her abdomen before letting her fall to the floor. Adrenaline pumped blood faster, making the whole situation worse as she glared up at the two criminals standing over her.

In an act of defiance, she used her dwindling strength to fling her knife at them, only for them. All the guys had to do was lean in opposite directions as the knife flew between them. Then they snickered.

"Ya missed."

Stostine let out a delirious cackle as she got up into a kneel. "Did I?"

Confused, the second attacker turned back to observe the Ice Knife as cracks formed across its surface. Meanwhile, the man with the reddened blade watched Stostine shield her face.

Magic, he realized. Shit!

"Wayne, get away from—"

'Wayne' didn't hear him. Instead, the rigged icicle shattered and exploded in a field of shrapnel like a grenade. Shards of ice forced themselves into Wayne's eyes and throat while also pelting the other bandit's back and legs without bias.

Other pieces clawed the floor, the furniture and anything else nearby but the last few shards were flung at the window, slicing it like paper as Wayne thrashed about, clawing at his face before tripping out the now open window feet over face.

"...What are you?!" The bandit took a few steps back as Stostine found the strength to climb up to her feet. By the halfway point, the woman reached her hand into her mouth and pinched her tongue.

"Mame's Thothine," she said with her fingers in her mouth. The bandit then watched in horror as she drew another Ice Knife out of her mouth like a sword swallower. "And you are my pincushion."

The Forest

A filthy javelin cut through the air, sweeping through thin branches and leaves before descending and striking the ground at a sharp angle. Specks of dirt spat up, splattering the young boy's face and startling him so much that he tripped over his own feet.

There was no chance of him catching himself. Instead, the boy tumbled forward and split his cheek open on a sharp rock as he skidded to a halt. His hands and knees were red and scratched up but still he used to try crawling himself back to his feet.

"YOU NOT FLEE!" A booming voice roared from behind. "SPY BE KILLED!"

The boy turned his head for a moment, watching as the matted hair of a tribal bugbear settled underneath blood-dried armor. The monster's longer legs made it easier to chase down the child, even as it dragged a rusty metal club behind it. The only saving grace the child had was his small size that let him slip through tight trees and past clumps of bushes.

But the further he ran, the further the trees got from one another. The forest was thinning out and the boy was growing tired from running away. So, in a moment of desperation, he ducked behind a larger tree ahead of him and clutched his chest.

"P-Puh-Ple-ease go away...go away," the boy wept into his hand. "I-I wanna go ho-ho-hooome..."

His lungs cried as much as his eyes. He wanted to look around, to try figuring out where he was but he couldn't focus. In all his fear, he didn't run back home, he just ran. And now he had no clue what to do.

I'm...I'm lost, he admitted, wrapping his arms around him. Where do I go? Can I go? He's gonna catch me. He's gonna get me. What now? What now? What now? What...What?

Through his sniffling, the child heard shifting grass and a low growl. He didn't bother waiting. He turned to run again even as blood kept spilling from his cheek.

He didn't make it very far.

"RAAAARGH!"

Three steps away in, an arm longer than the child's entire body reached around the tree, grabbing him by the shoulder and yanking him back. The boy screamed, throwing his arms and legs out to catch anything but the bugbear simply spiked the brat on the ground like a fleshy ball.

His entire weight fell onto his arm, making his scream become a sad yelp while he folded up into a ball. And standing above that sniveling ball was a shadow looming like a monolith.

The kid tried crawling away but the bugbear pinned him to the ground with its sasquatch foot. When it was sure the kid was trapped, it hoisted its morningstar as far back as it could to break him open.

"DIEEE!" The bugbear tightened its arms and swung, hearing the child scream in terror at the same time as the wolf lunging at the bugbear from behind.

"Fluttershy," Story said as her shaking hands took up one of her dice. She tried not to look at the scary-looking tendril readied to shatter the short stem behind Story while Sunset stared with hollow eyes.

"As a wolf, you have an ability called Pack Tactics. Which means if you have an ally next to your target, like, technically speaking, a child, you get advantage. Roll two dice."

Upon hearing that news, Fluttershy was so distracted that she didn't realize that she picked up the magic die in front of her. So she rolled both dice, watching as the seed pod landed on high enough to flash in success. It was almost enough to distract from the tendril suddenly revolving to bare down on the meek girl.

However, when she opened her mouth to shriek, Fluttershy's jaw tightened as her taste buds were caught off guard by the sharp taste of copper flooding her tongue.

Thorn's fangs sank into the beast's arm, tearing muscle and sinew as it cried out in surprise. The moment she fell back to the earth and her claws dug into the ground, she began twisting and pulling the bugbear in an effort to take its arm off.

"GAH! NO! OFF! OFF," It thrashed around trying to throw off the auburn mutt but it only let Thorn sink her teeth deeper into its arm until she started reaching bone.

Amongst the ripping and tugging, the bugbear was pulled back enough where he stepped off the boy, giving him the chance to start crawling away. Thorn Wielder wanted to bring this Infestation to the ground so she could go for the throat but the monster held its ground.

Then, when it finally had its bearings, the bugbear stomped his feet to the ground and tore his arm free, opening his arm further while loosening a few of the wolf's teeth in the process. It only lasted for so long before Thorn leapt for him again, this time going for the knee.

With the two locked in combat, the boy scuttled further before jumping to his feet and fleeing for his life. He didn't bother running around the bush ahead of him and simply ran it over, tripping all over again as he hit the dirt. But this time, he dragged himself behind the larger tree beside him.

After taking a minute to calm himself, his curiosity outweighed his fright and he found himself peeking through the bush to watch from his hiding spot. Unfortunately, he looked just in time to see the bugbear slamming his spiked club into the wolf's shoulder, breaking it as Thorn struggled to keep herself from tumbling over.

With adrenaline numbing the pain, Thorn started ducking around each wild swing the bugbear brought down at her in its attempt to smash her to a pulp. Thorn would try closing in but the bugbear would notice and swing widely in a way that forced her to back off and start all over again.

"Wa...Wait," the boy mumbled, something dawning on him. "Is it. Helping me?"

Again, the bugbear tried squishing the mutt, getting angrier each time it missed. And when a clump of grass was knocked free of the earth, it roared like a wild animal. "STAY! STILL!"

The bugbear swung horizontally, and the wolf ducked. It tried smashing again and it would side-step. Then he tried to kick it in its dumb, pointy dog-face but the wolf would jump back and let the bugbear stumble forward. Whenever that happened, the wolf would rush to take its chance only for the bugbear to scare it off with another swing of its club to start the cycle over again.

That pattern kept going without either side making headway. Swing, smash, kick. Swing, smash, kick. Swing, smash, kick. Swing, smash, stuck. Stuck. Stuck?

Stuck! Thorn noticed as the bugbear struggled to tear its morningstar free from the ground. Its dented spikes rooting the weapon in place.

With a bark, Thorn rushed one more time. The bugbear saw this and tried to kick again but in refusing to let go of its weapon, it was off balance. That left Thorn ducking under the massive foot and—

She was both laser-focused and distracted at the same time.

Fluttershy was biting her nail and tapping her heel as her nerves started to settle. Every sign of anxiety once seen on the girl was slowly nullifying as Fluttershy kept staring at the little bugbear and wolf minis on the table. So much that even without advantage, she had used the magic die each time by complete accident.

When it was her turn again, Fluttershy picked it up and rolled it like a skilled craps player wanted one more game, her hand staying held in the air as she twitched one finger with more purpose than the others as her eyes darted across every number to add them up. She started getting something the others had never seen on the girl before. A competitive edge.

Rainbow, knowing her friend better than anyone, smiled a little. She never told a soul how strangely committed Fluttershy got with games of chance. Or how she would get these small ticks that Rainbow was sure even Fluttershy wasn't aware of.

Or rather, that's what Rainbow thought was happening. And while that certainly wasn't helping, instead, what was going on was the magic die sent another sharp taste of blood across Fluttershy's tongue as the die landed on a favorable number. The fourth time she rolled it that die in the last five minutes.

"I hit," Fluttershy told Story, not even bothering to call out the number. "Rolled higher this time." Then she rolled damage. "Six piercing. Make a Strength save and I end my turn," she said in a breath of relief before sinking into her seat.

Story quickly obeyed, too busy focusing on three battles and narrating the action of everyone's attacks to question much else.

Thorn spun around from under the bugbear and jumped, clamping her jaw into the underside of the bugbear's leg and trying to tear out a chunk of meat. Large clumps of hair were plucked off, either lodged in the wolf's teeth or littered across the ground, but even then the bugbear kept its balance.

It gave another roar when it finally tore free its morningstar and swung with all its strength. It failed to connect but it was still enough to force Thorn into letting so she could dodge the nails carving her face. Unfortunately, that also gave the bugbear a chance to curb stomp the poor wolf in the face, dazing her.

Come on wolf. The boy leaned out from his cover. Come on, you can do it!

"You...You let spy escape!" It took the morningstar in both hands one more time and wound it up so far behind it the head of the morningstar tapped against the back of his armor. "I told kill spy! You stop my kill! I KILL YOU NOW!"

"Watch out wolfy," the boy screamed from the top of his lungs.

"Huh?!" The bugbear glanced over his shoulder, spotting the kid right away as he screamed in a panic. "Spy!"

In that moment, Thorn shook off her daze and sized up the bugbear who was unfocused and also now completely defenseless since its arms were back behind its head. So she reset her footing and let out a snarl.

"Wha..." The bugbear turned back to see Thorn lower herself for a pounce and felt his throat grow tight. "No! No come cloooaaaaaAAAAAARRRGHHH!"

Mining Trail

One sword cut across a pauldron in a spray of sparks as another clanged off the chain mail against Rava's back. As she came back at the latter with a stiff elbow, a crossbow bolt scraped along her shield before snapping into mulch and spraying the three pathetically.

Next, Rava spun around, catching a new sword swipe with her hammer and meeting the first thug in a deadlock. Following that, Rava redirected the sword to parry the second one that was coming down on her scalp. The two bandits locked eyes with each other as Rava stepped out from between them and put her shield out to guard against the other Dwarf bandit was loading her next bolt.

"This is yer last chance," Rava warned them. "If ya don' beat it, Ah'll be breakin' ya down! Now get!"

"You think yer takin' all three of us?" The Dwarf asked as she finished loading her crossbow. She was letting the guys cut her up while she 'supervised' from a distance. "Fat chance, Cavern Dweller."

Rava tried leveling her temper with a breath as she leaned back from a blade aimed at her face. "Yer makin' it real hard not ta let loose me demons, lass."

But the other Dwarf let out a fat laugh. "The woman covered in symbols? Havin' demons? Guess yer not as clean as the armor you're sportin' after all!"

"Stop talking," the taller of the two guys, Ralf, ordered while going in for a cleave towards Rava. The lass merely swung her shield, batting away the strike and following up with her hammer. With Ralf entirely defenseless, the flat end of it drove into his ribs, breaking a couple of them as he withered back for a moment.

From Ralf's left, the second human came forward cautiously as he tried to look for an opening rather than brute force his way through.

That made Rava steady her emotions. I might not last after all. But, if I can pull off those ceremonies, I wonder if this trick works.

"Ulaa, Ah beseech," Rava spoke low and fast, her holy symbol glowing brightly in a way that made the bandit pause. "With faith ta give, grant me yer aid."

As Rava went to grasp her necklace, the human took his chance. Closing in, he brought up the end of his blade and went to drive it through her face only for Rava to ignore him. Worse than that, she turned away and let the man have his chance.

So when the sword closed in, the man only watched as this deep red forcefield revealed itself around Rava like a geode. The sword slammed against it, with not even a ripple effect, and the tip broke off in one chipped piece. As the man watched, the geode-shaped forcefield brightened until a blast of force collided with the bandit.

The human was thrown back, sliding on his boots for a few feet until he fell forward on his hand. He quickly recovered back on his feet but everyone saw him get tossed back. Instantly, Ralf tightened his stance while their boss tried firing another bolt only for it to go wide from how distracted she was.

"Dillard! What are ya doin'?!"

"An-Anbera! She's got magic!" The bandit blurted out. "I got bounced off!"

"Yer about ta get shot off if ya don' quit wastin' me time!"

Ralf moved in, making small jabs and swipes as he tried feeling out exactly what he was dealing with. Whatever Rava couldn't block herself, her Shield of Faith filled in the blanks for her.

But by the time Rava made an attack of her own, Ralf had already backed off.

"No stabbing," Ralf told them. "If you can't stab her right, it blows back at ya."

"Really now?" Rava grinned dopily. "Good ta know! This is new ta me too."

Anbera readied her next shot. "Well, glad we were all here ta witness it. Kill 'er!"

Dillard and Ralf moved in from opposite sides and forced Rava to split her attention. Knowing better than to stab her, the two went in heavy swings and chops that had the armored Dwarf take the defensive. She angled her shield to let Dillard's swing pass over her before using her vambrace to deflect Ralf.

But Ralf recovered. As Rava shoved Dillard away, Ralf went for a low slash that nearly sliced through Rava's leg had it not been for the Shield of Faith. It didn't chip his sword like what happened to Dillard but it forced him back a step.

Rava saw this and seized her chance, swinging as quick as she could only to throw herself off balance. As she teetered on one foot, Ralf came back to chop at her spine the same time that Dillard returned with a downward swing, executioner-style.

With little choice, Rava got unorthodox. She dropped her hammer on top of Ralf's foot, making him recoil and pull his sword back and missed Rava's spine by inches. After that, Rava let herself fall onto all fours before throwing out her metal boot and kicking Dillard in the knee.

Both bandits relented, hopping or leaning off of their bad legs like a cartoon before Rava retrieved her hammer and threw herself forward like a boar, tackling Dillard to give herself some much needed breathing room between the two.

"Aww, did yer bum rushin' plan fail?" Rava teased as she looked between the two sad humans that were almost standing at her height now. "Fight wit' me all ya want boys, ya ain't gettin' past Ulaa's power that eas—urgggh!"

"Ah, lookit that," Anbera hummed as she eyed the bolt driven into Rava's thigh. She fell to one knee, sucking in air through her teeth as her beloved Shield of Faith began to flicker. "I got past it."

Rava grunted, staring back as Anbera began nonchalantly reloading her crossbow. "Don' be too proud, lassie. That was, what, yer fifth shot? Ah'm not that concerned."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever ya say." Anbera smirked. "Too bad yer magic bubble can't fix that."

But this time, Rava smirked. "Well...Yer half right."

Feeling full of herself, Rava reached her hand down at her leg and took hold of the bolt, ripping it away with a yelp. But once that was gone, she held her hand over the wound and focused as her gauntlet began to glow with a warm red tint; burning ruby.

They three watched in disbelief as Rava's wound sealed itself up and within seconds she was standing tall and tapping the tip of her boot on the dirt trail. It was the only wound they made on her and it was completely healed.

"There we are! All betta'," Rava told them.

Anbera felt the corner of her mouth twitching when she saw that and, almost like a middle finger, Rava's Shield of Faith stopped flickering and was at its full glory once more.

"...I was bein' sarcastic, ya cheatin' dick!" Anbera cried before firing again. Sadly, that one bounced off the aura and went flying far off.

Ralf shouted in defiance as he closed in, followed by Dillard immediately after, as Rava used her shield and hammer to bat at one before blocking the other; the whole thing flowing in a renewed rhythm with neither side letting up.

Each time Ralf or Dillard thought they had their opening Shield of Faith was right there to protect her. Anbera was left watching the brawl unfold as she loaded the umpteenth bolt and waited for the next opening.

Keep smiling Cavern Dweller, Anbera sneered inwardly. That armor's gonna be mine.

Inn

The seven fighters, three outsiders and four crooks, devolved into an all out brawl.

The bandit that started it all shoulder bashed Stostine into the wall and went to behead her where she stood with the girl barely ducking down in time before slicing him above the knee as the explosive Ice Knife crackled in her hand. Vareén shoved back her Redbrand by clocking his jaw with her bow and then using it to catch his blade before it could cleave her arm. Then there was Ricven, whistling his next song while his magical band joined in behind him. In the midst of that, he kept switching back and forth between audible illusions for visual ones, using flashing lights or sudden noises that worked to confuse his attacker whenever she came close to cutting into him.

Each matchup was viewed by the owner of the bar, Toblen Stonehill, who watched in absolute terror from his kitchen doorway while his taproom fell apart. Wild sword swings would chop into a table. Someone would get thrown into and then through an old chair. And then there were the blood stains currently painting his floor while the original coat was setting in.

The entire place was going to wind up a disaster and the only thing Stonehill could hope for was that none of the three outsiders fighting for their lives would wind up a lifeless decoration.

Stostine took a reverse grip of the dagger and cut upwards in a stiff manner, not used to the hand-to-hand activity and it showed as all her target had to do was lean back and take his chance to cut her back down only for a spray of frost to burst from Stostine's hand to chill the blade and have him miss.

The remaining bandit who wasn't fighting with anyone directly kept taking shots whenever he could; careful not to hit his own allies in the process. Only, that was proving difficult for him. Every time he looked to Ricven, the gnome would send some of those flashing lights at the crossbowman that disoriented him. Then when he looked to Stostine, his fellow Redbrand was always in the way never giving her a chance to run away from him. As for Vareén, she'd somehow know every time he was lining up his shot and would make sure he never had a clear shot.

So instead, he fired at Stonehill. He had no hope of hitting the man but it made the owner duck back into his kitchen from fear alone.

Finally, after two minutes of utter chaos erupting across the place, Vareén's Redbrand began making progress. Since she didn't want to have her bow chopped up into bits, Vareén eventually had to keep evading. Each swing or thrust from the bandit made her step back another foot and she was slowly running out of room.

Across the room, Vareén and Ricven were about the same. Since she had come out with her bow, Vareén didn't get an opening to draw her blade as the guy fighting her never let up.

Ricven faired quite the opposite. He didn't even have to bother counterattacking the Redbrand. Instead, he was almost entirely focused on his music and each time the bandit took a swing at him, Ricven just stuffed more illusions in her face every time.

A sudden trumpet to her ear, a flash of light in her eyes, the sound of one of her allies screaming behind her. It was nearly enough to make her rage become a rabid frenzy while Ricven just kept dancing on the table to dodge her every sad attempt.

But when he saw the state his allies were falling into, Ricven leapt off the table to aid them. But not before creating one more illusion of the woman's cloak catching fire, sending her down a fit of mania long enough for Ricven to escape and slide up beside Vareén.

When Ricven took a moment to admire the scene around him, he suddenly grinned up at the archer. "Heheheh. Remind ya of the other day, Miss Vareén?"

She gave him a bored look. "You're never letting that go, are you?"

"Ya kiddin'? I'm fixin' ta make that a song! I'm gonna call it 'A Slip o' Vareén.' What'cha think?"

"I'm thinking about smashing that fiddle over your head when we're done."

"It ain't a fiddle," Ricven snapped back, dropping his jovial attitude for a moment. Then, when the two bandits finally regained their senses, they squared off against the two of them.

"What's your move now, Lightweight?!" the bandit fighting Ricven challenged. "Can't keep using your stupid tricks forever!"

"Hey, the others want him alive," Vareén's target told her.

"Too bad! Besides, he's got magic," she alerted him. "Boss doesn't take chances. I'm killing him, and you can all rip Robes apart."

"I got magic?" Ricven blew a raspberry. "Them parlor tricks? Ya ain't seen nothin' yet darlin'."

"Hey. If you think this is old times," Vareén started. "Maybe push them back then?"

Ricven's jolliness returned. "My, what a delightfully grand idea! Yo Stonehill!" Ricven screamed towards the kitchen. "Sorry fer the mess!"

Ricven passed his violin to Vareén, who took it in her free hand, and blew into his hands, making this visible soundwave form across them like a second skin.

"Stop him!" The bandit at the door demanded. That was all the two crooks needed to rush the gnome with swords ready.

Rather than react, Ricven pulled his hands apart like he was about to slam two cymbals together. "Vareén?"

"I know." She tucked her bow and his violin under her arm and covered her ears as Ricven threw his hands together.

"Boom," Was his last word before—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The sound made Stostine, her attacker, and just about everyone all throughout town flinch as the two running bandits were thrown off of their feet and sent flying along with chairs and silverware. The entire room became ground gained a new layout instantly as even oak tables started carving along the floor a couple of feet.

Bottles from behind the bar rolled off their shelves, shattering on the floor as the window to the immediate left of Ricven shattered from the Thunderwave.

Eglath's Orchard

BOOOOOOOM...!

Eglath and Glemerr both stopped in their tracks and looked around. They were in the process of carrying several buckets worth of water back to Eglath's house when that sound echoed across the valley Phandalin found itself in.

"Huh. Dat's weird," Glemerr thought aloud as she glanced up at the sky. "Dere ain't a cloud in da sky."

"...No." Eglath frowned. Then he glanced at the town. "That wasn't from the sky. Kid, you said you were with a group, yeah? Any of 'em got magic?"

"Oh, sure! Most of 'em actually," she replied happily. "Vareén's tryin' ta learn dis new spell, Stostine chucks fire all ova' da place, Thorn turned into an animal yesterday! Ricven's even got all these fancy sounds an' shapes! Heh, he even made this huge crash a. Thunder. Wave. In the caves..."

Glemerr's head didn't have to turn the gears too much further beyond that for it to dawn on her. "Uh oh."

Eglath swore under his breath, dropping the buckets on the ground and marching into his sunken home. "You know where they are now?"

"Well, Ricven should be back in da inn we slept at," Glemerr told him. "Why, do ya dink he's in trouble?"

Eglath reemerged a second later, his heavy axe slung over his shoulder as he used the pommel to flick the door closed behind him. "I think he met the locals. Come on."

The wizened goliath started down the trail at a brisk pace with Glemerr following close behind.

Mining Trail

The ground shook suddenly as a distant boooooooom! rang across the fighters on the trail.

Anbera flinched and fired off a bolt, missing Rava by a mile. "Wh...What was that?!"

The other bandits felt it too, flinching as Rava drove the top of her hammer into Ralf's hip, taking him to the ground as Rava delivered a stiff boot to the head, knocking him out. Then Rava squared up against Dillard and chuckled.

"Sounds like yer friends met mine," she told them with a great big smile. "Guess Ah was worryin' fer nothin'."

She swung heavily, making the thug jump back with a scream while Anbera screamed in frustration. Rather than bother reloading her crossbow, she chucked the useless thing and ran to take Ralf's spot with her own sword drawn.

Forest

With this heavy, guttural cry, the bugbear finally made progress. It slammed its morningstar into the ground and then swung in a massive uppercut, kicking up dirt and catching the wolf's chin. There was little resistance as its neck snapped backward in a sudden angle.

What was left of the swing drove the nails further through Thorn Wielder's muzzle, past the chin and through the roof of her mouth, piercing her brain. Simultaneously, she was lifted up off the ground and skyward for a moment before the bugbear turned the momentum around, spiking the wolf's lifeless body into the ground. It broke a few other bones in the process as Thorn's neck remained at this fatally impossible angle.

The bugbear huffed, staring over the corpse to make sure his work was done. It was this bittersweet feeling of being pleased with itself and furious a single wolf had done so much damage to him.

booooooom...

"Huh?" The bugbear glanced up at the sky visible from underneath the forest canopy. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. "No storm..."

"No. No storm."

The bugbear glanced down in fright as Thorn Wielder stood back up, rubbing her chin with the back of her hand as if it were a mild ache. Though, at the same time, any signs of a wolf had fully dissipated.

Except for the rage that remained in her eyes.

"Thunderwave," she explained vaguely.

"You...You not wolf," the bugbear pointed out. However, it was too tired to do much else.

Its limbs were bleeding by the liter and its breath was ragged. With each beat of its heart, it could feel the adrenaline in its system running on empty while it tried standing tall only to hang limply like a rotting scarecrow.

Then, standing across from the beast and unraveling a part of her vines, Thorn seemed perfectly fine. She showed no signs of exhaustion and the only wound she had was her lightly bleeding chin.

"No. Not wolf," Thorn admitted as she began unravelling some of her vines from around her arm. "I Thorn Wielder."

"You...You elf!"

She paused for a moment before nodding comedically. "Also yes."

Then she took her vines in both hands. "I Thorn Wielder. I elf. And this?" She held up her arms, purposefully mimicking the bugbear as he had done with his morningstar before. Only this time, the bugbear was flinching.

"This Thunderwave."

With a heave, she cracked her vines down against the soil like a set of reins.

KRAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Inn

krakooooooom...

Vareén gave Ricven a look as she passed back the violin. "Was that...?"

"Not me." Ricven shrugged. "It's faint but that thunder had a different tone to it."

As the two bandits brushed the debris off of them, the bandit at the door stuck his head out for a moment.

"Guys!" He shouted. "I think that came from the base!"

"You have gotta be kidding!" The guy on Stostine asked. "How did they find it?!"

"You think we are the only ones?" Stostine seized on their fears.

Him and the rest of the Redbrands gave her a look, then glanced between one another before suddenly an arrow found itself in the lower back of one of their backs. Curtesy of Vareén who had climbed up on top of the bar in their distraction.

"Go ahead and run," she told them. "We're right behind you."

"...Forget this!" The guy chucked his sword at Stostine, making her scream and cover as he made a run for it. "You're all on your own! I'm outta here!"

Vareén smirked. "Pluvv."

In an instant, Vareén's vision tunneled on the fleeing man as the veins around her eyes became clearly visible. Though the man turned and ran off the moment he was out the door, it was as though Vareén could sense him and the movements he was making. Like tracking a wounded deer.

The Redbrand nearest her, the one she had just shot, scoffed. "Fine by me." He turned his attention back on Vareén who wasn't watching him and kicked a stool standing in his way. When he closed in, the man swung to cut Vareén's foot to knock her off the bar. Except, without looking, Vareén rose up her boot and stomped on the blade, pinning it as her veiny eyes glanced down at him.

"My turn," she said, drawing her own sword and dropping her bow behind the bar right as she parried the Redbrand's next strike.

Ricven watched the two lay into their sword fight only for his opponent to use it as the distraction she needed. Weapon in hand, the Redbrand brought it down on Ricven in a scream. And unfortunately, the gnome wasn't fast enough as the blade came down onto his neck, cleaving halfway through before getting wedged.

Well, wedged until the Redbrand tore her sword free with a horrible noise screeching from her opponent.

"Ricven!" Stostine cried as she was trying to stand on her own two feet from all the blood she was losing. Her shout made Vareén pause too, glancing over as Ricven fell to his knees, chocking in disbelief.

"Ye...ye...you" Ricven looked up at the Redbrand that stood over him with a look of arrogance clear on her face. "You...Y-You broke my violin!"

Ricven clutched the poor instrument in his arms; it's neck chopped halfway through. Had it not been for the copper strings, the whole neck might have been severed!

The Redbrand scoffed and rose her blade again, this time to chop at the actual pain in the neck, but Ricven was surprisingly quick. Dropping the violin, he grabbed the handle of his mace and swung in a flourish, deflecting her strike and then bringing it back in a loop to take out her knee, reducing her to Ricven's height.

Ricven huffed and dropped the mace on the floor uncaringly. Then he stepped forward, looking in her eyes. "Ya really should learn ta quit while you're ahead."

Before letting her retort, Ricven clasped his hands against either side of her skull and pulled her in close. Then he leaned into her ear and spoke a Dissonant Whisper at her.

"You seem well put together," he complemented with his voice seeping into every nerve of her brain.

"Too bad you're fallin' apart."

...fallin' apart...

...fallin' apart...

The woman stared back at him in confusion as she opened her mouth to answer. Only for a few teeth to fall out onto the floor. She glanced down but then watched as half her vision went blank when her eye spilled out in a dripping paste.

She brought up her hands up to feel her face only for her fingernails to crumble away before her jaw detached itself from her face with her tongue lulling out and hanging well past her collarbone. She gasped but all it did was make one of her lungs pop in her chest like a dying balloon as she struggled to stand.

She let out this sick wet scream as turned to flee from the still-grinning demon standing in front of her but her boot was left behind with her foot still inside. She quite literally crumpled to the ground as her face liquified through the floorboards as she finally succumbed.

Thankfully all of that was in her head. Instead, what had happened was, Ricven stepped back as the bandit convulsed and frothed at the mouth before her heart abruptly stopped beating.

Ricven looked back at Vareén, whose swordfight had paused as she and the other Redbrand both turned to stare at the woman sitting there in a macabre camel pose. "How long have you been able to do that?" She asked.

"All along," Ricven replied neutrally. "It ain't somethin' I take pleasure in. But she broke my violin. Ya don't. Mess. Wit' a man's violin."

Suddenly, Stostine let out a cry as she teetered back; a crossbow bolt lodged in her stomach curtesy of the armed thug at the door who was feverishly reloading his crossbow as he looked across the room.

Their numbers were cut down drastically. Two of them were dead, one had run away, and the last guy was still in a daze from Ricven's magic that he didn't notice Vareén dropping off the bar as she plunged her her sword into his clavicle.

When that Redbrand slammed to the floor, a puddle of red forming beneath him, Vareén and Ricven turned to settle their attention on the last threat at the doorway.

"St-Stay back!" He screamed before reloading his crossbow. "Don't come near me!"

"Near you?" Ricven scoffed, rolling his eyes so heavily he turned his head to Vareén. "Ya believe this guy?"

"You came here to kill us, remember?" Vareén reminded him. "The girl on the floor said so. Was she your boss?"

"Fuck you!"

Rather than retort, the archer and gnome watched as a crystalized knife submerged itself into the man's gut at the speed of a bullet, cracking on impact.

"You may want to step back," Stostine told them as she held the bolt in her gut. Right away the two obeyed, backing up behind a tipped over table. When the armed thug saw this, the gears in his head spun.

"What? Wait." He clutched the handle of the knife, the ice instantly giving his fingers frostbite while he yanked and tugged to no avail. "No. N-No. No! No! N—

As predicted, the ice became shrapnel, most of it cutting deeper in the man's torso as he flailed and writhed. To his credit, even with wounds worse than Stostine's, he was still standing as he forced himself to stop screaming.

"N-No.." He heaved for a moment. "I'm not. I don't wan..." A splatter of blood coated his chin as he weakly steadied his crossbow at the mage. She gasped, turning to take cover only to realize the table beside her was thrown away at the very start of the fight.

So instead, she was shot in the chest.

As Story turned Stostine's model to lay sideways on the map, describing the impact of the bolt, Sunset watched in morbid curiosity at everything in front of her. Each die in front of her became solid voids of space as at the same time an entire section of the table gained this grayscale look that spread like an infection.

Pinkie and Rainbow brought it up after their last game. How this pulsating darkness appeared for them. But unlike them, Sunset wasn't afraid of it. In fact, she started prodding at it. Despite her initial concern of this magic, she seemed somewhat intrigued by this.

More illusion magic, she discovered. The game has it sprinkled between the dunamancy. Not a safe combination.

"And after spotting the two of you," Story went on, pausing for effect as Twilight and Rarity tensed up. "...He leaves."

Abruptly, Story reached out and turned the bandit mini around, tapping it down the map as it left the incorporeal tavern and down the road towards the edge of the map.

"Wait, he's just leavin'?" Applejack asked.

"Well, yeah." Story shrugged. "It's two against one and they're virtually untouched. Not to mention one of them melted his partner's brain and made an explosion with his hands. Would you stay?"

"Admittedly, no," Twilight reasoned. "I mean, it makes sense. They're not goblins this time."

Story took a moment to let them all take that in before settling on Sunset. "Top of the round. Sunset? Death save."

She watched as one of her dice regained its typical appearance, almost like it was also asking her to roll. So she obliged, watching as it landed on an eighteen, she sat back and gave a thumbs up as the gray colored shrunk back.

Stostine fell on her back clutching the bolt dangerously close to her lung as she tried desperately to keep her breaths short. Meanwhile, the culprit turned on his heel and made a run for it.

Immediately, Vareén rushed to not help Stostine and instead reach for her bow, only to find it wasn't on her back. It was back behind the bar where she left it.

She clicked her tongue. "Great. He got away."

"Not yet." Ricven forced a glass vial into her hand. "Help the poor mage, would ya? I'ma make a friend."

Ricven was already on his way out the door before Vareén could start objecting. So instead she glanced down at the red liquid in the vial and then the quick-breathing girl on the floor.

Great. Medic duty. She grimaced before jogging over to Stostine as her eyes settled on Vareén's through her dizziness.

"H...Hel...He-Hel—" Stostine's hardened voice was cut off when an uncorked bottle was shoved halfway down her throat.

"Shut up and drink," Vareén ordered, glancing around them. None of the corpses were moving and aside from the owner peeking out from the kitchen, no one was there.

"Aw, come on fella! Ya don' gotta run!" Ricven's voice shouted from outside. "I'm sure if ya play nice, we can come to an understandin'! Would ya kindly come back?"

"Mind control, huh?" Vareén thought aloud. "Wonder if it worked. Oh, you done?" She glanced back to Stostine as the vial was now empty and Stostine's eyes seemed to gain some clarity as she used one hand to get the vial out of her hand and the other to grab the bolt in her chest.

"Wait, what're you—" Stostine didn't wait for Vareén to finish before ripping the bolt out as quickly as she could, taking a heavy breath as the wound the bolt had plugged up was now open wider.

"You just made it worse!" Vareén told her before Stostine looked her in the eyes before her own started to glow like tiny suns.

Vareén stared as Stostine tossed the bolt away, removing the top half of her robe to reveal a simple shirt underneath. One with multiple cuts and tears on it. Not only that, but her shirt was now heavily stained with fresh blood thanks to her open wound.

Then, to remedy that, Stostine placed her now glowing hand against the wound and took a deep breath as the light traveled from her hand into her torso. Vareén watched the blood flow stop entirely in a matter of seconds while Stostine's tense jaw softened into one of relief. As she removed her hand, it was covered in blood but Vareén saw that not only was the wound but it was like it never existed.

"You. H-How'd you..." Vareén focused on the girl for a time. "That wasn't magic, was it?"

Stostine opened her mouth to answer but all that came out was a heavy breath as she glanced down at the other crossbow bolt still embedded in her; right above her hip. "Not my typical magic. If that is what you mean."

"Can you do it again?" Vareén asked awkwardly as now both of them were staring at the second bolt.

"No," Stostine admitted pathetically. "But it was...stronger than last time." Stostine didn't bother deciphering that any further. Then the human began to sit up with Vareén eventually deciding it would be faster to help Stostine up on her feet rather than watch her struggle.

Vareén then proceeded to go the extra mile of helping Stostine into a chair to let her sit down. Stostine flinched for an instant as the bolt shifted in her side and sent pain up her body, but then she was able to relax. "Thanks. You're a good friend."

"You keep using that word," Vareén pointed out, not caring enough to correct her. "And you can try to use it all you want; I'm not touching that bolt."

Stostine giggled offkey. "That is fair." Then, her face darkened when she studied the bodies in the room. "This was not an impulse. They came here on purpose."

"You noticed too, huh?" Vareén flipped a chair with her foot, taking one more look around the taproom before sitting down. "They were looking for us specifically. Wouldn't be shocked if they sent someone for the others."

"Should we go find them?"

Vareén made a not-so-obvious glance back at Stostine's bolt and the human's anxiety flattened. "You shouldn't. And I won't. Glemerr took on a goblin ambush single-handed and the Dwarf's a walking armory. They won't break a sweat."

Ravathyra's POV
Mining Trail

Dillard fell back, clutching his knee that I may have broken in that last swing. He was still breathing though which was all I was really going for.

With him down, I turned in time to duck under one sword before slamming the second with my shield. Anbera, after taking Ralf's spot, put his sword in her off hand, giving herself two blades to work with.

Crossing them like a pair of shears, Anbera brought them up and caught my hammer between them before giving me a swift kick to the gut. I heaved, leaning back in time to watch a sword glance across the magic aura before the other pierced through, cutting between two ribs.

I cried out, swinging my hammer weakly to make her get back but all it did was leave me exposed for another swipe across the arm.

"Was tha' a scream I jus' heard?!" Anbera didn't let up. As my Shield of Faith flickered, her swords came to cut at me more. One off my shield, the next parried, the third I dodged and the last one I leaned in, letting the brunt of my chain mail catching it.

With that opening, I swung wildly and caught her hip, feeling a slight give as she nearly toppled. With my hammer too heavy to turn back on her, I fell into a shoulder bash. She tried bringing up her swords, but my aura finally stopped flickering and acted a barrier that I smashed into Anbera's face.

When she fell back, losing her grip on one of her swords for a moment, I stepped back as far as I could before setting my hammer down head-first and muttering another prayer under my lips. A warm glow then went down my form, glossing over each cut I earned from not only Anbera but the second bandit as well.

Most of them were healed up but I was still out of breath. Not only that but a few of the places felt tender as I picked my hammer back up and leveled it at Anbera as she chuckled.

"That ain' as good as last time, is it?" She managed to grin through her panting. "Let me guess. Ya ran short?"

"You don' look so good yerself, lass," I returned in a pant of my own. "Do us both a favor an' turn yerself in. Ah'm already bringin' these two chuckle 'eads in fer their crimes. An' ya can' run from the law ferever."

"Run from the law?" She let out a screeching laugh. "Who's runnin'?! I'd never run from a fun bout like this!"

I gave her a careful look. "Are you one a' them Hydra Pit folk?"

"There's a name I haven' 'eard in a while," she admitted. "But nah. Yer the city-dweller here, not me. I've never gotten ta set foot in Cragen, much less them fightin' pits. Shame really. Sounds like my kinda party."

"It's not your kind..." But the more I thought about it, the more I nodded. "...Nah. Nah, yer right. You'd fit pretty well actually."

"You've been?" She paused, eying me up and down for a second. "Didn't think you'd be the type."

"Then ya don' know me." I beamed. "Ah'm always up fer tryin' anythin' once."

She let out this friendly scoff. "You know, I like you. Now I feel bad I gotta kill ya."

"Ya say that like ya can pull it off."

She took the challenge.

Closing in the gap, Anbera brought a sword to my temple on to be ducked as its partner carved against my shield before they both clashed against my hammer to block my own swing. Anbera then took it a literal step further by closing in the full distance and slamming her forehead into my nose.

I reeled back before headbutting her in return, my bloody nose now staining both of us before I drove my hammer into her boot, probably smashing a toe or two before I shield bashed her away from me. Using that, I thrust my hammer and caught her in the sternum the same time she found an opening and gave me a shallow cut against my shoulder.

The two of us kept going back and forth for a while, trading blood as we gained ground with each strong hit. There was a time I tripped over Ralf's unconscious body and Anbera capitalized only for her blades to bounce off my Shield of Faith and grant me an opening to kick out her bad foot from under her. Both of us fell hard on the floor, forcing us to race to see who would stand up. Only for us to tie, clash weapons, and start over again.

On my right, I watched Ralf slowly waking up to look up at us. When he saw Anbera with her and his sword and still losing ground on me, he slowly laid his head back down and tried playing dead before his boss could notice.

At one point, my hammer tapped her wrist and made her lose the grip on one of her swords. I tried pushing the advantage but all it did was give her the chance to cut me on my elbow.

"Ya havin' fun yet?" Anbera cackled as she swerved under another swing and came up to cut my arm once more, failing as the magic stood firm.

"Shut it lass," I ordered, coming hairs away from clocking her gut before her sword carved across my magic shield in this beautiful display of magical aura flaking off into sparks that illuminated the space around us. The view was short-lived when she sidestepped another hammer swing to her shoulder and I battered away her attempt.

She went for an uppercut next, hooking under my shield and flinging it up nearly out of my hand but at the same time she went for a forward thrust the chest. In desperation, I swung my hammer and let it go, watching as the weight of it slammed into her leg and threw her back.

"Hah!" She let out a single scream of a laugh, dropping her sword and picking up my hammer instead. "Thanks fer the improvemen'! I'll be sure ta. Put it ta...?"

A resounding clang echoed across the trail as my shield slammed with all my strength behind it against the girl's skull. She wanted to use my hammer to block it but the weak fool wasn't ready for exactly how heavy it truly was.

So instead, it fell from her grip as she collapsed on her ass, clutching her ringing, bleeding head as she failed to put together anymore snide remarks.

When I was certain she was still breathing, I took a moment to feel out every cut on my body and have my temper cool. She and her entourage nearly had me. I was covered in blood and almost all of it was mine. My damage was all internal for them.

I put a hand on my holy symbol and tried channeling any more of Ulaa's strength to try recovering any more strength, but no use. I couldn't rely on her always. I just had to get better.

"Urgh," Ralf groaned, taking the chance to push his face up off the ground when he saw Anbera knocked flat. "S-So...What now lady?"

I walked over to his boss and rescued my hammer, putting it back in its place as I did with my shield. Then I turned to look at him.

"Now, Ah take the lot a' ya ta town," I told him. "Once yer all settled, me an' me friends will 'ave some words."

Anbera barked a a dizzy laugh. "Sure, try it. We might be too battered ta run but I don' think ye can lug us all yerself."

I chewed the edge of my lip and kept my thoughts to myself. I might've been strong enough to move in this armor and swing a hammer but carrying three piles of dead weight was a different story. I would need help to carry them back.

I scanned the area for a moment, trying to spot anyone. Maybe a miner coming home early that could give me a hand. Instead, I was on a lonely trail far between a few of the mines and the town proper. Although, ahead of me, the path forked. One way led to the miner's exchange outside of town and the other towards a few of the more distant farms.

And as luck would have it, I did spot someone. A little more than a hundred feet away were two heavy figures currently jogging towards town. The larger of the two had some sort of implement slung over his shoulder; maybe some sort of tool. Meanwhile, the other one was ahead of him by about fifteen feet with a healthy dark green skin and white arm wrappings that I recognized immediately.

"Glemerr," I gasped happily.

"H-Hammer? No hammer," Dillard muttered, not conscious enough to add anything.

"GLEMERR!" I shouted, drawing my shield and hammer out again to start banging them together like a dinner bell.

Right away, Glemerr skidded to a stop and turned, spotting me and waving frantically. Then, after saying something to the person behind her, she took off straight towards me.

I leaned back, watching as Glemerr charged through the uneven ground, running faster than I could really focus. In the span of a few seconds, she cleared the space between us almost as if her feet weren't touching the ground. The bandits littered around me watched too, none of them having any words as Glemerr got to me in ten seconds flat, sliding to a halt in such a way where I had to use my shield to keep the dirt out of my face.

"Rava! Ya okay?!" The half-orc took a moment to assess the damage and then gasped. "Ye're bleedin'!" She took a step towards me and whispered so the bandits couldn't hear. "Which one a' d'em was it? Who's Glemerr poundin'?"

I chuckled, tucking my weapons away for a second time. "Oh, Ah took care a' that meself, Glem. But Ah think these folk need a proper place ta steam over their loss. Ah don' mean ta bother ya, but—"

"Up, up, up," Glemerr shushed me, waving her hand in front of me. "Ain't a botha' ta help! We're on it."

Without another word, Glemerr bounded over to Ralf and then Anbera, scooping them both up like dumbbells and onto her shoulders; their groans or complaints going entirely to waste.

Not too much longer after that the other one behind her caught up to us and with a quick request from Glemerr, he reached down and Dillard by the collar of his leather armor and threw him up over his shoulder in a way where the Redbrand was face to face with the blade of his greataxe.

"Rava," Glemerr started. "Dis is Eglath. Eglath? Rava."

Eglath the goliath gave me a serious look as he sized me up. "Nice work takin' 'em down. But, uh, are you good ta walk?"

My teeth peeked through my grin. "Fer 'ow many miles?"

He matched my grin. "I like you."

"Ah always try."

"Come on," he told us. "That Thunderwave was your friend's, yeah? I think I heard a second one."

The both of us agreed and, as fast as we could go, bounded into town with our complaining company groaning every step of the way.

Author's Note

With fights like these, there's always a few liberties I gotta take. In a real game when characters are all small levels like this, everyone only gets one or maybe two attacks in per turn. That doesn't really translate well into a story. So even though I play out these fights myself, I add more action in it try making it flow better.

Not to mention there were rounds where everyone just failed to hit anything. That bugbear being a prime example. For those that don't know D&D numbers, a bugbear can one-shot a wolf. Easily. And since wolves don't have armor, they're easy to hit. That bugbear missed so many times. I was convinced Thorn Wielder would fall right away even with the power to turn into animals.

Alright, that's enough about nerd numbers. I just wanted to rant.

With everything said, I wanted to take a second to ask you guys directly; what did you think of the chapter? The story's been without some huge action for a bit so I wanted to make sure I got the action right but to do that I need a second opinion.

So please give me your thoughts in the comments! I always want to get better at writing; especially with action scenes. Those are the moments where I can't tell if I got them right.

That aside, I hoped you enjoyed regardless! Until next time everyone!

Cheers,

-Zeke

(22) An Insight Check

Story's POV
Game Room
7:47 PM

With the fights finished and the girls winding down, I decided to do the same and sink back into my seat. For most of the fight I was standing, more or less method acting for the heavier hits to get the impact across. I hoped that my goofy jumping and swinging around imaginary weapons would at least crack some smiles in the group.

At the same time, Pinkie was right there with me doing the same, if not five times better. She would cheer when the others pulled off something cool or 'ooh' and 'ahh' at something interesting. Sadly, the strong tension remained.

Well duh there's tensity, I tried telling myself. They're spread out against three fights I made specifically to be hard. But, why are they this tense?

The worst among them was Sunset Shimmer. From the start of the fight, she hardly looked up from the miniatures on the table. And whenever she did it was to look at me when I described something dire. Or rather...it was like she looked through me. Only when the commoners were all safe, Sunset leaned over the map to focus like her life depended on it.

Then their was Fluttershy. When we were kids she would get a little tunnel-visioned on games but never like this. Her focus was almost unnerving. But it was still Fluttershy. I mean, she flinched whenever I roared too loud or pretended to wind up a heavy stick but she would roll her dice, count the number, and try fighting her nerves.

The others were a lot less stressed out but the difference was there. Whenever they weren't distracted by something light-hearted, their general outlook was always serious. Pinkie and Rarity, for different reasons, kept up smiles or interest with the game, although, even they had these brief pauses.

I allowed myself to sip some cool cider in order to hide my expression. We've been playing about two hours. The girls said they wanted to play longer than the clubs but I'm not so sure that's healthy.

I put my drink on its coaster and leaned forward. "Alright, girls? I think now's a good a chance as any to ask if we want a break. What do you all think?"

The girls stopped for a second, looking at me before they all turned simultaneously at Sunset.

"What do you think?" Twilight tried to whisper. Sunset gave her a look and then matched the gaze of Applejack who seemed expectant. After this silent exchange, Sunset faltered and accepted...whatever was going on.

"I think that sounds like a great idea," Sunset said as she looked back to me. "We actually had something we wanted to do."

"Alright, perfect," I said, sitting back. "There's no rush so you girls can take as much time as you need."

Twilight reached down and picked up her dog. "Actually, we wanted to talk to you about something. Could you come outside?"

I opened my mouth and stopped for a second. "Outside? Uh, yeah, sure. Why, what's going on?"

She stood up, carrying her dog as the other girls started to set aside their things to go outside themselves. "It's a lot easier if we just showed you. Plus, you'll want to be standing."

I blinked a few times, reviewing that last sentence. "I'm sorry, did you say I'll want to stand?"

"That's been our experience," Twi assured me. "Come on Spike. Let's get ready."

Spike let out a small yip as they walked away. Well, I say 'yip' but it sounded more like a word, maybe?

As everyone else prepared to make their way out, I started getting more confused. "C-Can I at least know what's going on?"

"We're real sorry Story," Applejack told me as Rarity and Rainbow brushed past the curtain after Twilight. "It's been a long time comin' and we really shoulda told ya 'bout all this sooner."

I gave her a stiff stare as she took a breath and started out the doorway. "Okay, no, can someone please not play the pronoun game for five seconds and just tell me? Like, is there a problem or is this some sorta surprise? Because if it's another welcoming gift, I don't think I can keep accepting these."

"It's not a welcoming gift," Pinkie leveled with me. "It's more like a welcoming secret! Well, it might not be the most welcoming of secrets, but you are welcome to come out and hear the secret. So I guess in a way it's a welcoming secret but not welcoming as in 'Hey, nice to meet you! We want to be best friends and make you feel invited,' kind of welcome. It's more like the kind of 'If you're not too sure whether or not you wanna learn about this secret because we weren't supposed to tell you or any of the other new kids who were coming into Canterlot High about it because if we did it might end up as a huge-mungo-gigan-big-hunka burnin' secret that might have ended up on the news, internet, radio, blog, talk show host, made into movie—" She stopped to take in a deep breath and then, without missing a beat, "—or instead be kept secret by the government who would take us all to secret laboratories to do who-knows-what-kinda-whatsits for so many years that we forget the inviting rays of the sun and instead only know deep, dark neglect of which we will never recover from, but we still need to tell you, otherwise, the magic might blow up in our faces again or turn you into some sort of demon bent on destroying everything we ever loved or make you want to go out on a thirst for revenge against a god-tutor-alicorn-princess pony that rules a kingdom found in another dimension,' kind of welcoming!"

Pinkie wiped the sweat from her brow, admiring the completely lost looks on our faces as she nodded along to herself. "Boy, that almost took me two breaths!" She then set her eyes on me and watched with this look as though expecting some sort of response.

Not wanting to disappoint, I moved up my hand slower than any sloth or turtle could imagine and held up a single thumb with a blank stare. "Uh...Thanks?"

"You're welcome! See ya outside," she cheered before turning and skipping out the door, ignoring the curtain that rubbed against her face as she drove through it.

"..." I shook my head, refusing untangle whatever that was. "Okay, so there's a secret. I think. Also, Pinkie might need to talk out a few things." I turned to the last four in the room; Gilda, Mac, Sunset, and Fluttershy. "Can I get any other hints?"

"Not, really, no," Sunset told me carefully. "We've done this a couple times before and..." she bit the inside of her cheek. "Typically, it gets easier when we just prove what we're trying to say. Otherwise, they never believe us."

I let out a lone chuckle. "Look, I'm sure whatever it is, I'm not just gonna write it off like it's noth—"

"No, you will," Gilda cut me off. "It's gonna sound ultra weird, you won't believe 'em, and you'll probably try explaining it away until you try walking off."

The two of us sat there as Big Mac took the chance to go outside, leaving it down to the three girls and me. That tells me nothing Gilda. Well, nothing other than— "that's what you did, isn't it?"

She nodded firmly. "Minus the walking off part, yeah. But that's only because I got sucked into it. Literally."

"Literally?"

"Like I said," Sunset called. "It would be easier if we show you."

I went back and forth between the two of them a few times until eventually turning to Fluttershy who gave me this guilty look.

"Can you trust us?" she asked.

I took in a small breath and, after a few seconds, fought off the tension building in my stomach. "Yeah. Alright, yeah, I'll trust you guys. If anything just to figure out what you're talking about."

I pulled myself out of my chair and moved around the table while Gilda drew back the curtain for the three of us. Time to figure out whatever this is, I guess.

R⎅va⍙☍y⎍a's POV
⍀⌖tsi☌e Ph⎅n☌a⍜⌰n

"Ah see da inn," Glemerr shouted, faster than me or Eglath even with the extra weight.

"Good," Eglath replied from the back of our trio. "You two go on ahead! I'll—" "WARRGH!"

Glemerr was taken up off her feet, going airborne for a second as her arms, and the bandits held by them, refused to move any further. Glemerr's own momentum made her twist horizontally several feet in the air before falling, loosing her grip on the bandits and slamming back-first into the ground.

"Glemerr," I screamed, stopped short of her and kneeling down. "Y'awrite?! What 'appened?!"

"Urgh. Gl-Glem don'. Uh..." She stopped talking, her eyes growing three times their size as she stared up at the two bandits floating more than five feet off the ground; frozen in time. Their expressions were permanently fixed in pain and frustration.

I looked behind us. Eglath the goliath was also paused in a runner's pose with one foot halfway on the ground and a bandit slung over one shoulder with his glowing axe over the other.

Then I noticed something wafting at the edge of my vision. The haze we had all seen come and go whenever the girls took control of us faded to the very edges of my sight. It was thin but present enough to notice. Except, for the time being, I was in control of myself.

"Glemerr." I looked back at her. "Is tha' you in there? Ya controlled by yer Player err not?"

"Huh? 'Course it's Glemerr. Only Glemerr's Glem..." She sat up abruptly, trying to look to her sides and almost spinning in place in the process. "Woah. Dat fog's kinda. Kinda smaller, Ah dink?"

"You see it too," I realized. "Yeah, we're back. Fer the momen'. Don' seem like Eglath err the bandits are awake though. Guess gravity don't bother 'em neither."

"Yeah. Nearly took mah arms off." Glemerr took care to crawl out from under the floating bandits before standing up. Then she tried tugging and pushing at them to no avail. Even when she put all her weight on them, going as far as to hang from one like a pull up bar, they never budged.

I gave her a soft look. "Glem, don' pester 'em like tha'. The poor folk ain't even..." I grimaced. Were they technically alive when they were like this? That's a creepy thought. All I could hope was that they couldn't feel the pain I dealt to them.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

We covered our ears as the soundwave blasted past us. Unlike earlier, it was very close and rattled our eardrums. I can only imagine how the townsfolk reacted to the last one. In fact, given the small amount of townsfolk outside their houses, I think my theory was proven.

When that sound stopped shaking our cores, Glemerr and I shared a look before quickly taking off for the inn. Given my stubby legs, open wounds, and heavy armor, it was no surprise Glemerr took a far lead.

"RICVEN!" Glemerr yelled, covering twice the distance I had. "WHERE ARE YOU?! GLEMERR'LL HELP!"

As Glemerr turned the corner on the inn, the front doors facing away from where we arrived from, I heard a shout. "Woah, woah, woah! Cool yer heels missie," Ricven ordered loudly. "It's fine, we're alright! I'm jus' ringin' a dinner bell ta gather us up."

After a few more seconds, I made the turn and saw Ricven standing there with a Redbrand standing behind him all meek and guilty. He was also frozen in place.

"Oh, Lady Rava," Ricven said when he spotted me. Then he chuckled. "You're back too. Ya can't begin ta imagine my elation seein' another pretty face."

I smirked the compliment aside and caught my breath. "Yeah, well, I'da been back long till the haze wore off it weren't fer me own welcomin' committee. Ah hope they didn't 'cause ya trouble on yer end."

"Not to him, no," Stostine shouted from inside the inn's shattered window. There was a dead body lying outside of it as though he had fallen out. He was also wet for some reason which made me slink away.

"Miss Vareén's inside too," Ricven informed us. "Would ya care ta come in? Drink's on me."

With little reason to decline, Glemerr and I followed the gnome indoors and right away saw the rest of the carnage. Furniture strewn about, bloodstains on the floor, Stostine in critical condition, dead bodies; the same setup we concluded with the goblins. Except this time it was a taproom with plenty of alcohol to drink our troubles away.

"Rava, are you alright?" Stostine asked. "How did you fare?"

"Look who's askin'," I countered. "Ah ain't tryin' ta be rude lass, but ya look a wreck."

"I feel like a wreck," Stostine confirmed.

"Here, drink this," Ricven advised, placing the second healing potion on the table as he turned to ransack the bar.

"That's our last one," Vareén pointed out. "You already had me feed her the other one, remember?"

"Yeah, but you remember the RockVine ale? No matter how much we drank, it never ran out." Ricven smiled. "Same with our food too. I'd say now's a good a' time as any ta test somethin' stronger, don'tcha think?"

Stostine eyed the vial and found herself agreeing. "Anyone object?" When no one said otherwise, she used a Mage Hand to bring the vial closer to her and used its thumb to pop off the cork. Then, with no hesitation, she began to chug.

We all then watched curiously as with every gulp of potion, the red liquid replenished itself from within the glass. Not only that, but Stostine found the strength to reach down and carefully pull the crossbow bolt out of her side. She cringed but after a few more gulps of potion it hardly mattered.

After what had to be five vials worth of healing potion used up with no volume lost, Stostine placed the glass back in her Mage Hand and rolled her shoulders. She looked as though she had never known pain a day in her life.

Next, the Mage Hand bounded over to me, floating a couple feet from my face for me to drink for my own wounds.

"I'll take that afterwards," Vareén told us. "That one Red Dead got lucky."

"Or you got sloppy, Miss Vareén," Ricven teased.

"Stop calling me Miss," Vareén retorted.

"Well, I can't call ya Lady quite yet."

"Why no—" she cleared her throat. "I-I mean, don't call me anything."

"Real convincin'," he lulled out as he reached under the bar and pulled out a few mugs. "Any requests or jus' somethin' strong?"

"I will stick to tea," Stostine told him. "Now that I can breathe comfortably, I do not need to go blind this time."

"Smart call," I told her as I finished my endless potion and let the hand pass it to Vareén. The potion tasted like a spoonful of cinnamon. Makes sense considering how strong the scent was. "So is anyone gonna make a guess at what the haze is doin' this time?"

"I wanted to wait until at least Thorn got back," Stostine told us.

"I could Thunderwave again," Ricven offered. "Fer some reason, magic's jus' like that potion. Long as ya got some, ya can't run out. Matter a' fact, I think I could play a whole song in nothin' but Thunderwaves."

"Some of us like ours ears," Vareén said once her cuts were reversed. Then she took up the cork and sealed the potion. "And Thorn Wielder might not be coming. No telling what happened to her."

"You couldn't hear it either?" I frowned.

"'Ear what?" Glemerr asked, looking around the table. "Dem Thunderwaves? We all 'eard 'em."

"She means Thorn Wielder's fight," Vareén told her. When Glemerr gave the archer a weird look, her frown deepened. "So you didn't catch any of it. For the rest of us, we heard our Players gearing up for our battles. Something about taking initiative? Thorn Wielder's Player was among them."

"Once the fightin' was underway," I continued. "All Ah could 'ear was the Dash Lass playin' it smart. All the other Player's went silent for me."

"We heard the three of our Players," Ricven said. "Matter a' fact, we heard Stostine's Player mumblin' under her breath all nervous-like 'til the people were safely tucked away."

"Oh yeah." Vareén stood up and power walked to the room that Sildar was staying in and opened the door. "Sildar's safe. Looks like he was talking to the woman before they got paused. Probably calming her down."

Stostine eased back "Well, if it seems that the five of us are the only ones not indisposed, I suppose we should start while we have time. To begin with, can everyone still see the haze?"

"Oh yeah," I hummed, tracing the edge of my vision where it still lingered. "It's like it's hidin' from me. Ah almost can't see it unless Ah look."

"So it's the same with all of us?" Vareén sat back in her chair. "And none of us can hear the Master or our Players, right?"

"Nope," Glemerr shook her head. "Pinkie's da kinda girl you can hear all da time."

"And how you're still sane is beyond me," Ricven tossed over his shoulder as he got the tankards set up for us.

"Interesting." Stostine sat back, putting a knuckle beneath her chin. "Then this is similar to phase zero."

"Phase zero?" I rose an eyebrow.

The human girl nodded. "I had the idea of numbering the haze's different phases since we keep finding different ones. Phase zero is when there is no fog and our Players are not playing their game."

"Makes sense." Vareén shrugged. "Phase zero for zero haze."

"So far, the way that the haze is behaving right now is the same as phase zero. Everything else is frozen and we can move and act freely. Except, there is no control by our Players. Although now the haze is present for some reason."

Ricven started heading back over to our table with two tankards; one for me and another for Glemerr. It was a sort of strong ale that we took happily. "Would that make this some sorta phase one then?"

"Sure." Stostine nodded. "That would make the other phases go up by one number. As of right now, that gives us phases zero through three."

"Oh, oh!" Glemerr set her drink down before she could start chugging. "Does dat mean the night we spent in the caves an' last night in our rooms was phase two?"

"And the time we spent riding to Phandalin yesterday," Vareén reminded us. "Actually, I had a smaller moment between my training with Glemerr and finding the townmaster. And another one between scaring him off and the Riftbrands barging in."

"Same 'ere," I tossed in after enjoying my first swig of ale. It wasn't RockVine but it worked. "Aside from one Ceremony, all the others Ah got to do on me own. Some sort a' invisible force wouldn't let me leave until Ah finished though."

"Hey, da same 'appened wit' Thorn," Glemerr chirped. "Last night, we could all walk around the inn but Thorn couldn't leave her room. 'Ow's come?"

"Partial control," Stostine announced. "All of those instances have something in common; we have partial control over what we can do or where we can go. For instance, back on the cart ride here I had tried to step off of the cart. Only, my legs disobeyed me. I could talk and do whatever I pleased, so long as I did not leave the cart."

"Platick mentioned something like that." Ricven returned with the rest of the drinks. Two smaller tankards for himself and Vareén and a glass full of honey tea for Stostine. "Last night before we bunked down, he talked about tryin' ta stop walkin' when the haze let up. His body wouldn't let him."

"I refer to that as phase two." Stostine took a moment to sip her tea. "Thank you Ricven."

"My absolute pleasure." He did a mock bow before hopping into his own chair.

"In all those moments, we had partial control and the haze was there at a lesser extent. As long as we play along with the game, everything not directly narrated is left in our control."

"Then I'm guessing phase three is when our Players have full control of us?" Vareén frowned.

"Indeed."

"And those are the only phases?" Ricven questioned.

"So far, yes," she confirmed. "Phase two only came up either when the Master put focus on one of us specifically or when he skipped over a mundane part of the day. Such as sleep or travel."

I thought about it for a moment. "That explains why it never came up wit' the goblins. The entire time was us takin' a fight to 'em."

"Or doin' tasks so specific, we wouldn't notice otherwise. Either way." Ricven paused to take a drink. "I say we take the time ta enjoy ourselves. The Master's last words were offerin' them Players a break, yeah? They'll only be gone fer so long. What's say we enjoy the time off, eh?"

"Sure." Vareén brought the tankard up to her face. "Play us a song."

"Wait, ya mean it?" Ricven's eyes filled with joy. "Why, say no more Miss Var...You snake!" At once, all that joy curdled to fury. "You know good 'n' well them bandits tarnished my violin!"

"Oh. Right." Vareén took a long sip, savoring the small, trembling ball of hate beside her. "...Whoops."

Glemerr held Ricven back from lunging at the hooded elf while Stostine and I laughed all the while. For however long this moment was going to last, we were going to use it to unwind for a change.

Meanwhile
3rd Person POV
Sweet Apple Acres

The curtain separating the game room from the main part of the barn was pulled open by Gilda who let Story, Sunset and Fluttershy step out to catch a blast of stale hot air. And as Gilda stepped through last, Story observed the scene ahead of him.

All the other girls were all spaced out ahead of him in this half-circle with Twilight standing directly opposite of the doorway as she knelt beside her dog. Story couldn't hear them but the two were going over the last few times they had done the same thing; namely for Twilight's parents. Shining too, but he was more accepting of it given what he knew about the Friendship Games and Cadence's inputs.

"Huh," Story hummed, glancing over everyone as all eyes fell to them. Then, unable to stop himself, he let out a stray chuckle. "You're not all about to mug me or anything, are you?"

"Nothing of the sort," Rarity assured him. "We just want to give you some space is all. Twilight?"

The two girls nodded to each other as Twilight stood back up, watching Spike step forward. "So, Story? This is my pet dog Spike. Go ahead and say hello."

Story glanced down at the tiny purple hound with a scrunched up face. "O-Okay. Um." He took a moment to judge each of the girls' expressions for some clue about what this was before awkwardly crouching down to be more at level with Spike.

"Hey there Spike," he muttered half-heartedly. "W-Why am I talking to you? Exactly?"

"To help ease you into things," Spike answered honestly.

"Ease me in. To..." Story's brain froze as fast as his mouth. "..." He leaned away, a low hiss of breath barely audible while his eyes, no doubt predictably, growing wider.

"Uhhhhhhhhh." The sound was monotone and constant for about five seconds. Then it cracked into a few nervous giggles. "I-I-hehe. Um. Uh, g-girls? What is this?"

"This has a name, ya know," Spike said, rolling his eyes but enjoying the same response he gotten plenty of times. It was almost like his own personal prank by now.

"Oh-Okay, hehehehehe." Story quickly stood up, backing away as Gilda and Flutters lined up against the game room's entrance. "Alright! Heh. You know what? This? This was good! You all almost had me going for a second."

"No. Story," Sunset tried to start, stepping into the circle.

"Nah, no-no-no-no-no-no!" He said quickly. "Now I get why you were anxious the last few minutes! Come on, admit it. How long were you guys planning this hazing thing?"

"Not a hazing thing, Spinner," Gilda leveled with him. "It's real."

Story gave his friend's words some pause, the questions in his head cracking only for those cracks to get filled in a second later. "You!" He gave a hearty laugh. "This is revenge, isn't it?! For the Griffon Tamer story!"

Gilda opened her mouth to reply but thought better of it, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"It makes so much sense now," Story announced, certain he had it all figured out. "All the secrets you were keeping, the text chains, the anxious looks getting tossing back and forth. You were all trying to pull this together, weren't you?! That's why you wanted to meet at the barn!"

"Wow," Spike spoke up. "You're taking this as well as Mom did! And she wanted to start taking me to dog shows."

Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose. "It took the whole family to talk her out of that."

But Story just chuckled some more. "Alright, whichever one of you is doing that ventriloquism thing, you have my respect. But, I mean, come on. Obviously his collar's got a speaker on it or something."

Fluttershy took the chance to come forward next. She walked around Story, feeling more guilty under his watch, and knelt down to gently remove Spike's collar before passing it to him. "Story? I know that it may seem a little farfetched, but, there is no speaker. It really is Spike."

Story's joy died a bit when he was confronted with Fluttershy's sad frown. But even when he turned Spike's collar in his hands to find nothing out of place, he wasn't buying it. "Fluttershy, I'll give it to you; this was pretty good. And, honestly, thank you for this. I-I needed a good laugh. Not to mention all the game's you girls kept coming to," he said, pulling his monologue back to everyone. "It really did help me fit into the school. I was having a hard time before. Thank you. All of you."

"She's telling the truth," Spike kept going, the joke slowly getting harder to enjoy. "I really am talking to you. Look, I don't have any metal speaking bits on me!" He spun in a circle as though to prove it, earning a somewhat more strained grin from Story.

Then Spike sat down in front of Story, using his paws as a human would use their hands for emphasis. "Go ahead and tell me to do a trick. Any trick. I can do it!"

"Uh-hehe. Tr-Tricks?" Story rolled his jaw. "Uh—y-you know what? Yeah! Yeah, let's see how that plays out." The teen shrugged, doing one look at the girls who weren't talking. "Um. Lie down?"

Spike blew a raspberry and obeyed, giving him a smug look. "Come on, that the best you got?"

Story blinked. "N-No! Erm, roll over."

Spike did so, going the extra mile to roll his eyes twice as fast. Then he rolled back so he was stationed in front of Story again.

"Stand up." Spike did. "Head up? Head down. Um. J-ump. Like, I mean, try to stay on two legs."

"Oh, alright, getting tough now?" Spike got ready and jumped on his hind legs, trying his best to balance himself and staying up for a good couple seconds until he landed back down. "Keep going, I can do this all day. Night? Wait, what time is it?"

"..." Story suddenly clapped his hands and shook out his fingers before shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "Okay. Round two. How's about no more hand gestures?"

"I'll do you one better. I won't even look." Spike countered, closing his eyes tightly and making Story stutter for a second.

"...Alright," he accepted weakly. "Cov. Cover your eyes? Cover one eye? Cover your mouth? Cover, um, no. Fl-Flip one of yo. You-Your ears? Um. Okay. Well...Scratch at the. The ground? Now...Now-Now. You. Go ahe-head and...spin in place? Okay, good. Um...sit down again? Tap the ground? Three times. Five times. Two. Three." His voice cracked as his face started falling.

"Well, how's...how's about five times three? What's five times three equal?"

Spike paused, opening his eyes for a second as his dog brain did its best to process mental math. "Eigh-no...Two, three...Fives—fif-fifteen!" He called out, feeling proud of himself. "Ha! Twilight taught me what numbers were!" He said, pointing at Story with a paw.

Story, in turn, backed up from the pointing dog, as his heart skipped a few beats in a cold sweat. "...Whi..." His voice died for a moment. "Wh-Whi-Whistle? Whistle. Or, wait. Can dogs whistle?"

Spike's eyes darted around for a second as he tried his best to remember what that word was. "Oh. You mean like what everyone does when I'm not listening. Okay! Um. Haven't tried that one before. I think humans do...this?"

Spike jammed his paw against his tongue, and tried to mimic the same sound he had heard Twilight and tons of other people make in the past. Except, it didn't sound at all like a whistle. Instead, it sounded like three separate fart noises; one from his lips and the other two from his two jowls.

Whatever was going through Story's head about a puppet dog or a hidden speaker had now died and been buried while Spike's triple fart noises playing the poor theory out at its funeral. What's more, Story had become more and more fragile as the scene went on.

"Spike, you can stop now," Twilight informed her one-dog band as she ignored Pinkie's giggling fit.

"Story." Sunset stepped forward again and watching as he spun around to give her a very confused look. "I know that that, might be a little hard to wrap your head around. But that's not the only thing. Tell me; have you heard the rumors about our school?"

"The...The rumors?" Story blinked. "Do you mean the...T-The ones about weird stuff that was going on before the school event between you guys and Crystal Prep?"

She nodded. "Yes. How much of it have you heard?"

Story searched his brain for a second. "Not much, admittedly. Just that there's some kind of special effects crew. They do some, uh, flying trapeze acts and light shows? Then there was some sort of crowd-sized green smoke machine at a performance and then a freak accident with a statue?"

Sunset nodded. "Well, that's not the truth. You see, there's no crew for that; all of those times it's been the seven of us. We are the ones either responsible for it or helping to stop it."

"To stop it?" Story frowned. "Wh-Why, are the special effects broken or something?"

Applejack sighed. "Ah'll get mah bass." She turned around.

"Bass?" Story glanced over his shoulder for a second and then back to Sunset. "Does she mean music bass? What does that have to do with—"

"We have magic," Rainbow cut in, letting the awkward stares and disapproving looks pass over her. "It's not special effects. That green fog wasn't from a machine; it was magic. The statue blowing up wasn't a firework, or whatever; it was magic. We're not a special effects team, we are just...magic. We're magic, okay? We're magic, Spike's magic, Gilda's magic, we're all magic!"

"Wait, I'm magic?" Gilda suddenly perked up. "Like, permanently? What-What's that mean, exactly? Did I get powers or something?"

"No, calm down Gilda, you're not magic," Sunset tried to assure her.

"...Can I be though?"

"Time out. Stop," Story told them, tapping his hands together. "How...How's any of that supposed to make sense? Look, I get that whatever is going on with your dog is...weird, but..."

"It is hard to explain," Rarity tried to come at this more delicately. "And we understand that it may be hard for you when you haven't seen what we have. However, you have to believe us, we aren't doing this to pull a prank or anything of that nature."

"She's right," Twilight went on as Spike walked over to sit at her feet. "At first, everyone at Canterlot and Crystal Prep was told that it would be better to keep all of this a secret. While that's hard to do, the concept of magic is so hard to accept that even stray rumors wouldn't expose everything. I mean, you just said you've heard the rumors, right? Would you really believe that it's all magic on your own?"

"..." Story took in a breath, shaking his head. "I, um...I'm gonna honest; no. No, and I still don't." He stared back at all of them. "This sounds crazy. You sound crazy! Do-Do you all not hear yourselves right now? You sound like a cult!"

"Hey, that's what I said," Gilda tossed in. "Magic's for cults and babies. Juries still out if this is a cult or not."

"We're not a cult, Gilda," Rainbow reminded her.

"Ah'm back," Applejack called as she walked back inside the barn with her bass strap on and her fingers on the strings. "Ah set it up against the front door just in case Story needed some more proof."

"Proo— no, girls." Story slumped defeatedly. "I don't get why you're doing all of this, but you gotta know how crazy this is. I know I can't explain..." He stared down at the dog that he didn't bother trying to deny. "...him, but you can't really think I'm about to believe all this magic crap, right?"

"What about Dungeons and Dragons?" Fluttershy tried reasoning. "You love that game, don't you? Why don't you want to believe in it? Why don't you want to see it in person?"

"For the same reason people enjoy war movies," Story rebutted. "Just because people get a thrill from watching them doesn't mean they want to be in a war. Magic isn't real, alright?! Why am I explaining that to you?! It'd be cool if it was, really! And I would love if it was, but it's not. And playing a game is one thing but..."

Applejack decided to cut the soap box out from under him and start strumming, her fingers sliding along the nickel-plated strings as a fast-paced rhythm tried to cut against the tension in the room as everyone stopped talking to let Applejack play out her melody.

Story held off on trying to cut in, watching as the others listened out of respect and anticipation. Even Gilda, who had no idea what was coming, was slowly nodding as she let the cowgirl play on. And when she caught Story watching her, she could only shrug as she refused to stop whatever was going on.

But then, as Applejack brought down her hand for one last strong note, an unnatural soundwave echo across the barn like a ripple on a pond. Loose dust and straw had shaken loose and then whirled up in a weak dust devil as, in the center of it all, Applejack's silhouette flashed.

Gilda and Story flinched away from it, their hair and clothes rippling from the gust that helped to make the barn's heat more bearable. However, as they looked back, Applejack's bass was gleaming and untouched by the floating particles of dirt as her hair had grown out to almost sweep the floor. To top it off, framing her Stetson from both sides were these large ears that certainly weren't human-like anymore.

Gilda's arms fell to her sides while Story used one of his to rub his eyes. Not a single other person in the barn was at all shocked to see what had just happened; not even Applejack's own brother. Story's closest friend, tied with Fluttershy.

"What the..." Gilda mumbled, her lips unable to form the words.

"You...th-the." Story took in another deep, long breath and let it seep out from between his teeth. "No way..."

Applejack removed her bass and passed it over to Pinkie who happily held onto it for her. Then the ponied-up girl approached the two of them, pulling back part of her hair to show them that the magic ears were, in fact, her ears.

"Ah know it's a lot ta take in," she told them calmly. "An' Story, you cannot believe how sorry we are fer keepin' all this a secret. Originally, we thought keepin' you outta the loop was the wise thing ta do. But when everythin' kept gettin' more an' more serious, we kept diggin' ourselves deeper 'til we weren't jus' keepin' secrets from ya; we were lyin' ta keep 'em. Lyin' fer no reason other than ta think we could handle this. But we can't. An' now we ended up draggin' both a y'all inta our mess. And we are so sorry fer that."

"And Gilda?" Rainbow Dash stepped forward a little. "I know I apologized to Story, but, I think I need to apologize to you too. If we told him about the magic and I came clean about what happened back in elementary, you wouldn't have been dragged into Sky-Space. And you wouldn't need to be a part of this either. That's my fault."

Story and Gilda turned to look at each other. By now, Story figured that whatever was going on, Gilda knew about all of it. Especially when she didn't bat an eye at Spike. In the end, both of them were now fully aware just how little Gilda knew about the whole picture.

"How long?" Story managed to ask. "How long has this been a thing?"

"Partway into the second month of this semester," Sunset told them. "We had a Fall Formal; a dance in September. That was when all this magic first started." It wasn't a lie. But with how awestruck they were right now, Equestria wasn't a good idea to bring into all of this.

Later though, Sunset told herself.

"From there," Sunset went on. "There were a few other incidents. Each having their own magic we had to face. And...now, we have a completely different one."

"A different one?" Story blinked. "You mean. D-Do you mean there's more magic stuff than you guys?"

Rarity gave a humorous hum. "By any chance, does D&D have sirens?"

"Sirens?" He parroted. Then he thought about it. "You mean, like, the Greek mythos?" When he saw Rarity nod, he took a second to try thinking about something he was actually familiar with. It almost calmed him in an odd way.

"Well, maybe? There's not Sirens specifically but there's harpies? And merfolk. Merfolk can...wait, are you saying there's sirens? In real life?"

"Three of them," Rainbow revealed. "We took care of it though. No problem."

"Are you guys some kind a' Van Helsing group?" Gilda started to grin. "Alright, I can get behind that better than cult."

"We don't hunt monsters," Sunset clarified with a chuckle. "We deal with magical problems. Those sirens came into Canterlot High and started to feed off of the students' negative emotions."

"This is insane," Story mumbled into his hands as he wandered toward the walls. "Why...Why is this happening?" Although, as Story asked himself that, a new thought came to mind.

"...Question." He looked up, somehow more worried this time. "What's the reason you're telling us this? If the schools wanted to keep it a secret, why not just keep doing that? Obviously I wasn't figuring any of this out. So that means you all collectively decided to blow my mind for a reason, right?"

"We did." Twilight nodded. "You see, from my experience, magic not only deals with creatures. I, erm, I wasn't a part of the siren incident; I came later. But sometimes devices and objects can also react to magic. It's how I found out about all of this. Except, this time, the magic seemed to react to your...game."

"My game?" Story raised his brow. "You mean the thing we've played three times now? With a bunch of paper and plastic figurines? And pencils?"

"Annnd now yer caught up with us." Applejack gave him a single nod and turned to Sunset. "Right before we started, Sunset 'ere seemed ta figure out what was goin' on. She's kinda the magic expert of us all."

Gilda scratched her chin, looking incredibly lost. "Second question; are your ears stuck like that or do they go away? 'Cause one of 'em flicked like a deer and it's freakin' me out a bit."

"It'll pass," AJ returned, her ears falling flat for a second as her face grew long. However, that only forced a chill down Gilda's spine.

"Sunset?" Fluttershy and the others eventually settled on their friend. "What is it?"

She took a few seconds to clear her mind and nod. "As I mentioned earlier, there's a magic known as Dunamancy. It's not a type of magic I know much about myself. Mostly because it's an old, archaic form of magic that was made forbidden."

"Ancient, forbidden, and not well-known," Rainbow rattled off. "So evil then?"

"Sounds like a demon took over my nerd game," Story translated. "Wow, PSAs from the 80's were right about D&D."

"There's no demon, and it isn't evil. Persay." Sunset bobbed her head. "The magic was forbidden because pon—people," she reworded. "People became too frivolous with it. They would try to use it in a way that would benefit them only for it to cause unforeseen circumstances in the process."

"You mean like a wish?" Rarity cradled her chin on her thumb.

"More like people takin' shortcuts." AJ frowned.

"Exactly." Sunset nodded. "But the catch with Dunamancy, this type of it at least, was that whoever took part in the spell can not be effected or directly involved in what happens. The magic could only effect everyone outside of those involved. Which led to a lot of problems. So the prince. Prin-prin—Primary leaders of magic," she barely recovered with a cringe. "Decided any reference of Dunamancy should be sealed to keep everyone from falling into a downward spiral. After a long enough time, it became this 'wishing spell' rumor no one believed."

Twilight smirked sadly. "I guess the school's magic rumors are similar in that way. No one believes them. So then, how does that relate to the current issue?"

Sunset stared at the ground. "Dunamancy has this interesting way of changing what is destined to happen. The users would imagine something that the magic then takes and applies to reality in a plausible manner; changing fate, to be blunt. Say, for example, Eglath's orchard suddenly had a bountiful harvest. Then an orchard, maybe Sweet Apple Acres, would also have a bountiful harvest."

Pinkie smiled. "Well that doesn't sound too bad!"

"But," Sunset continued, making Pinkie's smile disappear. "Counter to that, if Eglath was wrongfully stripped of his land, Sweet Apple Acres may be...foreclosed."

"An' therein lies the bad," Applejack lamented. "Lemme guess; some folk who had this Dunamancy would wanna be on top an' they decide doin' away with other folk's hard work would do the job?"

"It's not always so exact." Sunset closed her hands. "And it can effect people directly rather than their things. So then, when someone in the game, say Sildar," she offered, making the group all perk up. "Is riding a cart down the road and then gets ambushed, earning a broken leg, Dunamancy will apply that scenario to real life."

"...No." Story shook his head, a realization surfacing in his mind. "Stop. Stop, no. There is. There's." He let out this instinctive nervous chuckle. "There is no way, that you're...No! You can't—You can't be serious, right?!"

"Someone was hurt in the game," Fluttershy pieced together. "So then...someone was hurt in real life?"

"No. No. Stop. Talking," Story demanded them. "I—look. I'm not an idiot, alright? It might've taken me a quick minute to admit that the talking dog and the Sailor Moon thing may actually be real magic. But, that? You're saying that we...That I did THAT?"

"No," Sunset said forcefully. "You didn't do it, okay? You had no idea what was going on."

"That doesn't excuse anything!"

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Rainbow asked. But a few feet away from her, the other girls each started to understand what Story was so afraid about. Not only that, every tint of color faded from Rarity's face.

"Hold on a moment." She looked visibly sick. "Sunset, the magic reflects what happens in the game? Meaning every person and thing? Is that right?"

"I...well." Sunset sighed in frustration. "Yes, but there's more to it than th—"

"No. No, I get it," Rarity said. "But. But in the game! Those bandits that attacked us? I killed one of them! I did it! I-I-I melted her brain or something!"

Then it began to dawn on the others. Twilight among them. "I stabbed a man to death."

"Wait." Rainbow nearly screamed. "What about the goblins?" Suddenly, everyone went silent as each goblin's life they ended weighed on their minds.

"Story," Rarity asked, suddenly aware that she had the highest kill count. "Are goblins people? Did we kill twenty people?!"

Pinkie's hair started deflating like a loose balloon. "You're Mom called you after the first fight in the game. She's a doctor, right?" Her voice was still. "Was it the goblins?"

Right as the entire crowd started to devolve into a panic, one sharp, ear-piercing whistle held on the same high note until everyone stopped what they were doing. "EVERYONE BE QUIET!" Big Mac screamed, taking the fingers out of his mouth. "Lemme remind y'all we ain't the only ones on the farm! Mah sister an' Granny are a hundred feet away. So stop screamin' about murder 'til we find out what's really goin' on."

"Seriously," Gilda added on, equally as level headed as he is. "Do you all freak out this much every time?!"

"Honestly?" Spike half-yelled, unable to hear himself as he rubbed his floppy ears with his paws. "I think so! Twilight freaks out about a lot of things!"

"Hey, that's...r-rude," Twilight surrendered.

"Everyone." Sunset tried to fight off the ringing in her own ears. "No one. Is dead. I just told all of you, Dunamancy doesn't take effect if the users are directly involved."

Rainbow cringed. "Sunset, what does that even mean?"

"It means that whatever our characters do in the game won't effect the real world. If we attack bandits or monsters, that means we are getting directly involved with them. If that happens, magic won't connect to anybody! So any bad guys we've hurt or killed in the game are just that; bad guys in a game."

"Oh! So, what, anyone I hurt or kill becomes reality?" Story glared. "I run those monsters. I run those people. I run the world of that game! What does that make me in this scenario?!"

"I told you. You are not responsible."

"Then who is?!" Story screamed at her. "Plastic?! The inventor of markers?! My printer?! It's someone's fault, so who's is it?!"

"Story. Back off dude!" Gilda shoved her way between the two of them, squaring off against Story. "Fault of what? Sunset just proved no one's dead. Nothing's gone wrong! We're in the clear!"

As the two kept shouting, Applejack and Big Mac worked fast to close the barn's front doors. If at least to block out some of the screaming from Granny Smith since she was probably getting ready for bed by now.

"Oh no. Something's wrong!" Story stood firm. "Sildar was in an accident that destroyed his vehicle and broke a limb. Anyone wanna take a wild swing at who recently got in an accident and broke her limb in a destroyed vehicle? I'll even give you a hint; she okayed this entire game night!"

"...Ms. Cheerilee," a few girls cried out in unison.

"YES," Story revealed. "Yes, Ms. Cheerilee! She was driving home early on Thursday, her tires popped, mysteriously all at once, and her car was wrecked! Thank the divine vinyl maps a crowd of children all about the size of goblins were there to see it! And luckily, the ambulance arrived to pull her out and drag her off to the hospital! Couldn't have written it better myself apparently!

"So Sunset!" He stepped out to stare her down, tears welling up in his eyes as Gilda stood there stiff as a board. "Please! By all means, tell me how it isn't my fault! I would love to hear it! I would love nothing more than to know how I didn't inadvertently break my teach—" "Because it's mine!"

Sunset screamed at the same pitch, eyes as wet as his, making Story back off. "It's my fault her arm's broken! I'm the reason there's magic! I'm the one who asked Rainbow and rest of the girls to keep coming back for the next two games! And I could've said no! I could have cleaned our hands of all of this! No one told you anything because I'm the one who had the last say telling you what was going on and I didn't! So instead, it took Ms. Cheerilee getting hurt and giving us permission to do what I should have done at the start! And even when I figured out it was Dunamancy, and then saw you put all those people in the tavern and the kid in the forest, I kept quiet! Why?! Why did I do that?!"

Unaware, Sunset started shaking Story by the shoulders, equally as hysterical as he was as it all came crashing at her.

"But do you wanna know the worst part?!" She cried. "We can't even stop playing anymore! We have to keep playing! Because Sildar's not the only one!"

Story stared at her. "Not the only one? Who else is..." Then, Story's pupils shrunk to dots while he clung to Sunset's arms. "...please no..."

"What?!" Applejack stormed up to her friend. "Sunset, what in any tarnation would make us wanna go back ta playin' that game?! You just admitted that it's the reason Ms. Cheerilee's arm is broken! It's too late ta fix that, so why?!"

"Because it is soooo much worse than that," Story cried, him and Sunset using one another for support.

"Come on! How can it be any worse," Rainbow challenged in a stammer, terrified of the answer. Unfortunately for her, the two teens having a panic attack weren't the only ones figuring it out.

"Sildar wasn't alone," Twilight suddenly sprinting off into the game room. "He was with Gundren!"

"Gundren?" Fluttershy and Rarity locked eyes and right away they gasped. "Gundren!"

"H-Hey, fill me and Mac in!" Gilda turned to Story but he and Sunset were unresponsive. "What's or who's Gundren?"

"Gundren," Twilight started, returning from the game room with her notepad as she frantically flipped it around. "Was Sildar's employer. And when the cart was ambushed on the road, Klarg kidnapped him and sent him somewhere else. Now he's being held by Klarg's king until someone called the Field Baron comes to..." She swallowed. "Buy him."

"Buy him," Rarity said breathlessly. "He's being ransomed. And if he's being ransomed in the game, then that. Means..."

"Someone's been kidnapped in real life," Applejack took off her hat.

"N...Not just someone," Sunset spoke through the tears running down her face. "Gundren was Sildar's employer. And if Sildar is Ms. Cheerilee, then that means that. Th-That Gundren..."

"..." The collective gears of everyone began working at their own speeds while Sunset and Story watched in pity. One by one, each of their friends began to figure it out. Began to find out why they had to keep playing the game.

Gundren was Sildar's employer. And as of right now in the game, the party of adventurers had roughly eight and a half days to find Gundren before this Field Baron would arrive to buy him off one King Grol for money or some other valuables.

Meanwhile, in real life, Ms. Cheerilee's employer would go through an equal predicament. They would be taken somewhere and their life would be put in the hands of someone who only saw them as a means to an end. Whoever King Grol or the Field Baron were in this scenario were unknown. All that mattered was saving Ms. Cheerilee's employer.

All that mattered was saving Principal Celestia.

Author's Note

*Takes a breath* This was the chapter I had been pushing off for a while.

I started this story knowing that I wanted the real driving force to be 'the game is real.' But even when I first started this story years back, I didn't know how I wanted to approach that.

I know I wanted to tie in the Lost Mines of Phandelver module with the events outside of the game. There are so many plots in that D&D campaign that could have real-life counterparts that it was almost too easy. But I could never figure out how I would do it.

Eventually, I found my answer. When watching Critical Role, a D&D Livestream featuring voice actors, the DM introduced his personal magic called Dunamancy. Dunamis is Latin for 'potential,' which can have several interpretations. In my interpretation, it's a magic that manipulates fate.

That was too perfect to pass up. The only question I had left was how far do I take it?

This chapter's my answer.

I know that the second half of this chapter might be a different tone than what's come before. But this was one thing that had built up for a while; when does Story learn about the magic? Just what does the magic do? And now, what can be done?

I hope you found this chapter interesting. But as of now, I'm gonna take some time off. There's another story I keep telling myself I need to write and I keep pushing it back. It's been sitting in Limbo even longer than this story.

So until next time!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(23) A New Ally

Story's POV
Barn Proper
8:56 PM

"Wait," Gilda called out, earning a few stares. "I got it. Why not just say the monsters are taken out?"

"Taken out?" Fluttershy blinked.

"Yeah! I mean. There's this joke Story and the other guys always bring up in our games about dropping rocks and everyone dying. But what if, instead of us, it wipes out all the monsters and that Gutter-dude just walks out all safe and sound? Your principal's safe and...boom. Happy ending."

The girls each had their own reaction, most ranging between thoughtful or confused. A few of them glanced at me but I didn't answer. Instead, I sat in the corner with my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them.

"Not an option," Sunset firmly denied. She too was sitting down but in a chair she pulled out from the game room. "We just finished explaining; everything that happens is mirrored in real life. Except what we have our characters do."

"Yeah. And?" Gilda asked with a shrug. "Like I said, bunch a' monsters get crushed and the principal's untouched. Nothing bad in real life."

"A bunch of sentient monsters get crushed," Sunset corrected. Her tone dipped below neutral for a second. "There's no telling what effect that may have. It could be no one, it could be gorillas, or maybe it's people." Gilda flinched. "We cannot risk that."

My stomach churned at the thought as I hid my face further behind my knees. Fifty. That'd be around fifty people crushed by rocks.

Gilda turned away but soon enough turned back. "Look, are we even sure that your principal's in trouble? You're basing all this off your teacher getting in a freak accident. I get it, it's bad what happened, but are you sure this magic's gonna do what you're saying? What if your principal's fine?"

Pinkie's hair deflated as she held up her phone. Wordlessly, she pressed the button to put it on speaker.

"—the phone number of Celestia Faust," Principal Celestia's voice said in a professional attitude. "I am sorry that I am currently unavailable at the moment. If you could, please leave me a voicemail, or, try to contact my office number if you are trying to reach me during school hours. Thank you so much and have a great rest of your day."

Pinkie ended the call and put her phone away, dejected.

"You have your principal's cell?" Gilda asked.

"We all do," Sunset admitted. "She gave it to us before the Friendship Games specifically to warn her about any magic problems. Especially if it takes place at the school."

"Vice-Principal Luna's more of a night owl than Principal Celestia," Pinkie explained. "But she's not answering either."

Sunset gave her a look. "You have Vice-Principal Luna's number?"

As they discussed that, I stared hard into my knees. I wasn't sure whether I was letting paranoia get to me or not.

"Gilda. Sunset knows more 'bout this stuff than the rest of us," Applejack told her. Her pony ears had turned off a while ago, so Gilda wasn't freaked out by her anymore. "If she says our principal err anyone else is in trouble, we'd rather be safe than sorry."

"Okay. Fine," Gilda shrunk back, trying to blend in with the wall she was leaning against. "Go ahead and ignore me then; I got nothing."

"Aw, come on Gil. It's not like that," Dash tried assuring her. "Besides, it's not like we've come up with any bright ideas yet."

"She's right." Twilight nodded once. "At this point, we're workshopping our options. It's best to bring every idea we can imagine forward."

"I may have one," Rarity perked up. She was fanning herself next to the barn's main door for a while now. "Taking from Gilda's idea, perhaps instead of rocks falling, maybe there's someone in Story's world that can...pop in to help?"

"What, like a wizard err somethin'?" AJ asked. "How'd that work exactly?"

Pinkie's hair regained some volume. "Maybe he studies the element of surprise?" A few of the girls cheered up for a moment.

"What do you think Story?" Fluttershy asked, trying to pull me out of my rut. "Would that make sense? Would it work?"

I peeked up to see who was turning to me only to count most of the group. I felt for a moment like I needed to say something reassuring but when Sunset shot me this doubtful glance, that idea died out.

So instead, I silently shook my head and went back to moping.

"You know, we kind of need your help with this too," Rainbow told me, earning a sharp look from AJ. "It is your world, you know. Ya gotta give us something to work with here."

I lifted my head to deliver a tired glare. "I gotta give you something?"

She reeled back a bit. "Uh, sorry. I meant that—"

"I know what you meant," I sighed. "What do you expect? I don't know magic. The last hour of you all trying to explain this to me flew over my head. I'm still caught up on the Sailor Moon transformation-thing."

Rarity gave a pitiful chortle. "Sweetie Belle makes that comparison back home."

"Yeah, well, that's all I can think of." I had a bite to my voice that made me sound unapproachable. "My only take away from that was three things." I brought up a hand to start holding up fingers. "One; I can't see any of it. Two; what happens in-game happens out-of-game. And three; it all has to make sense."

"So no," I finally answered. "No, a superhero will not work. No one in a twenty-mile radius is able to save Gundren except for you. As I designed." I dragged out those last few syllables.

Twilight took a step forward. "About that. Didn't Sildar send a message?"

I groaned and forced myself to stand up. "Won't help."

Now that I was getting dragged into the conversation, my mind wasn't going to let me sit still anymore. Now, the girls got to see my sunken expression at eye level.

"Sildar sent a message to his guild with a magic piece of paper that will not arrive until sundown. And, as mean as it sounds, one random Dwarf kidnapped on the outskirts of the kingdom is not worth bringing in a powerful wizard. Or powerful anyone for that matter. To that guild, Gundren's only worth the 3000-ish gold they loaned him. They might put out a reward to see him come back and start up his mine, but it won't be another 3000. Especially when they think that Dwarf's as good as...As..."

My voice died in my throat but for some reason I cut to the next thought. "And even if I made up some miracle that a strong person was coming by at just the right time, they aren't gonna show mercy to an army of 'monsters,'" I flashed some air quotes, imagining an innocent apartment's worth of people. "It'd be the same as the rocks fall scenario. And I'd be the one that caused it. And if I have to play it out to have it all make sense, there might be a chance that Gundren gets killed off in the process.

"So there," I half spat, my guilt welling up to anger as I watched Rainbow fold. "Did that help? At all?"

"...no..." She muttered. "...i'm sorry."

I took a breath and tethered my anger. "Don't be. You shouldn't be. Please, don't." I backed off before anyone had to tell me to. "I'm. I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I...I just...Urgh!"

I turned and kicked the wall, hoping I could put a hole through the rotten boards that made up these unused stables. All it did was make a thunk sound.

I stayed turned away from them, crossing my arms in an attempt to pretend like that didn't just hurt.

"Story." Sunset spoke up from behind me. I could hear her standing up from the creaking chair. "I know that this is terrible. It's a lot to take in and. And I don't have anything to say that'll make it better...I'm so sorry. I should've..."

"Told me from the beginning," I finished. "You already said that. And look, I get...Actually, no. I don't get it." I spun back around. "I have no idea how hard it was to tell me any of this in the first place. But I can tell it was hard. And just because I don't get it doesn't mean I'm gonna blame you for it. Obviously you didn't want any of this to happen."

Then I gave her the flattest look I could. "But why did you tell me?"

She furrowed her brow. "What?"

"Why did you tell me?" I asked again. "I mean, I would have never figured any of this out! By the time I realized you were all acting weird, you would have probably learned how to hide it or figured it all out. I would have gone on like an idiot thinking you were all adjusting to the game. And I would have never in my life made a guess that all of this is because of magic. But no. You told me.

"You told me that we have no choice but to play this game as if nothing's wrong. Because if we don't, everything will go wrong. And, I know this next part's going to sound really selfish. Like, really, really selfish. So ahead of time, I'm sorry! But, do you realize that I now need to run a reality-warping game, with a bunch of magical girls, perfectly, without breaking character? Because if I do, one or twenty things will all go wrong?"

I stepped forward and addressed the group as a whole. "I'm not upset because magic exists. I'm upset because in order to fix something I caused by complete accident, I need to keep screwing around with that magic, otherwise, a lot of other people are gonna get hurt. That's why I'm upset! I could have been blissfully unaware about any of this! So why risk telling me when I could've simply kept doing what I have to do anyways without knowing?!"

Sunset balled her fists up while Applejack stepped up. "If ya wanna be upset about it, point all a' that anger ta me. Ah'm the one who kept pushin' ta tell ya the truth when everyone was on the fence about it. Ah wanted ta tell ya 'cause it was the right thang ta do."

"How?" I challenged. "How was that the right thing to do?"

"Because you deserve ta know," she pressed.

"Not everyone gets what they deserve," I tried to argue. "And just because I deserve something doesn't mean that was the best thing to do! Why not tell me once everything was all figured out?"

Sunset stared me down. "Because what were we supposed to do if we didn't tell you and something bad happened? Then we'd have no choice but to confront you about it afterwards when it had gone from bad to worse. That would've been the same as letting you go on doing something bad!"

"Yeah, but you could've jus—" I covered my mouth to make sure I didn't finish that thought out loud. Yeah, but you could've just left me out of it anyways. I felt so terrible that I almost said that. I felt even worse that it was still what I wanted so badly.

And Sunset read that from me right away. She read how scared I was of realizing I would have been okay with that. But instead of getting mad like I expected, Sunset was guilty. "I don't blame you. And trust me, I used to think like that too. I didn't want to think about how magic could effect other people as long as I was okay. But you understand why we can't do that. Right?"

Wordlessly, I nodded. Then I watched as Sunset gave me this thin, genuine smile.

"Then you know why it was better that we tell you sooner rather than later. I was on the side of not telling you about this because...I don't even know why," she said in a sad chuckle. "But it took my friends to help me realize that. And it is so much better that we told you the truth."

Sunset turned back to face them and shared another smile with Applejack. "I know that this is a lot to take in. However, we dragged you into this. That is our fault and we're sorry. But now we need you to keep up."

I tried to smile along with them, but my shoulders slumped. "Which means that we'll need to play like nothing's wrong. Right?"

"Right." Her smile shifted to a determined glance.

I took a deep breath and craned my neck back to blow it up at the ceiling. "Fine. I guess that means I need to..." I let out a sigh. "Repress a lot of crap."

"Thank you, Story," Sunset told me.

"Don't. Don't thank me," I warned her; my sarcasm welling up. "Because if this ends well and we save our principal, I am holding this over your head for months."

She let out a snicker. "Not a year?"

"There's months in a year," I informed her. "I'll give you the bill after we're finished."

"Hey, get in line," Gilda demanded. "I'm collecting first."

Pinkie wrapped an arm around Dash's neck and moved her in front of the biker girl. "Technically, that was Rainbow Dash! She's the one that owes you this time."

"Wha—Pinkie?!" Rainbow glared, earning a collection of laughs from the other girls.

"Ya know what? You're right." Gilda smirked. "Dash, you're in for it when we're done."

Dash gritted her teeth and took the words in stride. "Yeah, yeah, that's fair."

"Anyways," Applejack brought everything back down to earth. "We should probably get back to the game. If we gotta play it straight, we'll be in fer the long haul till we clear out this Dark Pit Keep place."

I got a sour look. "Hold on. You don't intend on playing the game until you reached Gundren, do you?"

"Of course we are." Rarity smiled valiantly. "After all, it's the only idea we have of saving Principal Celestia."

"And like Sunset said, as long as it's specifically our characters that fight and kill those monsters, no one gets hurt in the real world," Twilight explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "A short cut sounds too risky."

"Yeah, no, that I got. Sort of," I told them. "I meant, do you all really think you're about to pull off everything tonight?"

All of them stared between one another, their resolve wavering.

"Aside from Platick and Glemerr, all of you just fought off a bunch of bandits and need a rest. You have no clue where Gundren is, and, if I'm understanding this right, you can't hear secrets about the game without the words sounding like a bunch of static or feedback or whatever."

"We call it gargling," Pinkie corrected.

"Doesn't matter," I went on. "Fact remains, if you're right about having to play this like a regular game, you aren't getting there tonight. If we loaded up on sugar and played nonstop, maybe you could find Dark Pit Keep by, like, five in the morning. But you'd be out."

"5 AM?!" Dash's eye twitched as the girls all had their own ways of showing shock. "But that's, like, ten more games!"

"More like two or three," I lamented. "But, out of game, why else do you think I put a ten day timer on saving Gundren?"

Twilight looked downtrodden. "Because it would take us about that long?"

"But that means we'd be comin' down ta the wire," Applejack pointed out.

"And that's what makes a good story," I cheered sarcastically, feeling a part of my soul die at my past deviousness. "Of course, I can't control what direction you girls go. It might take you ten days or it might take you five. What matters is whether or not you follow the right trail of clues."

"Maybe it's for the best that we take our time," Sunset relented. "If we really tried playing the entire game, we'd be too tired to do anything. We may even start making mistakes."

"But what about Principal Celestia?" Fluttershy asked, sharing everyone's concern. "If she really was kidnapped then that means she's somewhere else. All alone..."

"Can we really leave her like that?" Rarity bit her knuckle. "We were the ones that caused this. Maybe we should push ourselves."

"Nope." Big Mac shook his head, speaking for the first time since her sister transformed. "Look. Ah'm sure y'all wanna save her," Big Mac spoke for the first time in over an hour. "But ya can't do that if yer fightin' ta keep yer eyes open. That'll jus' make everythin' worse than it already is. Ya gotta be careful and do this with a clear head."

Everyone took those words to heart, already aware that Mac was absolutely right.

Sunset addressed us all again. "The game will try to match as many events as possible. As much as we want to help our principal out right now, it's already set in stone that Gundren's been kidnapped for two days at the least. Which means that it's possible Principal Celestia won't show up to school on Monday."

A chill ran down my spine. Wonder how the school's gonna react to that.

"It doesn't matter if we play everything tonight or stretch these games out," Sunset continued. "Principal Celestia will be missing for however long Gundren is. So we should use the days we have to the fullest."

"Question." Twilight glanced up. "If Principal Celestia was already kidnapped, when did that happen? We saw her yesterday at school but could she have gone missing today? That would change how many days we have."

"I think that it would've happened recently." Sunset stared at the ground. "The events of Gundren being taken off somewhere were never confirmed until tonight, after we confronted Klarg. Now that it has, Principal Celestia is fated for the same. That's what happened To Ms. Cheerilee. Her accident happened sometime after we saw Sildar broke his leg."

I felt terrible again but a sudden thought crossed my mind. "So then what if, for the future, I rewrite the game to avoid those kinds of events before you learn about them? Will they never happen?"

"That's a dangerous slope," Sunset told me. "It would have to be done where everything still makes sense. I would love to avoid any more problems but that kind of thinking was exactly why dunamancy became forbidden. Good intentions made for bad results."

My heart sunk again.

"However," she went on. "The sooner we can get to Gundren, the sooner that she will be okay. Which is why we have to do the best we can do. But before we do that, we should do one last thing. Story?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Right now, you can't see any of the magic that's happened around the game." I nodded along. "I think we should try to fix that first. So, what if I told you that we have a way to change that?"

I took another slow breath. "I'd probably ask why this is a hypothetical question and not a simple 'hey, let's flip a switch.'"

"It's because we haven't had a chance to test it." She gestured towards our friends. "We think we figured out how to get other people to see magic. You see, yesterday when we met up to work on Rainbow Dash's character, Rainbow said she and Gilda ended up in this odd space where they...saw their characters."

"Characters? Wait, as in the game's characters? Are they real?" I stepped back.

"Yes." "No." Rainbow and Twilight replied at the same time. A tense stand-off followed.

"We're still working on that," Sunset deciphered. "However, Gilda ended up there too and since then, she's been able to see all the magic that comes with the game. You and Big Mac haven't. We think that's our answer."

Despite the massive bomb drop that she tried ignoring, I was sort of following along. "O-Okay. Um, yeah. If you girls think that this is the best chance I got at seeing this magic then...okay. I'll trust you. Besides, I kind of want to see exactly what I'm screwing around with before I touch it again."

"Thanks," Sunset said for the second time. "I owe you."

"Watch it. You keep saying stuff like that," I pointed out with a breath. "You really shouldn't. You do not understand how serious I am on collecting those favors."

"I'll get over it," she promised me. Challenge accepted. "You want to make a character?"

"Not at all." My enthusiasm was nothing but fake. "Let's do this."

Everyone made our way back into the game room. One by one, we brushed past the curtain and took a second to worship the blast of AC greeting us until we were back to our respective chairs with Sunset dragging hers back from outside the room.

"Real quick, Ah gotta question," Applejack called out.

"Just one?" I quipped back. She ignored me.

"Is this gonna work the same way it did with RD an' Gilda?" Applejack asked. "Ah mean, can Story be the DM and a player at the same time?"

"Do I have to be the DM?" I sat down behind the screen and folded it down onto my notes so it wasn't in my way. "You're the ones with magic, can't one of you do it?"

Twilight was among the last to sit down. "Would that work?"

I blew a raspberry and gave this heavy shrug. "You're the magic experts, don't ask me."

"That shouldn't be an issue." Sunset shook her head. "From what I noticed leading up to it, both Gilda and Rainbow Dash were about to work on their characters when Story said the phrase. Long as we repeat that, it should do the same thing."

"In that case, can I go again?" Rainbow leaned on her elbow, flashing a cocky grin. "I mean, I did it before, I know how it works."

Just then, a thought crossed my mind. "Is this why you put all that thought into your character? Because you saw her?"

"Well duh," Rainbow said with a shrug. "You shoulda seen what she looked like before! Compared to Fluttershy and Sunset's characters, she was a mannequin. I couldn't just let her stay like that! I wanted to help her."

"That's another thing I want to test." Sunset leaned forward. "Rainbow Dash said the characters of everyone that was at the bleachers showed up even when they weren't working on their characters. We should try to control that."

"In what way?"

"Fluttershy and I were sitting next to everyone else. That's the only connection I see. Just to be safe, can everyone not coming with us step back outside?"

"But we just reacquainted ourselves with the air conditioning," Rarity complained. "Do we really have to go back into that stuffy barn? No offense Applejack."

"None taken." The farm girl waved it off. "Ah know it's a pot roast in there. What's say whoever ain't goin' gets some fresher air outside instead?"

"Meh," Gilda hummed. "I think I'd rather head back to Sky-Space. Besides, I know more about it than all of you apparently."

"Sky-Space?" I furrowed my brow. "We're really calling it that?"

"I'd like to come too," Twilight said, reorganizing her notebook and other supplies. "If only to put this idea to rest that our characters are alive."

"I'm telling you they are." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Why is it so hard to believe?"

"Because magic transforming or converting one thing to another has happened before. I even experienced it. But to create something entirely out of nothing? Not only does that not make sense, none of us have yet to see anything like that."

"What about the monster vines that grew out of the ground at the Friendship Games?" Rainbow leaned forward. "Those came outta nowhere!"

"The magic transformed the local plant life. It wasn't out of nowhere." Twilight didn't waste a second with that retort. "And before you suggest the portals at the Friendship Games, those weren't physically there either."

"Hold on, there's portals now?" I blinked, making a few of Twilight's hair stand on end as she looked at her friend.

"We've had a lot of past experiences." Sunset left it at that. "But Twi's not wrong there, Rainbow. Magic can't conjure something out of nothing. And whenever it does look like that, it's normally teleporting things or converting magic into a solid object."

"Well she's wrong about this." Rainbow settled into her seat with a huff. "Whatever. You, me, Twi, Story, and Gilda. Anybody else?"

"I think this will do for now." Sunset turned to the other girls as they were already standing back up. "Go ahead and take a real break girls. If we end up taking too long, we're counting on all of you to come check on us."

"Don't worry, we'll make extra sure everything's A through O-kay," Pinkie gave a mock salute before springing out of her seat and twirling past the curtain.

"We won't be far," Applejack assured us, tipping her hat. "Good luck y'all."

Fluttershy and Rarity followed behind AJ through the doorway, with the purple one giving one last forlorn look to the AC before braving the heat. Then, right behind them, Big Mac started out the door too.

"Wait, Big Mac?" He stopped and looked back at me. "Shouldn't you do this too? I thought you couldn't see the game's magic either."

"Eenope," he confirmed.

"That's on purpose," Gilda told me. "The girls wanted to see if our group had a magic problem too. That's why we're having everyone meet up tomorrow. Big Mac's gonna make sure nothing shows up from his end."

"...I guess that makes sense," I admitted. "But that means we're gonna have to make time tomorrow to not be playing this game. You sure that's a good idea?"

Sunset thought about it but nodded all the same. "We'll see how far we get after tonight. From there, maybe you can figure out how long it might take to reach Gundren."

"Okay. I can do that," I promised her. Then I turned to Rainbow Dash. "Whenever you're ready."

"Huh? Me?" Rainbow blinked.

"Well, yeah." I shrugged. "You said you knew how this all worked. And if I followed all of that correctly, someone else needs to be the DM this time."

"I was thinking that too." Sunset smiled. "We need someone who knows about this place and has already dealt with magic. If anyone can do it, I think it's you Rainbow."

"But. But I don't know how to run this stuff," she argued. "Besides, it's all Story's world anyways. Why can't he do it?"

"Because we want him to be a player just like you and Gilda were," Twilight explained.

"Master has given Dobby the title of player," I said in a nasally voice, making Dash freeze. "Dobby is not forever DM. Dobby is free!"

Despite my desperate attempt at lightening the mood, it was Twilight of all people who erupted in laughter. The other three just stared at me like I was crazy.

"Is that some kinda nerd joke?" Gilda glared at me. "Really dude?"

"Look, I've seen a lot in this past hour and it's about to get weirder. Let me have one moment," I defended. Then I looked to Dash who was watching Twilight's giggle fit in greater confusion. "Dash, look. We're just making a character. I don't know about magic but doing this kinda thing normally is nothing. Plus I already know how to do it. All you have to do is tell me when to roll dice and then you check them. I'll walk you through it."

Rainbow slumped forward, disappointed that she was getting outvoted. "Alright, fine, I get it. But if we go in again, I don't wanna be in charge of this stuff."

Sunset smirked. "Deal. Whenever you're set, just say the words."

I quickly reached into my backpack for a folder that had exactly seven blank character sheets and pulled one out for myself. I had them handy in case my players, erm, wiped out.

"You got it!" Rainbow cleared her head and reached over to Fluttershy's set of dice, plucking one of the dice and holding it up in her hand. Then she cleared her throat and readied herself.

"Let's start a story."

She let go of the die, letting it hit the table, and right away I watched as my vision started to swim as this DM screen of pure light appeared in front of Rainbow Dash before all my senses shut themselves down.

R⌰⎎v⊑n's POV
⎐toneh⌰⍜l ⌰nn

"Do you really got ten siblin's?"

"Of course," Rava confirmed with a huge grin. "In order there's Diesa, Viet, Nurkava, Kilvar, Kathra, Liftrava, Thoradin, then comes meself, Eridred, Vorava, an' itty Herbek." She giggled to herself. "Herbek hates it when any of us calls 'im itty! It's a mantle we always give ta whoever the youngest of us is. Poor guy's prolly stuck with it seein' as Da's gettin' on in years."

"That." Stostine blinked a few times. "That is...An impressive roster. Did you say some of your siblings also had 'Rava' in their names?"

"How'd you keep up with any of that?" Vareén gave her an odd look.

"We do," Rava replied. "This part ain't from the Dash Lass but from the Master; Rava means 'rising' in Dwarven. So Liftrava roughly translates ta 'rising strength,' Vorava means 'rising voice,' an' Ravathyra means 'a rise in rank.' Ironically, that means Ah know somethin' 'bout meself that the Dash Lass may never know."

"Oh, dat's sorta like Glemerr," Glemerr cheered happily. "Mah Player said she wanted me ta get along wit' all de other orcs that Ah grew up wit'. An' dat meant she needed Story ta come up wit' a bunch a' neighbors for me. So Pinks don't know as much about 'em as Ah do!"

"Is that so?" I quirked an eyebrow. "I dunno Miss Glemerr. Sounds more like yer Player was too lazy ta come up with all a them folk herself."

"Nah, it's nothin' like dat." Glemerr waved me off. "Ya see, Pinks said that it ain't fair fer her ta make up all a' mah neighbors since ya can't pick yer neighbors in real life! Then dere was somethin' 'bout how yer friends make ya who ya are an' not de other way err somethin' all fly-a-sophical like dat."

"I think you may have meant philosophical, Glemerr." Stostine placed her tea back on the table. "And that does sound noble. Although, that does bring up another point about us."

"About how we have some life of our own beyond what our Players give us?" Ricven asked. Stostine nodded. "I wouldn't quite agree. The rest of our lives are a result a' this world. All a' which was made by the Master. For instance, I got knowledge about the arcane and the folklore about this world. I even know some legends the Master made up at a time. But I couldn't tell ya where I heard of 'em from."

"That's true." Vareén stepped in next. "I know about the wildlife and where the good hunting grounds are in Leodaav. I don't know why. Maybe I've seen them. Maybe I heard of them. I don't know because Twilight never cared to answer that."

I looked between the three girls. "It seems as though this world, or more specifically the magic our Players tamper with, is tryin' ta fill in them blanks. Things that no one could ever hope ta think of imaginin' in a person."

"Except when our Players leave too much unsolved," Stostine went on. "Then those blanks are too big to fill in. For instance, I could tell you some features about the town my father runs, yet I have no idea what it is called."

"An' back when Ah was a walkin' blue marble," Rava started. "Ah didn't even 'ave that. There weren't holes ta fill in more than..."

"Then what?" Vareén eyed the Dwarf. "...What are you doing?"

Rava said nothing. She just sat there, unmoving with her mouth hanging open.

Vareén reached over and lightly flicked Rava on the ear. Then she drew her finger back, waving it around. "Ow. I think she's—" I blinked and Vareén's seat was empty.

"What in the?!" I turned to look at the others but all I saw was Glemerr staring at an empty chair that once held Stostine. "Miss Stostine? Miss Vareén? Wh-Where'd they go?"

Glemerr groaned in confusion, tossing away her tankard and looking all around the bar. They were nowhere to be seen. Not only that, Rava still wasn't moving.

"Lady Rava?" I stood up on my chair and took a very careful look at the Dwarf. She didn't breath, nor did she speak. And for the strands of hair that wasn't tied up in a bun, it floated frozen stiff in the air as she sat frozen mid-sentence.

"That ain't good," I decided, jumping out of my seat and running over to Sildar's room. Peaking in, Sildar and Dahlia, the girl I met before the attack, were still frozen in time. Not only that, but as I traced the border of my vision I found that thin haze still present.

The game's still on pause. But now so is Rava. How's come?

At that moment, the front door was kicked open as stumbling through it was an exhausted Platick. He looked ready to crumble with one hand clutching his ribs and the other at his bleeding nose.

I stared him down with a look of disbelief. He had the body of a runner but even still he was lulling in all directions to keep from doubling over in his delirium. Beyond that, all the dirt and blood stains he apparently collected on his way here made him look like he had been chased by a beast.

"What the heck happened ta you?!"

Between each wheeze, Platick straightened himself until he finally had his breath enough to speak. "You...Have no cl. Clue...How bad it. Is...To have time freeze. When you're riding a mad horse!"

I sucked in air through my teeth. "Ooh...Lemme piece it together; time froze the horse and you went flying till yer face carved the road?"

He took another breath and winced as he clutched his chest again. "Not. Quite. You see, I rode behind Leanne and when time froze, so did she. I flew forward and broke my nose on her hair of all things." He put some pressure on a part of his rib cage and instantly regretted it. "I think I crushed some ribs. Really made jogging for three miles suck."

"Dat's impressive," Glemerr told him. "Why'd ya jog all de way back 'ere dough? Ya should be lyin' down!"

"Since time's frozen, my nose won't stop bleeding." He pulled his hand back to reveal the gore that made me shiver in disgust as I turned away from him. "I didn't want to pass out from blood loss in the middle of the road."

He stepped into the inn, dropping himself into Stostine's seat and tilting his head back.

"Miss Glemerr?" I asked, shaking the sight out of my mind. "Could you be a dear an' help the poor man out?"

"Sure thing!" Glemerr trudged over and, without any sense of personal space, used Platick's chin to turn his head towards her. "Oof, it's broken alright. Ah'm gonna have ta set it."

"Pwease no," Platick mumbled while his jaw was still held tightly between the orc's thumb and finger.

"Don't worry, it'll only hurt a second!"

"Wai', Ah mean i', pwease," he struggled, spotting Rava out of the corner of his eyes. "Wa-Wava! Wittle hewp? You go' magik heawing, wigh'?"

"Unfortunately, Lady Rava checked out right before you entered the scene. And Miss Vareén pocketed our last healing potion 'fore she an' Miss Stostine vanished. Doctor Glemerr's your only option."

"...Jush ge' i' ova wi'h," he mumbled, resigning to his fate.

"I'll get ya somethin' strong from the bar," I told him, walking back to get his first round and Glemerr's fifth. "Oh, that reminds me! Miss Glemerr's had quite a few rounds 'fore you arrived. Ya might wanna make sure yer extra still durin' surgery."

"Wha?!" I saw him struggle until Glemerr put her second hand around his nose. "Wickven, you wittle shi—"

I started whistling a tune as Platick's heavy screaming rang out louder than any Thunderwave I set off today.

"Better make that a double," I spoke under my breath, climbing up the bar's wine rack to reach the good stuff on the top shelf. Once I had it, I started to prep their drinks before eying a few of the other glasses under the bar.

Maybe I'll make something for the girls too, I thought. Wherever they went, they'll probably want another round when they get back.

Author's Note

The reason this chapter was much shorter than normal is because it was originally a longer chapter that I split down the middle. Since the group's finally laying out the cards about this magic and looking for answers, I didn't want to have a heavy chapter. I wanted to keep it in smaller chunks that are easier to get through in a shorter sitting.

However, that also means that the next chapter is already written! I'm still going through it but it'll be shorter than the usual length too.

I hope you're enjoying the story and thank you for all the comments and interest in it so far!

Until next time everyone,
cheers,
-Zeke

(24) What Would My Character Do?

3rd Person POV
Sky-Space

"An' back when Ah was a walkin' blue marble," Rava spoke. "Ah didn't even 'ave that. There weren't holes ta fill in more than..."

"Then what?" Vareén asked, eying the Dwarf. "...What are you doing?" When Ravathyra didn't reply, Vareén reached over and tried to flick Rava's ear. Then she drew her finger back, waving it around.

"Ow," Vareén called out. "I think she's frozen like. The, Others...?"

Without a breath gone by, Vareén and Stostine were suddenly standing beside one another and facing the same direction. Even when they were no longer sitting in their chairs, the transition was so seamless. From their perspective, they only knew they were somewhere else upon staring at the endless expanse of a cloud-littered sky. Complete with the two suns of Prima hanging high above them.

Both girls spent a few quiet seconds glancing around while Stostine particularly took a deep breath to brace herself before looking straight down. As she expected, she was standing on nothing as she saw the world beneath her feet.

Then there was Stostine's ally. The moment Vareén looked down, she let out a high-pitched whimper as a chill so strong it was visible through her cloak surged down her back.

"Wh-Whe-Where are we?" She asked, her voice cracking constantly. It was the first time her voice sounded similar to her Player's. "Where's the ground? Where's the town? Where are—why i-is...Why are you not freaking out?!"

Stostine couldn't help but smile. "Remember how we told you we ended up in the sky? Welcome to the sky, Vareén."

About twenty feet away from them, a large goliath woman adorned in a silver-lined cloak with warm furs and a number of javelins on her back began looking around. Like Stostine, it all seemed greatly familiar. When she then noticed Stostine and a complaining Vareén, the goliath broke out in a grin.

"Stostine! Hey!"

The girls stopped, turning to watch the near seven foot tall woman bounding towards them in a sprint. Quickly, Vareén fumbled for her bow and was prepared to fire only for Stostine to gently grab her wrist and signal for the elf to stand down.

"Gekio," Stostine returned. "It is good to see that you are okay! You are okay, right?"

"Yeah! Oh yeah, I'm good," she answered, stopping about four feet away so the three were in talking distance. "But you have no idea how boring it is to sit around doing nothing all day!"

Stostine said nothing, only giving a comedic look that made Gekio rethink her words.

"Err, I-I mean stuck with nobody around, all day," Gekio corrected, remembering what Stostine told her about yesterday. "None of my group's awake, like you thought would happen."

From there, Stostine took the lead in the conversation. She began introducing her teammate to her Skellian friend before trying to get some more information about what the haze was acting like during the game on Gekio's side. Meanwhile, a group of four high school students were standing another twenty feet away. Except, they were occupied themselves.

They arrived in Sky-Space prior to the characters but all that time was spent with varying levels of terror. For Gilda, she only needed a little time to shake off the dizzying height below her. It especially helped that she had an experience with this already. As for the others, they had no such luxury.

To Sunset's credit, she wasn't screaming. Instead, every nerve in her body seized up as she couldn't tear her eyes away from the sheer drop below her. A 'call of the void' effect started taking her mind as she felt herself leaning forward with wide eyes.

It only lasted a moment before she was shaken out of it by Twilight who, in an attempt to find a solid object to latch onto, took Sunset's arm in her hand as she gave out this unsteady, breathless wail. Sunset turned to face her and saw the color gone from Twilight's face. Quick to help her, Sunset linked arms with her friend and distracted herself from the drop by helping to calm Twilight down.

Story on the other hand, had no prior experience to any of this. He was screaming and flailing in a mad frenzy, eventually clinging to Gilda's side like a lost child at a grocery store. He wanted to look anywhere else but he couldn't stop himself from screaming at the nonexistent ground. Ironically, his feet remained anchored in place because, by Story's instincts, he thought if he dared to move them he would actually start falling.

"Okay. Dude," she said as she finally pried him off of her hip. "I get that it's freaky but you're not gonna fall, alright?! Take a breather and stop. Looking. Down. Also, you're telling no one I let you hug me."

Story tried to form words but all that came out was babbling as he nodded frantically. He busied himself by looking at the clouds slowly drifting around them.

"There's...There's no breeze," Twilight began to register as she and Sunset slowly let go of one another. "There's no heat from the. The two suns?!"

"Yeah, Story's world has two suns," Gilda filled them in. The existence of them made Sunset's Equestrian mind shatter for a moment. "That's what made me and Dash realize the world down there is Story's too."

"Wait, my world? Down the-theeeeeeere...?" Story temporarily forgot his fears and looked straight down again. The airsickness felt like it was about to kick in again for him.

"What'd I just tell ya?!" Gilda huffed. "Stop that!"

"I-I-I...I know. B-but..." Story trailed off, swallowing his fear and bringing up his finger. Then he started tracing the coastline as he made himself focus. "That. That's the Balrion Straight. And. And those are the Elven Steps. And that's the Dryne River. So that over there should be..." he kept mumbling locations to himself, most that none of the others had any hope of recognizing.

When he was satisfied, Story stood up straight and looked to the girls. "I. I think it really is my world."

Hey, are you guys done screaming yet?

Story opened his mouth to deny her but Gilda slapped his mouth shut with her hand, making him give off a muffled scream of pain instead of fear. At the same time, Twilight and Sunset began looking around for any sign of where that disembodied voice came from.

"Rainbow Dash?" Sunset called out. "Was that you?"

Yeah. I'm watching you guys through the screen that popped up in front of me. It's like watching a TV show, it's pretty awesome.

"Well, you're just a voice to us! It's creepy," Gilda shouted. She then let go of Story's mouth so he could nurse his jaw.

I'm right here Gilda, you don't have to shout.

"How was I supposed to know that?!"

"Rainbow Dash, are." Twilight bit her lip. "Are our bodies still out there?"

Uh-huh. If you think it's weird hearing my voice, you have no idea what it's like to see you through the screen AND sitting right in front of me. You're not talking though. You're all just...sitting here.

Twilight nervously brushed some of her hair as she temporarily forgot about how there was no floor and paced forward a few steps. "Alright. That's not normal. Erm...May. Maybe, it's..."

Not fake after all and I was right the whole time?

Twilight glared in no particular direction. "I was going to say that perhaps the game's magic put us in a hypnotic-like state. We did start to get drowsy as you rolled the dice. That might have been what made us more subjective to a more extreme illusion."

Really? Hypnosis now? Weren't you the one that said hypnosis was a myth or something? Why is hypnosis suddenly more believable than this?!

"When I said hypnosis I. I-I meant sleep-like trance," she corrected. "A trance isn't restricted only to hypnosis. It can be plenty of things. And it's still much more believable than accepting that our characters came to life from a board game!" Twilight screamed in return. "And sure. Maybe I can't quite explain this right now bu-but that doesn't mean I'm wrong! I am not about to go along thinking this magic created any form of life! And you can't just go on believing it so easily either, Rainbow Dash!"

You think this was easy? Do you how freaky it was seeing our characters walk and move on their own?

"Uh, speaking of..." Story pointed ahead of them. "Are those the characters?"

The girls all turned to finally notice the only other people up in the space with them. Gekio and Stostine were still in the middle of their own conversation and were now sitting cross-legged on the floor with Vareén standing close by. She wasn't talking as much. Instead, Vareén kept her hood pulled tightly over her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the sky around her.

Upon seeing this, Twilight let out a continuous stutter that sounded as though her mouth was letting out sparks like a broken machine.

"How does this all work then?" Vareén asked, her voice full of grouch and gravel but obviously Twilight's. "You say this is where Ravathyra got 'fixed,' but there's nothing here."

"We have no control of it," Stostine explained further. "At least, we do not think we do. Previously, we sat around until Gekio and Rava vanished without warning. Then they reappeared later."

Sunset held her own neck for a moment. She didn't use a voice for Stostine, just a different tone. And yet the mage reflected that perfectly. There were a few moments where Sunset fell out of that tone but Stostine didn't have that problem.

"I mean, that's mostly true. Aside from the part where I beat up all three of you single-handedly," Gekio gloated. Gilda grinned at that.

"If I remember right, we were holding our own against you." Stostine smiled slyly. "I even got to practice my Ice Knife from that."

That's a spell I chose for her when we leveled up, Sunset remembered.

"Yeah, yeah. But if I remember right, I was holdin' back. You'da been stomped if I actually tried!"

"Cut the rivalry," Vareén dismissed venomously. Twilight took a step back when she heard her voice say that "Are you saying we're stuck until something else is done with us? Is it our Players?"

"We believe so." Stostine nodded. "Ravathyra mentioned that it was her Player that shaped the history she got after we arrived. Maybe this is where it all happens."

"Then how's come we woke up at the ambush?"

Stostine shook her head. "That I am still working on."

Sunset and Twilight glanced at one another as their minds turned to overdrive.

"S-Sunset?" Twilight asked, unconsciously feeling to see if her heart stopped skipping beats.

The fiery-haired girl shook her head, anticipating Twi's question. "I don't know."

Still think it's all fake Twilight?

Twilight frowned, a few hairs sticking out of place as she tried to gather herself. "I didn't say fake, I said programmed illusion. And when I said that I meant that this was a sort of magic built in part by what we imagine. Everything around us is something that we imagined."

Uh-huh. Story, did you imagine any of this?

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Story let out a single syllable as he continued eying the world below that he technically 'imagined' to life. "I don't know how to answer that."

While Twilight tried to find a way to build up a good explanation, Sunset took the opportunity to approach the characters. By now, their conversation temporarily shifted from what this space was to what the group had done in tonight's game thus far.

Vareén took the chance to turn and walk away to be alone with her thoughts just as Sunset closed in. When she was close enough, she waved a hand in front of Stostine's face and then furrowed her brow.

"Hey? Hey, can you hear me?" Sunset tried.

"By the way, we finally reached a town," Stostine carried on the chat with Gekio.

"Yeah? Nice, what's it like?" Then a thought came to Gekio's mind. "Wait, are any of the people there like us?"

The mage thought for a second. "That is where it gets tricky. You see, when our Players began running through the events of their game, the Master has these moments where he skips long periods of time. The haze gets thinner and we have this brief period where we can do what we want within reason."

"...Vareén, can you make that simpler?" Gekio looked up at the elf.

"We can do what we want. Mostly." Vareén shrugged. "Basically, the haze doesn't turn on and off like a switch. It's more like a dial."

Gekio nodded to herself for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "What's a dial?"

Vareén paused for a second and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh."

"Hey, it's bad enough the mage in our group does that during the games." Gekio glared. "I was literally born yesterday, alright? Gimme a break!"

"Hold on. Your Player has had a game with you since yesterday?" Stostine blinked.

"No." Gekio frowned. "It's kinda like those memories we got about our past, ya know? I remember the games my Player had me in even though I wasn't awake for 'em. I remember some of what the other Players and Master said too."

"Player? Master?" Twilight thought to herself.

By now, everyone came up to get a closer look at their characters. Gilda saw what Gekio was like before when she worked on her yesterday. Although, Gilda was able to play around with Gekio's design to make her cooler so she was able to admire her work now.

Meanwhile, Sunset saw Stostine's picture on Story's DM screen back when the group was about to fight Klarg but to actually see Stostine as though she was alive was completely different.

But to Twilight and Story, they took in every detail about the three characters. They could see the strained threads on Stostine's cloak, the spots of dried blood permanently matting Gekio's furs and even the multiple worn quivers resting on Vareén's back outside her cloak. More than that, while Twi witnessed Vareén in both appearance and attitude, she picked out every concept she had come up with for her. From being ambidextrous all the way down to the impossibly faint, cyan glow of her eyes.

However, it was the details that Twilight didn't create that confused her. There were archer's gloves that protected the index and middle fingers and then the three rabbit's feet fastened to her hip. Not to mention the bow on Vareén's back had a noticeable red tinge; something akin to cherry wood.

Curious, Twilight reached out to touch the bow only for her hand to go straight through it. She tried a couple more times but when Vareén had no reaction, Twilight broke out in a slightly manic grin. "Aha!" she exclaimed in a thin attempt of triumph. "I knew it! They aren't real, just like I thought! They're only illusions. There's nothing there. Every part of them is crafted from our own imagination."

Nice try Twilight. Try reaching into her chest. There's gonna be something there.

Confident to keep proving her theory, Twilight shoved her hand through Vareén's ribs without hesitation and felt her fingers stub into something hard. She pulled her hand out and cradled her fingers with a cringe. "Ahhh. Wh-What was—"

Ahaaaa~! That wasn't an illusion, was it?

Twilight ignored Rainbow's mockery and waved her hand around for a moment before her face settled into a hard frown. "That...That actually hurt. Illu...Illusions don't hurt...Do they?" She looked to Sunset who shook her head.

"Not on its own like this. Why, what did you hit?"

"There's some sorta giant die inside each of 'em," Gilda explained. As though to prove it, she reached into Gekio's back and pulled out a stone twenty-sided die the size of a kickball and tossed it in the air a couple of times. "They're really light-weight too. We can only pull out the one in our own characters."

They look like whatever your magic die does too. Mine was the storm cloud.

Sunset looked back at Stostine and then her own hands for a moment. "What happens when you take it out?"

"Nothing." Gilda shrugged, holding hers under her arm. "Just make sure you got a good grip on it. You don't wanna roll it by accident."

Twilight glanced down at her fingers and made her hand into a fist. "I...Th-This isn't...I don't get it."

Sunset took the advice to heart and gave her character one last look before reaching in her chest. With how thin Stostine was, it didn't take long for Sunset to find something solid. Without any effort, she pulled and the die came with her.

Like Rainbow said, it was the same bronze die that Sunset recognized whenever she held the magic die. It even had magic runes along the edge and her Cutie Mark in place of the '20.' And compared to Gilda's, it was smaller. If Gilda's was a kickball, Sunset's was a soccer ball.

Story let out a low whistle as he looked at the dice. Then he turned to Twilight. "What's yours look like?"

Twilight furrowed her brow. "I don't know. I never had the chance to use it myself." Wanting a distraction, Twilight reached into Vareén, carefully this time, and wrapped her hands around the die. Like the others, there was no resistance as she pulled the die free.

The die was also the size of a soccer ball but crafted entirely out of one piece of book paper that had no seam or fold anywhere. As for the numbers, they were each inked onto the die's faces in perfect Baskerville font.

"It feels like regular paper. But solid too," Twilight explained as she moved her hand across the surface. "It looks like the theme of these dice take after us rather than our characters. Pinkie had rubber, Rainbow Dash a cloud, and now my own with paper."

"They're unique to us. Which may be why only we can pull them out." Sunset then turned her focus away from the dice. "Gilda? You said you wound up somewhere else? Where did you go next?"

"I ended up in a shack in a rainstorm," Gilda clarified. "Dash was in a void and then said she appeared in her Dwarf's home."

"We did talk about Ravathyra's background," Story threw his own two cents. "We agreed Ravathyra never left Cragen her whole life, so...Rainbow, did you see Cragen then?"

Not all of it but I saw some. And those Root Guards are creepier than you were making them out to be.

"Yep, she saw Cragen," Story confirmed. "Maybe I should redesign those...nevermind," he shook away the distraction.

Anyways, whenever you roll your die, you end up somewhere else with your character. If you have nothing like I did, you end up in some sorta...void-thing?

"A void-thing?" Story cringed. "The heck is that supposed to mean?"

It's really hard to explain. When I was there, I heard everyone's talking as if nothing was wrong and you were asking me a bunch of questions about Rava. When I'd answer them, stuff would change.

"Eventually, Story stopped asking questions and we just talked about nothing," Gilda went on. "That's when Dash and I got outta here. We kept quiet till Story left since no one seemed to notice."

"That's because, to us, you didn't," Sunset filled in. "This time we had the others all leave the room, which means we were right about controlling how the characters show up. But how's come my and Fluttershy's characters were here yesterday when we weren't?"

As everyone tried to come up with an answer, Story took a breath. "Maybe...That was me?"

The girls looked to him. "How do you figure?"

Making it up as I go, Story said inwardly as all eyes fell to him. "You said that catchphrase causes everything to happen, right? Well, if I caused it last time, maybe that means I controlled who came in too? At the time, I knew we'd work on Rainbow's character and I figured throwing Gilda a few backstory questions would get Rainbow to open up more. I remember thinking we'd try working on Stostine or Thorn Wielder later but only if we had the time."

"That would line up." Sunset crossed her arms. "That probably means whoever says the words has control of whoever comes in here."

Story sighed. "Yay. That's not concerning at all."

"You hear that Dash," Gilda shouted out to the sky above her. "That means you're running this thing! Test something out!"

"Wait, is that a good idea?" Twilight cringed. "You do realize we're inside the thing Rainbow Dash is controlling, right?"

Gilda, for the last time, please stop screaming. It feels like you're right in my ear. And Twi, I don't get why you're so scared. You're the one that keeps saying it's all an illusion.

"Yes, I know, I did say that, but. But I don't..." Twilight groaned. "We should think things through a little bit."

"Well, let's take one thing at a time." Sunset took the lead. "We did this originally for Story to make his character. Rainbow Dash? Try focusing on that."

Got it! Okay, um...Story. You're. Making. A. Character. Now.

Despite Rainbow Dash went over the top by putting attention into each word, it seemed to do the trick.

A short distance away, this orb of light faded in from nowhere. At first it was the size of a marble but as Sunset and the others watched, the orb grew in size and solidity until it was the same size and shape of the others' dice; though without any design.

Next, this humanoid figure formed around the orb, completely engulfing the light. When this happened, the three characters began taking notice as they leapt to their feet with their guards raised.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Vareén asked the two veterans of this space.

"Dunno." Gekio held out her hands, summoning her glaive from a crackle of lightning that freaked out the high school students. "But if they were like me, they'll probably think we dragged 'em here."

Vareén took the hint and drew her bow and an arrow while Stostine watched the silhouette with great interest from behind the two fighters.

"It's formless," Stostine and Sunset said in unison. Sunset turned to watch her character but Stostine didn't react.

"It is similar to Rava's original appearance," Stostine went on, summoning a Mage Hand with a pushing motion of her hand. "No clear detail. Even the size and build is fluctuating."

"Rainbow?" Sunset called out. She kept her eyes trained on the shifting figure as it made no signs of movement or life.

I see it. It came up after I said the thing, right?

The group watched as Stostine's Mage Hand reached for the form's face. It sailed right past it.

"Not there," the mage pointed out.

Vareén decided to take their test a little further. Rather than shoot her arrow, Vareén took it in her hand and simply flung it. It too went through the figure, gliding through the center of it before the arrow clattered against the invisible floor.

"Nope." Vareén determined. She began walking around the figure in a wide berth to retrieve her arrow. "Just another weird thing."

"...Should someone go touch it?" Gilda asked.

"Alright," Gekio said abruptly, stabbing her glaive into the ground like last time she was hear. "Back off chumps. I got this." Then she stomped directly towards the figure.

"I kinda meant one of us," Gilda stated awkwardly. She then watched as her character walked up and comedically waved her hands through the shape. When that failed, Gekio went with the tried and true method of sticking your face inside of it like an ostrich.

"I guess I should," Story said hesitantly. "Rainbow said my name. Besides, if it's supposed to be a character like them then..."

"That orb was probably the die." Sunset stood apprehensive even as Gekio brought her head back out and shrugged at the other characters.

"I got nothin' girls," Gekio declared.

"Right." Story shook out his hands and started walking meekly. "Here does nothing..."

The closer Story got the shorter his steps became. But, eventually, he found his way within arm's reach. After a couple more deep breaths, Story brought his arms forward and closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to watch his hands go through the humanoid blob.

Story waved his hands around for a moment until finding something solid and seizing it. He stepped back and shrunk away from it, balled up around the orb in his arms as if he expected the blob to explode.

When it didn't, Story opened his eyes in time to watch the blank orb change.

The texture of it became semi-smooth and porous as it earned an off-white color. Next, the die had several distinct-looking patterns and material on sections of the die. One was bright white with oyster pigment, another was a colorful Mardi Gras with soft fabric and feathers, a third had golden filigree, and finally the last pattern was carefully carved wood.

"It. it feels porcelain," Story explained, tapping a few fingers against the sides of it. Then, as he investigated the patterns, he chuckled. "I think they're supposed to be different mask designs."

As he held it up to show the others, the blob stopped shifting and froze in place.

Okay. Now get ready to roll it.

"What? Why would I roll it?" Story tried to give Rainbow a weird look. "It might break."

"Trust me, it won't," Sunset assured him. "It only looks that way."

"When you roll that, you're gonna wind up somewhere else with your person-thing there." Gilda gestured to the silhouette. "You'll hear the rest of us talking but it's not really us."

Story blinked. "What?"

You'll get what she means when you do it. A word of advice though; just go along with it. If you don't, it starts getting annoying.

Story wore a long look. "Great. That's not vague at all."

It's a hard thing to explain. It'll be fine.

"It stopped moving," Vareén told the other characters.

Curious, Gekio tried shoving her head back inside of it but all she did was bash her skull against the figure's solid form. "AAARGH! Ugh, that hurt!"

"Dang it, Gekio." Gilda facepalmed.

"Alright," he sighed. "Guess that's all I'm getting from you girls. Um...Wish me luck?"

"We'll be waiting for you when you're finished." Sunset smiled as Twilight nodded from behind.

Story nodded in return and, after one breath, he bent down and carefully rolled the porcelain die, still worried about breaking it. However, when it finally came to a full stop, there was no warning. Story, the die, and his new character simply popped away.

Wo-Woah! Uh, oh. Oh, alright. So that's how this looks.

"How what looks?" Twilight glanced up.

Story just started moving out here. He's writing on the character sheet in front of him. Uh, Story, you there? Helloooo?...Nope. Not there.

"But he's moving now?" Sunset frowned. "So then where did he go?"

Well, if it's anything like what happened to me, he's probably freaking out about not having a body.

"About what?!" Sunset's eyes went wide.

It's kinda cool when you get used to it...Oh, wait a second! My screen has a second thing on it now! I think it's Story...I'm gonna trying touching it.

"Touching it?" Sunset furrowed her brow. "Rainbow Dash, what does it look like?"

"..."

"Rainbow Dash?" Sunset tried again but there was still no answer.

"Maybe she went wherever Story did?" Twilight assumed.

Vareén and Gekio stared back at where they saw Story's character appear. From their perspective, a shape appeared, shuffled unresponsively, and then vanished as quick as it arrived. Stostine saw all of this too but was preoccupied with trying to piece it together.

"Stostine?" Vareén earned her attention. "What do you think? Where'd it go?"

"I have no idea," Stostine admitted. "But I think I finally understand what this place is about. This is where...I believe this is where we get made."

"Made?" Gekio lifted an eyebrow.

Sunset turned to watch her character.

"What other word would you use?" Stostine frowned. "We know that we were created by our Players. And last time we arrived, you and Rava were improved upon. This time, we saw something like us appear and then get taken away; again, like you and Rava. Perhaps this space is some sort of waiting room."

"But that makes no sense," Vareén objected. "You, me, and the others all woke up before that goblin ambush. Not up here."

"That's when the magic first activated." Twilight frowned.

"Yeah," Gekio backed Vareén up. "And when I woke up, I did it with a bunch of history and stuff already on me. I didn't look like that thing."

"And that's when I got dragged into this." Gilda jabbed a thumb at herself.

"I understand your points." Stostine folded her hands into the sleeves of her robes. "But remember what Ricven pointed out to us? His Player, Rarity, used him to make a point to my Player, Sunset. Rarity told her 'if. We. Get. Hurt.'"

The hairs on the back of Sunset's neck stood on end. She felt a lot more self-conscious in that moment too.

"They do not understand the magic they are dealing with. Not at the start, at least," Stostine went on. "Maybe that creation we saw was a test. How our creation would have happened had their magic been present from the start. Instead, we were an exception. We woke up when the magic began. Which we can assume happened in the middle of their first game."

"Okay. Maybe that makes sense," Vareén admitted. "Does that mean each of us are going to get pulled away like that thing? That we'll get improved on?"

"That remains to be seen." Stostine walked forward in what she believed was no particular direction.

However, she coincidentally walked directly towards her Player, forcing Sunset to take a few steps back to keep Stostine from walking through her. When Stostine stopped a few inches from her Player's face, Sunset could see that same calculating look she used to wear. Only now it was from Stostine's dull golden eyes.

"Last time I was here, I had no such improvements. Neither did Thorn Wielder. But you saw how happy Rava was to get hers. What of you, Gekio?"

"I mean." The goliath shrugged. "I guess I am, yeah. Not all of 'em were good memories but I think it filled a few in blanks. Still have a few though."

Vareén gave a click of disapproval. "So, what, we're supposed to sit here and wait for our turn? Wait until our Players or the Master feels like giving us something?"

"..." Stostine pouted, considering that thought for a moment.

"Sunset?" Twilight asked, slowly backing away as she studied her die. "I...This isn't illusion magic. Is it?"

Sunset swallowed. "No. At this point, I have no clue what—"

"CAN I HAVE A MOTHER?!" Stostine screamed at the top of her lungs, cupping her hands around her mouth as Sunset flinched away. She couldn't even cover her ears thanks to the large bronze die she was holding.

"Hello?!" Stostine kept going, screaming right into her Player's ear. "You gave me a father, Sunset! I can see his face. Did you create that too? Because you didn't create HER face! You want to fix that? Can you do something about it? After all, she's supposed to be important to me, isn't she? You decided that!"

Stostine paused, taking in a few breaths. Sunset, meanwhile, was forced to stare up at Stostine's face as a couple tears streamed down it. "...WELL?!"

The Equestrian watched as Stostine used Prestidigitation to clean her cheeks so Gekio and Vareén couldn't even see her wiping them away. Stostine knew she couldn't hide the emotion in her voice so the alternative was to make it seem like she faked it.

Next, Stostine gave a longer pause, pretended to glance around as though giving her Player a chance to respond. She was sure that if Sunset really could talk to her, that would have happened already but Stostine let herself play out the theatrics anyways.

All the while, Sunset was forced to back away once more, glancing down at the bronze die weighing into her arms as much as her thoughts.

I never gave her a mother, she finally processed. Why didn't I? I completely skipped that part.

"Waiting," Stostine droned, refolded her arms in her sleeves. Her expression turned bored as she stared off in no particular direction while the others stood behind her.

Sunset looked between the die and Stostine a few times until finally looking towards Gilda and Twilight. They shared the same look as their characters; like they didn't want to be here.

That was the last push Sunset needed. "I'll be right back girls."

Sunset got a better handle on the die and flung it forward, watching it roll across the floor with a handful of louds 'clacks.' After a moment, it was about to come to a full stop; Sunset taking a deep breath as it did.

After a few seconds, Sunset forced one eye open, both terrified and curious about 'not having a body,' as Rainbow put it, meant. But as she stared down at herself, and the hunk of metal lying motionless ahead of her, and then the same surrounding environment, she put it together.

She was still there. As was Stostine. Absolutely nothing happened.

'What?' Sunset mouthed without sound.

"It would seem not," Stostine finally concluded, spinning around to rejoin the others. "Perhaps they cannot hear us. Or, alternatively, perhaps they have more important things to deal with. If I was right, that creation was their test. Their real focus."

Sunset glared back at her die and hurried over to it before rolling it with more force. Still nothing.

"Um...Stostine?" Gekio scratched her neck. "Do you, erm...Do you wanna talk about that, or—"

"No." Stostine was quick to reply. "It does not matter anyways. After all, if my Player does not care, why should I?"

"What? No," Sunset cried out, this time reaching her die and simply kicking the damn thing, letting it clatter around to another stop. Nothing.

So, Sunset kicked it harder, watching as it flew and tumbled maybe a full twenty feet before bouncing off an invisible wall. But when the die eventually came to a stop, still nothing. All it did was show the girls they were trapped in a cube rather than on a floor.

"Why isn't it working?"

Concerned, Twilight rolled her own, watching it clatter despite being made of paper. It, again, did nothing as she was left standing there nervously. "Mine didn't work either. Girls? How are we getting out?"

Gilda flung hers like a football, watching it smacked off the room's wall before landing on one of its faces. She was crestfallen as she too had nothing happen. "Okay, I give! What happened?"

Sunset groaned, sweeping her hair back behind her head. "No idea."

"Maybe your Player doesn't decide it." Vareén shrugged. "Maybe it's the Master."

Stostine considered it and nodded along, looking defeated. "Possibly. The girls did say they were taking a break. It could be the Master is working on something pertaining to us."

"The Master?" Sunset watched the three characters start to have their own discussion. "What do they mean Master?"

"Last time we were here, they said Story was the Master." Gilda walked over and kicked up her stone die like a soccer ball, catching it in her hands. "I mean, DM stands for Dungeon Master. Makes as much sense as anything else."

"But Story's a Player right now," Sunset reminded them. "That would make Rainbow Dash the Master. Maybe since Story's not the Master, we can't make any changes?"

Twilight frowned. "Why would that be?"

"It's the only difference between now and when Gilda and Rainbow Dash came in. If our characters are from Story's world, wouldn't it make sense that Story has to be this 'Master' for us to do anything?"

"I guess that tracks." Gilda rolled with it. "Sounds more like a pull from you though."

"...Maybe." Sunset glanced back at her die. When she did, a thought slowly came to mind. "Gilda, is there anything else these dice can do?"

"Dunno." She shrugged. "We never got that far. Why? What'cha got in mind?"

"I mean, if rolling them doesn't do anything and they're just sitting here, then maybe there's something else."

"Like what?" Gilda frowned. "You roll dice, that's all they're good for."

Twilight bent down and picked hers back up. "Well, what if we put them back? They start out inside our characters and, honestly, I'd feel better putting magical tools back where they belong rather than leaving them out on the floor."

With her piece said, Twilight approached Vareén and, after having to walk after the pacing archer, carefully moved the dice towards Vareén's chest. Once Twilight had it where she imagined it was to begin with, she let go and brought her arms back out.

When the die stayed inside, Twilight sighed and turned to face the others. "It's staying in place at leas—"

Twilight was gone. As was Vareén, both ripped apart into puffs of smoke. Twilight's smoke dispersed in every direction until it was gone while Vareén's rocketed down through the see-through floor and towards Prima below.

The remaining four girls screamed out, running where they last saw their respective friends while staring in the direction the two smokes flew.

"Where'd she go?!" "What happened?!" Both Gilda and Gekio screamed in stereo.

"No idea!" "I'm not sure," Sunset and Stostine replied, the latter forcing herself to remain calm.

"But." Stostine took a breath, gaining Sunset's attention. "It looked like Vareén flew back down to Prima. Maybe she went back?"

Gilda eyed Sunset. "Is she right? Does that mean four-eyes went back too?"

Sunset stammered for a few sec—

Sunset?! Gilda?!

The two jumped in a fright, truly caught off guard as Rainbow's voice kicked back in.

"Dash, I swear to God!" Gilda shrieked. "Don't do that!"

Sorry! I'm sorry! It's just, Twilight suddenly woke up and started yelling out of nowhere! She told me to check up on you!

"She's okay?!" Sunset's face lit up and she took a huge sigh of relief. "Okay, good. We just saw her turn into smoke down here. We didn't know what happened."

Oh, that's freaky...They said you turned into smoke.........You hear that Sunset?

The two girls shared another look and Sunset slowly shook her head. "No. Hear what?"

I guess you can only hear me. Twilight said to put your dice in your characters and you'll wake up in a flash......Flash, immediately, what's the difference?

Gilda let out a heavy breath. "Ya know what? I think that's a great idea." Without waiting for permission, Gilda stomped over to where her and Sunset's die landed.

Gekio leaned on her back foot. "Hold. Last time we all vanished at once. What's different now?"

Stostine didn't answer. Instead, she straightened up and kept a stoic expression.

"...Stostine?"

Gilda reached for Sunset's die and tried picking it up for her only to strain herself as it failed to move at all. "Huh. Guess we can only move our own even outside their bodies. Sunset, you comin'?"

Sunset glanced back at her character, again in a position where Stostine's face was visible. "Uh, y-yeah. Go on ahead, I wanna try one more thing."

Gilda rose her brow but didn't want to argue. "Alright. Good luck with that." She approached Gekio with her die at the ready.

"Stost, what's wrong?" Gekio frowned, walking around to look her in the eye. "You're acting weird. Can you at least say something?"

Stostine grimaced lightly. "Sorry. I have a lot coming to mind. If I have this correct, I think we may be next. Sorry we could not talk for long."

Gekio groaned as Gilda stopped short of jamming the die into her back. "Yeah, same here. Alright, we'll. Hope to see ya again. And you better stay alive."

Stostine chuckled. "I intend to."

Gilda shifted the die around in her hand for a moment before quickly shoving the thing back into Gekio's die. The moment it was in, Gilda backed up and looked to Sunset.

"Is this about your character?" The taller girl asked.

Sunset smirked and settled for waving Gilda goodbye. Gilda rolled her eyes but couldn't do anything else as she and Gekio popped into balls of smoke like Twilight and Vareén did.

Stostine flinched slightly, watching as Gekio's smoke barreled back to the surface before taking a sharp turn and heading far north towards Skel.

"...Heh." Stostine held her head up high. "Curious. I am the last one."

Hey Gilda. Sunset, Gilda's back too.

Sunset nodded. "Hey Rainbow Dash? Is Story awake yet?"

Huh? Oh, nah, he's still out of it. After he walked me through telling him what he needed to roll, he started figuring it out on his own. Apparently, you don't have to wait for someone to ask you questions unless it has to do with dice. He was almost as fast as I was...Almost.

"Go ahead and check up on him," Sunset suggested. "It's been about five minutes. Besides, I know my way out now."

...Are you sure?

Sunset nodded.

Ehh. Alright. See ya in a few.

When Rainbow's voice stopped, Sunset took in a deep breath, and walked over to pick up her bronze die. Then, as she made her way back to Stostine, the mage spoke.

"That time with Gekio felt more deliberate," Stostine announced. "Like someone was waiting for the right moment. Now, I have no proof of this." Stostine shrugged under her robes. "Maybe it is just the Master here with me. Either way, it seems my outburst might have had some sort of effect. So, as I am alone now, I would like to say...

"Hello Sunset." Stostine bowed at nothing. "If it is all the same with you, I am going to sit down."

Stostine brought herself to the ground, cross-legged and settling herself in her robe like a blanket. When Sunset reached her, she set the die down beside her swallowed nervously, doing the same so they were at eye level.

"The others have opinions about our Players. What they are, I will not say. I feel like that would be going against this unspoken agreement," she said cryptically. Then she giggled sadly. "Wow. I really hope you are here. Otherwise, I am doing the dumbest thing in my life. I am less than a week old though, so, there is that."

"No. I'm here," Sunset said awkwardly. She knew Stostine couldn't hear her, but it felt wrong not to answer.

"We, that being myself and the other creations, talk about our creation a lot. Kind of the only thing we have," Stostine explained. "We know about our Players. You are all friends in some sort of academy. You all possess a magic that your world does not normally have, and it resulted in this. Beyond that, we only have a few glimpses of our Player's personal lives and history of the world we were placed in."

Stostine took a breath, preparing herself. "This is where I really hope the Master is not listening, but I suppose I am willing to make that bet at your expense. Sorry." Stostine flashed a look of semi-guilt. "I know about Equestria."

"You what?!"

Stostine paused to glance around her before smiling smugly. "Huh. I think I was right. Someone is listening. That is the only reason I am still here, no? That or someone truly does not care."

"I care," Sunset partially screamed. "I promise I do."

"No...No, I think you care," Stostine decided. "From what I know about you, I believe you would. Although, if I were speaking to you a year ago, maybe you would not."

Sunset felt her heart pause.

"Sorry, that was entirely uncalled for." Stostine shook her head with a frown. "As I said, I have glimpses of memories about you. Mostly when it pertains to something that we have in common with one another. For instance, you conceptualized this...brief summary of my childhood."

Sunset's heart kept crushing itself. "I am so sorry. I put in so many terrible things about that. I-I didn't know that you would. Tha-That this..."

"I suppose I should thank you for that," Stostine voiced her feelings. "It may sound dark, but...Giving me that terrible past makes what happens in the game— our lives— feel more exciting and wondrous by comparison. Although." Her face became flat. "I could do without getting stabbed every time you meet to play a game."

Sunset covered her mouth. Her sobs instinctual.

"However, that is not your fault. I blame the Master for that." Stostine gave an unsteady smile. "And the group has found a few ways to work around it. Would you know it, Pinks and Dash's characters have tremendous bedside manner. I feel I bonded with them thanks to that."

Sunset forced down the next sob.

Stostine took some time to clear her head and got serious. "I do not know how long I have, so I will get to the point. If you are listening, I can imagine you must be terrified of the thought of putting us through fights. Or us getting hurt. That is why I wanted to speak alone like this.

"Ricven made a good point after the battle against the goblins and Klarg. That the game we are in is a story. That there needs to be a conflict for the story to go on. We were created to be adventurers; people that have either seen danger or are prepared for it. Thorn Wielder lived through a burning forest, Platick has worked as a hired merc, Glemerr and her surprisingly tough upbringing. Me. The list continues. Though we do not think fondly of those hardships, they are what bolster us to face everything.

"Do not feel bad about what you put us through. You created us by accident. That is what most of us think." Stostine thought over her next words carefully; Sunset seeing it in her eyes.

"Now, again. The others have their own opinions. I will not say what they are. However, that in mind," she explained directly. "I, for one, would like to see some of the problems of this world solved. Even if Prima is fake, I am of Prima. I want to do something. That is how you designed me, yes?"

Sunset lowered her hands in her lap and stared into her character's eyes, seeing conflict in her emotions.

"Just...One thing?" Stostine tested. "I meant what I said earlier. You made my mother important in this childhood of mine. How she did something for me. At your earliest...um..." Stostine leaned back, propping herself with her hands on the floor behind her. She dropped the serious voice, now sounding exactly like Sunset.

"Can you show me what she looks like?" Her voice was weak. "I'd love to have some good memories peppered in my past here or there, sure, but out of everything? I want to know what she was like. Please?"

Sunset sniffed unevenly, trying to keep herself collected as she looked back at Stostine. She didn't have to wipe her eyes like Stostine was doing, but that tightness in her chest made it so hard to focus. She could only settle on nodding along.

"I promise," Sunset said, knowing it was pointless to say it. "Consider it done. It." She took a quick breath. "It's the least I can do. Especially after everything I'm gonna be asking you."

Stostine tried considering her next move. She had clung to this hope of actually getting through to someone that she forgot to plan what to do next. She didn't just want to sit here crying.

"Okay..." Stostine pulled herself up, conjuring another Prestidigitation to clean her face in an instant. Something that Sunset was now really envious about. "Assuming you're done, um...Can I leave now?"

Stostine took a few breaths to fully compose herself as Sunset picked up the die.

"Remember," Stostine spoke with an pseudo-upbeat tone. "Don't get me stabbed. My spells have a distance to them, and we have a Rava. Also, one more thing?"

Sunset readied the die. "Yeah?"

"...Stop eating mushrooms," Stostine said aloud, looking up and around her. "I can't believe I have to tell you this. No. Mushrooms. You are not a horse anymore! Eat something human. Like a sandwich. Or whatever that pizza meal was you all spoke about earlier."

Sunset opened and closed her jaw a couple of times. "Really?"

"I mean it!" Stostine shouted, giggling nervously. "And if you try something funny, like make me like mushrooms, I will find a way out of here, and you will pay."

"Why do you hate mushrooms?" Sunset found herself laughing along with her. "They're not that bad!"

"Okay, I think the fact that I'm not gone yet means you are saying something. It better be goodbye!"

Sunset let out a weak scoff and smiled. "Goodbye!"

She forced the die into Stostine's chest and took a large step back, watching incredulously as Stostine tried regaining her composure once more.

After a few seconds of the two shaking their heads in perfect unison, they both exploded into smoke.

There was no travel time in how they went. The two were forced to blink and then suddenly the two magic experts found themselves right back where they came from. With one in a tavern surrounded by a group of dysfunctional adults, and the other at a gaming table surrounded by equally dysfunctional teenagers.

Sunset leaned back, feeling the tears from Sky-Space tingling her cheeks. It seemed that Sunset in the real world didn't bother wiping them away, so she woke up to her friends giving her worried looks. All except for Story who's expression was glazed over as he kept writing.

"Ahehehe." Sunset used her wrist to clear her cheeks. "Sorry for the wait. I, uh. I was testing a few things."

The others all looked between one another, all with their own versions of worried.

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "You seemed really upset for a min—"

Story suddenly sprung up, shaking his head and letting his lips make this rubbery sound before rubbing his eyes. "Oh, wow, that was weird."

Sunset smiled. Saved by the Story. "How did it go?"

"Weird," he stated with a nod. "I mean, it felt, like, I was haunting someone? But I was choosing and deciding what he was doing and where he was going. And I figured I would just choose a couple of big landmarks but then I saw those landmarks, and. And...Wow, that was weird."

"You already said that." Sunset chuckled, further pushing the conversation. "So what's the character like?"

"Oh, right. Well, he's a ⍙⌰⊑⟟⍜⌰⍾⟊ ⎅⎍⍙⌰⟟⌰⎎⊑⎍ and once I realized I could see where he was going, I ended up making him an ⎅⎍⍙⌰⎐⍙ that ⍙⎍⎅⊬⊑⍜⎐ around to ☌⊑⊬⊑⍜⍀⌇ ☍⌰⎐ ⎅⎍⍙ ⎐⍙⏚⍜⊑. Oh! And I came up with this cool idea to make his ⌇⎅⌰⍾⍙⎐ ⎅⎎⍙ ⌰⍾ ⌇⍜⎅⎎⊑ ⍀⟟ ⎅⍜⎎☍⊑⌿⏚ ⟟⍀—"

"Stop. Stop talking, this was a mistake!" Gilda cut in, massaging her forehead. "Almost all of that was gargling."

Story's face fell. "Aw, ya gotta be kidding me. Even the part about his ⌇⎅⌰⍾⍙⎐ ⟒⊑⌰—" "Yes, especially that part!"

Rainbow shrugged. "I was able to hear all of that. I didn't understand what it meant but I heard it."

"Probably because you were the Master when he made it," Sunset reasoned.

Story huffed, glancing at the character sheet in front of him that was now almost completely filled out. "Oh well. Maybe I can bring him into this game as like a cameo or something?" Then a thought came to him. "And if he's a character...Then that means anything he does won't effect real life, right?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Twilight decided. "We need to help Principal Celestia before anything else."

Story nodded along, taking the character sheet off the table. "You're right. That's way more important here. Uh, should we still go back into that now?"

"Are you okay to do it now?" Twilight asked as the magical screen in front of Rainbow Dash faded away. Since no one was in Sky-Space, it wasn't needed anymore. "Are you sure you don't wanna take a break first?"

"I feel like that kind of was the break." Story rubbed his chin. "It'll take me some time to process that, but I know the more I stop to think about what happened, the harder it'll be for me to pick up everything tonight. Besides, didn't you say there was more when we actually play the game?"

"It's nothing compared to what we just did," Sunset promised him. "All we've seen are colors and your maps coming to life."

"My-My maps?" Story glanced at the pile of pictures he had spent several days working on. "You're telling me this magic makes my maps look better?"

"All that stuff is actually illusions." Rainbow folded her arms behind her head. "It's the coolest part about the game."

Story nodded along and then froze as he shifted to giving the jock this fake offended look.

"I-I mean, what you do is cool too," she backpedaled. "I was talking about the magic. But like, your games would be pretty fun. Without. It—Sunset, back me up here."

Rather than do that, Sunset stood up. "I'm gonna see if the others are ready to come back."

Rainbow's outrage was ignored and laughed off as Sunset left the room, shaking off the last of her nervousness. The way she saw it, the girls and Story were all on the same page, and there was at least a solution to fixing the problem they had created.

All that was left was to play a game.

Author's Note

Like I said last chapter, this was the second part of what would have been a longer chapter. But since I split them up, I was able to give it its own space.

Also, the character that Story made isn't going to be part of the main cast of characters in the game. In fact, he will probably never deal in major conflicts that that take place in the game. He'd help passively at best.

In fact, feel free to check him out! Even though the girls aren't allowed to know anything about him, that doesn't really apply for you guys. He's not built for fighting and his race, Maelstrom Tiefling, is something from my own world.

For those interested in the stats, Maelstrom Tieflings are as regular Tieflings but with the following changes: +2 CON, +1 WIS, resistance to lightning, and instead of Hellish Rebuke, they can cast Witch Bolt once per long rest at lvl 2 without components.

I was able to turn this chapter around fairly quickly but the next chapter may take some time. It will be the group returning to the game too, which I guess means I should start busting out some dice. They got a Dwarf/Principal to find!

Until then everyone!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(25) Break Time's Over

3rd Person POV
Game Room
9:46 PM

Out of all of Story's notes, he had gone over a single thing several times over; a large piece of sketch paper with a single large arrow drawn across it. Smaller arrows stemmed out along it with blurbs of information describing what each of them meant.

It was a timeline.

The game's campaign was mostly straight out of a module. That made it easy for Story to write up a timeline of events showing major plot points and how they would end should the party succeed, do nothing, or in a worst case scenario, fail or be wiped out.

Those smaller arrows were all of the 'bad endings' Story wrote in advance. He created these for the express purpose of reading out every bad ending the players prevented via their actions and heroism.

One example of this was the goblin cave. Had the girls failed, Klarg's forces would have kept ambushing wagons and caravans delivering to Phandalin; the mining village they were at now. By the time the kingdom would notice shipments of raw silver never coming in, it would be too late.

Townsfolk would slowly move, many getting ambushed by Klarg's band on the only road out. Eventually, Klarg would get more goblins under his control until he technically would be a warlord and start taking his 'army' on raids further into Leodaav proper.

They'd eventually be killed off by adventurers when they got too full of themselves. After all, it didn't make sense for a problem to never get fixed. But that would only happen after Phandalin's collapse as well as over one hundred lives lost.

That bad ending had a different meaning to it now. Events in the game not directly caused by the girls will happen in real life. Did that mean that there would be a gang of criminals robbing and murdering for supplies as Klarg was? Would people be forced to move away from a failing town? Would a hundred people die?

Story would never know because the girls prevented that. And he was okay with not knowing that.

Out of dozens of objectives and side quests, maybe two of them had a good ending if the girls did nothing. Sure, most of the problems were mild but the fact that it might carry over into something real made Story feel personally responsible.

The worst part was he couldn't tell them any of this. He tried. Story even tried showing them the timeline in an attempt to let them in on exactly how to prevent each problem. But that gargling stopped them from knowing anything about it.

For his next trick, Story took out a pen and tried crossing off all the bad endings or rewriting bland outcomes. That failed too. The new ink would vanish or the new outcomes would shift into further detail of what was already set to happen.

I can't retcon anything, Story realized, putting his hand over his mouth as he fished for an idea. They said I have to play everything straight. So no guiding their hand on this. But, wait...

He glanced down at the large dice pile to his side. If the magic's been here since the beginning...what about all the handholding I've done? I fibbed about dice a few times too. Did the magic break then?

Story shook his head. No. I'm not about to start pushing it now. Besides, they've been playing smart. Too smart if I'm being honest. He checked his notes again and tried really hard not to hate himself. Which is probably why I toughened up these bandits.

Story kept going over everything from behind his screen while the rest of the girls prepared themselves. Once the others came back, and Pinkie dumped a hoard of snacks no one knew the origins of on the table, Sunset and Twilight went over Sky-Space with them.

There were plenty of questions laced with curiosity, but they were either answered or added to the growing list of things to figure out later. In the end, everyone was up to speed and they finally had their sights on the same task:

Be a bunch of friends playing a nerdy game into the deep hours of the night for their principal.

Not only that, Pinkie also elected herself to be on 'fun duty' for the night. She would be make extra-super-duper-luper-zuper sure that everyone could make it through the game without being too upset. After all, they had to act like everything was normal. And what's more normal than having fun with a game, right?!

That's exactly what I was thinking!

~~Pinkie, we talked about this.~~

Oops! Sorry narrator voice!

While the girls were finished and set up, Story was still stressing over his papers. So when none of them made any moves to say anything, Twilight found herself raising her hand.

Story didn't have to look up. He saw Twi's hand from his peripheral and bowed his head sadly. "I'm. I'm not a teacher, Twi."

"Sorry. Force of habit." Twilight smiled sadly as she put her hand down. "We're ready to start when you are. But are you sure you want to right now?"

"We can always give you a little more time," Rarity admitted. "We understand this is overwhelming."

"You guys have told me that probably four times." He bit the inside of his cheek and looked up. Then he immediately set his eyes on the purple dog studying all the game pieces intently from Twilight's lap. "And yet the talking dog is also seated at the table."

"I wanted to see what it all looked like," Spike defended with a shrug. "I never got to see the games until now."

"And he won't chew any of the dice," Twilight assured him. "Right Spike?"

"Right!" Spike smiled. Then he pretended to think about it as his smile became more 'innocent.' "What about if they land on the floor?"

"O-kay," Story began, clapping his hands, ignoring Spike's giggling. "Let's...do this before I go insane. More insane," he corrected, earning more giggles.

"Coming back from our...two hour-ish break." He took a deep breath, letting what he learned from theatre class help to focus on the 'performance,' and began.

3rd Person POV
St⍀⍾e☍il⍜ I⍾n
Meanwhile

Once Stostine and Vareén were back, the latter passing Platick the leftover potion to heal his nose and ribs, Stostine went over everything that happened in that other place. Remeeting Gekio, the new being appearing and vanishing, and then each of them turning to smoke and flying off.

The only thing Stostine chose to leave out was her 'talk' with her Player. She was never going to admit any of what she said and Vareén seemed like the type to never gossip behind people's backs. Her secret was safe.

About four minutes into her explanation, Rava suddenly animated and finished her sentence like nothing happened. And from her point of view, nothing did. All she noticed was she blinked and suddenly Platick was here. Also, everyone was suddenly in different poses and staring at her in shock.

So when the Master's voice rang out from the ether some time later, they weren't nearly as surprised.

"Okay," Story's voiced announced with a loud clap. "Let's...do this before I go insane. More insane."

"Up. Sounds like dere gettin' ready." Glemerr downed the rest of her twelfth drink and wiped her lip. "Dink we should try settin' up where dey left us?"

"You can if you want." Stostine nodded. "Every time they start, the haze encompasses us entirely. It seems to reset us too."

"That's probably for the best." Platick took up his tankard in his grip. "Besides, I'm supposed to be several miles outside town on a horse. Don't think I'll make it in time."

"Coming back from our...two hour-ish break," the Master's voice went on. "As your char...Well, I mean, as they..." Story groaned. "Whatever, this is confusing. As you all Scooby-Dooed in multiple directions looking for clues, a few of you had some interesting run-ins. Starting with Thorn Wielder—"

The Master's voice abruptly cut off, presumably saying something only Thorn Wielder could hear.

"She never came back." Stostine frowned. "Two hours and not a sign of her. Where is she?"

"Hopefully we'll find that out soon," Ricven said with a negative look of his own. "Regardless, she's probably fine. Our Players don't got the best poker fingers."

"Poker. Faces," Vareén drilled into him. "You have got to be doing that on purpose."

"Next, Ravathyra," Story's voice cut in like a switch as it broadcast somewhere near the Dwarf. "After attending to the miners outside town, you had the welcoming wagon rolled out for you. Curtesy of the Redbrands."

"And Ah trashed 'em in record time," Dash declared confidently, putting on an accent.

"Aw yeah," Rava cheered, throwing up a fist. "That's me Player!"

"And after trashin' 'em," Story said in his own Scottish accent. "Nonlethally I'll add, you waved down Glemerr who was running by with a new friend and the three of you were bringing your new tour guides to town."

"Hehehe. Hey, dat's me," Glemerr said goofily as she started finishing off her mug of ale.

"Then, with Platick," Story continued.

"Let me guess; running back with a cart of crap and a message for Stostine?" Platick rolled his eyes.

"You're still a ways out of town but not for too long as Tucker is rampaging down that trail in record time. It's probably another ten minutes by crazed horse."

"How fast is that thang goin'?" AJ asked.

"Too fast," Platick said aloud.

"Well, it's supposed to be a draft horse but it would seem that it's looking for a career change," Story joked.

Stostine gave Platick a look. "What did you mean a message for me?"

"Apparently, it's not important enough." He shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, it was written in blood."

Suddenly, Stostine looked both pale and sickly as she tried fighting off her disgust.

"Finally, the last of you; Stostine, Vareén, and Ricven. You made your stand at the Stonehill Inn, successfully bringing down most of the bandits. While one got away, Ricven caught the second with a clever Charm Person."

"Oh, please, keep goin'," he requested as he feigned bashfulness.

"I cast a spell too," Vareén told the Master's voice.

"Miss Vareén, darlin'." Ricven chuckled. "You don't need ta be so envious a' moi. There's plenty a' me ta go around."

"I hate you."

"Which brings us to the other two recovering inside the taproom."

As Story continued to speak, the haze engulfed everyone's vision once more. Even as their minds became clouded, they tried looking between one another.

"Just like last time y'all," Ricven told them. "Let's sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."

Platick turned and through the fog, observed the dead Redbrand corpses. "Something tells me 'enjoy' won't be the right word for this."

"True," Vareén concurred. "But I'll be fine seeing the rest of them taken down."

"Same," Stostine responded.

"With all that said," Story began to conclude. "Let's..." He released a shaking breath. "Let's start a story."

Each character felt their minds take that familiar back seat as they each shifted to different locations with their respective Players taking the reins from there.

Story watched every single item on the table surge to life as magic wafted off the girls like translucent snakes. Simultaneously, Story brought up his hands and revealed that now he too had streams of powder blue aura coming from him as well. It was much thinner than the magic coming from the seven girls but still there.

Then, while each of the girls' dice piles changed their designs, Story noticed his own dice begin to change as well. Except they became empty. Whatever they looked like previously had now swapped out for milk-white shapes without numbers.

Curious, Story brought his hand over them and watched as the dice regained their vibrancy. As if awaiting his command.

He then stared at the notes either laid out or taped against his screen. Just as when he tried rewriting the timeline, all his notes came alive. Not only that, images formed as well. The characters, towns and landmarks, and scenes that were, are, and would come to pass. All upon his thought.

Story fought to get over the shock and he stared a little harder at the screen. Curious, he tried imagining the scene of the tavern he had just described.

To his surprise, the magic obeyed. An image of Stonehill Inn's main room surfaced, ready to help detail the scene however Story needed. It was like he was a set designer and the magic obeyed his words without question.

Alright then, he decided, finding a small bout of assuredness within himself. Okay. Let's try this.

Vareén's POV
Stonehill Inn
Early Afternoon

I propped my elbow up on the table, opening and closing my left hand get over the pain. At some point, one of those idiots ran his blade across my palm. It wasn't deep thanks to the leather gloves but it was hard to ignore.

"Will you live?" Stostine asked with a smirk as she tried not to grab at the bolt still in her hip.

"Har har," I lulled boredly. I balled up my hand and stared across the bar, watching a head peek out from the kitchen. It was the owner, Stonehill, watching us with a bloody kitchen knife in his grasp.

Probably from cooking, I surmised. He mentioned something about pork this morning.

"Are...Are they gone?"

I looked down at the three bodies littering his floor. "Depends what you mean."

"Dead? Not here? Away?" He stepped out a little more.

"All of the above, I am afraid," Stostine admitted. "We are..." I gave her the side eye. "I. Am incredibly sorry. Things escalated and we could not detain them bloodlessly."

He spent a few seconds readying himself and stepped out to look across his taproom. There were three corpses with two forming puddles. Not to mention his furniture all over the place and the front windows were shattered. As he assessed all the damage, we could see him swear under his breath as he tried figuring out exactly how much it would cost to repair this.

"Elsa?" He called over his shoulder. "We're closed for the day. Take the back door, I don't want you seeing this."

"Are the patrons okay?!" Elsa called from the back.

Stonehill looked us over and flinched when he saw Stostine's new accessory. "Uh..."

"We are fine Elsa," Stostine said for him. "As are the three others who were out here. Just go home for the day, alright? If anything happens, come find one of us."

"O...Okay!" She returned. "Thank you! You all be safe!"

"Oh, and Elsa!" Stonehill called again.

"Yes?"

"Trilena's over to Harley's with Pip. Go find her and tell her we're staying the night somewhere else. I don't want them seeing this either."

"Don't worry, I will. Be safe!"

I hmphed softly as we heard the backdoor open and slam in record time.

Stonehill wiped his brow as he turned away from the bodies. "This isn't all of them, you know."

"We know." I sat back, throwing my arm over the back of the chair. "They wouldn't be cocky if there were only five of them."

Stostine bit her lip. "Again, we—" I gave her another look. "Right, I really am sorry for this. We did not want to kill anyone."

And you said 'we' anyways.

"It-It's fine." He sighed. "Those thugs aren't us. They're from out of town. And they either get rid of outsiders or invite them to join. It's what they tried doing when they invited Ricven to come with them."

"So they were outsiders once too." Stostine pondered on that.

"Why are they picking fights?" I asked.

"Something about their boss." He came out from behind the bar and stood up a few chairs on his way to us. "I only hear it in passing since travelers stay here. Most of them get scared off. And the few brave enough get attacked. Doesn't lead to death too often though."

"Too often," I repeated. "So they've killed before?"

"Aye."

From the landing of the stairs, two men looked at the three of us. They were having some drinks until the Deadbrands showed up.

The younger of the two continued down the steps to meet us.

"You mentioned a name before. Thel, was it?" Stostine watched the man nod. "What happened, if you do not mind my asking?"

Story opened his mouth, but shut it as the color drained from his face. Both the notes in front of him and the screen told and showed exactly what Thel's story was. And as he watched, Story forced himself not to gag. He couldn't look away.

When it was done, Story turned to the side and huffed. He already sowed the seeds for this right before the girls told him about the magic. And despite his attempts, this was one of the things he couldn't change about the game.

It made him miserable. He couldn't stop himself from looking back at Sunset and saying "you had to ask?" But when Sunset returned this guilty look, Story took a deep breath and spoke.

"Thel was among one of the last families ta move here," the man started. "He used ta be a town guard elsewhere but the patrols kept him away from his wife an' kids. So he hung up the spear fer good. Took an apprenticeship under his father in-law as a woodcarver. When they moved 'ere, that's what he did. But I guess bein' a guard fer six years keeps yer wits sharp, eh?"

He made it to our table and with a gesture from Stostine he sat down across from us. "One day, back when them Redbrands didn't infest the Sleepin' Giant, Thel an' his wife, Mirna, were havin' a date night. Well, Redbrands showed up that night. Started leerin' at Mirna like a sack a' meat. So, wantin' ta keep their night from bein' ruined, Thel tells 'em off. And next..." He gave a small whimper. "N-Next thing, ya. Ya know..."

The room grew uncomfortably quiet as Story was forced to watch the scene play out in further detail from his side of the screen. Maybe the magic meant to 'help him' but it only made his terror and guilt boil up.

The other girls didn't fair much better. Everyone could see from Story's expression that whatever Story responded to, it wasn't good. Pinkie and Fluttershy felt miserable while Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Gilda all had varying levels of enraged as they fought to keep their thoughts quiet.

But for everyone else, they were distracted from Sunset quickly flipping between notes of her own until finally she looked up. "Everyone wait."

Then she turned to Story and spoke as Stostine. "When did this happen?"

Story leaned back for a second but his sight was drawn back by the shifting words of his notes as they laid out every important detail of Thel; as though the magic was a sort of search engine.

"It..." Story cleared his throat to fight off the sob. "A little over a week ago." He nearly closed the DM screen so he wouldn't have to see the scene. "I'm. I'm sorry. I couldn't change it. It's too late to stop it from happening in real—"

"I said wait," Sunset demanded. He watched as she refocused on the paper in front of her; writing with one hand and counting with her fingers on the other. "The game's campaign began six days canonically, right?"

Story blinked a few times. "I...what?"

"When our characters met Gundren," Sunset went on. "That meeting took place six days before the day we're playing out right now. Yes?"

A flash of recognition ran across Twilight's face as she reached for her journal. Even before the magic happened, she made intense notes about whatever she thought was important in the game.

"Yes. Six days," Twi confirmed. "That's when we met Gundren in the Evening's Nest tavern. But how does that help?"

Sunset didn't answer right away. "Story, you just said Thel was killed a little over a week. Over six days then?"

Glancing back to the notes, Story saw one piece of information stand out from the rest to help answer the question. A description of Thel's death and precisely when it happened. He didn't feel like repeating it and only gave a nod.

"Wh-What." Fluttershy peeked a single eye out from under her hair. "What does that mean? Is Thel okay?"

"Well. No," Sunset admitted weakly as she read Story's face. "But it does mean whatever happened to Thel won't repeat itself outside the game. Dunamancy changes fate; meaning what will happen. It can't change the past. The magic only repeats what happens during the events of the game."

"So that means we're in the clear?" Rainbow's face lit up. "Awesome! So we're still good then!"

Story cringed. "Not. Quite."

"Aw, come on!" She gave it up as quickly. "Are you serious?"

Story huffed. "There's a lot more than just Gundren being in trouble. There's other stuff too."

"Well, yeah. 'Course we figured that."

Story looked up to Applejack as the other girls nodded behind her words. "We know there's more than just Principal Celestia ta save. And we ain't backin' out now. Besides, nothing's gone wrong yet we can't fix."

He glanced back at his timeline and, after a quick head count of each situation, AJ was right. They were all bad in one form or another but nothing was impossible for the girls to solve.

"Come on," Rainbow said after a moment. "Have some faith in us! We've gotten through way worse than this!"

"I can vouch for that." "Same," Twilight and Sunset admitted.

Slowly, Story wiped his face with the back of his arm and put on a brave face. "Alright. I'll trust you."

The girls smiled along with him as Story redoubled his efforts.

"...Ah was there, ya know?" The man revealed. "Not with 'em. Obviously. I was a few tables back. But. But I...I did nothin' but watch! There were only three of 'em. If we'd a had some spines, me an' the lads coulda even the odds a bit, yeah? Bu...B-But we...They had swords. They all had a sword and-and crossbows! What were we gonna do?!"

He stared hard at his fists through red, puffy eyes. And none of us made a move to console him. I couldn't. It wasn't my sort of thing. Even Stostine was silent on what to do.

But after an awkward amount of quiet sobbing, the man's friend that came downstairs next. He was much older, maybe his fifties, but looked well for his age as he looked between us. When he noticed no one making any moves to talk, he stiffened his upper lip.

"Can y'all do somethin' about it?" He asked. "Ya already got targets on yer backs. And yer stickin' around, aye?"

"Seriously? We..." I paused, catching this curious look from Stostine's eyes. Oh great, now she's got me saying it.

I cleared my throat and spoke again. "I didn't come here to kill bandits. I'm here to solve my own problems. And it involves someone alive...sorry." I looked down at the ground, avoiding their gaze.

But the old man had other plans. "Oh yeah? What about Thel's family?"

I sunk lower into my chair. Come on old man.

"Ruppert," Stonehill warned him. "These girls don't owe us a thing. They both got hurt defend—"

"You know what, no." I stared up into this salty old man's soul. "If he's gonna say something, have him say it." He started backing off but I wouldn't have that. "I said talk."

"..." Ruppert took a few seconds to steel himself. "...Thel's wife. His kids. They stole them too. Few days after Thel was gone, them bandits came ta his house. They broke in and took 'em all. Dragged 'em up ta their hideout in the woods and no one's seen 'em since. But they're alive."

Stostine and I were force to let that sink in. To her credit, Stostine didn't try to jump at the chance to ask anything further. Instead, she made me feel even worse by giving me this pleading look.

Oh please, don't do this. I tried shutting her down; to shake my head and tell her no. But she kept staring at me. No, don't drag me into this. I don't wanna do this. This isn't our problem, get over it. No...

Stostine could see my resolve cracking. I swear I could almost see her face debating whether or not to push the sad look further. She was laying it on think on purpose.

"...How old are the kids?" Stostine asked, all while staring right at me.

'I hate you so much,' I mouthed. My hood kept the men from seeing me do it but Stostine read it loud and clear. All she had in return was this disapproving stare.

I'd look away, but that would be a win for you, wouldn't it?

"They're both sixteen," he revealed. "Twin girls. One of them wanted to start a business."

I don't want to know. I winced, and then winced some more when Stostine laid on another stare.

"Why?" I finally asked. "Why are you telling us this?" He gave me this odd look but I didn't care. "I get it. It's a small town. Everyone knows everyone. Why are you pressing this particularly?"

Ruppert spent a second on himself. "W-Well...that's..." I never looked away. Mostly because my only alternative was Stostine. So eventually, the man caved.

"That's because I'm Mirna's father." He deflated.

Annnnnd there goes my resolve, I surrendered.

The first guy turned to look at him. "Why would you...?" But Ruppert shushed him with a motion.

"Them bandits extort most of the craftsmen 'round here," Ruppert went on. "I'm the impromptu carpenter. Thel and I stood our ground and didn't give 'em an inch. Neither did some of the others. But then they killed Thel an' took Mirna an' my grandbabies. Now they're holdin' 'em hostage on us."

"All to make you give them money?" Stostine's voice was level but her brow wasn't.

"Not exactly." He shook his head. "They don't know Mirna's my daughter. Just that she's someone's daughter. Phandalin's pretty tight knit, ya see. When they came around admitting they stole her away, they tried seein' who they could blackmail about it."

"All of us caved for him." The first guy tried his best to clean up his tears. "Everyone holding out on the Redbrands agreed to do as they say. They know we'll never stop so long as they still got Mirna and the girls. That's why we think they're alive."

I didn't bother looking away when Stostine watched my reaction. Instead, I closed my eyes and dismissed whatever excuses I was coming up with. Even if there was a good one, Stostine would keep guilt tripping me.

"Fine. We will help." Stostine seemed to think I directed that at her and so she gave me this thankful smile.

You better not say anything, I threatened her from my mind. "But I'm not about to pretend this'll be a happy reunion. Do you even have legit proof that your family's alive? We aren't about to risk our own lives on a whim, you know. What says they aren't lying to you?"

"Nothing," Stonehill answered for them. "But as far as we've been able to tell, those thugs don't kill for pleasure. Even...Even with Thel." He pushed himself to go on. "They did it to make a point. And he was the only one of us they've ever killed."

"And what of others?" Stostine frowned.

"All adventurers an' travelers," Ruppert responded. "They keep it out a' the streets, thank Tymora for that, but we know they do it. It's almost always magic people too."

This time I gave Stostine a careful look while she clammed up. Not so sure of yourself now, are you?

Stostine stowed her fear for later. "Would you happen to know why?"

When the three men failed to answer I leaned into view. "Something tells me they didn't think to ask."

"Ah. Right." Stostine nodded. "Well, that is a shame. It would have been helpful to know why."

"Well it's a good thing I got answers then!"

All five of us turned in unison as Ricven stood at the door, looking as smug as ever with a single meek Redbrand stood behind him like a good little Charm Personed victim.

"How long have you been there?" I asked.

"About three minutes." Ricven shrugged. "I wanted my entrance ta be dramatic."

"You," Ruppert boomed, glaring at the Redbrand. But Stonehill did better.

The owner pulled that bloody kitchen knife from his belt and held it up like an amateur. An angry amateur. "You have a lot of nerve coming back here!"

The bandit debated whether or not to run but Ricven reached up and grabbed his sleeve. "Now, now y'all. Simmer down a bit. I believe we can be amiable about this. Ain't that right, Ulrich?" Ricven smirked up at the Redbrand.

Ulrich took a few seconds to lick his lips, trying to decide where his place in all this was. Except Ricven's magic chose for him. "You...You said they wouldn't be mad."

Stostine turned her head. "You shot me."

Ulrich's heart stopped. "You're alive?!"

Stostine twisted her head, letting the pops echo across the room. "Surprised?"

A chill ran down my spine. Did she have to crack her neck like that?

"Ricven?" Ulrich looked down. "I-I think I should go. I really underestimated how much they don't like me!"

"Oh, that's alright." Ricven stepped behind him and pushed the man in. The man let him too. "They like me, and that's all that matters. Sit fer a bit."

All the guys turned back to the two of us, with Stonehill taking the lead. "What's going on here?"

"I had a few...'words' with Ulrich here," Ricven didn't explain further. "For the time bein', he'll be answerin' all our questions fer us. Now then."

Ricven looked at the both of us and gave a light bow of his head. "Shall we get started, ladies?"

Rava's POV
Townmaster's Hall
Meanwhile

"You need to get out. I want you out. Get. Out. All of you! I cannot and will not keep them here!" The Townmaster, Harbin Wester, trembled with rage and fear. "In fact, you need to leave. Jus-Just leave the town! This is not helping anyone, and-and you are only making this worse!"

"Leave? Leave?! Have ya been listenin' ta a single word we said?!" Eglath sunk his greataxe into the floor, the blade several inches through the wood. Wester flinched but not nearly as much as when Eglath bent down to meet the rounded man dead in eye.

"Those punks have moved from shakedowns ta murders. Meanwhile, yer just shaking," he accused. "How many people have ta die for you to do something?"

"Dey almost killed Glemerr's friend too," Glemerr backed him up. "No more Mistah Nice Townmaster! Dey need ta be taught a lesson! A lotta lessons!"

"Glemerr. Eglath. Friends," I spoke, stepping past the semi-conscious bandits and toward the town leader. They practically dumped the bodies next to the door when we all came in. "Ah appreciate the two of ya standin' up fer me, 'owever, Ah ain't so wrecked that I can't fend fer meself."

Eglath stepped aside and let me walk up to Wester next. His rage subsided, leaving only concern as he brought all of his focus to me. The last five or so minutes was spent with the two muscle heads arguing and denouncing the man that he was simply refusing to listen anymore.

"I...Look, miss. I am so, terribly sorry about what has happened to you," Wester began, lightening up when he realized I wasn't glaring and screaming. "I can tell that you all had some sort of confrontation. I am not saying what they did was right. Although. Per-Perhaps this was simply all a misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstandin'?" I repeated neutrally. Neither of us believe that crock.

When he saw no chance in my expression, he turned to my attackers. The two lads were a bent mess but Anbera had come to amidst all the screaming and was watching us all as she nursed her noggin.

Tough lass. That shield to the brain knocked her down but her eyes aren't swimming anymore.

"Miss?" Wester directed himself at Anbera. "A-Am I correct? It was all a misunderstanding, yes? And you will not be doing this again?"

From under her lips, I watched Anbera glide her tongue across her teeth while she looked across all of us. And as her eyes settled on me, I saw this cocky gleam in her eye.

"Oh yeah~" she hummed with a weak smile. "A complete accident, it was. I mistook her fer a..." She held on that note, letting that blank check of an insult get filled in by my own thoughts. "...Somethin' or other. My bad, truly."

Eglath growled, tightening his fists. "If you really think..."

"But I can assure ya, missie," Anbera said, now fully at me. "That this will never happen again. I promise."

Is that what you think? I kept watching her.

"Th-There." Wester gave us this pathetic smile. "See? Lessons have been learned and this will not happen again. A-And I am sure that I can make up for any hard feelings! I. S-Say, perhaps...some monetary recuperation?"

"Monetary recooperation?" Glemerr's anger paused. "...Yer gonna pay chickens?"

I shook my head. "You really think bribin' us is a better choice than doin' the right thing?" Wester's only response was the lack of one.

I closed my eyes, picking my next words very carefully. "Awrite...Ah hate doin' this. Ah mean, really. Really, hate doin' this. So before Ah do, Ah'm gonna ask ya one more time. Harbin Wester, Townmaster a' Phandalin; are ya right certain ya ain't punishin' the attempted murder that these bampots 'ere took on me life? That is yer final stance on the matter?"

Wester pulled back. Despite the emotion, he had acted as though he was a cut above us. That was what drove me up the wall. But as I spoke like someone on his level, I saw those gears of his turn for the first time this whole conversation.

"I...Y-Yes." He had the same answer. "I am deeply sorry for the incident. Truly. But I cannot help you. I cannot keep them here and. And I must ask that you not press this issue further. As they are in no condition to assail you, a neutral conclusion would be the best one."

"So yer doin' nothin'?" Eglath translated.

Wester refused to look him in the eye. "I think...Similar to what I had told Ms. Swordhand, I think it would be best if you and your group moved on from this town. For both your health as well as the health of others. Understand, this group is volatile. When they are met with opposition, things have never ended well."

I drew a long breath and studied his demeanor. From that last fact, there was no doubt Stostine dealt with it too. It was probably a brick wall she couldn't break since Wester was the one in charge at the end of the day.

"Ah 'ear ya," I told him. His tense expression eased up a smidge. "Sadly, that ain't good enough fer me. So now Ah gotta play this card."

I reached down and took off my right gauntlet.

Suddenly, Glemerr let out a gasp and covered her head. "She's takin' off 'er glove! Shield yer face!"

"Face? Why wou—Waugh, hey!" Eglath got cut off when Glemerr used her other hand to press it into the goliath's jaw, shielding him from me.

"I's awrite Glem," I told her. "That ain't what's 'appenin'. Now, Wester? See here." I brought my hand out, pointing my hand forward knuckles-first so he could see the golden ring set upon my finger.

Pinkie let out yet another gasp. "Rava's married?!"

"What?" Rainbow froze. Then gave the pink frizzy girl an odd look. "No, Pinkie, that's not what I was—"

"But that's her ring finger," Pinkie pointed out. And, as she said, when Rainbow Dash presented her hand, she was pointing to that exact finger. "She's married!"

"Well, not always," Rarity cut in. "Rainbow Dash is using her right hand. Typically, wedding rings are worn on your left. Although, some ladies can prefer them on the right hand."

"What the—she's not married!" Dash shouted. She stared back at her paper for a second. "And it's called a signal ring!"

"I think you mean signet ring," Twilight corrected.

"Whatever!"

Rarity smirked. "Well, in that case, signet rings are commonly worn on one's pinky finger."

"But it's not my ring," Pinkie informed her. "Why would I wear Rainbow Dash's wedding ring?"

"For the last time, I'm not..." Suddenly, Rainbow sat back at Pinkie's snickering face. Rather than be mad, she rolled her eyes, smiling all the while. "Very funny, Pinkie. You can knock it off."

"Okaaay! But only if I get to be your wedding planner!"

"Wedding planner?" Twilight blinked. "You want to plan weddings Pinkie?"

"Well doi, of course, silly! You think I'd miss a chance to set up the perfect wedding party for my friends?!"

"The bachelorette parties will certainly be interesting," Rarity mumbled before the girls around her suddenly burst out laughing. From there, Pinkie and Rarity couldn't help but further devolve the focus into something far off course.

As they did, Story scratched his head at the scene while the magic game kept thrumming with life. Are they...What is this?

Without an answer, he eventually found Sunset's attention and tried mouthing a few confused syllables to her while gesturing to the others.

"Let them have this," she instructed him while partly listening to the madness. "Besides, I think we could all use a smile."

"Okay, okay, weddings aside," Rainbow stated, trying to end the train of thought before she had to think about it too much. "I'm using the signet ring, on the Townmaster. Does he do anything?"

Story glanced down at his dice where several of them spurred to life, calling for him to roll. Cautious, he plucked one of them and turned it over in his hand. The numbers were an ornate font with the base made of tarnished silver. The symbolism wasn't lost on him.

Then, as though reading Story's mind, magical writing formed on the table out of the same colored aura that came out of his hands. 'History +3.'

"Is everything alright?" Fluttershy asked him.

"Uh, yeah. I think so." He nodded but never looked away from the table. "That magic writing you mentioned. It's here."

He tossed the die out of his hand, noticing how it hit the tabletop and rolled with a heavy thump like real silver could. A ten. Plus the magic number; thirteen.

Story then watched as the magic fizzled out slowly, like it had been disappointed in the number.

Did it fail? Story scratched his brow. Then he thought over the number and why he rolled in the first place. Actually, yeah, it would. Magic aside, I'd say the same.

Story looked up from his dice at the cast ahead of him and cleared his throat. "Alright Rava. As you show him the ring..."

Wester's expression tensed as he continued staring back at the ring. He didn't know what house it stood for but he knew the intent.

Wester stuttered for a moment, glancing back and forth between it and myself. "Erm, I-I, um..." Her licked his lips and tried clearing his thoughts. "Terribly sorry, but, I do not know your husband."

"What?" I glanced down at my—it was on the wrong finger. Whatever!

With a growl, I shoved it further into his face. "This 'ere's the sigil of Clan Dagarkin, third clan of Cragen! Me father's name is Traubon Dagarkin; proud proprietor of a number of gold mines dotted around the Drakehead!" Wester stopped stammering as his face mummified into a pale slate.

"An' lemme tell ya! He's been lookin' at a few silver deposits last Ah 'eard. Perhaps Ah'll tell him how piss poor this operation's runnin'! He'll put ya outta a job so quick, ya wouldn't have time ta pull the tail out between yer legs and pack it up yer arse along wit' the rest a' yer lies!"

He tried backing away but I followed him. "Now you listen 'ere bub! Ah'ma ask ya again real nice like, aye?! An' if ya try givin' me some kinda run around jus' one more time, you'll have a lot more trouble than some shoddy bandits in their wee li'le capes givin' ya the shivers! YA 'EAR ME NOW?!"

Wester kept backing up until he ran his legs into the front of his desk. He would have flipped over it had he been another foot taller. All the while, he looked between me and the bandits watching from the entrance as he tried figuring out who was the worse bear to poke.

Story found himself seeing double as Rava's moment had broadcasted from his end of the screen while Rainbow rose from her chair in the midst of her shouting. To her credit, Dash's accent never flickered as her focus stayed locked on to Story. It almost made Story forget where he was for a second.

He again glanced at the die and saw it spur to life once more. Yeah, he agreed. Just what I was thinking.

"Rava?" Story said as he dropped Wester's fake fearful expression. "Intimidation check. Advantage."

"Awrite," Rainbow breathed as she tossed up two dice. As they landed, Story saw the magic act just as it did for him before she looked up. "Fourteen?"

He then moved onto his tarnished silver die and rolled it, smirking when he saw the outcome. Heh. I think I can get used to this part.

"I. I shou...No one had...N-None of this is my fault!" He blew up, turning away to hide away from my glare. "You must understand, I did not ask for any of this! I volunteered myself as Townmaster because this was supposed to be some quiet, podunk town! I just wanted a simple job! And that's exactly what this was until they came along!"

Anbera glared from the criminal pile. "I'd stop talkin' if I were you..."

"It is the truth!" he insisted. He snapped back to me. "They initially tried bribing me! I said no! I refused to take part in their antics! And as Ms. Swordhand suggested, I was poised to report them straight away. But the moment I penned that letter, they accosted me in my own home! They saw what I was doing and ripped it to shreds! They threatened to do the same to my neck. So fine! YES! I don't do anything about them because I don't want to die!"

"I said stop talkin'," Anbera screamed, finding some force to sit herself up.

"Does that make me as bad as them?! That I want to live?!" Wester continued. "What am I supposed to do, die for this place?! This village is nothing! I came out here for a quiet life away from those bureaucrats! But it turns out, all I did was trade one form of cutthroat for another!"

"Oh, cutthroat are we—eeEEeEeEeee..." Anbera tried standing up but Eglath reached over and put an iron grip on her shoulder while his other hand rested on the pummel of his greataxe still sunk in the floor.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Eglath growled.

Wester took a moment to catch his breath. "You think you're the first to offer your services? Travelers like you crawl out from the woodwork. Some die, others flee, and many end up joining these outlaws! That one on the floor was here last month!"

I spun around for a moment and found Wester pointing at one of the guys laid out on the ground. Dillard, I think his name was.

"Guilds exist for a reason." Wester stepped back. "They are to keep would be mercenaries like them from making things worse. And from what I've gathered, your group isn't affiliated with a guild. You're assisting the Whiteblades and nothing more. What will we do when you fail? We're the ones left to deal with the consequences!"

I took a breath to compose myself before turning back to the Townmaster. "Then we won't fail. Simple as that. You don't want 'em 'ere. That much is clear. An' their already stoopin' ta murder. Sounds like the consequences are dire enough."

I put my gauntlet back on and crossed my arms. "We're helpin' regardless. It's a personal matter now. So. Does that mean yer sidin' with them?"

He took in a deep breath and let out a huff. "Certainly not."

"Well then; Ah'd consider this yer best option." I looked back at Anbera and her lackeys. "These three need ta be locked up. Eglath says ya got cells in this buildin'. Tha' right?"

"...There's a hatch towards the back," he submitted. "It leads to a basement where there is a holding cell and then a one-person cell beside it."

"If..." From the other Redbrands, Ralf spoke through his broken ribs. "If you think you can put us in there and..." He paused to cough. "Survive the week. You're a bigger fool than we...thought, old man."

"Old? I'm in my late thirties," he clarified.

"Ya are?" Glemerr let out a whistle. "Dat's kinda old."

"No, it is not! Not for a human at least." Wester quickly went behind his desk and after a moment produced a ring of keys. "These are the only keys. One for the cellar hatch and the others for the cells. Take them downstairs. I will be down shortly."

"You?" Eglath snorted. "Why are ya suddenly fine with comin'? Five minutes ago, ya wanted 'em out."

"Obviously, I am not about to stay here or at home. They'll find me." He quickly began packing up papers and supplies from his work space. "There is an old desk downstairs. I will be conducting my affairs there until this matter is...hopefully resolved."

I nodded. "We understand. Erm, Eglath? Terribly sorry ta..." He held up a hand and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, I got nothin' else ta do. Besides, yer friend here helped me finish tendin' ta my lemons. I'm free 'til the mornin'."

"Lemons," AJ said in a sudden realization. Then she pointed a finger at a neutral Story. "HA! I knew it was a citrus!"

The rest of the table, plus Gilda and the farmgirl's brother, all stared with empty expressions.

"Uh...Ahehehe." AJ lowered her finger. And then her hat over her eyes. "...Sorry."

"Dat's plenty a' time," Glemerr decided for us. "Jus' point us at wherever dis messily group's set up an' we'll do da rest!"

"Please do not do that," the Townmaster begged.

"Aw, come on!" Glemerr pouted. "Ah thought you were on Team Party Crashers!"

"Party Crashers?" I gave her a look. "Is that what we're callin' ourselves?"

"Of course I would prefer you take them out. As quickly as possible! But there is more than these three. They are an entire gang."

"He may have a point, Glem." She slumped. "First order a business is roundin' up the others. Once we're on the same page, then we'll start crackin' 'eads."

"In the meantime," Eglath piggybacked from me. "I can use some help lockin' up these three. What do ya say kid?"

Glemerr's face lit up like a forge. "Would Ah?! Ah'll bring 'em down right now!"

The half-orc brushed past everyone and quickly started scooping up the thugs, ignoring their pleas and cries of pain as they laid out over her shoulders.

"Meet ya outside sheriff!" Before any of us could even stop her, Glemerr kicked the door open, breaking the lock and stepping out to the shock of a crowd of townsfolk outside.

Guess they heard the screaming. I frowned. Hopefully the Redbrands aren't among them.

The goliath smirked. "Let's not keep her waitin'. She's a good kid."

"She just broke my door!" Wester whined.

"Yeah. Like I said." He walked over and snagged the keys out from the Townmaster. "A good kid."

Platick's POV
Phandalin Town Center
Meanwhile

As my boots finally met the sweet, merciful ground, my knees buckled as they and my hands joined my feet against the dirt. The stable, not moving, dirt.

Two hours straight. That crazy, demented horse had been running at that insane speed, nonstop, for two hours! I'll give the overgrown badger its credit, it cut down the time by half. But how is that thing not collapsing? Is that normal?

"Platick? Are you going to be okay?" Leanne asked from atop Tucker the horse. "I mean...This isn't the first time you've ridden a horse, is it?"

"From on one's back, yeah." I got up to one knee. "But I've ridden carriages and wagons. Horses never act like this."

"Oh." She found just about everything else around her much more interesting than me. "Yeah, well, uh, that's kind of normal...Anyways!" She switched gears. "I'm just gonna take my wares back to the shop. With any luck, I'll be able to open up before the miners come back for the day."

"Great," I lamented. "You do that. I'll just nurse the ground for a while."

"Take all the time you need," she joked. "Besides, you helped out a lot more than I thought you would. So whenever your done with...that." She chuckled. "Come by the shop after a while. I'll give you a bonus."

"Bonus?" I slowly found my balance to stand back up. "That's a change. Yesterday, I brought up a finder's fee and you instantly shot that down. Why now?"

"Let's just say I owe one." She shrugged. "Don't look into it too much, okay? See you around."

Rather than wait, Leanne lightly shook the reins and Tucker strutted down the road with the small trailer pulled along with it, leaving me in the middle of town.

Guess that means my schedule's cleared for the day. After a quick look at where the sun stood, I ran a few ideas through my head.

Assuming the others did what we agreed on, there shouldn't be too many other places to check. Not to mention, I doubt the local gossips care much about goblin sightings. Maybe I should try checking the other shops?

I turned around to do exactly that but something caught my eye first. Not far off, there was a gathering of people around the Townmaster's Hall. They were whispering between one another and among the more able-bodied I saw them holding tools, clubs, and even weapons in their hands. They were all watching the entrance intently.

Oh no, I assumed. Please, please, tell me that this doesn't have anything to do with the others.

I got probably about twenty feet behind the crowd before the door was suddenly kicked out of its frame with only a single hinge kept it from flying out at the townsfolk. The ones toward the front backed away in shock or held up their tools to shield themselves.

"Wha...Glemerr?" I asked out of pure confusion.

She had shuffled out the Townmaster's Hall with three bruised and half-conscious people all bearing red cloaks; the Redbrands no doubt.

"Oh, Platick, yer back!" Glemerr cheered as she stepped off the Townmaster's patio and threw the splitting mob as they watched in surprise. "Yer not gonna believe it! Glemerr just became a deputy!"

"What?"

"Yeah, Ah can't believe it eitha! But Eglath just told me ta take dese pett'ly idiots ta de jail! Ah didn' even know we had a jail!"

"So something's finally going to be done about them?"

The mob started forming around us, almost enveloping us entirely. "About the Redbrands. Are you gonna help?"

Ah no. I stiffened up. "Hold on a second. Nobody said anything about—" "'Course we are!"

I gave Glemerr the darkest glare I could hope to muster but all she did was wink back at me as if nothing was wrong. What are you doing?!

"Glemerr an' her friends are on da case," she decreed. "Ain't dat right, Pladdy?"

"No! I am not about to...Pladdy?" I deadpanned. "That wasn't even close to—" "Platick!"

I cringed before turning back to the building as Ravathyra stepped out. Then behind her stepped out some upper-class man and a goliath who could snap me like a toothpick if he wanted.

"Ah didn' know ya'd be back so soon," she cheered.

"Platick? Oh and Miss Glemerr too? Perfect timin'." This time, from a new direction, Vareén and Ricven had come from the tavern with a Redbrand member walking beside them.

"Guys," Glemerr cheered. "Yer just in time! Me and Platick were just tellin' everybody how we're gonna help stop the Redpans!"

"R-Red...Brands," one of the losers hanging off her shoulder corrected.

"Really?" Ricven flashed me a humorous grin. "Why Platick, I am impressed with your bravado. It really is fer that shopkeeping lady, ain't it?"

"Stuff it, gnome."

"Never mind that fer now." Ricven waved me off. "Miss Glemerr? Stostine needs some a' your mad doctorin' skills. She got pinned with a crossbow bolt."

Glemerr gasped and released her grip on the Redbrands, letting them fall from her shoulders and crash onto the hard ground.

"STOP DROPPIN' US!" the Dwarven bandit girl screamed.

"Where is she?!" Glemerr roared. "An' were's da punk dat shot 'er?! Glemerr knock 'em in da ground so hard we'll need a crowbar ta pry 'em out!"

Vareén stepped between the orc and the pale, shaking man in the red cloak. Then she jerked a thumb at the inn. "We made her lie down in her room. She keeps complaining so hurry it up."

Glemerr obliged, breaking out into a full sprint towards the inn while nearly stampeding over Ricven in the process. After a few words that were less than kind from him, Ricven dusted his vest off and turned back to me as Rava and her goliath friend came down to recollect the bandits.

"So much for being my deputy," the goliath joked.

"Okay. What is going on?" I asked, looking between them all. "I've been gone only five hours, thinking that you'd actually try sticking to the plan. Instead, you declared war on a band of two-bit thugs?"

The idiot behind Vareén stepped out. "Y-You guys don't have to keep calling us th—" he stopped talking real quick when I pulled out one of my many daggers and readied it to throw.

I took a slow, steady breath as I worked to calm my nerves. "Did any of you actually do what we agreed on? Because out of all of us, the only one that doesn't seem to be involved with beating up idiots is Thorn. At least she isn't dealing. With. This...?"

My anger came to a screeching halt as I watched, from the corner of my eye, a Cortássian elf walking out of some random house with a loaf of bread in her hands. A small child chased after her before wrapping his arms around her waist in an attempt to hug her. Which the elf hesitantly returned with a single arm while looking around awkwardly.

"Thank you again for saving our boy." A man stepped out onto the doorway. His voice was the kind that carried so it wasn't hard to hear him. The rest of the group seemed to hear it as well.

"We knew that forest was too dangerous," the man went on. "But we had no idea there were monsters out there too."

"And I'm so sorry for how I acted," a woman's voice joined in. She didn't step out of the house but it was obvious she was standing behind the man. "It's just...Those elves at the mountains. We're all on edge, you know? That, plus everything else going on. I hope you'll forgive me."

"...Yes," Thorn Wielder told them before patting the child's head. "Home. Safe."

"Yeah. Home is safe," the kid repeated before stepping back. "You be safe too, Wolf Lady."

Thorn pointed at herself. "Thorn Wielder."

"Oh! Right, sorry. Bye Thorn Wielder!" The boy waved, which Thorn returned, before he turned around and walked back over to his parents.

When the moment finished, Thorn turned on her heel and right away spotted me, the others, and a good ten members of the town all staring at her. Her hood was down, revealing her Cortássian heritage, and her scythe's blade was gleaming against the sun.

None of that seemed to matter to her, however, as she slowly brought up the loaf of bread and took a small bite out of it. Then she perked up, chewing the bread some more, and happily took a larger bite of it before walking over to us.

"'erro," she mumbled as crumbs spilled out of her mouth.

When none of us said anything, she glanced down at her hands and ripped her loaf in half. After another second of her swallowing her food, she licked the crumbs off her lips and held out the smaller of the two halves towards us. "Bread?"

Author's Note

This took a while to write up! With my own summer break, of sorts, wrapping up, I've been busy these last few weeks. Not to mention, a couple weeks back I just got myself a seat as a player of a D&D game! I'm not a forever DM, yay! :yay:

That said, the next bundle of chapters from here on out will be heavily focused on the game. I don't know how many, only the dice know, but I do know it'll probably be a bigger cluster of chapters than the D&D sections prior.

Also, up to now, I've put character sheets of every game character in these author notes. I've been wanting to post Vareén's too but if I did, you'd be seeing a lot of ⏁⊑⟟⌇⌇⏁⎍⎎⎎⏃⌰⌰⍜⎐⟒⍀⏁⊑⟒⌿⏃☌⟒ and nothing else. So instead, I had another idea.

A few weeks back, I found a YouTube video of 50 questions that help build D&D characters. So, I took a day and I made one! For each of the seven characters...

This one is Vareén's. I know not everyone may be interested but I think it helps to show her personality.

It hints to backstory stuff Twilight made for Vareén that may never show up in the story. I also wrote the answers with Vareén's attitude so it's not a boring yes/no questionnaire.

If people are interested in it, let me know! I have all the others just because it helps to pen down their personalities. Plus, it was sort of fun. Very tedious though...

Now, all of that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Until next time everybody!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(26) Are Rogues Thieves?

Platick's POV
Townmaster's Hall Jail Cellar
A Short Time Later

We had been sitting in this room for a half hour and nearly everybody was suffering as a result. Every surface was gray with dust, which made every foot and handprint visible. The dust mites floating about in the air kept any attempt to cool the room off fail, making the room hotter than any other stone room in summer. It was even more insufferable when nearly all of us kept sneezing or scratching at our eyes because the dust kept settling.

The appeal didn't end there. A third of this already small room was made up of cells. One was a holding cell built for five people, or fifteen if you didn't care about them, but the other was single-use. Why there were jail cells in a frontier town like this, I had no clue, but the space remaining made it cramped to sit down here. I almost felt envious for the three beaten Redbrands in the holding cell.

As for the fourth punk Ricven charmed, he stayed outside the bars with us. He was sat at a round table sitting in the center of the room with Rava and Ricven taking the only remaining chairs. Meanwhile, another chunk of the room was filled up by an old clerk's desk, which the Townmaster sunk himself behind to work.

As the others all finished catching myself and Glemerr up to speed, my face sat buried in my hands as I let out a tired groan.

"...Okay," I spoke once my thoughts were finally together. "I'll give you this much; none of that, shockingly, was your fault."

"An' 'ow's that shockin' exactly?" Rava frowned. "Ya think us a buncha bloodthirsty psychos err somethin'?"

"No, but I assumed four of you six would volunteer us to solve all the town's problems. And seeing all these jailbirds, I'd say I was right on the money."

"Um. A-About that." The last crook in question, Ulrich as someone tried to inform me, weakly rose his hand. "Am I getting locked up too?"

No one responded right away. Instead, Vareén looked to Ricven. "How much longer is he..."

"About twenty minutes," Ricven timed. "Long enough fer us ta start askin' the real questions."

"You freak." The Dwarf in the cape wrapped her hands around the bars. "I dunno what ya did ta Ulrich but if ya think whatever spell ya put him under is gonna make him more friendly with you lot than he is scared a' us, you're gonna be disappointed."

I don't know what reaction the Dwarf expected, but it wasn't Ricven's toothy grin. "That what ya think?" Then he turned back to his victim. "Ulrich, if by the end a' this we decided you needed your comeuppance, would you prefer the cell with that darlin' lady there, or the emp—"

"Empty one," Ulrich rushed. "Please, please, don't put me in the same cell as her! Out of all the captains, she's the craziest!"

"Captains plural, huh?" I crossed my arms.

"Ulrich, you rat!" She started yanking at the bars. "You better pray these magic devils don't feed ya to us when they're done wit' ya! 'Cause if they do, I'm pickin' ya apart piece. By bloody—"

The goliath, who I learned was named Eglath, slammed the back side of his greataxe against the bars, coming inches from crushing her fingers. Her threat became a joke when her dainty scream bounced across the room as she fought to keep from tumbling backwards.

"Shut up in there," Eglath demanded. Then he chuckled darkly. "I like this job."

"Glad to hear you are all delighted." Harbin Wester said from his dusty desk. For such a small, out of the way town, he had been writing and stamping documents since the moment we came in here.

"One of those papers better be a tax write-off for the reward we'll be getting," Vareén told him.

He scoffed. "As I recall, one of your allies told me that dealing with the Redbrands was a personal matter while another offered to fix the problem, and I quote, 'free of charge,'" he fired back.

A vein pumped above my eye. "Let me guess; the Dwarf and the woman in robes?"

"Very astute of you," he complimented. "Nevertheless, expect no reward from me." He scoffed again. "Justice should be its own reward. Is that not what they say?"

"Wow, you're scum."

"And you are all brutes," he returned, never once looking up from his work. "If you must know what I am doing, I am penning my resignation. As well as a report on the Redbrands' affairs like I intended from the very start. Then? I am taking my first opportunity to get out of this godforsaken town with my life."

"Is that so, Townmaster Wester?"

From the only stairway leading out of this cellar, Glemerr was walking down as she carried Stostine bridle-style in her arms. While we were here, Glemerr tended to Stostine back at the inn. She looked pretty well recovered compared to how they all described her wounds. So why was Glemerr carrying her?

Upon hearing her voice, Wester sunk into his chair. "Oh no..."

I feel the very same. I nodded along with him.

"From how I see it," Stostine went on, completely uncaring about how she looked being held by the orc. "You assisted extortionists and murderers. By all accounts, it is our civic duty to report your inaction to either the Leodaavian Order of Commerce or the Platinum Guard. Or both."

"Oh, do as you please," he fired back. "I am already turning myself in. Since they made me ignore their crimes, I had to alter the tax reports so the Order of Commerce would never investigate. After all, if they arrived, these idiots might think I raised an alarm."

Then, Wester set his hand on two heavier tomes to the left of him. "All the proof needed is here."

"Wait, wait, wait." Rava glared. "Yer sayin' ya cooked the books?! Now ya really are complicit ta them tarts!"

"I said I was turning myself in, did I not?! I never did this for my own benefit. Just my life. And whether you make any progress on them or not, I intend to serve whatever sentence Leodaav gives me. At least if I turn myself in I may get out of this with my life."

Most of the others gave him predatory glares but I rolled my eyes. "So, someone want to tell me why any of this matters? The Redlads attacked you cause we're outsiders. Fine. Why are you pushing back?"

"Infestation," Thorn said from her corner. The whole time since arriving, she told us about the bugbear in her own cryptic way while stuffing her face with bread. She never bothered wiping the crumbs from her face.

"She's right," Vareén backed her up. "That bugbear was near their hideout. Closest lead so far."

"It's not a lead." I frowned. "A bugbear was hunting a child. Now I'm not heartless, I'm glad he wasn't hurt, but that doesn't mean the bugbears and these idiots are connected."

"Is that so?" Ricven kept his expression perfectly static as he swiveled his whole body towards Ulrich. Almost like a marionette doll. "Yo Ulrich? Is yer band and the bugbears connected?"

"O-Oh, yeah, definitely." The man nodded. "Counting them and the goblins they got, uh, t-there's about twenty of them."

"And there ya are, Platick!" Ricven swiveled back to me, his grin that much more cockier. "Doubt it now?"

Applejack took a sigh of relief as she gave Rarity a happy nod. "Can't say that he does."

She spent a second wiping the smile off her face to try getting as sour as her character. Sunset said they had to act like their characters. AJ hated every moment of playing this sourpuss, so she was gonna take any chance there was of making Platick play nice.

"Guess I have some questions now," Applejack spoke in Platick's grumbling tone.

I stared at Ulrich. "Have you ever heard the name Field Baron?"

The Dwarf in the cell rushed the bars again. "Ulrich, ya better not!"

Ulrich was about to say something before he stared back at his former captain. "I-I, uh..."

Ricven tutted a couple of times before clearing his throat. "Ulrich, buddy, come on. Ya don't gotta listen ta her anymore! Would ya kindly answer my associate's questions from now on?"

Ulrich froze up, his expression loosening for a moment before some new clarity came to him. He then looked dizzily to me. "Yeah, I've heard of the Field Baron. Boss takes orders from him."

I glanced over at Ricven. "What is..."

But Ricven shook his head. "Don't worry 'bout it. Just know he's your friend now. If he starts gettin' mum about anythang, just ask kindly like I did. Ya get me?" He gave me a sly wink and got up from the chair so I could sit down.

"...Alright," I said, slinking over. I dragged the chair around so I was across the table from Ulrich before sitting, which put me beside Rava. Ask kindly? Like, use those words?

I steadied my mind and stared at Ulrich. "Alright Ulrich. Would you kindly tell me about your boss? Start basic."

As I said those words, Ulrich's mind swirled again but there was a light twitching to him. "Su-Su-Sure. Studious type. Keeps ta hisself. So untrustin', we dunno his name. Call 'em Glasstaff. He's gotta magic staff a' glass. Book too."

"Ricven?" Stostine furrowed her brow, whispering at him. "Why is his tone different now?"

"'Member how I said my magic makes it ta where he talks ta my standards? Well, he's answerin' ta Platick now. Must be his standards."

"Works for me," I called back. "Now, he send you after us or did your captain over there make a judgement call?" I nodded over to the cell where the Dwarf barked insults at me in Dwarven. I threw a few back and she went to a quiet simmer. All fun and games until someone knows your language, huh lady?

"Little a' both." He shrugged. "Anbera wanted a score on yer Dwarf's suit. Lads wanted a musician fer the Sleepin' Giant. Meanwhile, Glasstaff wants magic folk dead or gone."

I knitted my hands in front of my jaw so Ulrich could only see my eyes. "Magic man hates casters?"

"Paranoid of 'em." Ulrich nodded. "Thinks they're huntin' him. Meanwhile, Field Baron wants outsiders kept back. Goals align and we." He pointed to himself and the other Redbrands. "Enforce them goals. Well, us and them hairy beasts."

I glanced over my shoulder. The whole group had their full attention on this. Good. I didn't want to repeat this.

"You said bugbears and goblins are twenty strong?" Ulrich nodded. "What about your band? How many?"

Ulrich bobbed his head back and forth for a moment. "I'd say, err...Somethin' over forty? Add them beasts and it's over sixty. Easy."

Well, minus eight thugs and a dead bugbear. More like over fifty, I calculated.

"Pffft! Dat's nothin'." Glemerr batted away the claim. "Back in East Alder, dey got gangs numberin' three digits! We could trash sixty bozos by da end a' da night."

"Maybe if ya caught us outside the hideout," Ulrich admitted. "Inside? Different story."

"Traps?" "Yep." "Everyone's armored?" "Ta the teeth." "What's the worst you got?"

Ulrich leaned forward but his voice caught in his throat. "U-Uh. Well...There's monsters."

"Like bugbears?" I perked an eyebrow.

"Nah. They're wild but nothin' like the real scaries. Like that fissure demon and. A-And the..."

"And the what?" I pressed, leaning forward.

Ulrich gave me a look and started weighing his options in his mind. "...Promise you'll put me in a private cell?"

"Depends how much I get."

Ulrich stared back at me, then at the other Redbrands from the corner of his eye. By now the Dwarf and the other two were watching him carefully. The Dwarf was the only one with a glare.

In the end, he chose us. "Glasstaff practices forbidden magic. It's why he hates other magic folk. Dunno what everythin' is and I haven't seen it all either. But I know about the skeletons."

I heard some stifled gasps from around the room. That is, except for the Townmaster.

"You what? Skeletons?!" He screamed. "For how long?!"

Ulrich turned to face Wester. "Since we got 'ere. Speakin' of." He clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers. "Thanks fer keepin' the kingdom's eyes off us."

"I. I-I have nothing to do with that!" He looked across all of us. "Please, believe me, I knew nothing of this! I admit I knew of their assaults and extortion, but if there was necromancy, I would have never let this lasted!"

"Yet you are still responsible," Stostine told him. "So, truly. Thank you for that, Townmaster Wester."

Wester started shaking and stuttering before abruptly taking his resignation letter and ripping it to shreds before reaching for a new piece of parchment to write a much more pressing report.

"Hold on a tad." Rava leaned forward at Ulrich. "Ya said skeletons, aye? Not zombies?"

Ulrich quickly shook his head. "It's always skeletons. I know 'cause Glasstaff has us feed the remains to that fissure demon."

Rava sat back, rubbing her temples. "Oh, that ain't good."

I looked to her. "Why? Are skeletons harder to deal with than zombies?"

Rainbow opened her mouth but slowly spun to face Story. "Would Ah know the difference between 'em?"

Story glanced down at the screen, watching as a scene of Ravathyra appeared on his side. Or rather, multiple scenes. They overlapped each other. One showed Rava paying extra careful attention to her studies while another was her goofing off in the halls of the cathedral. As Story watched, he interpreted it as the dunamancy considering every possibility.

"Uh, make a religion check," he decided. It's what he would've had her done anyways.

He watched as Rainbow's dice came to life before she scooped one up to let it dance on the table. Only, when it came to a halt, all her interest and excitement plummeted.

"I rolled a one."

Story then watched every scene on his screen vanish except for one. Now a considerably young Rava, probably just starting her lessons, was passed out over her desk. The head priest decided to ignore her, instead focused on the more promising acolytes.

"Uh..." Rava's eyes widened as they darted in every direction. "Th-They, erm. They. They never taught me tha'. Oddly enough. Hehehe..."

Doubt.

"But the reason Ah asked'," she switched gears. "Ah 'eard about it while Ah paid a visit ta the mines this mornin'. Some prospectors were tellin' stories 'bout a tower wit' zombies guardin' the place. They chase whoever comes near."

Stostine bit her thumb. "So there are now two instances of forbidden necromancy."

Vareén eyed the Townmaster gripping his head in despair. "You suck at your job."

"Shut up!"

"Doesn't matter," I told everyone. "If this 'Glasstaff' only deals in skeletons, forget the zombies. In fact, forget the undead for now." I faced Ulrich again. "You keep saying fissure demon. What is that?"

Everyone grew silent as Ulrich tensed up. "...Nobody knows what that thing is. But we've all seen it. A tall, spindly-lookin' thing with taut skin, spines out its back, and this single large, glowin', green eye. Whenever it stares at ya, it feels. Fuh-Feels like he's...in there. Ya know? In yer mind, makin' it itch and cramp 'cause of all the crawlin' around it does. Made me remember things I wish never came back."

3rd Person POV
Game Room

All the girls leaned back for a moment. Then, as Applejack was busy fighting off a chill going down her back, Twilight decided to take initiative.

"What's it really called?" She asked, trying to keep to Vareén's voice as she readied her pencil for her notes.

"No clue." Story shook his head while talking in Ulrich's tone. "But Glasstaff talks with it. Guards the place in exchange fer fresh meat n' gold."

"Hold up, gold?" Rarity said, half in Ricven's voice before falling back to her own. "What does a monster want with gold?"

Story cleared his throat and held up a die. "Who wants to find out?"

He watched as almost every hand went up. It made him chuckle sadly. "Figured. Alright, well. Unless the magic has any objections, this is something you have to choose. What skill do each of you want to get an answer? Tell me and then roll. I'll go around the table."

He started pointing at the girl closest to his left and went counterclockwise from there.

"Uh...Survival's my best?" Twilight shrugged. Story gave her the okay and moved to the next girl.

"Ricven has history," Rarity revealed.

"Glemerr...Urp. Nope. Nothing! Whoopsie!" Pinkie shrugged with her tongue stuck out. None of her dice would even glow for her. Story gave her a guilty look and moved on.

"Uh...He keeps saying 'demon,' right?" Rainbow sighed. "I'll try religion again."

Fluttershy tapped her dice but when none of hers lit up either, she simply shook her head.

"Could Ah do investigation?" Applejack gave this strained look. "Highest Ah got."

"Uh..." Story glanced at the screen ahead of him and watched a few faint scenes of a younger Platick overlapping. "Yeah, that'll work. Finally, Stostine?"

"Arcana." Sunset nodded.

"Alright. Everyone roll." Story then watched as his screen have small scenes featuring their characters spurring to life as everyone picked up their dice. "Since these are all different skills, just know there's different explanations. And, since I'd do this normally," he muttered guiltily. "Some of these answers might have red herrings. Sorry girls."

"Ugh. Nine." "Same," Applejack and Rainbow grimaced.

"He didn't give you much to work with," Story informed them. "Platick, you don't know anything with that description and Rava, ironically, has the opposite problem. Can't narrow it down enough."

"Fifteen?" Twilight offered.

"With a fifteen in survival, it certainly isn't something from your stomping grounds," Story explained. "But with a green eye and having dwelled in an underground fissure, you assume it's nocturnal or at the very least avoids sunlight. More than likely sees well in the dark. It can apparently mess around with someone's mind so it might not be physically daunting?" He shrugged. "Although, if it's jumpy and spry, it may also be good at avoiding detection. Survival tells you physical facts but not always what something may be."

"And now for the two magic folk. What do we got?" Story rubbed his hands together when he saw their expressions.

"Twenty-one, darling." Rarity leaned back.

"Really?" Sunset clicked her tongue. "Only nineteen."

"Both are pretty great," Story admitted. "The following is a combination of your checks. This creature is known by many as a nothic. N. O. T. H. I. C." Story witnessed a few of the girls all writing stuff down, especially Twilight. "A nothic...Oof, this is topical." Story took a breath as he gathered his thoughts.

"A nothic is the result of someone who wanted a greater understanding of magic that they were unprepared for."

At that, Sunset and Twilight froze as tight as stone.

"It can either be those seeking out secrets and abilities of the arcane arts." Sunset had a bead of sweat go down her forehead. "Or those that are born with or happen across magic too powerful for them to control." Spike put a paw over Twi's hand to keep her from snapping her pencil. "Regardless, a nothic is the result of a subject's body becoming cursed or altered permanently until they have no resemblance of what they once were.

"Furthermore, they also lack all memories of their former selves; their only focus being that of want for arcane secrets and valuables they do not possess. What's worse, when someone fully becomes a nothic, there is no cure. It is said even the interventions of gods themselves will only work to a minimal extent. What's more, as they lose themselves, they gain a new talent. The ability to peer into another's mind. To pick at their brains for their darkest, most well-kept secrets. All so they can hoard that knowledge.

"Now, for specifics. Rarity." Story turned fully at her. Sadly, the fashionista was too entranced in the details to notice her two friends having war-like flashbacks. "You learned of nothics not only by word of mouth. But by personal experience." Story glanced down at his screen that revealed a grungy underground auction house full of Leodaav's hidden underbelly. Up on the stage was a reptilian creature chained in place with a burlap sack covering its only green eye.

"Once someone has fully succumbed, it is forever a monster. One that may be seen as valuable to the highest bidder due to its one-track mind. They're easy to control and manipulate with the right enticement and they can make for great guard dogs or interrogators, ripping the secrets out from victims."

"...Stostine." Story turned to find Sunset fighting not to crawl out of her seat. "You've never encountered or seen a nothic yourself; thank goodness for that. But when your magic first began manifesting, your mentor would tell you stories. You once assumed they were fairytales to keep young mages like you from letting their magic rampage but upon hearing the description of this monster now? Your mentor was not making it up. They're real. And they look. Like. This."

Story held up a page he had prepared ahead of time with a single image. That of a crouching, reptilian beast with skin peeling off as though it ripped itself out from inside whoever it was once before. All with a single green eye that seemed to pierce into one's soul.

Twilight watched as the image was eventually turned towards her. She studied the picture like everyone else but froze when she watched it blink; the iris changing to a moderate violet to match with her. The grin then began widening at her reaction as it's snake-like tongue coated each jagged fang with swampy saliva. It rose one of its front limbs, the claws twitching as one flicked away a piece of it's own peeling flesh.

"twilight?...Twilight?...Twilight!"

Twilight's attention zeroed in on her dear pet dog as he looked up from her lap. "A-Are you okay?"

Twilight gave Spike a weird look and turned back to point out the picture, but stopped. The eye was green again and the creature was only a still image on a page. Not only that, but as Twilight thought back, no magic wisped from it like everything else at the game. The picture was a picture.

When Twilight saw the others giving her concerned looks, she cleared her throat. "Sorry. I got a little surprised is all." Sunset gave her this look of understanding, but Twi knew it wasn't quite for the right reason.

"Is there anything else we would know about it?" Sunset brought the focus back to the game.

"One last point, since Rarity got over a twenty." Story sat up and put the picture away. "Ulrich admitted his boss made a deal with the nothic. My little tale aside, nothic's still have some semblance of intellect. They can communicate. Telepathically, that is."

Platick's POV
Townmaster's Hall Jail Cellar

"Basically, it'll read yer mind whether ya want it to or not," Ricven summarized, concluding his history lesson at us.

"So that's what the brain itchin' is," Ulrich muttered to himself. "Knowin' that don't make it better."

"No kidding." I frowned. "Alright. I've heard enough."

"As have I." Stostine folded her arms in her sleeves. As she and Ricven explained the creature, she asked Glemerr to put her down. I could tell the spot where she was shot was still tender but she fought through the pain. "We are dealing with a budding necromancer and a large group of thugs at his command. Yet the Field Baron requesting Gundren's capture is seemingly stronger than even the necromancer."

I shook my head, staring down at the table. "What are we doing?"

"That's what we gotta decide," Rava told me.

"No. I mean, what are we doing?" I glared at her. Then at the others. "Look at us! We're not a team. I trust none of you. We tried playing it careful at the cave and we ended up splitting up and alerting everything at once. Some of us almost died. And they were just goblins. Then we made a plan to scout the town and some of you almost died. Again!"

"But this time we know what we're up against," Ricven assured me. "Long as we don't get cocky and play it close ta the ribs, we'll be fine."

"Oh really?" I gave him a look. "How many nothics have you killed?"

Ricven clamped his jaw.

"Rava." I turned to her. "You ever handle skeletons before?"

She grumbled something that sounded like syllables.

"Does anyone here know how to handle anything we're up against? Because I can ask the right questions to this idiot." I pointed a finger to Ulrich. "But being prepared isn't the same as being capable."

"Applejack, what are you doing?" Rainbow asked with a weird look. "Isn't Platick already on board?! The guy even said 'Field Baron' like that bugbear did! Why are you making this so hard?"

"Yeah!" Pinkie smiled. "You don't have to have Platick be a meanie mcMean pants anymore! He want's to do the right thing like us! That's why he's after Gundren!"

Well...not really. She let her Stetson lean over her face. That ain't how I ended up playing him. Heck, all I've been doing is making him more and more selfish.

Sometime after the girls asked to join the club, everyone met up individually to make characters. Pinkie volunteered to meet Story first and she thought it'd be fun to roll for a class instead of pick one. Then when it was Rarity's turn, she heard about Pinkie's idea and loved it. From there it became a tradition.

When it got to Applejack's turn, she was glad to play along until she landed on rogue. Or, in her mind, a thief. She would've been fine with literally anything else but since no one got to reroll their class, AJ thought it'd be unfair. So instead, Story worked with her to make a character that was nothing like her at all.

It seemed like a good idea at the time at least. Now it felt like karma.

"Ah'm...Ah'm sorry y'all," she surrendered while glancing down at Platick's paper. "Ah wanna help, but he don't care about anythin'."

"Don't car— err, doesn't care?" Sunset corrected. "What are you talking about?"

"Ah mean...Uh, th-this part." AJ picked up the character sheet and held it up to her friend. Even with all the writing garbled and shifting, it was obvious a few boxes were empty. "Them boxes sayin' bonds and flaws. Ah left 'em blank."

"Well, maybe so, but that doesn't mean Platick cares about nothing." Sunset let herself smirk. "Actually, he cares about the same thing you do."

"What?" AJ frowned. "Sun, me and Platick are as different as chalk n' cheese. Ah even did that on purpose."

"Well, perhaps you tried to do that," Rarity insisted. "But Sunset has a point. There is one thing that is blindingly the same."

"Oh, you spotted it too?" Pinkie giggled. "I thought AJ did that on purpose like I did with Glemerr!"

"What are y'all talkin' about? Ah ain't anythang like him!"

Sunset stiffled a giggle. "Just keep playing, Applejack. And whatever happens next, just have Platick do exactly what he'll do. No holding back, okay?"

"Holdin' ba..." She gave up with a groan. "Alright, fine. Take it away, Sugarcube. Don't know what yer tryin' though."

"Look. Capable or not, they've kidnapped people," Vareén stood up first. "A mom and two kids."

"And we know they're still alive," Ricven informed me. "Ulrich confirmed it back at the inn. They're locked up in a cell like our setup."

"And that's our problem?" I ~~begrudgingly~~ challenged. That's when they started glaring. "Don't get me wrong, it's messed up. But dying on the way there helps no one. And what if, on the way out, we get them killed? Would any of you trust us to get it right?"

"So that would be it then?" Stostine asked from behind my chair. "You would give up on Gundren, innocent children, and a town's worth of people just like that? How despicable are you?!"

"You know it's not that simple." I stared back at her only for her to narrow her eyes. "Guilt trip me all you want, we'll only make it worse when we fail. And as much as I hate him." I nodded towards the Townmaster "He was right not to risk everything."

"Erm, thank you?" He scratched at his neck.

Stostine didn't seem to like that answer. I didn't think she'd actually try anything but I found myself turning more in my chair so I could be ready.

Although, what I wasn't ready for was to see her to turn her head and spit at the ground with a sneer, catching everyone's attention. "Just like your parents aren't you? The Dirty Fortunas."

...

...

I got out of my seat.

"For tuna?" Thorn Wielder spoke with a blink.

"Ya mentioned that the other day," Rava told her. "Why did..." But she trailed off as I closed in on Stostine. "Platick? What're ya—"

I grabbed Stostine and forced her against the wall, pulling out a dagger and setting it so far against her throat she had to resist gasping.

I heard everyone shift behind me but my gaze never left hers. "Say it again. Say it one more fucking time you frail, useless, piece of godda—!"

"Platick, get off 'er," Glemerr roared.

"Fortuna..." The Townmaster thought to himself. Then I heard him stand from his chair. "Wait. As in the Fortuna Trade?!"

No! I cringed as Stostine refused to look away from me.

"Correct," Stostine said, ignoring my rage. "The Fortuna Trade. A family-owned business that had become a merchant company. That is until their hand wa—" She let out a hiss of pain as a trickle of red traced my knife.

"You're done talking," I whispered.

"Ha," Wester barked, laughing as everyone turned to glare at him. "Oh, that is ironic, isn't it?! All of you throw your ire to me, claiming I was harboring extortionists! Meanwhile, one of your own belongs to a family of crooks!"

Saying nothing, I took the dagger away from Stostine's neck flinging it deep into Wester's desk, embedding it through his letter as he jumped back in a scream. Then, before Glemerr could take another step towards me, I pulled a new dagger to plug up the cut in her neck as I slammed my hand against the wall beside her, blocking her escape.

Story nodded. "On that note...Vareén, Ricven, and Rava? The three of you can make history checks. Each of you have different numbers to beat."

The three girls obliged, counting up their totals.

"Another one? Are you kidding?!" Rainbow asked.

"Why do you think I ditched 'em in my saddlebag?" Gilda asked with a shrug.

"I'm not better. Five," Twilight revealed.

"Well it's a good thang Ricven's on the square," Rarity taunted with a New Orleans's accent. "Twenty-four."

"On the ball," Twilight corrected tiredly.

"Well this'll be fun to explain." Story got up from his chair, walking over to Rarity who shifted her hair so she could hear his whispers.

"Platick?" Vareén's gaze burned into the back of my head. "What are they talking about?"

"Ah, the Fortuna Trade," Ricven said aloud. "I remember now. It was all abuzz in the capital sixteen or so years back. Every walk a' life kept gossipin' about it."

I felt my eye twitch and my breathing became unsteady. Stostine had a front-row seat to it.

"You know of it?" Vareén asked.

"I lived it," Ricven gloated. "I was only a wide-eyed sixty year-old back then. Fer you humans, that's pretty young fer a gnome."

"Better not," I threatened. "You better not..."

I felt Stostine's hand land on my arm. She was giving me this sorry but firm expression. Almost motherly. I drew more blood from her throat.

"Ya see," Ricven carried on anyway. "All a' Leodaav's nobility an' merchants are made up a' old money; families and lineages that have all been in the game. Way everythang's set up, it's next ta impossible fer new faces ta become big shots. That was, 'til the Fortuna Trade came along."

"That's the upper crust for you," Wester added. "I may be townmaster, but I was never fated to wield the kind of power a noble does. Being a governor is the closest opportunity one like me has."

"Or my family," Stostine seconded. "Even then, Father needed the recommendation of somebody with that status."

"Nobility an' politics are typical." Ricven shrugged. "It's all bloodlines anyhow. But with merchant companies, they crush whatever fool steps up ta the plate. And right when the Fortuna Trade was so close ta sittin' at the big boy's table, they were discovered ta be taken part in every underhanded deal imaginable."

"NO! THEY DIDN'T!" I screamed, taking my dagger off of Stostine's neck and facing everyone. Glemerr and Rava were poised to rush me but Stostine waved them off while holding her shallow cut.

"They never did ANY OF IT! All they did was good business! They never cheated people! They never stole stock! They never dealt with the black market! It doesn't matter what you heard; it's crock! All of it!"

"Say that all you like," Wester spoke low. "I was a banker back then. I was among the handlers that investigated the Fortuna ledgers. Their numbers." He smacked the tomes beside him. "It is as Lady Dagarkin claimed. I altered the figures for this town to hide the extortion. Where do you think I picked up such a skill?"

"Not from us," I turned my dagger on him. "Those books were fake! The. End. Our trade was cleaner than any of those companies have ever been!"

"Yeah, sure. Let's believe the knife-wielding maniac." Vareén laid it on thick.

"I'm telling the truth!" I gazed at her next. "And I've tried everything I can think of to prove it. But..." I lowered the knife. "But it gets me nowhere. Wherever I try digging around, people find out and treat me like garbage. Like a thief..."

Applejack blinked a few times, replaying those words a few times. Like a thief. People treat him like a thief. Like I did...Huh.

She glanced to Story, who motioned for her to keep going. He wasn't about to stop her. In fact, he was writing most of this down himself. Then she looked at Sunset, and then Rarity and Pinkie. All of them gave her cocky smiles.

Heh. So that's what you're all playing at. The Fortuna bit, she surmised.

AJ glanced back at Platick's paper, staring at the two boxes unfilled. Curious, she plucked her pencil and began to write. With each word, she watched the game's magic cement the words in place as her friends waited.

"...I think I should probably ask," Stostine said after a moment, walking around so I could see her along with everyone else. "Are you a thief, Platick?"

I huffed, wiping her blood off my dagger before putting it back where I got it.

"No. No, I'm not. Whenever I'm trying to set it straight, I don't break the rules. That would only prove it."

Next, I drew out my rapier. Rava and Glemerr readied themselves again but I held it out as if to present it. "This is the only thing I've ever stolen. It wasn't my idea. And even if the dick I stole it from deserved it, it never felt right. So I keep it as a reminder."

"You didn't think to give it back?" Vareén cocked her head. "Wouldn't that be the right thing to do?"

"Well sure." I grimaced. "If he was still alive for me to do it."

"You killed him?!" Wester asked, earning my strongest glare yet.

"No," I said blankly. "Not directly. It was the scum that broke in the same night. This was how he would've defended himself, had I not swiped it."

"Hmm. Well everyone?" Stostine turned to the others. "Do we believe him?"

"Ya mean about the Fortuna Trade being in the clear? Oh, pfft, obviously!" Ricven scoffed. "Them high an' mighty merchants would definitely set 'em up. They've done so much worse, it ain't a far leap a' logic."

I gave him a look. "Sure, but that wouldn't prove my theory. What says I'm right?"

"As I said earlier, all walks a' life were talkin' about it. Even the seedier ilk." Ricven frowned. "I was in Agix when it happened. And I wanted all that juicy info. So, I paid a visit ta one a' the black markets and asked around. Despite the Fortuna Trade supposedly havin' fingers in every cake, no one admitted ta any dealin's with 'em."

I rolled my eyes. "And why would they admit it?"

Ricven chuckled. "Lemme try that again." He stepped next to Ulrich and waved his fingers sarcastically. "I asked around. And no one admitted it. Ya hear me now?"

"Ah. How silly of me," I said robotically. "Also, you've been to one of the black markets?"

"There are multiple black markets?" Stostine's tone matched mine.

"Agix: The Capital of Commerce." Ricven waved his hand as though reading a banner. "A place like that; they probably got more than ten black markets. Sadly, I only knew three."

"Not bad." I shrugged. "I know eight. Plus the speakeasies."

"Oooh, you can find the speakeasies?!" Ricven's face lit up. "I only got in when a friend err two led me. They move too much ta keep up."

"Heh. Sound like the Hydra Pits in Cragen," Rava remarked.

"Or da fight clubs in Alderstone," Glemerr tacked on.

"Does everyone here know crime?" Stostine asked incredulously.

Vareén coughed into her fist and turned away while Thorn just blinked.

"I'll give Platick this," Vareén moved on. "He can't sneak around to save his life. If he was a thief, he'd have been long caught by now."

I narrowed my eyes. I'll choose to take that as a compliment.

When no one else said anything, Rava approached me. "Platick. Ya said ya tried diggin' around fer the truth all legit, aye? Provin' yer families clean an' such?"

I gave her a short nod.

"Ah might 'ave no clue 'bout yer kin's history, but Ah know what a family's worth. So how's 'bout an offer?" She held a hand out for me to shake. "Work with us. Help overthrow these Foolbrands, save the mother an' daughters, and go with us ta rescue Gundren. When that's all said n' done, Ah'll do everythin' Ah got in my power ta back ya up."

"Back me up?" I put my rapier back. "What do you mean back me up?"

"Yer only doin' everythin' above the board. Ah respect that. But mah clan's name has some sway to it outside a' the Drakehead. Ah can help get ya an audience err two while stayin' fully in the lines. Maybe drum up some support. What say you?"

I frowned at her. "Please. You said it yourself. I don't even know you."

"True." She nodded. "But Ah get the intent...And, if ya think Ah'm lyin'." She took off her gauntlet and then removed a ring from her hand. "This is a symbol a' mah clan. Ah might 'ave the papers, but this is the real proof a' me heritage. Me Da even made it 'imself. Without it, it's hard ta prove Ah'm even really a Dagarkin. 'Ere ya go."

Without hesitation, she flicked it at me, watching as I caught it between my fingers. "Take as long as ya need ta keep me at me word. An' don't give it back 'til ya do. 'Kay?" Rava held her hand back out to shake again.

I stared down at the ring, turning it towards me. At the top was a Dwarven family crest stamped into a pure gold surface with a thin silver edge tracing around it. Both real and sentimental value.

I licked my lips and tapped my heel a few times. "Even if I did give this back, if people find out you sit with me it'll drag your family's name down too."

"Never crossed me mind," she told me with a grin.

...Delusional, I determined. With a roll of my eyes, I shoved the ring into a deep pocket and kept it there. Then I begrudgingly took her hand. "Don't expect me to die for any of this. If things go wrong, I'm out."

"Then may that ring weigh as much as a rapier," she proposed.

As Rava kept my hand engulfed by hers, Stostine reached over and placed her hand on top of ours. I glared at her and she gave me a modest nod. "I know you do not trust me either, but I want to offer the same. My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps. To become something of a politician myself. I can use that to get myself into a few archives and the like. Perhaps I can help find proof. If you stay with us."

Sure. You just want to make sure I don't run.

"Oh, oh! Is dis one a' dem 'all hands in' sorta things?!" Glemerr stepped up and slammed her palm on the pile, crushing Stostine's petite fingers as she fought not to scream. "Count Glemerr in too! Ah got no clue what's goin' on but if anyone messes wit' ya Ah'll punch 'em in da mouth!"

"How...thoughtful..." Stostine spoke through her teeth.

Ricven joined in too, electing to put his hand underneath the initial handshake. "Someone's gotta back up these pretty ladies and I don't think yer up to the task yet, Platick. Guess that forces my hand."

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically. Then I watched Thorn Wielder walk up and fill the empty space, adding her hand. "Do you even know what's going on?"

"No." She shook her head. Her hand stayed.

"That only leaves one more." Rava turned around. "Well Vareén! Come on now, everyone in!"

"Not a chance." She crossed her arms.

"Come on, even Platick's doin' it!"

"Technically no," I corrected. "I shook your hand and people included themselves."

"Shush, Ah want this ta be a group moment." Rava grinned at me. "Vareén, come along! I will hug you!"

"And I will stab you."

"Oh, Ah got it!" Glemerr gave us a look. "Group shuffle!"

Rava tightened her grip on my hand, dragging me along as everyone awkwardly waddled towards Vareén. Despite my complaints, and Vareén trying to get away, they cornered her in the back of the cellar and stared at her with a determined gaze.

"Are you really this childish?" She then look between each of us. "And why are you dead set on this?"

"I didn't ask for this either," I pointed out again. "Just do it so they can let me go."

"Yeah, come on Vareén. Be cool, like us," Glemerr begged.

"Or be assimilated inta the madness," Ricven offered. "We can be very convincin', ya know."

"Hand," Thorn demanded.

Vareén steamed for a few seconds, meeting all of their stares and my tired groan before finally caving. "...Fine."

She stepped forward and brought her hand near ours, only to stop short and give a thumb's up to the pile. "This is as close as you're gonna get."

"Yay for peer pressure," Glemerr cheered, earning a few eye rolls.

"Alright, whatever," Vareén groaned. "Where do we start? There's sixty of them and they're held out in a lodge out of town. Are we really fighting them tonight?"

"No." I shook my head. "They have too many numbers for that. If we're clearing them out, we need to do it in steps. Not to mention, we put a few of them down and caught a captain. If they were out for blood before, they'll want the whole hog now."

"Oh?" Stostine smirked. "Sounds as though you have a plan."

I shrugged. "I don't know. From what I've seen, none of you care about plans." When Rava loosened her grip, I pulled my hand out of the pile and took a second to shake the stiffness out of it.

"Normally I would argue against that." Stostine folded her arms into her sleeves. By now I was starting to get a good idea what that habit meant. "However, given our recent actions over the last few days, you may be correct."

"Yeah, I am." I nodded, ignoring her half-hearted scowl. "So instead, I'm going to try giving you a plan you'd have to actively try going against. Namely, we're hitting them first."

Ricven perked up an eyebrow. "I thought ya said we were doing this in steps."

"We are. Step one is the second wave they're bringing tonight. If the four idiots here are any proof, they're all prideful and quick-tempered. If they somehow find out a bunch of their own were embarrassed by outsiders, It'd be safe money that they'll want revenge."

"Oh, they know already," Vareén revealed. "One of those Fleebrands storming the inn got away from us. I pegged him running for safety in the direction Thorn said the lodge was."

"Pegged 'em how?" Rava blinked.

In a rare moment, Vareén let herself give off a winning smirk as she tapped the temple of her mind. As though on command, the veins around her eyes popped out enough to become visible. "You think Ricven and Stostine are the only ones with magic? I have tricks too."

"Woah," Glemerr hummed. "Ah thought ya only had dat Zephyr Swing thingy!"

"Zephyr Strike," Vareén corrected. "But no. This one's called Hunter's Mark. Makes it easier to track a target. But." The veins sunk back until they were no longer visible. "It's still active too. If not for Thorn finding their hideout, I would've actually used it."

Stostine looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you know his exact location? How well does it work?"

"Nothing that strong." Vareén shook her head. "It makes it easier to track him and I'd know if he died at any point. He's still alive and he ran towards the lodge. You nearly shredded him to pieces though."

"Then the criminals up in the lodge know about the inn." I folded my arms. "And when captain Dwarf over here fails to return, they'll probably realize she failed too."

"Hey!" The Dwarf thug in question slammed against the bars. "How's about ya say that this side a' the bars?!"

"And when they do, they will most assuredly bring a larger force." Stostine frowned. "There is also the matter that the escaped Redfan saw my and Ricven's magic directly. If Glasstaff thinks proficient practitioners are present, his paranoia will peak."

"Which means either the gang won't tell him and try to deal with it themselves, or they will and he'll mount an assault against us. Either way, they're likely coming tonight," I concluded.

"Then what do we do?"

The group looked to me as I ran a few things through my mind. "You listen up. If you want my help, you'll get it. I might not know nothics or magic people, but I know thugs on a street. So what're you gonna do? Rush them like idiots or stick to the plan?"

The group all had a silent discussion between one another. Maybe I didn't sell my advice with the insult but it was all true.

"Well, Ah'm in," Glemerr of all people spoke first. "Dis is da first time Ah've seen ya get serious 'bout a good fight! Ah wanna see where dis goes. Not ta mention, Platick's right. Takin' on a gang can get bloody if ya just break inta deir hideaway. Pretty fun~ but a few of ya ain't ready fer dat yet."

"That is surprisingly profound a' ya, Miss Glem," Ricven admired. "And I couldn't a' said it betta myself. Screw it, I'm all skin."

Vareén facepalmed. "Should I even bother correcting that?"

The others quickly admitted to sticking to a plan for once. And once every single one of them were on board, I nodded. "In that case, let's start with getting some more help. Ulrich?"

I turned around and watched the simpleton give me an expectant look. Good. He's still charmed. "Let's get into the real questions. Those other captains." I walked over and turned the chair around, straddling it as I stared him down. "Would you kindly start talking."

Author's Note

Huh. Been a while, huh?

Truth be told, I've had this chapter mostly finished for a few weeks but real world stuff kept coming up. But now I finally had a chance to come back and finish up this chapter. And with it, some new stuff to put in the Author's Notes!

This here is Platick's finished character sheet! Both the things Applejack wrote down (Bond & Flaw) & the stuff that was garbled before. But the original garbled one will still be up on the story's page, for whoever cares about looking back at it.

Not only that, but since it's been a while I feel like I should make it up to you guys. So here's Platick's 50 Answers. I noticed a few of you looked pretty close at Vareén's a lot closer than I thought so I figured I'd add this one too. See what people might find from it.

I'm not sure how long it'll be until the next chapter so sorry in advance. To make up for it, let me know if you'd prefer a longer chapter next time. Time for a few more brawls!

Until next time everybody!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(27) Divide & Conquer

Story’s POV
Outside Sweet Apple Acres’s Barn
10:29 PM

I took one last bite out of my apple and wound up my arm like a kid playing baseball. It was my third attempt at this and like the last two times, Big Mac watched with little faith as he bit into his own apple.

I did my best to ignore him, shaking and nodding my head like a baseball person at the barrel that stood fifteen away from me. Well, fifteen-ish. I didn’t have a tape measure or anything.

When I was done making a fool of myself, I tried pitching the apple core as hard as I could with the skills of a brilliant marksman.

Translation: I missed by a mile.

Big Mac quickly swallowed his bite of fruit so he wouldn’t choke on it as he snickered at my misfortune as the apple core bounced along the floor. Meanwhile, I took my walk of shame towards my trash to throw it away. “I know, I know, shut up,” I muttered at him.

He came out here to keep me company after the girls kicked me out of the room for their master plan. I didn’t blame them either.

Each time they workshopped an idea for how to take on the Redbrands, all I could think of was what could go wrong. They would overestimate how good a spell was or believed their AC was good enough to block everything.

I never corrected my players when they make mistakes like this. I had this made up motto of ‘they’ll suffer, then recover.’ Big Mac saw it constantly in our games. But this magic-talk had me losing myself as I kept butting in.

What made it worse was that all the girls heard was garbling. It was also the first time anything I said became garbled for them. It was so distracting, and they asked a few times for me to stop.

So instead, I tried finding loopholes.

As the DM, I technically played every character that weren’t the players. Since the party was still in the jail cellar, that meant I spoke for Eglath, Townmaster Wester, and the captured Redbrands. I used them to, again, butt in on the girls’ brainstorming.

It fixed the garbling problem but that wasn’t a good thing. Now, I was making the girls second guess every idea they came up with.

They knew I was only trying to help which meant when they kicked me out of the room, they did so politely. They explained how the party left the jail cellar and planned in secret. Then they ‘suggested’ I get some fresh air.

Skip to now where me and the lads, meaning me, Mac, and the talking dog, were standing outside the barn. Mac and I were throwing apples at an apple bucket to pass the time. To which Big Mac had informed me it was actually called a ‘bushel.’

At the same time, Gilda chose to stand outside the game room’s curtain like a bouncer. She seemed proud of her role, and she seemed sure that, should the girls need it, she could answer questions about how something in the game would work.

And for those she couldn’t, she’d act as mediator by coming out here, asking me or Big Mac a question, then walking off before we could figure out what it was for.

That led to some interesting questions such as ‘can illusion magic make an actual fire give off purple light?’ and ‘can a druid rabbit count and read?’ or ‘how fast can Sister Garaele fix a broken violin?’

This time, Gilda walked up to us right as I flicked the apple core in the bushel. After assessing my shame, she started. “Yo Story? How many people are guarding the stables?”

I paused. “...What?”

“Nope. Can’t tell ya more than that.” Gilda crossed her arms, shaking her head.

“Well...You’re gonna have to,” I leveled with her. “I mean, it depends, I guess? What time is it? What counts as a ‘guard,’ exactly?”

Gilda opened her mouth but paused. “Um...One sec.” She turned and jogged back into the barn.

“What do they need at the stables?” Spike asked what we were all thinking.

I again shook off the feeling that I was about to answer a dog and thought aloud. “The only thing that they know is there are two oxen and a single horse. I don’t think the oxen would matter but, at this point, I have no clue.”

“Eenope.” Big Mac shook his head.

“Maybe the horse?” Spike offered.

“Okay, why though?”

Eventually, Gilda came back out. Flanked by Twilight and Fluttershy.

“Sorry that we keep bothering you like this,” Fluttershy apologized right away.

“I don’t blame you." I shrugged. "Besides, we’re distracted enough with this ‘Apple Chucking’ game Mac has.”

“Eeyup.”

“Too bad Story can’t make any points,” Spike added.

“Eenope.”

“You didn’t have to point that out,” I lamented as the three girls enjoyed my misery for a moment.

Twilight brought our attention back. “This is our last question. Who all works at the stable? Let’s say during the day.”

I thought it over for a moment. There wasn’t an answer from the book I was running this game from. So, like most other details about this town, I came up with the most reasonable answer.

“You’ve all seen the stablemaster a couple times now. He doesn’t have anyone working under him but for bigger jobs he’ll just ask people to give him a hand. He would’ve asked you to help unhitch and bring the oxen into individual stables.”

“Ox trapp— err, sorry. Nevermind,” Fluttershy trailed off.

“Did Platick see if Leanne brought a saddle for Tucker or if it was in the stable?”

“Neither. Horse was already saddled,” I gave away. “Stablemaster set the horse and wagon up and Leanne flipped a few copper pieces when they arrived. Basically, she checked out the horse.”

“Checked it out?” Twilight parroted, earning a nod from me. “Then, it’s not hers? We can rent it?” Then put a knuckle to her chin. “That’s good, actually.”

“What did you think you’d have to do?” I furrowed my brow.

“We thought we’d have to trick the stablemaster into thinking Leanne let us borrow it.”

My brow furrowed further. “Trick? Why not just a—” I saw Gilda’s flat look and cleared my throat. “Right. I’m doing it again. I’ll stop. Platick would’ve seen Leanne pass seven copper but that was for both wagon and horse.”

“Then, about three or four copper for just the horse,” Twilight mathed. “Okay. In that case, I think we’re all set. You can follow us back if you’d like.”

“Aw, but I was having so much fun getting creamed in Apple Chucking,” I said with a sarcastic grin.

She gave me a weak smile. “If it helps, I think you did better than I would have. About a week ago, Rainbow Dash challenged me to a soccer match. She kept calling it a rematch.”

“Rematch?” I blinked. “Did you play soccer at your old school? You mentioned you were a transfer too.”

“Never before that day.” She shrugged. “And, of course, I couldn’t get a single point on her. She even tried giving me a chance out of pity.”

“I hate when people try pulling that.” I frowned. “Makes me feel even worse.”

“Yeah.” Her smile turned even more sad. “...I still missed.”

“Ah, a fellow non-sporter, I see,” I said awkwardly on purpose.

“You can say that again,” Spike muttered, earning a small blush and glare from his owner.

“Ugh,” Gilda groaned. “You nerds need a training regimen or something.”

“NO,” us non-sporters declared in unison. Spike started laughing under his paw as we stood firm.

“Alright, alright, whatever. Let’s get this night over with.” Gilda turned around and walked back into the barn.

Big Mac gave us a humored look and followed Gilda in. Fluttershy followed, seemingly distracted but still giving us a small nod.

I glanced back at Twilight, and the dog standing beside her. “Um, also. How'd you get used to, erm, Spike? Talking, I mean?”

“It was...hmm,” Twilight hummed. “You know. I-I think I handled it pretty well.”

“If by 'well.' you mean running away from me and screaming,” Spike popped that bubble almost right away.

“Spike!” Twilight chided.

“What? That’s what happened, isn’t it?” The dog shrugged. Meanwhile, Twilight shied away as I cleared my throat to keep from giggling.

“On another topic,” Twilight shifted gears, walking into the barn as I and her loyal hound followed. “How far do you think we can get tonight?”

“I was thinking of that.” I focused myself. “I know what you’re in for, I know what your goals are. And if Sunset’s serious about you all staying as in-character as possible, I think I know how much time you'll have characters talk and rolepla...Err, recover,” I corrected.

Saying roleplay didn’t really sound right anymore. Not after the Sky-Space.

"And what about reaching Gundren and saving him?"

“Assuming things go relatively well, probably two or three games.”

Twilight took a breath. “Okay. Maybe by Thursday then.”

“Thur. Thursday?” I blinked. “What do you mean Thursday?”

“As much as we want to finish the game, we can’t play every day. We realized that when we were planning. Sunset and I determined we should figure out where the game relates to real life too.”

“And if you’re saying two games will be by Thursday, you want to stick to the schedule?”

“Right.”

By that point, we had reached the curtain acting as the room’s door and we both slipped in. As Twilight walked around, I noticed that she wasn’t going to her original seat. Actually, just about everyone was in a different seat.

I glanced down at the papers now spread in front of Twilight. I assumed it was notes on this plan they created but I had no idea. Mostly because a majority of the writing was moving and unreadable.

Gargling?

“Huh. That’s what that looks like,” I said aloud. It made Sunset and Twilight smirk.

“Like we thought,” Twilight gloated. “Even if it’s Story’s world, if he’s not aware of something the magic will distort it like it does for us.”

“Well, okay?” I frowned. “I mean, is that really gonna come up? I still know about everything else, don’t I?”

“Maybe, but at least we know the limits.” Sunset shrugged. “Except, you won’t know our plan until it happens.”

“That was the point of kicking me out.” I walked around them until I made it back to my seat. “Sooo. You girls ready?”

“Ready and set!” Pinkie cheered with an equally cheerful grin.

“Yeah, bring ‘em on,” Rainbow said, acting like nothing was wrong.

I took another breath and tried to pretend the same. “Okay. In that case, what are you doing first?”

The girls all shared a look between one another before unloading a massive number of preparations and requests. This forced me to start answering and roleplaying different scenes at a rapid pace. I welcomed the distraction. It kept me from thinking about the stress to come.

3rd Person POV
Phandalin

Once Platick and company got whatever information they wanted from the charmed Redbrand, they left the cellar and piled into the office above. From there, they hashed at a plan where none could hear them. It didn’t take long either. Maybe an hour at best to find something everyone agreed on. Once that was done, the group split up again to prepare everything.

To begin, Stostine made a beeline for the Shrine of Luck where she passed along a broken violin for Sister Garaele to mend. As the sister worked, Stostine then spoke with each artisan in town individually. Meanwhile, Vareén visited the town stables to rent Tucker the horse and Platick paid a visit to the Griffonbound Vendors as per Leanne’s earlier request.

The shop closed ten minutes later; a rarity no one had seen previously. Still, the day went on.

Vareén rode Tucker to the edge of town and built a hunting blind where her and her new horse wouldn’t be spotted. She could see both the Sleeping Giant and the forest trail leading towards the lodge.

Speaking of the Sleeping Giant, after Sister Garaele finished, Stostine passed the repaired violin to Ricven before he and Glemerr marched to the hostile bar. There weren’t any Redbrands when they arrived but, nevertheless, no one saw them for the remainder of the day. Stostine had also gone missing around this time.

Ravathyra was the only one that the townsfolk spotted from then on. She returned to the jail cellar for a short time before emerging with a stack of official notices signed by Townmaster Wester. They were for an immediate curfew which Rava enforced as she went door-to-door.

She informed everyone to not attract any attention tonight. Some townsfolk objected but for some reason the town artisans backed Rava up. They even closed their own shops early like the Griffonbound Vendors.

With all the shops and Stonehill Inn closed for the day, no one had reason to object. Rava even managed to gather volunteers to deliver the news to the outer farms, ranches, and mines. No one was to be out after sundown.

Her job complete, Ravathyra hurried to the Sleeping Giant and closed the door behind her. Like the gnome and half-orc, she was never seen after that.

As the first few streaks of orange coated the sky, a quartet of Redbrands arrived to enjoy a short round of drinks before the night arrived. It was shorter than they thought.

A few minutes after they entered, the owner of the bar, a frustrated Dwarven woman, left the building in a huff. Some townsfolk saw her from their windows as she marched straight home without locking up.

Those were all the events the people of Phandalin witnessed that day. Although, as this occurred, more events transpired as the Redbrands had their own developments. The first was learning about the capture of one of their captains, Anbera. Then, they heard of the Townmaster's betrayal. This sent the Redbrands in a rage as Platick predicted.

About the same time, the one Redbrand that escaped Stostine and the others at Stonehill Inn crawled through the entrance of the lodge, bleeding profusely. He was treated and managed to recount his story of Stostine and Ricven. How the fancy-robed woman had frozen spit while the singing gnome could melt brains.

If Anbera’s capture caught the Redbrands’ attention, the magic casters attracted their leader; Glasstaff.

Another captain was called into Glasstaff’s chamber and five minutes later that captain returned with a clear goal: Kill them all. And if any of the other outsiders were magic, all the more reason. Glasstaff wouldn’t take any chances. He feared they may have used enchantment magic to make Anbera or the others speak of his necromancy. His paranoia was correct.

But before the captain was prepared, there was one last thing. Another Redbrand checking the perimeter discovered the corpse of a bugbear skewered to a tree in the woods outside a back entrance.

The bandits didn't know how it was done and so they had no reason to suspect it was Thorn Wielder; a Cortássian myth at best. Instead, they assumed the half-orc was the only one strong enough to lift and hook the goblinoid to a tree. They took it as a challenge.

Believing this, the captain gathered more forces. Which meant nearly all the Redbrands. There were now more of them heading to town then there were remaining at the hideout. Still, Glasstaff’s experiments and the other bugbears kept the place well defended without them.

As the orange-streaked sky slowly faded to dark blue, and then starlit from beyond the heavy clouds, the Redbrands and the outsiders unleashed their plans.

A thin trail stretched through the forest between the lodge and town. The trees were not so densely packed. To anyone watching, it was easy to spot torchlight bobbing down the hill. And when the light came near town, no one noticed the auburn bunny poking its head out of a bush. It took a moment to count the Redbrands marching on before taking off ahead of them as fast as its legs could scurry.

Every Redbrand appeared armed to the teeth. Each with a crossbow and a full set of bolts over top of their leather armor as well as a single blade. Half of them had short swords while the others had freshly cleaned scimitars.

Most of the group were human with a couple Dwarves and even a halfling thrown into the mix. But leading the militia into town was the captain; a humanoid that looked more militarized than any of them.

He was a tiefling.

EARLIER

"Those other captains." Platick approached the charmed Redbrand and sat across the table from him. "Would you kindly start talking. Who are they? How many? What can they do?"

As Ricven's magic wafted across the man's eyes, the Redbrand nodded, building up the courage to betray his bosses. "There's three in total. Well, two now. Ya already know Anbera."

The Dwarven captain silently flipped off her now ex co-worker.

"She's pretty sturdy. If she actually had yer friend’s armor, she mighta been tougher than Stalwart."

"Tougher than Stalwart?" Rava blinked. "That some sorta phrase 'round 'ere?"

"Nah. That's the name a' the other captain." The man started charading horns sprouting his forehead. "Man's a tieflin'. Used ta be a soldier 'til he got thrown out. Least, that's the story."

"Neva met a tieflin' before," Glemerr muttered.

"They occasionally have a sour reputation," Stostine informed her. "They are quite a rare sight in Leodaav-proper since they live to the south in nomadic communities. They typically get odd looks thanks to their appearance. Crimson or maroon skin, horns from their heads, and eyes made of only a single color."

"..." Glemerr scratched the back of her neck. "Ah guess dat sounds sorta...erm?"

"Demonic?" Rava smirked. "Not far off, really. Tieflin's are born from families wit' demonic blood in their hist'ry. One a' me friends is a tieflin', matter o’ fact."

"Pfft. Holy warrior friends with a demon? Well, how do ya do irony," Ricven joked.

"Laugh all ya want." Rava let herself smile for a second. "But Tinker's a nice lass. Just 'cause they got demonic blood, it don't make a tieflin’ a demon. But when they get bad eggs..."

When the words settled in, Platick stared back at the bandit. "That leaves the third captain. They the underhanded type?"

"Hehehe. Uh, we're all pretty underhanded," the bandit jeered. He stopped smiling when he met Platick’s gaze.

"I meant, are they the kind that can sneak around easily? Maybe likes stabbing people in the back? See in the dark?"

The Redbrand nodded after a moment. "Y-Yeah. I’d say that fits. Honestly, I don't know too much 'bout them. Anbera an’ Stalwart were part a' the Redbrands from the start. The third one came recently."

Stostine furrowed her brow. "Platick? You have a theory?"

"A running one."

Stalwart marched with a determined gait. His black hair had long grown out from a buzz cut and was framed by a pair of bright red horns growing from his forehead and over his ears. He also had a set of scale mail cleaned to perfection. Same as the longsword at his side or brass shield on his back.

The thugs following behind were much lazier. Everyone’s armor was loose or scuffed in such a way where they were as filthy as the stained red cloaks they were forced to wear. They acted nothing like trained footmen. More like barbarians treating tonight’s ‘work’ with this odd mixture of frustration and joviality wafted from them. In some way, all of them were ready to destroy or terrify these outsiders.

Stalwart didn’t join them. Instead, he stayed silent as he guided them with a torch held in his tight grip. He didn’t need the flame to see in the dark, but it did well to illuminate the fury across his face.

Eventually, the town came into view and Stalwart noticed something instantly. The town was dead. No home had so much as a candle alight and no one was outside. Even after taking over the bar, the townsfolk would simply gather at the inn instead. But not tonight.

The only building with its lights on was their own Sleeping Giant. Even from the trail, Stalwart noticed the fireplace illuminating the windows. Not only that, the bar’s double doors were wide open. They let a bright light spill onto the street in a crisp rectangle.

"Rynelle," Stalwart called. The gang went silent as the Redbrand sporting that name stepped forward. A halfling woman with a mean scowl and an army of freckles on her cheeks.

"Aye Stalwart?" She walked until she was beside her captain and then worked to match pace with him.

"Yonic, Tristen, Glaif, and Evan. Did they ever come back?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "I told 'em not to run off for drinks. Sun was setting at the time."

Stalwart's jaw settled as he quickly put it all together "What are the chances they're all too drunk to remember my orders?"

Rynelle juggled the idea for a moment. "Slim. Takes more than a few hours ta get Glaif tipsy."

He huffed. "Everyone? They’ve taken the bar."

Swears and groans spread from the Redbrands with a few cocky chuckles for good measure.

"They're expecting us,” Stalwart announced. “Ready your crossbows. Kill whatever moves."

Most of the group obliged, save for one. A Dwarf scratching at his beard. "Anythin'? What if it's jus' people? Ah thought ya said ya didn’ like strikin’ folk."

“I don’t, but Glasstaff made this especially clear. We’re to do whatever it takes to hunt down those casters. If someone’s housing them, it’s time we made examples.”

The Dwarf breathlessly nodded along, readying his crossbow like everyone else as they all followed Stalwart into town.

About a minute later, they spilled from the tree line like a blood puddle. The Sleeping Giant was maybe seventy feet away; a prime reason they claimed it as their own.

Once in the open, Stalwart held up his balled fist in a gesture. The Redbrands obeyed, forming a sphere-like formation with crossbows aimed outward. It was one of the few tactics Stalwart managed to teach them.

The group stayed like that for a time, staring into the void surrounding them. The humans among them couldn’t see anything since the moon hid behind thick clouds. But that didn’t stop the Dwarves and their leader.

“...No one’s around,” one Dwarf whispered. “Stalwart?”

The tiefling hummed, holding up five fingers before giving a two finger point to the Sleeping Giant. The bandits quickly came up with five volunteers made of four humans and Rynelle.

They walked past Stalwart only to make it five feet before the first guy’s boot fell through a hole, twisting his ankle as he fell screaming until dirt was shoved down his throat. His crossbow impacted against the earth and fired into the sky.

Stalwart blinked, stepping forward and holding out his torch. Ahead of the group was a good dozen or so potholes haphazardly covered by leaves. Then, to Stalwart’s left, were the numbers ‘0’ through ‘9’ drawn in the dirt with a discarded stick nearby. Tiny paw prints were visibly stomped on top of the ‘1’ and ‘9.’

Recently drawn, the captain remarked. What for?

The fallen Redbrand groaned, peeling his face off the ground before spitting the dirt out of his mouth. In front of him, an auburn bunny raised a tiny paw and wiped the spit and dirt from its face. Then it stared up at him.

“H-Huh?” He cocked his head. “A rabbit?”

Stalwart and the others turned, watching in confusion as the rabbit hopped that tiny bit closer to the man.

Aren’t rabbits supposed to be shy? Wait. Stalwart frowned. Then he brought the torch closer. Wrapped around the rabbit’s front right leg was a thin thorny stem that coiled and flowed like a spider’s thread.

That’s not a rabbit, Stalwart’s mind alarmed him.

Now, not many have heard a bunny hiss. Typically, people expect bunnies to squeak in this cutesy manner. But as this hare bared its sharp incisors, it let out this horrifyingly sharp sound that made the grown man shuffle away and draw a scimitar.

"AHHHH,” the man squealed. “DEMON RABBIT!" He got to one knee and raised his scimitar. But the rabbit, rather than flee, instead stood on its hind legs and kept hissing like a blood demon.

“No. Wait!” Stalwart commanded. “Stop! Don't swing at the—"

It couldn’t be helped. The man swung wildly, striking the unmoving mammal in the hip before the rabbit erupted in a brief flash of wind as a Cortássian elf appeared in the same place.

Thorn Wielder stared down at the kneeling man and then to every other Redbrand behind him as they processed. And as they did, Thorn brought out her arms, the palms of her hands poised to clap as a luminescent aura appeared. Like glowing mushrooms.

Oh no. Stalwart quickly brought out its shield, holding it up just in time as Thorn spoke.

“Demon. Bunny,” she corrected and brought her hands together.

KRAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The shockwave tore through and beyond the first line, throwing bodies and breaking bones as they collided against one another.

Stalwart lived up to his namesake but even with his shield raised he felt the vibrations surf past the metal and through his arm as his fingers rattled and cracked against the force.

When the ringing in his ears reached an apex, Stalwart glanced behind him. Three of his eighteen followers lay dead or useless with limbs bent at awkward angles.

Rynelle struggled to stand at her full height, front foot bent at ninety degrees. She bit into her lip to fight the pain, leveling her crossbow at the Cortássian. "Wrong move, you bi—"

The halfling didn't finish as an arrow found buried itself in her throat, nearly wrenching her head off her body. Her crossbow triggered, shooting a bolt into the ground beside Thorn’s bare foot.

“Didn’t quite catch that,” Vareén half-shouted from the darkness. “Wanna try again?”

Beyond the torchlight, the two Dwarves and Stalwart spotted a horse stepping out of a large collection of greenery. Atop it was two riders. One was an elf with a bow and newly acquired arrow already notched while another was a human dressed in light blue robes. Both had their hoods down.

The robed woman held up a bag of sand and cast Light onto it, revealing their appearance so even the humans could see them.

“Attention Redbreads,” Stostine shouted with no intention of coming closer. “You are outmatched! Surrender now and we can end this without any senseless violence!”

Stalwart sneered as did most of the group behind him. “You expect us to believe that don’t you? You just killed three of my men with your ‘senseless violence.’ If anything, this was a declaration!”

“Revenge? That's your play?” Scoffed Vareén. “You don’t get that excuse. Your thugs have blood on their hands. adventurers and innocents.”

Stalwart harrumphed. “You’re referring to that former guard my men stole away.”

“His name was Thel,” Vareén cut in sharply.

“Of course. Apologies.” Stalwart had no empathy. “Regardless, I’m well aware of Thel and that night. Rest assured, the criminals responsible were beheaded that next morning. I saw to that myself. You’re welcome.”

Stostine took a moment to squirm behind Vareén, trying to control a sudden fit of coughing as her Light spell flickered.

Vareén glanced over her shoulder. “Keep it together. We’re on a job here.”

“A-A job...Right. A...A job." Her coughing quickly subsided as the Light spell surged back to full strength. And in that light, Vareén watched Stostine raise her head again. Except, as she did, her eyes and magic glowed with this unusual pink tint.

Wait, what? Vareén blinked. That’s...not normal.

Stostine blinked a few times then abruptly scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah? And what about Mirna and her daughters? You kill whoever locked them in your basement too?”

Stalwart didn’t answer that time. Only glared from across the way.

“That’s what I thought,” Stostine mocked, her pink irises intensifying. “You think you can just make yourself judge and executioner like that? That you can be above everyone else? That you got some sick right to raise the death count however you want?! That is not how this works! Which is why we already sent a letter to Agix.”

That earned all of the thug’s attention. They all paused for a moment before Stalwart found his mind once more.

Then he started to chuckle. “You do realize how little that matters, yes? Agix is nearly two weeks away, even by horse. By the time they get it and send someone out here, a month will have already passed. Your cherished law isn’t nearly swift enough.”

“It is when we use magic paper,” Stostine countered. The Redbrands’ cocky attitude dashed as Stalwart glared.

“What?”

“That letter'll arrive by morning,” Stostine went on. “And I’d imagine they’ll be puhhhh-lenty swift. Especially when we might’ve let slip about all your extortion and necromancy! Whoops-il-dop~” she cooed sarcastically.

Vareén watched most of Redbrands turning their attention on the two of them. "You can stop now Stostine."

Stalwart closed his eyes. Glasstaff was right. They probably charmed the others into revealing everything. This is bad.

Meanwhile, the Redbrands started rioting. They yelled extremities and insults at Stostine as Stalwart thought carefully. That is until his mind was interrupted by a nervous Dwarf's voice.

“U-Uh, boss?" The Dwarf stammered. "Ah think she might be tellin’ the truth. Ya. Y-Ya think, maybe, we should rethink things a bit?”

Stalwart sighed. That won’t do. He dropped his torch and readied his hand crossbow at the Dwarf. “No, thank you. Goodbye, Yernal.”

Gasping, Stostine quickly licked her fingers, forming the spittle into a chunk of Ice Knife. Stalwart was about to fire but noticed the Ice Knife whistling at him and switched targets.

He brought up his crossbow and fired. The two projectiles shattered against one another as wood chips and ice shards rained down on the tiefling; yet only a few shards scraped against his scalp.

Sunset bit her lip, realizing that was her last spell beyond cantrips. “Um. How does he look now?”

Story glanced at his notes and then the moving scene of Stalwart staring back at Stostine and Vareén on the screen.

He looked back at the girls. “In a word? Inconvenienced.”

He reached for a pencil and some dice. “Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset? Initiative.”

“Wait, only them?” Rainbow sat up. Story nodded. “Can we go help?” Rainbow reached for a die of her own. “We heard the Thunderblast thing too, right? We know they’re fighting!”

“Awww, it’ll be all good Rava,” Pinkie argued with a grin and Glemerr’s voice. “It’s all accordin’ ta Platick’s cool plan! We just gotta wait our turn so we can knock ‘em flat!”

“MIss Glem, darlin’, I think yer gettin’ a little too inta this,” Rarity remarked with Ricven. “Oh, an’ Story? I’d like ta ready my violin and the bag a’ herbs.”

“Granted.” He nodded before rolling. And as he did, over a dozen dull red tendrils sprouted from the DM screen. Amongst them all was a brighter red tendril the size of a king cobra.

“Uhh, girls?” Story leaned back, his voice cracking. “Is this new or...?”

“Harmless,” Twilight promised him. “So far, they only move and point at whoever’s targeted. More illusion magic.”

As Twilight spoke, the girls watched their side of the DM screen blink off like a TV screen with a single image in the bottom left corner. The familiar scene of Warlord Klarg and his pet wolf Ripper knocked out in a heap.

Then, everyone watched as magic trails wisped from Twi, Fluttershy, and Sunset into the screen. Story stood up, leaning over the screen to watch as new images formed.

Twilight and Sunset’s aura blended together as it struck the screen to form their image. One of Vareén and Stostine atop Tucker the horse. Stostine held her bag of sand in one hand with ice crystallizing along her other hand’s fingers. Meanwhile, Vareén lined up another shot with her bow with her black hair blowing behind her.

Simultaneously, Thorn Wielder appeared from Fluttershy’s magic, standing there with her arms outstretched. Her hands and vines glowed with a magic akin to luminescent fabric riding the wind.

Then, the red tendrils sent weak pulses of aura back into the screen, forming a final image. An army of Redbrand silhouettes looming over the three girls as their red gleaming eyes and cloaks were the only points of color.

Finally, at the front of those Redbrands was a man with horns, longsword, and shield. It was obviously Stalwart but, again, the only color and detail was with his cloak and eyes. But where each Redbrand member had red eyes, Stalwarts were a deep purple.

That last detail, coupled with Stalwart’s demon-esque silhouette, gave Twilight a brief relapse of dread before she refocused herself.

“O-kay..." Story hummed, counting up his dice as he bit his lip. The three girls looked equally worried at their own dice but for an opposite reason.

Story glanced up. “Well...Did, uh...Did any of you roll higher than a nineteen?”

Twi, Sunset, and Shy grimaced somewhat before looking between each other and their dice. Everyone else around them slowly earned this realization that their squishiest member and two friends were facing off against fifteen bad guys.

All with loaded crossbows.

Story clicked his tongue and wiped his face, dreading every second of what was to follow. “Stalwart gives the order.”

“If you don't want to be Glasstaff’s next project, kill them all!” Stalwart roared, forcing everyone, even the cautious Dwarf, to return fire.

With the Cortássian only ten feet away, most of the crossbows fired at her. Seeing the volley, Thorn brought up her shield and knelt low, watching as a few bolts whistled through where her head was while two more plinked off her wooden shield.

But she wasn’t safe. While one bandit’s weapon jammed, the two thugs beside him hit their mark. One bolt stabbed below Thorn’s knee while another glided against her shoulder. She nearly fell back as she cried out in pain.

Vareén and Stostine were dealt the rest. Most of the shots went wide as the distance between the criminals and girls worked in their favor. But thanks to Stostine’s light, the bandits had a chance.

Stostine took one to the thigh and screamed wildly, her pink eyes and Light spell flickering but it wasn’t as bad as Vareén. She took two to the center of the chest, making all the air leave her lungs as she struggled to stay conscious.

Stalwart stepped forward, hooking the hand crossbow back on his belt and drew out his longsword. He leveled it at Thorn Wielder.

“Thanks for playing your hand,” he said bitterly. “We didn’t know the knife-eared Cortássian was magic too. Not that I need a reason to kill you.”

Thorn Wielder stood at her full height, ignoring the blood dripping down her arm and leg.

“Hurry up, devil-kissed,” she spat in elven. Stalwart obliged.

Stalwart rushed in, brass shield ready to mallet Thorn to the ground. But despite her knee, Thorn did the very same. With her own wooden shield, she lunged and the two collided in a standoff.

It was short-lived and Stalwart won instantly. With one step, he took Thorn off her rhythm and readied his sword to bisect her. In a swift decision, Thorn bent backward as though to limbo, dodging the swing but teetering to keep on her heels.

So, the tiefling capitalized again. Leaning into a shoulder bash, he clocked Thorn in the sternum. Her legs flailed beneath her, falling to a kneel that forced her open wound to land on top of the gravelly road.

Thorn let out a mad wail until she registered Stalwart readying his blade to silence her. With both arms, she held up her shield and caught the force while her knee further grinded into the path. It and her shield looked miserable, but Thorn brought all her strength into pushing the tiefling away.

Stalwart debated whether to discard his shield to focus on offense but thought better of it when he heard the druidic chants accompanying the building aura around the elf’s arms.

It was her turn.

“Get. AWAY,” Thorn roared, slamming her fists into the ground.

A second shockwave rumbled across the earth and against Stalwart’s legs. His shins nearly snapped from the force as he slid back a considerable distance along with a few of his troops.

When his boots finally caught ground, Stalwart again looked behind him. The Redbrands were bruised but no more of them were dead this time. Still, the ragdolling bodies tumbling about weren’t reassuring.

Thorn took a deep breath, her form suddenly shifting into that of an auburn doe with vines around her front right leg. And with four uninjured legs beneath her, she readied herself to run.

However, before doing so, she paused to match the gaze of Vareén and Stostine.

“Alright! Good job Thorn,” Stostine cheered, a foreign air of cockiness and fear in her voice. “We-We’ll take these losers from here! Don’t let them catch you!”

“YIIIIIiiihhh!” The deer cried out something between a caw and a squeak before bolting towards the Sleeping Giant’s open doors.

Vareén gave Stostine a look as she spoke in a raspy, weak voice that sounded like a chainsmoker. “Okay, now I know you’re faking it.”

“Pfft! As if,” Stostine scoffed with a waving hand. “Trust in the plan, Var-Var! Fourteen crossbows later and the three of us are still perfectly—OH SWEET ILMATER, HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!”

Stostine’s pink irises faded back to her usual dull gold as she held a hand over her mouth. Without shame, she stared at the two bolts half embedded in Vareén’s torso as it seemed inhumanly deflated: her armor noticeably looser.

“It...It’s fine,” Vareén promised with no breath to her words as she forced herself to ready an arrow. “But one’s...against my lung...”

“Your lung?!” Stostine cleared her throat, forcing herself not to let her sickness get the best of her. “What do you mean your lu—” The mage was cut off from the sound of violins strings screeching out the Sleeping Giant.

Ricven's 'Battle Music.'

Thorn Wielder jumped off her hooves, diving through the entrance as the heavy strings of a violin expelled from the pub the same time that ominous purple lights spilled from the windows and door. It looked like a demon eager to consume whoever entered.

One Redbrand finished reloading her crossbow just in time for an arrow to stop her heart. Simultaneously, a blast of fire struck another Redbrand, incinerating his arm before he fell over in a screaming mess. The focus from the Redbrands was officially torn between the girls and Thorn Wielder.

Stalwart stood up and turned to those remaining. “Half of you to the bar! The rest of you? On them! Don't leave a single survivor!”

Stostine watched six of them start running after them and looked back to her ally. “Vareén, we need to go!”

Vareén didn’t answer right away, instead taking one of the embedded bolts in her hand and plucking it out of her. Stostine went to cover her eyes but not before noticing the coagulated blood coating the tip.

“I know,” she finally announced with a deep breath. Vareén then tossed the bolt aside, grabbing the reins and spinning Tucker around, taking off.

“Okay! Are you back to normal?!” Vareén half-shouted.

“Normal? Me?!” Stostine cocked an eyebrow. “You have a bolt in your heart!”

“Nope. Not heart,” Vareén corrected shortly. “Feels like it though. Now, hold this and don’t drop it.” Vareén pressed her bow into Stostine’s hands, made sure Tucker wasn’t slowing down, and finally took an arrow from her quiver and used it as a mouth guard.

"I’hm go’na ha’e thish," she muttered before quickly wrenching the bolt free, a string of jelly-like blood hanging between the bolt’s head and her ribcage. Vareén started doubling over, screaming into her arrow.

Behind her, Stostine skipped the coughing fit altogether. Seeing this, she started heaving and holding her mouth closed only for Vareén to turn and glare.

“I swear to the Traveler, you puke on me, I’m throwing you off this horse and trampling you with it!”

Their bickering was cut off by a couple bolts whizzing past them. Vareén whipped the reins, driving Tucker faster just as another bolt passed through the stallion’s legs.

Stostine tightened one arm around Vareén and clutched the bow and glowing bag of sand in the other. “I’m okay! I’m okay, I’m sorry!” she breathed. “We need to lure as many of them away as we can!”

“But do we really need your magic Light?!” Vareén glared over her shoulder for a moment. “It’s literally making us a target!”

“Most of them are human!” Stostine’s voice fell into a scream as she ducked down from a flying bolt, pulling Vareén back in the process. “They couldn’t see us otherwise!”

“Then shoot them first,” Vareén demanded. “I can’t, I’ve never shot from a moving horse before!”

“Okay! Yes, right, I can do tha—"

“...Stostine?” Vareén called back, turning around again to spot Stostine’s distant expression as a bolt jutted out of her upper back. The Light on the bag of sand vanished entirely.

No, Vareén screamed to herself.

“V. V-Var...Help." Stostine brought up a hand as the movement of the horse had her falling off the back of it.

Sunset watched as a void of color spread across her character sheet and then across the table around it. Despite none of the girls able to see it, Pinkie and Rainbow quickly recognized what was happening.

Although Story saw the spreading void splotch along with Sunset. Without needing it explained, he quickly caught on to what it resembled. Stostine was dying.

“Can I grab onto her?” Twilight about begged. “Keep her from falling?”

But Sunset bit her lip, regretting her initial thought. “Wait. Would Vareén even do that?”

“Yes. She would,” Twilight wasted no time. “Story. Can I?”

Story thought it over carefully, doing his best to clear his mind of all the magic to figure out what he would normally do. After a moment, he decided.

“Make me an athletics check,” he decided, Twilight acting immediately. One roll later and her die didn’t even bother glowing from the ‘5’ displayed on top. And the ‘+1’ on the table also seemed reluctant to show up.

“...Six?” Twilight squeaked.

Story nodded solemnly. “Okay. Next question then. It’s important. Which one do you hold onto? The reins? Or Stostine?”

“Stostine,” Twilight, again, wasted no time, earning an uncertain glance from Sunset.

Story refocused his nerves again, hoping the girls’ planning didn’t just get destroyed. “As you reach out for her..."

Vareén threw out a hand, clutching Stostine’s in a death grip as she tried to pull. Still, the mage girl was dead weight and despite Vareén’s best effort, she was pulled tight between her passenger and Tucker’s reins.

The horse took this as a motion to halt and abruptly reared back, sliding the girls off his back and sprawled across the ground. And when Vareén’s let go of the reins, a bolt tagged the poor horse’s ear and sent him into a frenzy as he abandoned his riders into the night.

Vareén stared down at Stostine, turning her on her side so the bolt wouldn’t sink deeper. “Come on, be alive,” she mumbled, glancing up to see a bobbing torch and several figures beneath it.

Vareén assessed her chances, starting with the bandits closing in. Six of them. Four humans, two Dwarves. Over a hundred feet away. Not far from the bar, shit. She eyed the Sleeping Giant next. About 200 ft away and the heavy purple light silhouetted a mosh pit in the doorway.

They can handle it, Vareén decided, next turning to the mage in her arms.

Stostine’s eyelids fought to stay open as she remained unresponsive. She had Vareén’s bow firmly grasped in one hand as the other began to turn cold. The bolts in her back and thigh helped to plug her wounds.

Vareén went back and forth between Stostine and the bandits, ducking low to dodge an incoming bolt from one of the Dwarves. All the while, her face betrayed every negative emotion she knew.

“I...You...Urrrrgh!” She growled, reaching for the tiny glass bottle on her hip.

Earlier

“Is it really wise only sending the three of us to confront them?” Stostine asked, doubtful of the plan Platick was reviewing.

“I couldn’t think of any three people more frustrating to deal with,” Platick admitted.

“She meant it’s a stupid gamble sending only us,” Vareén translated. “Two people in this group are built for handling large groups and you're putting them somewhere else.”

“They wouldn’t last.” Platick shook his head. “Ravathyra’s well armored but slow moving. They’ll have crossbows. They’ll back up and make her a pincushion.”

“Now tha’ ain’t fair. It’d take a lil’ more than tha’!” Rava crossed her arms and huffed.

“Meanwhile, Glemerr’s fast but headstrong. If those thugs say the wrong thing, she won’t bother retreating. She’ll stay and get killed.”

“Ah still think we just meet ‘em outside fer a good ol’ fashion’ thrashin’,” Glemerr argued. Then she chuckled. “Heheh. Fashion’ thrashin’. Dat rhymed.”

“Glemerr, they are not mindless,” Stostine spoke up. “If this Stalwart is supposed to be some sort of former troop leader, he will expect that. More than likely, he would have them focus attention on one of us at a time. Platick, your plan is smart. I am just unsure about the roles you decided.”

“Which is why we need to split them up. Meaning, distance and speed. Vareén’s bow and Stostine’s magic do exactly that. Meanwhile, if Thorn can turn into something fast, she can rile them up and back up.”

“But, again, we are not that strong. A couple unlucky hits and we will be gone.”

“...Ricven?” Vareén looked over to the gnome tapping his fingers together anxiously. After they were done here, they would fix his violin next. “You have that other potion, yeah? Pass it over.”

“It’s the last one,” Ricven warned. “And everyone’s outta magic healin’. What if we need it?”

“Come on Ricven, have some faith in us,” Rava teased. “Ya really think me an’ Glem are goin’ down?”

Glemerr grinned. “Not a chance! Plus, both a’ us got med kits now! Who needs yer fancy potion?!”

Platick nodded. “They have a good point. Give it to Vareén.”

The gnome shrugged. “Alrighty. If yer all so sure.”

Vareén popped the cork off the potion bottle and forced the contents down Stostine’s throat. At the same time, Vareén reached around and carefully worked the bolt out of her back. The potion helping to body push the foreign object cleanly.

Suddenly, Stostine drew a sharp hiss and leaned up, flinching in pain as her back did its best to seal her wound.

Stostine gave out a few more groans and gasps as Vareén quickly scooped up her bow and grabbed a new arrow. “You alive?”

“urghh...mm-hmm,” she whimpered with a nod.

“Good.” Vareén turned and stared at one of the Redbrands running towards them. “Pluvv.” The veins around her eyes all popped out slightly as she drew her arrow back.

Stostine crawled up to her feet, speaking a word of magic before her hand was engulfed in flames. A new bolt fired from one of the humans who found them thanks to the fire but missed like an apple thrown at a bushel.

Stostine didn’t have that problem. With a flick of her wrist, she returned fire, literally, incinerating the one that shot at her. They fell to the ground as the five remaining Redbrands sprinted towards where they saw the fire originate.

“That marks seven dead. And five more on us,” Stostine counted. “That means team House Rock has—”

“Has six crooks and their leader,” Vareén cut in. Why did we let Glemerr choose team names? she thought.

“They should be fine,” Stostine said to her own benefit. “I mean, Rava knocked out three of them single-handedly. They should be fine.”

“You already said that,” Vareén lamented as another bolt launched at them. Both of them side-stepped in opposite directions as it flew between them and into the dirt.

Vareén aimed her bow as her darkvision helped to spot three figures made a blind dash for them in the darkness. A single Dwarf took his time as he reloaded.

“It’s not them I’m concerned about.” Vareén took a breath and stepped in front of Stostine, preparing for the idiots that brandished short swords and scimitars. “I’m worried about us.”

Author's Note

I debated whether or not to put this Note on the top or bottom of the chapter because I wanted to mention something:

The sections of the story that are like this? Well, I tried using them in two ways this time. One for flashbacks and another for watching the girls back at the table.

For the flashbacks, I always started them with putting EARLIER centered at the top of those sections. I wanted to do that since the girls' plan wasn't going to be explained. Instead, glimpses of their plan will be sprinkled in with their characters.

I want to know if this works for all of you or, rather, if it makes sense. Please let me know.

Also, I can finally put out Vareén's character sheet! I have been sitting on this for a while and, while parts of it have to be garbled, I can at least put it up now. I'm curious to see what you guys think about it.

That said, this is only the beginning of the fight. I have the whole thing written already and, it's. Well, it's uh...It's—⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚ ⌰'⌿ ⎐⍀⎍⎍⏚.

(28) Face Off

Platick’s POV
Griffonbound Vendor
Two Minutes Before Ambush

Leanne and I set ourselves up on either side of a table in the show room with heavy cloth blocking every window. We even secured the edges to the frame so even candlelight wouldn’t shine out.

I originally thought Leanne would resist; to refuse to close her shop for the day. I mean, she certainly was at first. But after a small argument, she eventually relented and did as I asked. Not without a price though.

That last thought crossed my mind as she sat opposite of the table she set up for us, idly playing with my fifteen gold pieces. She was adamant about turning a profit with the supplies we recovered and paying her off was the only option I had.

Someone better pay me that money back, I groaned inwardly.

“You keep eyeing it like that,” she mocked. “I’m gonna start getting jealous.”

“You’re kidding.” I rolled my eyes. “You keep messing with it every chance you get. It’s getting annoying.”

“Well, what if we made tonight more interesting?” She picked one of the coins up and showed it to me, keeping it between her two fingers. “How’s about for each question you answer, I give you one back? Then everybody’s happy.”

“No thanks.” I held out my hand. “But that was a question. One gold piece.”

She pouted but said nothing more as she flicked the coin into my palm.

That worked? I avoided showing my surprise as I slipped the gold in a pocket.

“Welp, I give up. You’re no fun,” she declared before standing up from her seat.

I curled an eyebrow. “You expected me to be fun?”

“Oh, I dunno~” She shrugged, walking behind the counter as she went. “I guess, you know, the thought of being trapped in a candlelit setting with a literal strapping rogue protecting me would be...Meh, romantic? Urgh, sounds even dumber out loud.”

“Romantic?” I scoffed. “I know I left you in the dark but you really think that’s why I—”

“Yeah, yeah, stuff it,” Leanne huffed while she searched the shelves beneath the counter. A second later, she stood back up with a bottle of brandy in her hands. “Forget I said any of that. Care for a drink?”

She presented the bottle like it was a family heirloom. And, honestly, it might have been to most families. The glass itself was well crafted with a square bottom, large body, and a diamond-scale design beneath the neck. Meanwhile, the label was just as eye-catching, with a name any noble in Leodaav would recognize: Fressec Adamado; a long retired winery from the western coast.

I couldn’t help but whistle at the sight of it.

“I know.” Her grin was cocky. “I’ve only had it for about a week but a few sips add up. Still, I wouldn’t mind having a real reason to enjoy it, if you know what I mean.”

Leanne swished the contents inside to make her point. The seal was broken and it was missing a fifth of the contents but I didn’t think any less of it.

“Where do you get something like that?”

“Someone in town,” she admitted. “He wanted to give his wife a gift but he didn’t have much money. So we came to an understanding.”

Really? Poor guy. Well, actually, poor wife. That’s probably the best gift in town.

I gave a shrug, hiding my interest in the bottle. “His loss then.”

She nodded, placing it on the counter with a clunk. “So what do ya say? Wanna brush off a round or two.”

Before I could answer, the entire shop trembled as the supplies and trinkets littering the shelves threatened to shatter onto the ground far below. And along with the tremor came a huge crack of thunder as well.

Leanne clutched the bottle tightly, more than a little surprised as her head swiveled in every direction. “What in the sweet name of the Tra...Wh-What was that?”

I nodded to myself and stood up from my chair. Next, after picking it up, I walked towards the door with it. “That, was the signal.”

“Signal?” She blinked. “Signal for what?”

I stopped at the entrance and wedged the chair underneath the doorknob. And for good measure I pulled out a short coil of rope and took off a picture frame to reveal a nail. Then, I tied the knob down to said nail.

No one was coming in or out.

“Platick?” Her voice sounded like what you’d expect a raised eyebrow to sound like. “What are you doing?”

I didn’t get the chance to answer as a second Thunderwave rattled the building and town. This time, neither of us expected it. However, I did my best not to let it show.

There was only supposed to be one. I glared at my handiwork. How did they already botch the plan?

“The. Th-Those were from your friends, right?” Leanne questioned. “Some of the townsfolk mentioned sounds like that from the inn earlier. Are they okay? Is this some sort of plan or something?”

“Meh. Doesn’t matter anymore,” I admitted. “I didn’t have much faith in them anyways.”

As I turned around, I saw Leanne watch me with a mix of worry and confusion over her face.

Up till now, I left her entirely in the dark with what I was doing here. I simply told her she needed to close for the day and I bribed her to do it. Then, Ravathyra stopped by to pass off an officially signed curfew notice to defeat any reason Leanne had of opening up again.

Ravathyra also pulled Leanne off to the side and said a few things out of ear shot. Ever since, Leanne kept treating this like a date. Yay me.

But really, Leanne was smart. She realized we were all up to something. And seeing as how the Redbrands went after us originally, it wasn’t hard to figure out we were targeting them. I figured the date was more to get under my skin.

“W-Well?” Leanne finally gave me this odd look. “Shouldn’t you go help them?! What if those thugs get the better of them?”

“Nothing I do would help them more,” I started, returning to the table in the center of the room. I then sat in Leanne’s former seat and stared back at her. “Than to stay right here with you.”

Leanne opened her mouth but no words came out. Instead, she blinked a few times, her face contorting into this confused stare. “...Huh?”

“Let me ask you something.” I leaned over and put the gold piece she gave me back into the pile of gold she had. Let’s see if she honors her own game. “Can you see in the dark?”

Leanne squinted her eyes, now looking at me like I was a crazy person. “What?”

Huh. Question with a question. I reached back and reclaimed my coin again. “I said, can you see in the dark?” I shrugged. “Honest question.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” She said boredly. She watched me take a second coin and rolled her eyes. “No. I can’t see in the dark. I’m human, like you.”

“Trust me, that hardly matters,” I said with an eyeroll. It doesn’t stop Stostine anyways.

“Just curious,” I excused. “You see, back at the cave, you snuck up on me pretty well. I know when I was in there, the others had to guide me away from the stream so I wouldn’t splash around.”

“You had a torch,” she argued. “It wasn’t dark.”

“You didn’t follow me in. And the torchlight didn’t reach the tunnel from the room you found me in. That’s not an excuse.”

Her face switched back to a sarcastic smirk. “What can I say?” A third coin for me. “Maybe I’m just better than you.”

I hummed, knowing this wasn’t going anywhere. “Next question then. I wanna buy a crossbow. They cost twenty-five gold pieces, yeah?” I dropped the coin back in the pile. “That’s what you charged Stostine with the store credit you gave us.”

Her smirk dashed. “Okay, slow down, tough guy. What are you doing? What’s going on? Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your friends?”

Wow, three more coins for me. I’ve made five coins back. I think I like this game.

“Stop taking my money! We are not playing games anymore,” she said pointedly.

“Oh. Okay.” I pocketed all fifteen gold pieces anyway. Right in front of her. “Now let me remind you of something. They aren’t my friends. And, long as they follow my plan, the Dumbbands won’t be an issue after tonight.”

“Wait. You mean, at all?” Leanne watched me nod. “I love the confidence but how can you say that? There’s dozens of them and seven of you. Six, since you're here! They’re. You can’t just. Th-They have—”

“At least fifteen crossbows?” I interjected. “Crossbows you charge at least twenty-five gold pieces for.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the going fare for a light crossbow.” She sighed. “And they came by before they started acting all high and mighty. I even told you all they came here. Why are you acting like this?”

“You ordered a shipment of fifteen crossbows. You told us as much when we arrived. That means that you had, at minimum, fifteen crossbows before ordering new stock. Fifteen crossbows, times twenty-five gold pieces adds up to 375 gp.”

Leanne set the brandy on the table and rested her head in her palm and sarcastically fanned herself with the other. “Wow, how hot, you can do basic math. Why does this matter?”

“Why?” I mimicked. “Well, what grimy band of thugs would pay 375 gp when they can just barge in and steal whatever they want? They’re extorting every business here. Well, every business but yours, conveniently. That tells me they wouldn’t bother paying a high price for whatever they want.”

I expected Leanne to lean hard into the innocent angle, but no. Instead, it was like I flipped a switch. Without warning, she gave me this seductive stare. “Platick. Hot-shot. You should really stop talking now.”

“While we’re on the subject,” I ignored the tone shift and went on. “Those goblins had some really nice looking scimitars, didn’t they? Not at all like the dingy rusted up shortswords they had mixed in. Now tell me, in that armory of yours, you had just about every sized sword imaginable. You even said there was a greataxe no one’s touched in years. But you know what kind of sword wasn’t in there yesterday?”

She smirked. “Seriously doll. Stop. Before you say something you regret.”

“Regret?” The hand on my lap settled on the dagger I prepared. “You mean like the husband who ‘sold’ you that brandy? Think he regrets that? Mind if I take a guess at what his name was?”

Leanne forced herself not to snicker. “Last chance~”

“Oh, I know,” I growled, slowly getting up from my chair. “His name was Thel, wasn’t it?”

Leanne opened her mouth, only to close it with an eerie smile. “Huh. Thought you were the type not to get your nose in people’s business.”

I stood up but stepped no closer. She definitely had a weapon somewhere. “You didn’t buy that bottle from him. You either stole it from him that night or you swiped it when those Redbrands came to kidnap his family. You’re one of them.”

She said nothing, only chuckling as her hand slowly reached for something under the counter. “Oh Platick. I didn’t want to do this. I mean, I really didn’t want to do this. You have so much promise. So does Vareén. Even after this faux pas of yours.”

“You’re not recruiting me.” I pulled out my dagger, ready for any sudden moves. “That club of idiots doesn’t interest me. And I’m not working for their supplier either.”

“Is that right? That’s what you think I am?” She drew her hand out methodically, doing so in such a way as to let me see what she was bringing out long before she could ever threaten me with it.

But instead of a dagger or crossbow like I expected, it was a pair of glasses. Silver framed with these odd blue crystals for lenses. Lenses that had this...charm to them...

“Are you sure Platick?” She asked hotily as she slipped the glasses on. They framed her face so well. “Because from how I see it.”

She looked at me and I felt my heart skip a beat. “You’d love nothing more than to work with cute little me.”

...Cute Little Me...

...Cute Little Me...

...Cute Little Me...

“Make a Wisdom save, Platick,” Story said stiffly.

“Wait a second,” Rarity started, slamming both hands on the table. “Is it that spell?”

Story’s even stiffer nod made the fashionista gawk at Applejack. “Darling? Is your, erm. Well, how’s your...” Rarity trailed off when she saw the number on AJ’s paper and bit her lip.

“It ain’t good,” AJ confirmed as she rolled the dice around in her hands.

“Yo-You have advantage,” Rarity said with a second breath. “You’re aggressive towards her!”

“That he is,” Story said with a sigh of relief. “Roll twice, take the highest.”

AJ nodded, readying herself to throw her die. Only to pause. “Um. Girls? Who’s got that lucky die? Ah could use it, Ah think.”

Rainbow Dash tossed it as Applejack was finishing her sentence. And as the cowgirl caught it, she watched the die turn from storm clouds to whittled wood. “Right then. Here goes.”

She tossed out the die and everyone watched as it landed on an unsavory number. Four.

Right away, Applejack’s mind and heart started swirling up in loving distractions before she let out a huff and took the die back up.

“Advantage,” Rarity repeated. “Roll it again.”

“Ah know, Ah know.”

Applejack waited until her head was clear and then flicked the die with her thumb as though it were a coin. The group watched once again, albeit more hesitant. As it came to a stop, the mocking symbols of ‘+0’ appeared beside it as Applejack got visions once more that clouded her judgment.

Leanne’s alluring figure was certainly there but along with it was memories of Platick. The one thing she and Story prepared when they first made him was how he grew up with his mentor; an impeccably dressed elf with concerning teaching methods.

They would cast spell after spell into Platick’s mind on a daily basis. Sometimes to build a resistance. Other times to just make him more agreeable. Platick, and by extension Applejack, both understood and hated those memories but in this moment they weren’t the worst thing that crossed their mind.

The number on the die was at least better than what AJ rolled initially. Plus zero.

I was locked in a daze. This alien mindset began showing me everything that I somehow missed about Leanne. She was utterly breathtaking. Her flawless skin radiating in the candlelight, those shimmering eyes beyond the crystal lenses, that sharp tact and attitude she held with everyone; me especially. Every gripe I had about her as a person seemed to melt away as she smiled down at me.

Her gorgeous hair, tied back in this humble ponytail. The way she smiled at me with so much interest. I certainly didn’t deserve it. All the attention and joy she showered me with tonight made me feel better than I had in months. I almost felt like an idiot for nearly squandering it all.

She didn’t need to give me the time of day. I mean, Ricven or Ravathyra were the type of people others wanted to hang out with. Except, they weren’t here. Actually, she barely paid them any mind. It was always me she cared about.

And unfortunately, as she grinned beneath those alluring glasses, every reason I had for hating her came right back into my mind after it finished festering in whatever pocket it was jammed in.

Any appeal I thought she had curdled right back into nothing as my knuckles turned white against my dagger. I wanted this over with.

“Cute little you, huh?” I spat. “Funny. Not even magic can find me a reason to believe that.”

She clicked her tongue, removing the lenses before hanging them from the collar of her shirt. “Well! Unfortunately, it seems you missed a few other things too.”

She reached behind her and took a dagger in her hand, holding it in a reverse grip. “For instance. I’m not their supplier. I wouldn’t call myself their captain either.”

Then, she played one more trick. Something that sent a chill down my spine. Piece by piece, her skin started melting off her body. Globs of human flesh slipped off her muscles, hitting the floorboards with sickening splats. Then, clumps of her hair followed. Even her fingernails, one at a time, cracked and popped off her hands, giving way to semi-humanoid claws.

All of it revealed a blue, rubbery skinned creature staring at me with soulless yellow orbs for eyes. Her— its pants and shirt hung loosely from its lithe body as she jumped onto the counter in this crouching position like a predator poised to pounce.

“And~” It went on, ‘Leanne’s’ voice was exactly the same despite the blue muscle-y humanoid staring at me. “I’m not Leanne either~ No. But if it makes you feel better, I played her life exactly as she would have. So if those losers at the lodge haven’t killed her yet, you might have a shot, Platick Fortuna~ From what I gathered, she knew that name too. Has some...Nevermind. I’ll spare you the spoiler.”

The creature twirled the dagger in its hand before looking behind me at the door I blocked off and, despite having no lips, I could see the muscles that made up its face tighten as though it were smiling.

I tossed my dagger to my offhand and drew my rapier. This isn’t good, I thought. I didn’t know she was. It! What even is this thing?!

“What am I?” It asked abruptly, making me draw a cold sweat. “Why, I’m this kingdom’s boogieman! Or at least that’s how they treat shifters like me.” It stood at its full height on the counter and struck a pose. The ugliest mannequin I ever beheld.

“I~” It said sultrily. “Am a doppelganger. And once we’re done here, I’ll be someone new~”

It hopped off the counter and playfully spun its dagger so that it was pointed at my face. “I. Will be.” It tapped the blade against my rapier as though we were in a duel.

“You!”

Rava’s POV
Sleeping Giant
Meanwhile

“Half of you to the bar,” a furious voice demanded. “The rest of you? On them! Don't leave a single survivor!”

I let myself smile as Ricven kept up the violin at the back of the bar. “Platick’s plan worked like a charm! Ya ready fer this Glem?” I whispered.

Glem said nothing, instead holding up a solid thumb’s up from the opposite side of the doubled doors we were stacked against.

I didn’t understand the reasoning behind it, but Glem had wrapped her face up in some sort of patchwork mask made from the captured Redbrands’ cloaks. She wouldn’t tell us why either. Simply that it ‘was something from home’ and left it at that.

It did well to hide her face but she was the only half-orc for a fifty mile radius so I don’t know how much good that did her.

Thorn turned around, giving out this monstrous growl-caw noise as she stood in place behind Ricven. She was shaking a bit out of fear. Or, maybe she wasn’t? Whatever this animal Thorn became, I had no idea what it was or how it did anything. It was like a frail, boney mountain goat. It—

“RAVA!” Ricven yelled. “FOCUS!”

I whipped around just in time to watch Glemerr grab the first thug to run through the doors. As they screamed, she roared and threw them upwards, slamming their head against the ceiling before letting them crash back into the floor. Unconscious.

The next one tried jumping over her fallen friend but I was ready. With both hands, I swung my hammer and probably shattered the lass’s knee as she fell to the ground.

With all her adrenaline, the crook tried clawing her way back onto their feet but Ricven interrupted his own song to drag his bow across the strings for an evil hiss that made the crook froth at the mouth before his eyes rolled over. Dead.

We tried setting up again but the next two, another man and woman, came in at the same time and shoved me back while ducking under Glem’s punch. They got their foothold.

“Four of ‘em,” one shouted over his shoulder as a third figure stepped up to the porch outside.

“The Cortássian’s mine,” this heavy voice declared tiredly. “Kill the rest.”

“Ah, you must be Stalwart,” Ricven shouted over his performance. He was able to look out the door from his spot. ”Nice a’ you ta make it ta the party!”

I took my warhammer in one hand and readied my shield in the other just in time to knock away an incoming blade. Then I tried to ram the top of my hammer into the lad’s gut but he backed away in time.

“The brain melting gnome, I take it.” After a few footsteps, I watched a red skinned arm poke through the doorway as it fired a bolt from a smaller crossbow. Ricven’s music skipped a note or two as he ducked away. “That makes three magic users in your troupe.”

“Oi!” I called out. “Ya better be countin’ me n’ there too!”

“Ya got magic Lady Rava?” Ricven smirked. “Well wash me surprised!”

“Color,” I countered.

“Quiet,” Stalwart demanded. “I don’t care if you’re magic. Your mage made your choice for you.”

“How inclusive of ya,” I remarked as Glem side-stepped a sword swipe before smashing both fists into either side of the female Redbrand’s head. The lass tried shuffling away but Glemerr chucked her out of the bar and refocused on the lad beside me.

“Made our choice?” Ricven chuckled darkly. “Ya say that as though we made the wrong one. Meanwhile, yer outta yer depth!”

The words rumbled across Stalwart’s brain, echoing louder as they almost began to pound against his skull. Although none of it seemed to matter.

Ricven’s music slowed down for a second. “Hhhuh. That’s, uh. That’s the first time that’s eva’ failed.”

“Head in the game Ricven,” I taunted.

Thorn stepped up next. Galloping forward, she reared up beside the Redbrand beside me to crush him with her front hooves. I raised my shield to cut off their escape but the lad didn’t bother.

Screaming, he swung with his scimitar and sliced open Thorn’s torso. Instantly, blood mixed with her red fur and the scent of iron started to carry. Thorn trotted backwards, narrowly avoiding a follow up swing from the guy.

Only, rather than follow, the lad narrowly weaved past a swing from me and his attention was back to me.

“More incoming!” Ricven yelled, abandoning his first song before driving his bow into a quicker paced solo.

“How many?!” I demanded, stepping back as the lad dragged his blade against my shield in a sharp screech. “Watch it! Ya know how ‘ard it is buffin' out them scratches?!”

The man didn’t reply. Instead, I watched Stalwart step in and go for a chop at Glemerr. Somehow prepared for it, Glem spun away and the tiefling’s blade bounced against the floorboards.

Glemerr came to a stop several steps away as Stalwart twisted around to put as much force as he could into cutting me down while his lackey moved away. I blocked the attack all the same but this one nearly dented my shield as my boots slid back a few inches.

I turned my shield at an angle, letting Stalwart’s sword glance away with a metallic ring so I was clear to bash him in his ribs with my hammer. Only, he was more spry than I gave him credit for. Bounding out of the way, Glem and I answered by trading spaces. Her against the lad and me against him.

“Tell me somethin’,” I started. “Why do this? Why side wit’ a necromancer? An’ why so many of ye? Ya some sorta cult?!”

Glemerr went for a wild haymaker, startling the lad enough to retreat further into the bar with her chasing after him. As for me Stalwart moved to chop at me from above only to feint and come at me from the side. I side-stepped it and readied myself for the next strike.

“Nothing of the sort,” he admitted now that I was guarded. All with humor in his tone. “In fact, I hate just about any casters. Meanwhile—”

He cut himself off, making another feint which I leapt back far enough to escape the range of his longsword. But rather than follow through, he stepped back as well as the entrance was wide open for more Redbrands to spill into the bar. We lost our funnel.

“I’m not wholly unaware,” he went, watching as I was losing my temper. At the same time, one of the new thugs attacked Glem and missed while the other nicked at Thorn’s leg.

Thorn the animal was losing so much blood I was shocked she hadn’t passed out. And now Glemerr was dealing with two Redbrands instead of one. All while Ricven watched and I was left at the door with my second captain of the day and one more of his lackeys for good measure.

Stalwart wrapped his monologue up. “Necromancy’s a poison. One that consumes its user. But until that happens, Glasstaff’s a honey trap for the rest of you casters.And I get to clean up.”

“So a janitor then?” I sneered. “Pretty far cry from an ex-soldier, ain’t it? Oh, but you were fired from that, weren’t ya?”

He stared back angrily as I heard the grunt behind me gulp fearfully. “And just who was it that told you that?”

“Wouldn’t you like ta know?” I challenged, watching his grip tighten on his sword. But, rather than strike at me, he looked past me and gave the faintest nod ever.

Ready for it, I ducked low, batting behind me with my shield in time to block a sad attempt at cutting into my neck. Then, as Stalwart tried to join in, I raised my shoulder and let my pauldron catch the blade while my hammerhead unbalanced the grunt’s hip.

With the lad reeled back, I nearly pirouetted back to face Stalwart and cut the second swing with the crook of my warhammer. He harrumphed but was forced to back up when I put a hole in the floor trying to smash his leg.

“Why a pirouette?” Rainbow questioned, forgetting her accent for a second. “Ah said she spun ‘round n’ blocked it all, not do a bunch’a goofy ballet!”

“Too late! Story said it, so dat’s what ‘appened,” Pinkie pointed out in Glemerr’s voice, earning a few smirks.

“But! N-No! Tha’ don’t make it canon err whatever,” Rainbow tried arguing.

“My, what a lovely defense, Lady Rava,” Rarity said with Ricven’s tone. “There. Now it’s canon!” Earning a chorus of light laughter from most of the table.

“I didn’t know ya did ballet! Ya look so graceful.”

“Aw, shut it!” I tossed back. “Yer doin’ tha’ on purpose!” And as I stared back at him, I saw this ghostly orb of his magic begin floating beside me. It looked as though it were trying to form a shape.

“The heck is this?” I asked, quickly ducking underneath both lads trying to behead me. Instead, their blades clashed and I shuffled away. The shape had dissolved in the process though.

“Hold up, you saw that?” He shouted from behind his music. Then his face lit up. “Well consider it a gift, then!”

“Awrite then.” I stood at my height, catching both blades with my shield and knocking them skyward. Stalwart kept his footing but the other one had trouble with his bad hip. “Let’s put it ta use then.”

Stostine’s POV
Meanwhile

Vareén and I counted five Redbrands charging straight for us. Three humans and two Dwarves. I didn’t bother casting another Light spell this time. All of them heard us falling off the horse and my Fire Bolts did well enough to direct the humans towards us.

Vareén had it a little easier. Her arrows were impossible to see coming whereas my fire was, well, fire. Both missiles were equal in terms of speed but you could see and react to fire easier than an arrow in darkness.

However, the humans were running sporadically, veering left and right on purpose to avoid getting shot. Because of this, they were closing distance on us and were no weaker than when they started.

So Vareén changed targets.

Clicking her tongue, she prepped her next arrow, aimed with an arc, and fired. A few seconds later, the Dwarf trying to carry a torch and his crossbow at the same time found the arrow slamming into his shoulder.

“Nice shot,” I complimented, taking a second to say something other than arcane syllables.

“They’re getting close,” Vareén responded. “The humans can’t see us. If we kill the torch bearer, they’re useless.”

“Good call.” I leveled my hand at the same Dwarf, prepping a new Fire Bolt only for nothing to fire. Well, something was on fire. My sleeve.

I yelped, waving my arm around in hopes of putting the flames out while Vareén swerved away from me.

“What is wrong with you?!”

“I! It, erm, I’m. I—It-It—There’s a lot, okay?!” I stammered as a bolt sailed forward, cutting through my sleeve and splitting it open. It got the flames away from my arm but now I had a piece of fiery cloth dangling from my elbow.

“They can only shoot at us,” the Dwarf shouted from a distance. “Get in there n’ cut ‘em down!” Then he turned to the other Dwarf. “An’ what’re you doin’?!”

The second Dwarf said something too quiet and too far from us to hear but it made the first Dwarf growl and wave his crossbow threateningly.

“Ah don’ care ‘bout yer stamm’rin’ nerves! Either get in there err Ah’ll cut ya down ‘fore Stalwart gets da pleasah!”

As he screamed, every human chucked their crossbows and readied their shortswords. Then, they began running full speed at the source of my flaming robe.

With an angry yell, Vareén reached over and ripped the rest of the sleeve off my robe, spiked it on the ground, and stomped out the fire. “Do you have anything that’s not fire?!”

“Not anymo— watch out!”

I grabbed Vareén’s arm and tried pulling us out of the way of the humans closing in on us. The first one nicked Vareén’s thigh but the other two swords missed us by a mile thanks to me.

Vareén took the arrow already in her hands and fired it wildly at the Dwarf one last time before using the bow itself to block a second pass from the blind humans. That is, until a shot from the second Dwarf pinned her in the stomach.

I called out her name, summoning a new Fire Bolt and launching it at another human before they could cut towards the screaming Vareén. It struck him directly in the face, burning his skin and hair but also illuminating the scene well enough to spot Vareén again.

“Stop! Using! Fire!” Vareén pleaded as she threw her bow at the third human, disorienting him as she pulled out her own shortsword.

I backed up, eyes darting at each of our attackers as they blindly swung at Vareén like maniacs. Vareén was able to keep up thanks to the handicap, weaving away from wide swings and parrying when it mattered, but they kept pushing.

One cut her arm. Another on her leg. One nicked at her neck just before the first came back for a strike narrowly missing her scalp. They fell into a groove by accident as none of them gave Vareén much time to do anything other than defend.

That didn’t stop her from trying at first. But each time she did, she would cut into one of the three and left herself unguarded for the other two blind men to strike back. Sometimes they would reach their mark but even when they whiffed it forced Vareén to fall back.

Which, in turn, forced me to back up as well. Otherwise, I’d be caught in the struggle without any kind of weapon.

Still, it was a nightmare to watch. At one point, one human swung wide and his sword ran right into the torso of his ally. But when his friend screamed, the attacker didn’t realize it was his fault.

He simply drew back his blade, heard Vareén grunt when the third one clocked her in the shoulder with his pummel, and then repositioned his attack. They were so caught up in everything that they could have killed one another and never notice.

It made me sick. Physically as well. The only thing that kept me from going into a coughing fit was another bolt fired out and striking Vareén as the two Dwarves began closing in.

The one Dwarf was still carrying his torch. The light didn’t reach us yet but it was getting close. And when it did?

…we can’t do this, I realized. Vareén can’t do this. We’re outnumbered. We need someone else. We need...

Thorn Wielder’s POV
Back at the Bar

I dragged my front hoof against the wooden floor to shake the numbness out of it. I felt no pain from the animal I shared the same breath as but this form was turning weak. Too much blood had left it.

But upon seeing four humans and the devilkissed slowly outmatching us, I made my ca—

“GLEMERR! RAVA!”

My ears folded against my head. Beyond the clashing iron and the gnome’s music, Stostine’s voice was there.

I tried shouting out at the others to warn them, but all they heard was a heavy grunt. Oh right. Still deer.

“Is this thing still an elf?!” One of the humans, a fair-skinned, mid-aged man, asked to anyone willing to listen.

When no one answered, he cautiously stepped forward and tried stabbing at me with his sword as though it were a dagger. I stepped back, kicking a chair with my back leg and gave him a displeased look.

“Sh-Shut up. Deer,” he insulted before adjusting the grip on his sword.

I felt one of my ears flick impatiently as I let out a heavy exhale. The air around me whipped into a breeze that billowed the man’s red cape as I changed form.

The man tried making one more jab at me as this went on but by that point my front hooves shifted back into arms and I knocked the strike away with my shield.

“Still elf,” I taught him before the end of my vine coiled around his neck without prompt. He tried pulling at the vines but the thorns pricked his hand so much so that he pulled back by instinct.

So instead, he tried severing the vines with his sword instead. And still it failed. The vines stayed loose everywhere else so that nothing could chop through them. It was like batting at a drenched leaf with your hand.

“Thorn! Lift ‘em up!”

Ahead of me, Glemerr caught the wrist of one of her attackers and put all her force behind a single punch to the face. After they folded to the floor, she turned in time to watch her second threat go in for a tackle. Except Glemerr was nearly three times their size and not moving.

Seizing the moment, Glemerr brought down her elbow on the Redbrand’s spine while grabbing the arm that held their weapon and pulling their shoulder out of place simultaneously.

At the same time, I obeyed her request. As the man struggled, I tightened the vines around his neck and forced them to heft him up off the ground till he dangled just below the ceiling.

Glemerr then grabbed the Redbrand around their waist and picked them up over her head. With a war cry, she chucked the woman halfway across the room and into my victim. The two collided and I released his neck in time to let them both fall and smash through the table ahead of me.

“Aw yeah! Team takedown move,” Glemerr cheered with a thumb’s up which I mirrored. The mask hid her face but I knew she was smiling as wide as her face allowed.

But I remembered what I heard and frowned. “Glemerr! Stostine bad! Stostine yell!”

“Stostine?” The masked face flinched back. And then Glemerr’s hands clutched the sides of her face as she gasped. “Stostine yelled fer help?!”

“It was two of them versus six of us,” Stalwart gloated. “No doubt they’re already dealt with.”

“Look around ya, Hornsy,” the gnome mocked. “Yer grunts are droppin’ like flies and we’re still standin’! The lotta y’all are useless!”

The thoughts went in one eye and out the other as Stalwart snickered. “You call me useless? All you’ve done is play piss poor music.”

“Shaddup already!” Rava swung angrily, this time slamming her hammer into Stalwart’s shoulder as he buckled for a moment. “Yer fightin’ me now, ya got tha’?!”

With a growl, the tiefling shrugged it off and pointed a finger at Rava; his nail engulfed in flames. “Fraw dekat sim’gib!”

A thin string of flames as searing as lava fired from his finger and at Rava who hid behind her shield. The ray struck into the metal and then spread around and into the Dwarf as she writhed and squirmed in her armor as hellish flames began to cook her alive.

“Rava!” Glemerr tried running over but the last of the human Redbrands cut in. Before she could do anything about it, the man slid his scimitar along Glemerr’s leg, cutting just above the knee.

Glemerr hissed but looked down at the man from behind her unsettling mask. It helped add to his fear as she let out a vicious roar before kicking at his leg so hard it bent in the opposite direction.

But rather than leave him hobbling, Glemerr tossed the sword away and wrapped one arm under his shoulder. She then launched him over her head and onto the bar behind her with a crunch.

The man let out a raspy groan to signal he was still alive. Although he refused to do anything but lay there.

“L-Lady Rava?” The gnome asked cautiously, noticing how now all three of us looked visibly worn down. Shifting from deer and back helped dispel the numbness but now my wounds from the initial attack were back.

Meanwhile, Glemerr had earned several wounds throughout the fight. The Dwarf was the only one that seemed pretty healthy until she was burnt from within the metal clothes she wore.

“Ah’m. A-Ah’m fine guys,” Rava croaked as she stood back up but she was visibly weaker. “Glem? Ya gotta get ta the girls. They’re in trouble, aye?”

Stalwart chuckled at the scene. “What was it you said? You are fighting me now, yes?” He readied his blade. “Where’s your confidence?

Glem stared between Rava and the exit, bouncing between one foot and the next. No option seemed right to her.

“...Miss Glem,” the gnome spoke. “Back on the road, ya ran off screamin’ toward the goblins and ditched us. Ya remember, don’t ya?”

Glemerr turned, her mask staring at the gnome. “Dat ain’t what Ah was doin’. Ah didn’ mean ta—”

“It was a good call,” he cut in with a smirk. “If ya didn’t do that, Platick an’ I woulda talked y’all outta goin’ there. Sildar wouldn’t be alive. You’re the reason he is.”

Stalwart ignored our talks. Instead, he went for Rava’s neck only for her to look up and catch the swing with her gauntlet.

He twisted the sword, tearing it free of her grip and went for another swing but was stopped as a coat of frost formed around his throat. He coughed and backed up to break away at the frost until he saw me standing a distance away with my hand outstretched and traces of frost around my fingers and vines.

“So, what’s the play now, Miss Glem?” He asked her. “Use them instincts, ya hear? Who needs help?”

Stalwart scrunched up his neck and shook off the rest of the ice just in time to leap over a low swing of Rava’s hammer.

“Glem!” Rava turned and gave as good a smile as she could muster. “Ah got this! Ah promise.”

Glemerr watched as Rava and Stalwart both swung at the same time, longsword and warhammer catching one another before the two leaned forward for an equivalent shield bash that put them in a deadlock.

Rainbow Dash gave Pinkie a determined grin that the pink one traded with a bright smile.

“Okie-Dokie Dashie,” Pinkie cheered, turning to Story. “Glemerr’s gonna run out the front door as fast as she can after Stostine!”

Story nodded, his face a little hopeful but still stern. “Alright. They’re about...four turns away. If you disengage, you can dash for the next few turns and get to them.”

“Nah!” Pinkie said happily.

“N-Nah?” Story and the girls frowned. “Would do you mean nah?”

“Glemerr runs on this turn too! And then she’ll extra run!”

“Extra...Oh! Oh, that’s your—” Story cut himself off when he saw Pinkie raise her eyebrows a few times, eager to keep it a surprise. “Sorry. Yeah, you can definitely extra run.”

Sunset and Twilight shared a thankful look, visibly more relaxed than they were as they watched Pinkie reach over and tap Glemerr’s mini around the holographic bar map like a game of Chutes and Ladders.

Right past Stalwart’s mini.

“Wait, Pinkie, no!”

Glemerr nodded back to the red headed Dwarf. “Thanks Rava. Ah’ll get da girls.”

Rava gave her a smirk and a nod only for both to freeze as Glemerr started rushing the front entrance.

“What’re ya—”

Glemerr’s guttural war cry cut Rava off as she fell into a sprint for the front door. Rava, the gnome, myself, and somehow Stostine, Vareén, and Platick, all screamed for her to stop as Stalwart seized his moment.

Bashing Rava away, Stalwart knelt low and spun around; smacking Rava upside the head with his tail while simultaniously slicing the back of Glemerr’s calves.

We cried out defiantly as Glemerr tumbled over, crashing in the doorway as her legs started bleeding violently. She fell hard on her elbows, cutting one of them open on a loose nail that stuck out of the floorboard all while breathing through her teeth.

Before Rava could recover, Stalwart already leapt back to his feet and turned to crack the Dwarf’s skull open with his shield. She tried bringing up her own shield, but the force sent Rava tripping into a chair, smashing it to pieces under her heavy armor.

Stalwart scoffed, glancing over at Ricven whose eye twitched in shock. “So many big words from such a useless caster. And now, all your bravado’s gone. What’s your next move, gnome?”

“Fuck you!” the gnome spat, his accent devolving into that of a teenage girl. Unfortunately, it just made Stalwart laugh.

The reason Ricven’s voice was so broken was because he wasn’t the one that said it. It was Rarity.

“Why are you laughing?!” She glared at Story as kept up his evil laugh.

“Because,” Story said, accidentally still using Stalwart’s voice as he laughed. “Pinkie, you wanna say it or me?”

“I’ll do it!” Pinkie said gleefully before standing up and reaching over, plucking Glemerr’s mini and putting it back on its feet. “Relentless Endurance!”

“Relentless-what now?” Applejack asked from under her hat. She was hiding her disappointment at first until Pinkie started laughing too.

“I have one hit point,” Pinkie taunted. “Oh! Annnd Glemerr uses a ki point. Extra run!”

The game didn’t even bother making that gray void grow out from Pinkie’s character sheet. It was a little upsetting but Pinkie was still glad it didn’t spoil the surprise.

“...Pinkie Pie,” Rarity shouted flippantly. “Why were you so devious about that?! I was actually quite worried!”

“I. I-I think that was the first time I’ve heard you swear,” Fluttershy mumbled. “It startled me more than Pinkie’s character.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Rainbow agreed, able to hear Flutters from sitting beside her.

“Well, obviously I had to do that.” Pinkie giggled. “Everybody knows that in a huuuuge fight, when everything’s starting to go all sideways, there has to be that one NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo— factor before everything turns around for us and we save the day,” she explained happily after having fallen to her knees, waving her hands like a maniac.

“And I didn’t ruin it because she pulled the same trick on me when she split from you guys,” Story tacked on. “Now where were we?”

But Stalwart’s laughing faltered when Glemerr pounded her fists into the ground, conveniently hammering the nail back into place at the same time.

Stalwart growled, turning to finish the job only for a flying Dwarf to collide into him. While he was pancaked against the wall, Glemerr broke into another sprint out the door and into the night.

“Well, would ya look at that?” The gnome chuckled. “Found my bravado. Right next to yer dignity.”

Stalwart’s growl turned to a scream as his head throbbed in agony at the same time that my vines wrapped and yanked at his sword-wielding arm. As it was nearly torn from his socket, he used his leg to kick the Dwarf back.

His freedom allowed my thorns to pull him towards the center of the room where he now stood surrounded by me, Rava, and the gnome.

Stalwart shook away my vine and raised his shield, eying each of the three as he considered his biggest threat. He was bloodied but Rava and I were but a breath from death. And the strongest of us had now gotten away.

He kept breathing, watching as I prepared my vines once more and the gnome began another song. But rather than focus on us, he turned toward the one who challenged him first; Ravathyra Dagarkin.

Author's Note

I wanted to upload this on or before Christmas but I was working on these board game tile pieces I 3D printed for my parents for a Christmas gift. Painting them was a nightmare.

Also, I think I brought this up previously, but this story's D&D games use my own homebrew world so lore with monsters and the like are very different than anything in the books.

For instance, creatures such as doppelgangers can shift their organs anywhere they want in their body. (Within reason, obviously. No piling their organs into their hands or something.) Also, their blood is jell-like in their body and turns further solid when exposed to the elements via injuries or such instances.

Long and short, I try to make doppelgangers creepier than they're written.

*EDIT* Huh. I just realized I've posted every single character's lvl 2 sheet except for Glemerr's! So odd, I thought I posted it but I can't find it! Oh well, this is a pretty good chapter for it anyways! Here you go!

I'm taking the rest of the year off to be with my family. I should have the last third of the fight by mid-January. So until next time!

Happy New Year,
-Zeke

(29) Death Save(s)

Stostine’s POV
Outside

With a yelp, one of the humans went down. Vareén had parried his blade and made a sizable slice through most of his arm. Probably until she hit bone.

The other two didn’t take the sound of their friend’s crying as a sign to surrender. Instead, they zeroed in on Vareén as the Dwarves finally caught up to us. The one with the torch wasted no time running right into the fray, ditching his crossbow for a scimitar.

The second one, meanwhile, stayed back. He had his crossbow ready, aimed straight at me while Vareén was surrounded.

“Shoot ‘er,” the torch bearing Dwarf directed over his shoulder.

I gently raised my hands halfway and stared back at the other Dwarf. “Now...Hold on,” I suggested. “You don’t have to.”

“Quiet!” The first Dwarf glared. Then she turned to the humans. “An’ you two! Finish ‘er off already!”

Vareén tried backing away when the humans let their eyes adjust to the torchlight. Unfortunately, she only made it a few steps. The humans easily stepped over their dead coworker and readied their swords again.

Vareén let out a breath and shook her fear as she tried defending herself again. Except now she had three targets that could all see her clearly and she was cut up and drained.

She blocked the first swing, deflecting it up into the air for her to duck under. Although, as the next human came in, her arms were still above her and she was exposed.

Before the Dwarf ever had a chance to swing, a sword found its way between her ribs and into her chest cavity. The man wrenched it around several times before pulling it out in a heavy arc; coagulated blood spilling across both the humans.

Story sat behind his screen, taking some time to himself. To the girls, he did well to play his role up until now. But staring into his scene as moments of blood and gore met him with every narration of his was getting to him.

At first it was like an action movie. Now this was turning into something far more sadistic. Especially when he saw Vareén and Stostine in Sky-Space operating like living people.

Then, without any prompt, the girls suddenly saw him sitting there with a tear in his eye and on the edge of a breakdown.

At the same time, Applejack adjusted her stetson over her eyes so no one could see how she looked. Again, the girls didn’t see any kind of warning.

After a few seconds of silence, Story took the Redbrands’ turn. Then, in the fewest amount of words needed, he narrated Twilight’s character getting brought down. When he finished, he took a few more seconds of silence before looking up.

More tears were in his eyes.

“Twilight?” He started. “I need a death saving throw. For Vareén now.”

Twilight nodded and carefully rolled her die. Then flinched when she saw the dark patch around her character sheet pulse and spread. At the same time, it began growing out from the side of her chest, creating this greyscale look on her shirt.

“N-Nine,” she said with a shaking voice. Feeling the grayed space for a second. It didn’t hurt and she tried telling herself it was just more illusions. Illusions only she and Story could see.

Story swore under his breath and sat up to wipe his face. “Mark one failure.”

“Sto-Stost—" Vareén hacked up a sickening glob of blood that landed like a jelly mold. “Run. Ru-Ru—”

She hacked up another chunk as a bright blue light fired from my finger and into the Dwarf’s torch. Then I traced it down his arm and up to his neck, leaving a heavy trail of frost encasing his skin.

The torch’s flame doused and the ice cracked the Dwarf’s skin wide open with his heavy screams filling the darkness that smothering the humans.

When the skin on the Dwarf’s arm started chipping away, I watched him fall not four feet away from Vareén and the human she killed.

“Please, just give up!” I shouted towards the humans as they waved their swords where they last saw me. “None of us want to kill you! We want you to leave this town alone! We never started any of this with you!”

The two humans were already approaching me, swords pointed at the sound of my voice. They weren’t listening. The only one who seemed to actually care was the Dwarf.

And he, actually able to see me, watched me backing away with my hands folded behind my head. He saw my face and how I meant what I said. He also saw that most of my attention was wholly on Vareén and her trembling body in the mud.

“Yernal, where is she?!” One of the humans shouted at the Dwarf. “And why aren’t ya shootin’ man?!”

“A-Ah. Ah…” He trailed off, staring down at the crossbow in his hands.

Taking a low breath, I slowly stepped towards the Dwarf. “Yernal?” I spoke softly. Then he realized I was looking directly at him. “Your leader. Is a necromancer,” I began, trying to keep away as the humans kept zeroing in.

“We’ve already sent word to Agix. He will be caught. They’ll be here in a matter of days. If you stand down, they might only arrest you for extortion. It won’t be a death sentence then. But if you keep siding for him? They will judge you as an accomplice to necromancy. That is immediate execution. Please!”

“Yernal,” a human shouted. “Shoot. Her.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I reminded him. “Please Yernal. We don’t need anymore death tonight. Just stand down.”

“Shut it hag!” The other one joined. This time they didn’t step carefully. They were marching right at me. “We know how casters like you act! We’ve heard the stories! Stalwart’s told us ‘is own! Yer type can’t be trusted. Yernal, don’t buy this crock!”

I stayed quiet. Nothing I said would convince them. So instead I turned to Yernal and folded my hands together, staring at him pleadingly.

“Twilight?” Story spoke. He was getting over whatever made him tear up earlier. Or at least doing better to hide it. “Another death save.”

She nodded and took a breath before picking up her die again with her graying fingers. But after she rolled, Vareén’s character sheet became nearly unreadable as the paper had turned coal black.

Not only that, but the gray coloring spread much further. They formed in lines across her body and limbs, with two large orbs forming just over her heart and lung. Her fingers and toes had this numbness to them and she could have sworn her vision was getting worse.

When the girls saw Twilight squirming and trying to dust off phantom spots only she could see, they got worried.

“Y’alright Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, snapping out of her daze.

“...Four.” No one heard her speak but Twilight held up four fingers. It’s all illusions, she told herself. Just magical sensory effects trying to make me feel invested in. In a...

Her mind wandered as she looked to the DM screen where Vareén’s image sat, bow still drawn.

Invested in Vareén’s death, Twilight realized.

“Two failures,” Story said. But he said it with a breath of relief. “Pinkie? It’s your turn. And thanks to your extra run—”

“VAREÉN!”

The humans spun around in the dark frantically, unable to see anything. Yernal on the other hand, turned and raised his crossbow only to be smacked to the ground by a charging half-orc.

“Glemerr!” I cheered.

“Ah’m ‘ere!” She yelled back, tearing the mask of cloth strips off her face and power sliding next to Vareén. Then she turned the archer over, resting her on the ground with one hand while pulling a healer’s kit out with the other.

“Ah’m ‘ere Vareén! Stay wit’ us, ‘kay? Ah’m ‘ere!”

I watched Yernal stand back up and again raise his crossbow. This time to Glemerr.

“Yernal!” I shouted, making him flinch visibly. He looked back at me. “Don’t do this!”

He then watched me ducking under the human’s sword. One ran straight for me after I screamed while the other turned and tried finding Glemerr as she treated Vareén.

I jogged backwards a few feet and watched the human turn towards me. He could hear where I was running just as he did with Vareén.

But even then, I didn’t bother with him. Instead, I lit my hand with magical fire and after saying those short magical words, I flicked my hand towards the bandit closing in on Glemerr.

“Bwaaaah! BWAHHHH!” The fire’s light drew my Redbrand’s attention as it sunk into his friend’s back. It lit up the area until snuffing out along with the man’s life as he fell on top of the sword he was about to use on Glemerr.

“Thanks,” Glemerr called out as she kept up her work.

As Pinkie finished marking off a use of the healer’s kit, Story turned to Twilight with a thin smile. “Erase the death saves. You’re stabilized.”

As he said those words, any sign of gray or black voids left Twilight and her papers, as well as the numbness that was traveling up past her wrists at that point.

“Thanks Pinkie,” Twilight breathed in relief. She only now realized she was holding her breath until now.

“No problem!” Glemerr shouted out.

Meanwhile, I was shying away from another sword and running a few more paces away. Then I lit both hands on fire. “I just want you to know.” I paused to look over towards Yernal the Dwarf.

All that was there was a discarded crossbow.

I let myself enjoy the moment before narrowly avoiding another attempt at cutting me down. “You brought this on yourself.”

“Pfft. Sure,” he spat sarcastically. “Yer the one that brought this on yerself, ya hag!”

I let my consciousness flow back and forth for a moment, watching as the colors of my flames changed color with my eyes until they settled on a musturd yellow. “You have no idea.”

Ricven’s POV
The Sleeping Giant

I began a new song.

As I swelled my illusions into a band, drums, strings, and whistling filling the bar as Rava hooked her hammer underneath a chair and launched it. Stalwart bounced it away with his shield, redirecting it in a way where Thorn Wielder used her vines to catch the chair and smash it on the ground over the groaning bodies of the Redbrands beneath her feet.

While Thorn and I turned away from the shards of furniture, Stalwart went for Rava’s head. She caught the blade with her own hammer, rotating the weapon counterclockwise to throw the sword away before stunning him with a shield bash.

When Stalwart gained his footing, he stomped on the ground and spoke a few words in Infernal. We all then watched as the floorboards began rattling and shaking the building. Rava stumbled for a moment and Stalwart tried taking the chance to cut through her chain.

However, he was forced back as the sudden migraine I made with my violin strings burrowed into his mind. When it wore it off, he roared and chucked his shield like a frisbee over the tables, forcing me to leap to the left and lose my place in the song for a moment until I reclaimed it.

Rava used the chance to try caving his skull in. Even without the shield, she couldn’t hit him. He got faster and slipped away from her heavy swing before stomping the floor again. This time he upended an entire floorboard in such a way where it slapped at the bottom of her shield.

Stalwart spoke more Infernal, casting more Thaumaturgy to rattle the floorboards further until one caved under the Dwarf’s heavy armor and her metal boot sank through the floor, locking her in place.

Desperate, she held her shield over her head only for him to stab into her side. Blood sprayed her armor as he used both hands to twist the blade deeper only to start coughing up shards of crystallized water while Thorn brought another force of Frostbite.

“Fine then!” He screamed, pulling out his hand crossbow and firing at Thorn who hid behind her shield. It still had several bolts still jammed in it and Stalwart’s was just another one as it formed a large crack in the round chunk of wood.

In response, Thorn Wielder drew her scythe, letting her vine freely smack away the rubble between her and the tiefling.

“You die first,” Stalwart decreed.

“She’s in line!”

Rava slammed her warhammer with both hands into Stalwart’s back where his tail met his waist. As she did, a little mote of my magic reappeared behind her head and popped like a bubble. It made no sound but it was the closest thing I had to progress so far.

After striking the man, Stalwart roared as his tail suddenly jerked upward and then fell limp to the ground. He had no feeling in it anymore.

Still, Stalwart didn’t completely change focus. He made one swipe at Rava and she had no issue blocking it. However, it tripped her into yet another floorboard that caved under her armor as Stalwart redoubled his efforts at Thorn.

He ducked under the tentacle-esque vines multiple times and waited to rise to his full height to deliver an upward slash. Too bad for him that it went nowhere as it was tossed to the side not by the vines but by Thorn’s longer curved blade.

He wanted to try again but he barely had enough time to return his sword to a defensive position and block a slash from Thorn as she swung for his chest. And then for his shoulder. Next, his neck. By the fourth and fifth attempts, she started twirling the scythe like a baton in this tiny space.

It was almost majestic. Thorn stepped around the debris, loosened floorboards, and bodies of dead bandits as though she were performing ballet in a field. Whatever obstacle that threatened to be in her way, the vine grabbed and yanked them aside.

Stalwart was not as majestic. With his tail unmoving, he stumbled and kicked things as he kept backing up. On top of that, the vine had to put those obstacles somewhere else and so it decided to throw them right at his feet as he stepped and jumped over them. He also had to keep that up while deflecting or avoiding the whirling death scythe.

Admittedly, for such a disadvantage, Stalwart matched speed with her. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that Thorn was twirling to the beat of my song. And after realizing it, Stalwart had no choice but to dodge to the same beat.

The whole performance gave Rava plenty of time to rip herself away from the weak flooring and set herself behind Stalwart. Sadly, as he weaved around a thrown chair, it took all Rava had to raise up her armguard and hammer to keep from being smashed over the head from Thorn’s recital.

I would have loved to pick up the tempo to make the chaotic scene even more insane but I thought better of it and signaled my illusions to carry on without me as I took my chance.

Sliding under one table, I reached to my side and brought out my mace as I hopped back to my feet; surprising everybody. Thorn and her vine paused, not wanting to catch me in the crossfire while Stalwart was entirely exposed from my position.

So with a heavy crack, I swung my mace directly into Stalwart’s armored shin. I felt something in his leg give and he howled in brilliant pain as the ladies watched the tiefling fall against a table away from me to support his second broken limb.

“Huh.” Rava beamed. “So ya really can get yer ‘ands dirty! An’ ‘ere Ah thought that mace was just fer shoo’.”

“What can I say.” I slung the mace over my shoulder and flipped my hair back. “I see a perfect entrance? I seize it! And I couldn’t bear watchin’ this fool take anymore stabs at you lovely ladies.”

“A bit late fer that, wouldn’ ya say?” She furrowed her brow playfully.

“Silence.” Stalwart mumbled. Whether his leg accepted it or not, he stood tall on both of them and readied his blade at me. “I won’t die to a caster! I refuse!”

I didn’t flinch. Rather, I watched as a wicked blade ran through Stalwart. Going through his back out the collarbone, narrowly missing both major arteries and spine entirely.

Thorn pulled her scythe out slowly, letting Stalwart hiss in drawn out pain. “Raug-hén. Bel na curunir,” she growled in Elvish. Then, after a tired breath, she withdrew the rest of her scythe and tossed Stalwart to the ground.

“S’ppose it’s my turn ta ask.” I gave a flamboyant signal to my illusory band to calm their intensity while in actuality I just lowered the volume. “What’s yer next move, tieflin’?”

“You brought all yer folks ta their deaths err capture,” Rava told him. “Yer alone, n’ ya failed. Ya think yer necramantic boss’ll take kindly ta tha’?”

Thorn didn’t have a quip of her own. She just readied her scythe.

Stalwart glared at each of us from his sad position. He didn’t have a leg to kick on and his tail was dead weight. Clumps of ice frosted over areas of his skin and armor and his red skin was turning purple with all the bruises he had taken from Rava’s hammer.

Meanwhile, Thorn was actively bleeding from all the open bolt wounds and was trying not to use her scythe for balance while Rava just looked like a total mess. The poor Dwarf smelled like burning hair and her armor was redder than brass at this point.

I was fine though. Not a single scratch or hair out of place. Although, my fingers did feel pretty strained from playing and avoiding all these attacks on my person. My shoe was untied too. Ugh.

Stalwart studied each of us for a few more seconds before raising back to his feet. “I’m not dying. You don’t get that satisfaction.”

We readied ourselves for his last attack but it never came. Instead, he drew up his sword and ran.

There was an obvious limp thanks to my methods, but he still made good time as he bounded for the door.

“Aw nah ye don’,” Rava shouted.

We all ran after him. Rava tried cutting him off at the doorway and with a heave, she swung and destroyed part of the entryway frame with her hammer. She missed and Stalwart was out the door.

I duck past the raining mulch and into the night behind him. As he struggled down the porch steps, I caught up and brought down my mace only to cave in one of the porch steps.

I missed and Stalwart didn’t even bother pausing to spite me. He simply took his chance to keep running further into the night.

Story’s POV
Game Room

“Dang it!” Rainbow pounded her fist onto the table. Not enough to break or shake everything but it made her point. “I can never hit anything when it counts!”

“I didn’t fare much better, darling,” Rarity reminded her with a huff.

Fluttershy, who sat between them, reached over and meekly tapped Thorn’s mini outside the building and stopped two blocks away from Stalwart’s mini. She then took her hand away from the map quickly as the hologram-esque magic reformed.

The holograms of each of the three maps grew about an inch up from the surface. The Sleeping Giant and Griffonbound Vendors maps I made beforehand so the originals had a lot of detail to them. However, tables, chairs, supplies, and the countertops for both buildings all stood with magic. It made low-detailed floorboards where they were needed too.

Outside of the Sleeping Giant where the Redbrands entered from was the bar’s porch and the yard beyond it. The magic did well to link that with the temporary map Fluttershy used to mark all the potholes she dug as a bunny ahead of time.

Next, with Vareén and Stostine’s fight, I just cleared space for a vinyl map. However, the magic took its time forming dirt and grass patches. Then it added in a small stretch of abandoned fence posts and a tree stump or two to make the scene seem a little more lived in. They were inside a town after all.

It even formed the corner of some commoner’s house at the edge of the map. Only, the wall faded off after an inch like everything else. There was just enough height to show the beginnings of a windowsill.

The girls let me marvel at it when it appeared. But now, I was focused on Stalwart fleeing. He thought he was powerful enough to slaughter the casters with his Redbrands to finish the job quicker. Now that everything turned against him, he was simply determined to live.

Fluttershy looked up from Thorn’s mini and picked up a die. “Um. I’ll go ahead and Thorn Whip again.”

I gave her a nod, eager to get this over with, and watched as she rolled and counted the glowing numbers. But even what was on the die was more than enough.

“Nineteen?”

“Hit,” I confirmed. “Roll damage. This might do it.”

Rarity smirked. “You have to admit Rainbow, it is amusing seeing Fluttershy hit everything.”

Rainbow snickered. “Okay, yeah, that is pretty cool.”

Fluttershy hummed guiltily. “I don’t mean to hit everything. Thorn Wielder might look scary but I didn’t make her to actually be scary.”

That scary part might’ve been my fault, I realized with a hint of humor. She wanted me to describe Thorn Wielder as this ‘aloof, mysterious guardian of the forest.’ But after seeing what all Fluttershy was willing to have Thorn Wielder do to guard said forest, scary fit the descriptions naturally.

Fluttershy picked up and rolled a six-sided die. Then she scrunched her nose in defiance.

“...Only one point of damage,” she grumbled.

Not to mention she was kind of letting herself fall into that role.

The unlikely duo of Rarity and Dash tried to keep from laughing at their shy friend’s disappointment.

I felt my face twitch as I looked at his HP. He had two. Two hit points. Now he had one.

I reached out and dragged Stalwart’s mini next to Thorn. At the same time, a ghostly green vine tried replicating the same thing visually. It didn’t look good; like watching a video on the lowest resolution. It did what it needed.

“E-Every little bit helps,” I strained, watching as she put her grievance aside. Then I looked up at the remaining tendrils above my screen.

Those things still freaked me out. Reaching through them to look at the maps made me flinch at the start but I was doing better to hide it now. Especially since there were only three.

The first was a regular Redbrand tentacle. A sentence I just came up with casually, I told myself. It was entirely untouched and was committed to towering over Sunset who stared back with distaste.

Then there was Stalwart’s. It was once the strongest and most terrifying tendril of them all. Now it was shrunken, dried up, and lulling to the side like a dying flower. It occasionally swung towards Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy but was ready to keel over.

The third was seemingly frozen in time. A blue and thin noodle of a thing that moved faster than the others. But once Applejack’s fight ended, the tendril froze outstretched towards Applejack mid-attack and remained in that position since.

And no one but me saw it.

The girls certainly didn’t. And Applejack, who paid it mind before, sat there with her hat pulled low enough to avoid it. Not that she would’ve watched it anyway. Instead, she was staring at me from the shadow of her stetson in slight concern.

I forced myself to ignore her and finish the rest of the fight. I’m sorry, I repeated in my mind. I know what I did. I’m sorry.

I stared back at my screen, reading the turn tracker to figure out what was next. Except, once I figured it out, a handful of scenes played out. All with different results depending on the dice.

But almost all of them had my face turn cold.

“No.” I planted my hands on the sides of the screen. Then the scenes kept playing out and I nearly puked. “NO!”

“What?” Sunset asked me. “Story, what’s wrong?”

I wrenched my eyes away from it and towards her, fighting the pizza and apple cider back down my stomach. I felt like if I talked I was gonna decorate the table.

So I kept my hand to my mouth, took a few seconds to myself, and slammed the screen against the table like a laptop monitor. The magic flickered but didn’t dispel. It knew we weren’t done yet. I just couldn’t keep watching her. Watching her...

I shook my head defiantly, only speaking when my stomach felt stable. “No. I-I’m. I’m not— No, I’m. I’m not doing it! Give me a second, I’ll fi—”

“Story.” Applejack’s voice was harsh as she stared down the flinching DM. “Do it. Ya can’t weasel yer way outta this one.”

“Do what?” Rarity blinked. “Is everything alright Applejack? You’ve hardly said a word for a while now.”

“Come to think of it, Story?” Sunset turned to me as I leaned over my papers; arms propping me up. “You skipped Platick and Leanne’s turns I think four times now. What happened?”

I took a few breaths and choked down the bile. Then I grumbled for a moment before looking up. “Their fight's done already.” When everyone, Gilda included, reacted to gargling, I bit my lip and nodded.

Thought so, I told myself. “Platick had his own scene. And the fact that you all think he’s fighting Leanne tells me a lot of their fight was gargled for you too...Hold on.”

I stared down at the table and at the Griffonbound Vendors map. I reached forward and picked up the doppelganger mini. Since the fight happened after the reveal, I set it out along with Platick’s mini and the prebuilt map when Applejack rolled initiative.

“What does this look like to you?” I asked, holding up the doppelganger.

“A woman in a rather plain dress,” Rarity spoke bluntly. “I assume it’s Leanne. I wasn’t going to say anything but some form of embroidery wouldn’t go amiss.”

They think it’s Leanne, I realized. Then I pointed at the Griffonbound map. “Can you all see the map?” They confirmed that they did. “Okay. And what about where the minis were? Where they moved and everything?”

They were about to nod again but paused. Then they looked back at the map and studied it closer. While they started getting confused, Twilight was the one to speak up.

“You never moved either of them,” she told us. “They’ve stayed in place this whole time.”

I leaned far back and shook my head at that. Applejack had about the same response.

“Now how’s that make any sense?” AJ challenged. “Haven’t y’all seen us reachin’ out an’ movin’ the pieces around?”

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked, frowning. “Neither of you touched anything! We just assumed whatever that gargling you did was about saying where you moved to.”

“No. Isn’t that what y’all were doin’?” Applejack shot back. “None ‘a you touched any ‘a yer pieces. Either y’all are naturals at mental chess err there’s some mind trickery goin’ on.”

“Huh?” Gilda crossed her arms. “Both of you are wrong. I’ve been here the whole time. Everyone’s been moving pieces. That Stalwart guy, Leanne, all the thugs, you guys. And you’re all reaching out to move them. How are you missing that?”

I rubbed my temples. Yeah, this is mind trickery alright.

Sunset fell back in her seat. “If everyone’s only able to see what’s going on with their scenes, that means there’s more illusions than we thought. And Story and Gilda are the only ones that see the real deal.”

“Still no,” I corrected, earning her attention. “Gilda just said—” She said Leanne instead of the Doppelganger, but how do I explain that when it’ll get gargled? “Uh...J-Just believe me when I say she can’t see it all either.”

“Right.” Sunset did exactly that. “The gargling happens when we try giving away facts someone’s not aware of. As well as half-truths or lies that would help figure it out. Whatever’s going on here must be another form of gargling.”

“Illusion magic,” Twilight simplified.

“Which means they don’t even see...” AJ’s voice faded as she stared back at the map and the two pieces that remained there. Meanwhile, I stared at the doppelganger piece in my hand.

“Uh. S-Story?” Applejack started.

I shook my head. “They won’t hear it anyways. ‘Don’t rock the boat,’ remember?” It was something she told me a couple minutes ago.

“Alright. Ya don’t gotta gimme sass about it,” she said dismissively as she went back to her own thoughts. As she did, I went back to the doppelganger.

They see Leanne instead, I figured, turning the mini by the base. However, as I studied it, something started happening. Magic swirled up from the items on the table and cocooned itself around the plastic.

I tossed the mini away from me and watched as the magic shriveled up and dissipated to nothing.

“Do that again,” Twilight said quickly.

“H-Huh?” I glanced up and saw her as well as most of the table looking at me.

“Try that again. I saw it,” she told me. “The magic from the game. It responded to what you were doing.”

“Twilight, calm down,” Sunset asked her. “Tonight’s already been a lot. Let’s not push ourselves more than we already are.”

I opened my mouth to thank her only to glance down at my still flat DM screen. After my stomach did another flip from what I saw, I shook my head. “Nah. Nah, it-it’s cool. I’m all for figuring out this really interesting miniature magic-thi—”

“Story,” Applejack warned.

I whined like a kid that didn’t want to get outta bed. “Come on. You’re all really not gonna like what happens next.”

“Oh Ah know we ain’t,” Applejack refolded her arms. “But ya don’t get outta chores by waitin’ ‘em out. Let’s get it over with.”

I rubbed my eyes. “...Okay then.”

Gently, I started setting my screen back upright. The image was gone but now I had to narrate it. Fantastic. “Just know that I hate every part of this.”

With another slow breath, I focused my attention at Sunset. “Redbrands’ turn.”

Glemerr’s POV
Outside

I secured the last of the gauze and used my bedroll to keep Vareén’s head elevated. Her injuries were mostly at her torso but I wasn’t sure what all to do beyond treating the obvious problems.

I’ve treated stab wounds before. Sometimes my own but mostly the others. It came with living beside the canals of Alderstone. It also helped that, so long as the cuts weren’t fatal, just about everyone had their own way of laughing it off at the end of the day.

But all of Vareén’s melting skin? The gooey blood? That was new.

I wiped the odd blood off on my pants and lightly patted the side of Vareén’s head. I half expected the skin to stick to my hands but no. It was more like touching wet clay.

“Va-Vareén?” I asked lightly, looking over my shoulder. Stostine lit the area with green flames as doing her best to dodge the man’s sword while trying to burn him alive. “Ya aw’rite? Wake up, Ah know Ah ‘eard an ‘eartbeat.”

Her eyelids slowly peeled open. Instead of those blue eyes I’d seen her with, her eyes had no pupils. No irises. All one solid color. My darkvision only let me see in shades of gray so I had clue what color they were. But I saw the fear through it.

“Guh-Gl-Glemerr?” She spoke. It was her voice but only barely. It was a lot craggily than usual. “Wh-What are...You’re not suppos..."

“It’s cool. It’s cool,” I told her. “Ah ‘eard Stostine an’ came runnin’! Everythin’s fine!”

She tried turning her head as a burst of fire missed the Redbrand and singed his cloak. I corrected her head and kept it straight.

“No. Nope. Keep lookin’ ‘ere, ‘kay? Ah dink dem Raisinbrands musta put some poison err somethin’ on d’ere swords. Yer skin’s actin’ all weird.”

“M-My skin?” She forced herself to bring her hand up to her where her eyes could see it. Those archery gloves she always wore were kinda baggy over her hand now. Pretty sure they were just regular leather, no straps or anything.

When she saw this, her gasp sounded like a dying fish as she tried sitting up only to cry out in pain. Then she got the wind knocked out of her as I pushed her back to the ground.

“Stay down,” I ordered, using my tough voice. “Ya move an’ dem wounds ‘re gonna reopen!”

“D-Don—” she coughed and hacked, prompting me to recheck the bandages. “Don’t look at me!”

“Uh. A-Ah kinda gotta,” I half-joked, one hand to check the gauze and another to pin her squirming body. “Look, Ah’m not lettin’ anythin’ bad ‘appen to ya. As soon as were safe, Ah’ll get ya ta a warm bed and you can rest up all ya nee—”

“GiiiiiiaaaaaAAAAAHHH!”

All the green flames snuffed out as the Redbrand dragged his shortsword away from Stostine’s slashed abdomen. She fell to her knees, screaming in agony as I watched the man step back.

Still not a single burn mark that mattered.

“Glem!” Vareén tried to shout. “GO!”

As a little globule of blood hung on the corner of her lips, I took off like a shot from her quiver.

Screaming the whole way, the Redbrand turned and even though he saw nothing, he heard my footfalls rumbling straight for him. He tried shifting to the side, hoping I was as blind as he was.

Then, if he wasn’t desperate enough, he chucked his sword right at my screaming.

Seeing this, I drove my heel into the ground and used it to fall into a spin that took me well out of the way of harm. Still, I threw out my hand and wrapped my fingers around the blade before finishing my spin so I could stare down the idiot in front of me.

With my roar reaching max volume, I tightened my grip on the blade until my fingers bled and swung, smacking the crossguard of the sword into the jaw of the man. I felt a crunch travel down the metal weapon as his jaw became greatly misaligned. Teeth and blood went flying and he was knocked into the air for a spin of his own until he clambered back onto the dirt.

A puddle started spilling out his mouth.

“Stostine!” I tossed the sword away and fell next to her, my anger switching back to worry. “Stostine, tell me yer alright?!”

“I-I-It...It. It-It’s always. The stomach.” Her voice was a strained series of squeaks. “Wh-Why? Does the Master always aim for the stomach?”

Somehow, that made me smirk a little. “Well, it is the easiest target when ya don’t bother dodgin’ da right way.”

She let out a weak murmur of whines and made herself look up at me. “Yo-You know? I think that’s the. The nicest way I’ve heard som...Someone call me clumsy.”

“What?!” I went right back to angry Glemerr. “Yer not clumsy! Who called ya clumsy?!”

“That. That was a joke, Glem,” she told me weakly. “But I-I really am pretty clum..." She glanced past me and I saw her eyes widen. “Watch out!”

Reaching for her side, Stostine pulled out a knife and made a dive over my shoulder. She landed like a wet fish but I realized she threw the knife at something.

Thinking fast, I used my arm to steady Stostine on my shoulder and whipped around just in time to see the gurgling Redbrand with a dagger in his hand and now a knife in his lung. He was close enough to stab me in the back but after a few awkward steps, he fell back to the ground. Dead.

Stostine started groaning in pain as she reached for her stomach. Obviously the cut wasn’t so deep because she was able to make a lunge like that but the moment had passed and she felt miserable for it.

I let my muscles relax and, very carefully, set Stostine on the ground beside me. She clutched at her stomach but after some steadying from me, she at least forced herself to stay on two feet.

“Thank you,” I said in shock. “Ah dought dat guy was down an’ out.”

“They’re surprisingly resilient,” she admitted through her teeth. “He was the last one. Are Rava and the others alright?”

“Ah’m gonna check.” I took a few steps away, making sure Stostine didn’t collapse. “Sit wit’ Vareén! Ah’ll be ba—”

“NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!”

A second scream, this one louder than Stostine’s as it erupted from the front of the Sleeping Giant. Ahead of me, well over a hundred feet, I saw the scene.

Rava, Ricven, and Thorn were in the process of chasing Stalwart who looked broken and exhausted. He might’ve gotten away if he wasn’t dragged back by Thorn’s vines.

But he wasn’t dead. Instead, I saw him standing there with a hand on Thorn’s shoulder and his longsword in her gut with the end of it sticking out her back. Blood spilled from her mouth and Rava was screaming bloody murder for him to stop.

But he didn’t. Instead, Stalwart pulled his sword out, twisting it as he did to further rip apart everything inside until Thorn fell on her back. Then, the tiefling stomped his boot onto Thorn’s body and raised his sword high above his head.

This time I screamed. I screamed as the tears I earned from seeing Stostine fall fell off in the wind that helped to hold me back. After that, new tears started falling out.

No. No NO NO!

“STOP IT!” Rava kept screaming, picking up her hammer and running to stop him. She was closer but much slower.

“This is what you deserve, filthy Cortássian,” Stalwart screeched. Then he swung.

We all screamed for him to stop. Even Ricven screamed. Behind me, Stostine and Vareén watched in frozen fear as the entire moment was lit up in the purple flames of the bar’s fireplace.

I made it a quarter of the way before Stalwart’s sword sunk into Thorn’s stomach again. It pinned her in place as her arms and legs flinched upwards and all her vines tensed up like a rope trap around Stalwart’s neck.

“GET AWAY!”

Rava finally reached him and swung with all her strength, colliding into his chest. His whole body was flung away as Thorn’s thorny vines crushed his neck and snapped it immediately.

He was dead before his body could flop to the ground beside the actively dying body of Thorn Wielder.

“He hits you while you’re unconscious,” Story said lifelessly. “That’s two failed death saves automatically. You have one...”

Fluttershy and Story watched the gray void cover her character sheet and then all over her body where Thorn Wielder had been struck this whole fight. More specifically, it covered Fluttershy’s entire torso where Thorn had been stabbed twice.

Fluttershy couldn’t feel her abdomen. The entire thing was so numb that she felt nothing. Even her legs were somewhat unresponsive. It terrified her to her core.

She and Story were the only ones to see it but by this point Twilight realized how bad it must have felt.

“I wanna heal her,” Rainbow told Story.

Story’s eyes started welling up with tears. He made himself shake his head, hands shaking. “You used your action to kill Stalwart.”

“Okay. Fine. I use the bonus action!” Story kept shaking his head. “What about movement?! I carry her the rest of the way to Pinkie!”

“Not her turn and she’s too far away. Fluttershy would roll one more Death Save before then.” His voice was monotone as he stared straight down. He didn’t want any more of this.

“I-I. I...Let me heal her!” Rainbow slammed her hands on the table, making every mini hop. Some of them fell over or lost their place. Not that it mattered. The enemies were dead, knocked out, or gone. The fighting was done.

But Story had to keep the turn order to see if Thorn Wielder survived. Although, with the grayness overtaking Fluttershy, it might as well have been the same person as far as he was concerned.

“She would need a ten or higher,” Twilight tried rationalizing. “An eleven out of twenty chance.”

“She had a five-in-six chance of killing Stalwart with Thorn Whip,” Story admitted to them. Now that Stalwart was dead, the magic didn’t bother gargling that.

“Don’t tell us that!” Rainbow yelled. Then she got up out of her chair and walked a few steps away, tapping her heel to the floor. “...One hit. I just had to hit him one more time! Why did I keep missing?!”

“Story.” Rarity spoke with as much calm as possible. “Who’s turn is it now?”

Story glanced over at the turn order by lulling his head to the side. “...Stostine’s.”

Sunset watched a few eyes turn to her but when they realized she was even further away than Glemerr, they lost interest. It only made her feel worse.

“I...I walk over to Vareén,” she said stiffly and pushed the piece with her finger. When it was in place, she gave a pitiful look to Fluttershy. “...I can’t do anything. I end my turn.”

A few of the girls flinched as Rainbow kicked the wall as hard as she could. She put a hole in it.

“Story, you’re not gonna do anything?!” Rainbow turned and glared at his sunken expression. “Thorn Wielder’s like Ravathyra! Like Vareén, and Stostine, and Gekio! I saw her alive in there! She sounds just like Fluttershy! She’s alive! And she’s dying! Why aren’t you doing anything?!”

Story said nothing. Instead, he looked to Applejack as she stared back. She made no attempt to walk back what she said earlier but she was even less confident now.

When she kept saying nothing, Story looked back at the turn order. “Ricven. Then Thorn Wielder.”

Rarity took in a deep breath, doing well to hold herself together despite the glossy eyes and mascara holding in her tears. “For thing’s first. Story? Can Inspiration count towards a Death Save?”

Story opened his mouth, but stalled. “Um...I need to check the wording.”

“On it.” Twilight was already flipping her own book. Since she had half a dozen tabs sticking out of the book, it took her no time at all to find the one labeled ‘Bard.’ She quoted the entire block and everyone perked up when she got to the part they needed. “The creature can roll the die and add the number to one ability check, Attack roll, or saving throw it makes.”

She looked up excitedly. “Saving throw! Death Saves are a saving throw! It would work!”

Rainbow Dash came back over and practically hugged the back of her chair. “Okay! That helps! She has a better chance then!”

“Hold.” Story sat up. “Twilight? Unconscious, status condition.”

Twilight closed the book and reopened it towards the back. After another moment of searching, she read it and the hope died in her eyes. “It says they are unaware of their surroundings. Inspiration needs to be heard. She would need inspiration before falling unconscious.”

“Urrraaaagh!” Rainbow yelled, shaking the chair around in place. “Can’t we just say she’s still awake or something?!”

“We have to follow the rules,” Sunset said sullenly.

“It’s alright. That wasn’t my only idea.” Rarity said, though now shaken enough to hear it in her voice. “I want something from Rava’s backpack. Ricven was there when she packed it and knows where it is. Can I use that thing as an action?”

Rainbow Dash leaned back over the table. “I let her do it!”

Story focused his attention for a moment. “Combat’s over, so that’s not a problem. The issue is that you don’t have possession of it, she does.”

“I give it to her!”

“Not that easy,” Story replied. “It’s stupid but this kinda falls between the rules. Give me a second.”

“Let me rephrase my question,” Rarity said. “I would like to use my entire turn doing nothing else but taking something from Rava’s backpack and using it. Fluttershy is right beside me so I don’t even need movement. I use my whole turn doing nothing but this. Can I do it?”

Story paused, considering the idea. I mean, there’s actions in the game that take longer. He glanced back at the screen and watched a vision of Ricven digging something out of Rava’s pack. The magic agreed.

“Yeah. That would do it.” He watched the girls get excited as Rarity took a huge sigh of relief. “What’re you getting from Rava’s backpack?”

“Outta my way!”

I watched Ricven run in next, taking a knife and cutting open the top of Rava’s pack in a single cut. Once he was done, he grabbed a smaller white bag and yanked it out before dropping it next to Thorn Wielder.

Ricven had Rava’s healer’s kit.

I watched as Ricven tore one supply out of another and right away staunch the bleeding in both wounds. Stalwart took the blade with him when he was knocked away by Rava so no sword plugged either injury.

That didn’t keep Ricven from trying. He put all the pressure he could on the wounds with his forty-ish pounds of weight. At first it didn’t work, but then he got help.

The vines wrapped themselves around Ricven’s hands, helping to grow bloodmoss along the cloth of the bandages just before he applied them to Thorn Wielder. A wave of brown and decay spread out from the point of the vine that grew out from Thorn’s arm but it kept working.

As Ricven kept wrapping bandages and bloodmoss around her, his arms getting more caked in blood, Rava tossed her hammer aside and backed him up. And then, about twelve seconds later, I rushed in right beside them and helped the elf.

We never stopped working. For however long it took us, we kept tending to Thorn Wielder like a team of doctors while Stalwart’s dead body sat two feet away from us. And as we started to finish everything we could possibly do, the vine did one last thing.

It buried itself into the ground like a sprout until it struck fertile soil and we noticed every blade of grass and clover react simultaniously. It was sucking every nutrient and pumping it into Thorn’s arm like an IV.

Rava took off her gauntlets and kept listening in for a pulse, finding it and not letting go as she kept watch over her. Meanwhile, Ricven and I collapsed beside one another; exhausted.

“We...We’re alive,” Ricven muttered as he stared up at the heavy clouds in the sky. “Hehehehe...We’re all alive!”

“Yeah,” I breathed. “Yeah, we are. We took ‘em out. Every last one.”

“Ah wouldn’ go tha’ far,” Rava said sternly. “There’s a lodge wit’ a bunch’a skeletons in it, ahehehe. Still! Platick had that Redbeard fella admit there were over forty. This was, what, twenty? Plus eight from earlier on? Then another if Platick’s theory on Leanne was right.”

“Yeah. More den half. Of them..." I slowly turned my head to look back at Ricven who had done the same to me.

“He ain’t come out yet,” Ricven pointed out.

“...Platick?!” I yelled out, forcing myself to ignore all the cuts I had and stand up.

Ricven was up on his feet and already running to the Griffonbound shop.

“Platick!” Ricven cried out, using his illusions to try making himself louder. “All’s clear! Come on out!”

I just started running full speed. When I passed Ricven, I grabbed him by the arm and sat him down on my shoulder so we’d both get there quicker. He didn’t argue.

Rava watched us run, as did Stostine and Vareén. None of them bothered running after us.

“Platick!” “Platick?!” “Platick!” “Platick?!” “Platick!” “Platick?!” “Platick!” “Platick?!”

We screamed like maniacs as I got us to the store in under a minute. When we arrived, the door was wide open, cut rope tied around the doorknob, a chair lying on its side, and a huge puddle of blood sitting at the entrance.

“PLATICK!” We shrieked in unison, with me rushing through the door and stopping only a few paces in.

The whole room was like a hurricane had run through it. Both blue and red blood was all over the floor in streaks and small pools. Also, in the middle of the room, several floorboards appeared melted and burned away as a deep scent of vinegar waved in the room.

On the opposite side of the room, directly across from us, were two bodies. Both of them were propped up against the store counter as one laid on top of the other.

The first body was Platick’s. His was underneath the second body and his eyes were shut. Cuts were everywhere on his body and a single dagger was left embedded just above his right pectoral. His entire face was coated in a mass of blue jelly-like substance that was no doubt seeping into his wounds and infecting them.

As for the second body, it was female. However, it wasn’t Leanne’s. For one thing, their clothing was much nicer than what we ever saw Leanne with. They had a peasant skirt and a white blouse, although the blouse was completely stained red with what seemed like her own blood.

She had the pointed ears of a half-elf and thin framed glasses that were about to fall off of her nose as she leaned over Platick as though to protect him. Her auburn hair hung messily from her head, some of it sticking to Platick’s face thanks to the blue jell. In her hand was an equally bloody symbol of Tymora.

It was Sister Garaele, the priestess of the Shrine of Luck that was right across the street from Griffonbound Vendor. And when we entered the room, she peered up at us tiredly.

“He...He’s sleeping,” she said distantly. “I came to check on Leanne when...When it...I...sav...ed...him...”

Her head fell against his other shoulder and she was as unresponsive as he was. Two stab victims and no culprit.

Author's Note

And so ends the siege on Phandalin.

Originally, there was going to be a lot of death. Three characters would have all died until I realized the things I kept forgetting:
I forgot the party had another healing potion that they would have given to the two trying to distract half the forces. Had that not been there, Stostine would've been abandoned by Vareén and died.

I forgot Glemerr had another ki point that she would use to reach Vareén and Stostine as quickly as possible. Without that, Vareén would be dead.

Finally, Thorn Wielder. I forgot I had both Glemerr AND Ravathyra buying healer's kits. It's been on Rava's character sheet since Ch. 19. I forgot for so long, I started writing Thorn's death in the first draft. After the scene with everyone pleading, I realized Rainbow had a healer's kit and Rarity was right there.
I even rolled the last death save. Fluttershy rolled a 2. Thorn Wielder would be dead.

I played out the entire fight before Ch. 27 and I knew how and what the Redbrands/Leanne would do before Ch 18. I also knew the plan the girls made to fight wasn't the best. I did that on purpose because it was what I believed they would do. I stick to that.

If anyone's interested in any of the numbers or other stuff behind it, let me know! If there's enough interest, maybe I'll make a blog post or something. I just have a bunch of notes and play-by-plays of combat for my own DMing practice. :twilightsheepish:

That said, I'll see you all next chapter. I hope you all had a great New Year's!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(30) End of Session

Platick’s POV
Griffonbound Vendor
During the Fight

I was tossed like a rag and fell against the edge of the table with my lower back. I let out a breath and forced myself to roll away just as a dagger sank its way through the tabletop with all the weight of this slender blue form behind it.

After regaining my balance, I turned to watch as the creature twisted and yanked the dagger. It pulled it and a chunk of the table out with hardly an issue. Then it turned to me.

Why did she make me do this alone?

“Oh, it’s alright Platick,” it spoke suddenly. Despite all the effort it put into skewering me, the voice of Leanne sounded calm and eerily delighted. “I’m glad you kept this personal. Makes it so much easier for me.”

It lunged forward, throwing one piercing motion after the next that I was forced to dodge or parry as we danced around the shop. While I had the range, it somehow avoided every strike I made and got in close.

It forced me to play defensive so that neither of us got a clean hit on the other. It would carve its knife along my armor while I caught the loose clothes that dangled from it. The walls and furniture were equally torn apart.

After about a minute of gaining and losing ground, I backed into the side wall and swung wildly. When the doppelganger saw that, they waited for the sword to finish its arc and raised its dagger to finish me off.

Desperate, I dropped my dagger and reached behind me, grabbing the first thing my hand brushed against. Surprisingly, it even had a handle as I swung it around.

What followed was the shatter of glass and a spray of oil coating both of us, making the monster flail backwards as their lack of eyelids meant the oil was free to dig into their eyes.

I put both hands onto the hilt of my rapier and drove it into the center of their chest. When it met any resistance, I wrenched it in whatever direction it took until the tip of my blade revealed itself through its back and reflected candlelight back at me.

All the while, the monster’s face stretched vertically. It was like putty being pulled tight as it screamed in Leanne’s voice. Only, it was a hideous noise. Leanne’s subtle country accent distorted into something between metallic and this melting shriek as I started yelling in return out of instinct.

Then, as I kept yelling, its scream went straight silent. The creature froze in place as every visible muscle went stiff as a sculpture.

My yell fell to a deep exhale. I was relieved for the moment of peace as I withdrew my rapier. Or rather, I tried to. The blade came about halfway through the beast’s body before it got stuck.

Confused, I watched as every abdominal muscle the doppelganger had slithered and coiled around the rapier like snakes constricting around it. Then the doppelganger’s stomach started curling inward to keep my blade lodged in the beast.

I studied every inch of it before noticing its yellow orbs were baring down upon me from underneath the glaze of oil.

And then the muscles on its face grew stiffer still. A taut grin of sinew.

“Just kidding,” Leanne’s voice joked.

I blinked. Then I looked at where I struck. What?! But, its heart. I-I stabbed its heart!

“No. No you didn’t,” it replied, making a chill run down my back. Then it twirled the dagger into a forward grip. “Was a good effort though.”

It made for a longitudinal cut across my neck which I ducked under to squat beside my rapier. Then, as it spun its dagger back to a reverse grip for the return swipe, I grabbed my rapier and yanked it downward.

The doppelganger gave up on the attack and released its muscles, letting me fall to the floor with the sword back in my possession. However, it left me perfectly exposed to get kicked like a dog.

By the fourth kick, I pulled a new dagger out from my hip and held it above me, letting the freak stomp their foot directly into it. Again, they shrieked and I followed up by driving the rapier into their stomach until I was up against it.

After a couple more seconds, it laughed in Leanne’s voice.

Wha—How?!

“I’ll tell you how,” it replied. “My stomach’s not there! Neither was my heart.” I tried pulling away but again it worked to anchor the rapier in place bef—

My mind became full of nothing but agony as a surge of pain shot down my arm. Multiple times in a row cold metal punctured my arm as I writhed in pain each time. It helped to paint my arm deep crimson all the way down to my hand.

Quickly, I released my rapier and forced my fingers around a second dagger before plunging both into either side of the thing’s neck. All I got in return was a wad of coagulated blue blood in my face before it gut kicking me in an attempt to push me away. It worked but not before I made a grab for my sword again.

Stumbling back a few feet, I stumbled and slammed into the counter spine-first. I crawled to my feet the same time it plucked the daggers out of its neck. It then tossed both of them across the room and steadied its own at me.

Despite no mouth or nose, I saw its body moving in a way that showed it was breathing. It was more than a little winded but I was still worse off by a mile. My body ached, I was losing blood, and I was down to my last dagger as the other four were scattered across the room.

It took a few seconds sizing me up, determining how best to finish me off before slowly leaning its head to the side curiously.

“Kiirnodel,” Leanne’s voice muttered from it.

Several alarms raised to my mind as my eyes gave away my fear. “What?”

“Kiirnodel,” it repeated as a visible chill rolled down the muscles like a spasm. “What are they? They...no, it...Okay, I am nothing like that thing, how dare you,” it said offendedly.

My brow laid low along my eyes. “That’s what it is. You’re reading my memories.”

Its face muscles twisted to another grin. “Took you long enough. You pride yourself on being so inquisitive~ It’s what drew me to you.”

...Go on, I said inwardly. While keeping a careful eye on her, I put my last dagger down on the counter and blindly reached for the brandy behind me. The glass was heavier than I thought. Thicker too. The cork was also too well secure to pop it off with my thumb. Darn it all.

“I wouldn’t, there’s poison in there,” it admitted. “I was gonna knock you out but you got a little too clever.”

Applejack sat there, furrowing her brow at Story. To his credit, he managed to bury his emotions to put on a good attempt at playing the bad guys fairly.

That didn’t mean Applejack was any less good at telling tall tales from facts.

“Can Ah make an insight check on that?”

“Wait, insight? Really? Now?” Rainbow asked, looking away from the strong cobra-like tendril that was Stalwart to stare at her friend. “How’s that gonna help in a fight?!”

Applejack ignored her and stared Story down. “Can Ah?” She pressed.

Story nodded. “Go for it. And I don’t think the game will gargle me when I tell you it has advantage.”

“Not surprised.” AJ shrugged, watching as Story rolled with one die pettering out and another flashing so bright it made Story blink a few times. After seeing that, AJ went for the magic wooden die and rolled it for everyone to see.

A natural twenty.

Strangely enough, Applejack didn’t get too many visions. Just a view of the doppelganger as it tried lying to Platick. If anything, Platick was probably getting glimpses of Applejack’s talent to pick out lies.

Story, meanwhile, sat back and licked his lips. He was overjoyed that AJ outclassed all the magic. But at the same time there was a fragment of him that was somewhat petty his doppelganger got read like a book.

“Wow.” I smirked. “That’s what a lying shapeshifter looks like? How sad.”

I watched its face scrunch into rage for a moment before it rolled its shoulders and regaining its composure. “Alright then. Check if I’m lying about this: I don’t read memories. I relive them as though they were my own. For example, Madame Kiirnodel? I know everything you do.”

My smirk faltered to a look of exasperation. “How unfortunate. That also means you know what happens next, don’t you?”

It scoffed. “You think I’m insane? I don’t plan on going anywhere near the Hidden Sight.”

I rolled my jaw and put the brandy back on the counter. Then I proceeded to pluck a small game piece out of my pocket. The Mage piece from my Dragonchess set. Once it spotted it, the doppelganger stepped back.

“Yo-You wouldn’t,” it said in surprise.

I just stared at it and thought to myself, You’re reading my thoughts, aren’t you? Say that again.

It faltered. “N-No. Stop! You don’t have to—” But I did. Instead of obeying, I took the piece in my fist and tightened my grip until both of us heard a sharp crack as I snapped the piece in two.

As the parts of it crumbled to the ground, withering away so fast that only a few crumbs of dust actually reached the ground. Even those withered out of existence.

The doppelganger’s hands trembled. “I...I-I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have said anything! I WOULDN’T!”

“I know you wouldn’t,” I told her calmly. Then, ignoring the lack of blood rushing through my arm, I raised my rapier. “But, you see, I’m not like the others. I’m not insane enough to think I’m unstoppable. If I die and Kiirnodel finds out you know? They’d find a way to make sure I pay for betraying them.”

Its muscles tensed. “Betraying them? In what way?! There’s no point lying to me, Fortuna, I know everything they’ve done to you! I’ve been reliving your memories all morning! You’re just being spiteful at this point! Why?! You don’t care about this town! You’ve never met Leanne. You don’t have a lingering hatred of things like me. There is nothing attaching you to this place! So why?!”

I narrowed my brow. “Interesting. You say you’re living my memories but you can’t live all of them at once, can you? You can only read so many at a time.”

I reached into a deeper pocket and pulled out two things. The first of them was Rava’s signet ring. “You’re right though. I don’t have anything tying me to this place. Neither does that naive Dwarf. But she’s my ticket to finding everything out. So I’ll pay my debt upfront.”

The doppelganger’s face twitched in such a way where it was more obvious thanks to the lack of skin to hide it.

“You wanna kill me? Because of some BS like friendship?!” It mocked.

“Not. My fri—” “Oh stuff it with that crap!” It interrupted. “I’m living your memories Platick! You think I don’t know when you doubt your own words? Say it all you want! Preach it till the Traveler regales the story! Or don’t. I really couldn’t care.”

I felt a huge dizzy spell hit me from the blood loss. I didn’t bother masking it; it’d see through me anyways. “Go ahead and try. You think that the Sight would actually be fooled by something like you? Even if you repeat the phrases, they’ll see right through it.”

“I won’t be sticking around that long. Just long enough to kill the rest of your friends and get back to the Baron!”

“Doors right there.” I pointed past it with my rapier. “Read my mind. Turning your back on me will be your dumbest move tonight.”

I watched the muscles in its neck shift around for a moment before it let out the most ear-splitting shriek I’ve ever heard in my life.

Then it charged.

“I’m not dying here,” I said defiantly as I got in a readied stance and played my hand.

Throw dagger. Feint then right. Hip strike. Throw dagger. Feint then right. Hip strike. Throw dagger. Feint then right. Hip strike. I kept my thoughts clear except for that montra that I repeated in my head.

Throw dagger. Feint then righ—

“Think that’ll work?!” It roared before chucking its dagger straight for me.

I fumbled around for a second, my instincts pulling me in so many different directions that I ended up going nowhere. Instead, I stood like a deer in the lantern light as a dagger sunk deep into the right of my chest.

In a fit of desperation, I flung the hand with Rava’s ring at the monster. The silver went flying at it along with the second thing I pulled out of my pocket with it; a vial of acid.

It was my plan to psyche out the doppelganger with my thoughts and throw that vial acid into the center of their chest. However, as a last ditch effort, I couldn’t do it right.

Instead, the vial and ring both sailed over its head as it went into a tackle, slamming into me and plunging the dagger through my armor and deeper into my chest. Behind the shapeshifter, I heard the shattering of glass, the strong scent of something like vinegar, and the sound of rolling silver.

“You wanna know what a dying man’s thoughts sound like Platick?” It asked. Then it leaned so close to my ear that it was practically kissing it while everything started going dark. “They sound. Like...”

Nothing.

3rd Person POV
Game Room
During the Fight

As the game carried on, three battles happened simultaniously. A majority of the girls saw nearly everything between the battle with Stalwart and the fight outdoors.

However, Applejack couldn’t see either of those fights, nor could she hear them. Likewise, the girls couldn’t see how their friend’s fight was truly going on with ‘Leanne.’ No one had time to realize that until the end.

Although, there was one other interesting note; the DM Screen. When the fight started, it showed Thorn Wielder, Vareén, and Stostine against a small army of Redbrands with Stalwart at the front. But it had changed twice in the span of the night.

The first was the inclusion of Ravathyra, Glemerr, and Ricven. Once the Redbrands rushed inside the bar and Dash and Pinkie made their surprise attacks, the three adventurers appeared. Rava and Glemerr were posed mid-swing, flanking on either side of Vareén, Thorn, and Stostine’s images. Then, Ricven was front and center of everyone, fully invested in his performance.

Since Glemerr’s face was hidden behind her Redbrand mask on the screen, that meant Ricven was the only one smiling. It made sense seeing as this was his debut on the ‘big screen.’ Rarity was even a little pleased seeing her creation like this.

But when Platick and the doppelganger’s fight appeared, there was a whole new style. Stalwart and the girls’ scene shifted to the side of the screen to make space for the rogue and shifter that appeared to the left.

It was something akin to an advertisement for a boxing match. The picture showed a bust of both fighters facing one another; Platick with a rapier and dagger and the doppelganger wielding a small cinquedea.

However, the detail on either opponent couldn’t be seen. Everyone saw the blades clearly but Platick and the shifter themselves were concealed in the darkness. There was only a dark outline of either of them, the silver eyes of Platick, and the yellow eyes of the shifter that could be seen.

Everyone saw the same picture. It was just that the rest of the girls assumed it was Leanne. They also assumed that the blue tendril that arrived with Applejack’s fight was also Leanne’s.

But there was something else they didn’t know.

The fight only lasted four turns with both opponents having two attacks each; two with the doppelganger’s dagger while Platick had a rapier and then a dagger in the off-hand. Neither of them had sneak or surprise attack dice so it was a battle of attrition.

At first, Applejack had better luck. Platick hit with almost all of his attacks while the doppelganger barely hit once. Then the doppelganger had a natural twenty. Then Platick hit with every attack while the shifter missed all of them.

And then Platick had a natural twenty. The doppelganger, who started with nearly triple the HP Platick had, now almost had the same HP he started with. And when Applejack heard that the doppelganger was getting weaker, she tried a Hail Mary idea of throwing an acid vial.

This failed and Platick, who only had a couple of hit points left, went down to a single stab.

By the time he realized this, Story sat in stunned silence. It hit him all at once what he had done and how Platick was all alone. There wasn’t a chance of the others coming to save him. By this point, the Redbrands had just closed in on Vareén and Stostine and Glemerr was still fighting back at the Sleeping Giant with the others.

Even if Pinkie knew about Platick’s condition, it would take her about five rounds to get there. More than enough for Platick to run out of death saves.

Then, Story looked down at his screen. He saw half a dozen scenes playing out in front of him. All of them were awful. One showed the doppelganger running away and leaving Platick to die. Another had the doppelganger finishing Platick off and disguising itself as him. A third was tying Platick’s corpse to a chair to use as bait against—

He looked away, covering his eyes. The others were worse than the first three and simply violence for violence sake. And unfortunately, it wasn’t surprising. In Leodaav, shapeshifters were rooted in the kingdom’s history of disasters. And in a kingdom where giants and goblins weren’t kill-onsight kinds of monsters, there were people trained specifically to hunt down and kill shifters.

He made doppelganger’s ruthless. This was the result.

“Story?” Applejack spoke up. “What happens now?”

Story glanced up, doing well to avoid eye contact with the screen as he looked back at her. “I. Um...I-It’s the end of the fight. Now.”

“Do Ah just. Do Ah sit here?” She asked. Then she glanced over to Rainbow Dash who was talking between Pinkie and Rarity over what to do next. A lot of it was gargled to her but it wasn’t hard to assume what they were saying. “Uh. What about Platick?”

Again, Story had that feeling of dread hit him. He didn’t see Platick in Sky-Space but if he was anything like Vareén or Stostine, or the character he brought to life, that meant Platick was—

“H-He’s fine,” Story lied, perking up in his seat. Then he watched from the corner of his eyes as all the scenes on his screen vanished save for one. The one where the doppelganger tries running away. “He—erm, you. H-He’s alright. You don’t have to do anything.”

As he said those words, the remaining scene blanked out. Actually, all signs of magic winked out of existence.

“...” Applejack took one look around her and gave him a disappointed look. “Story,” she started.

“N-No. I swear. He’ll be okay! I-I can make it okay.”

AJ turned her look into one of frustration. “Now hold on. Ya don’t go rockin’ the boat like that. What are ya talkin’ about?”

“I’m...” He thought to himself for a moment. “I’m...going to make it okay,” he said slowly. “I mean. After all, I’m, uh. I’m the one who runs this game, right? I’m the Master, aren’t I? That’s what the characters keep calling me.”

As he explained it, neither he nor Applejack noticed the magic slowly reactivating. Except, rather than spreading across the game, it spread across everything. The table, the floors, the walls, the ceiling.

Their friends.

“Plus, it’s all my world,” Story went on. “I’m narrating everything. I’m voicing all the characters, describing the world, deciding what number you need to pass something. I decide that.”

Applejack shook her head. “Story, that’s the worst slope ya could hope ta slide down. We don’t even know what this magic reaches too. Ah’m still havin’ a difficult time wrappin’ mah head around this ‘changin’ reality’ craziness.”

Story bit his lip but then AJ saw his eyes moving around as if searching for an answer in his head. Before she could call him on it, he snapped his fingers.

“That’s it!” He cried, reaching for his backpack.

Applejack sighed. “Story, ya ain’t listenin’.”

“No, I am listening. And you’re right. The changing real world reality-thingy is nuts. We shouldn’t mess with that. But!”

“No,” AJ retorted. “Ya don’t go throwin’ around buts when talking about reality! Sunset, will ya please talk some sense inta...Sunset?”

She looked across the table where Sunset was seemingly frozen in time; in mid-conversation with Twilight about something. Her mouth was partly open and she wasn’t blinking. Neither was anyone else in the room.

“St-Story? Story, stop. Look at the others.”

Story finished pulling out a binder from his backpack, filled to the brim with papers, and flinched when he saw all of them stuck in place. “Uhhhhh..."

“Okay. This? Right here? This is why we don’ mess with things!”

He put the binder down on the table and stepped over to Sunset since she was closest to him. He waved his hand and snapped his fingers but nothing made them move. And when he tried shaking their shoulder, they were as stiff as a statue.

“Okay,” Story squeaked. “Okay, fine. Applejack, you win. I take it back. I’ll do it! I’ll play the game legit. Just tell me how to fix them!”

“You think Ah know how ta do it?!” Applejack stared at him.

“I dunno, you’re the one that floated in the air with superpowers! D-Do it again!”

“Ah don’t think Ponyin’ Up is gonna do much here!”

Story opened his mouth but shut it again. “Ponying Up? That’s what you call that?”

“U-Uh!” AJ’s eyes started darting all over the room. “Well, um, Ah mean, that ain’t. Um. Le-Let’s focus on savin’ our friends, can we?!”

“Right! Um. Okay, good point, sorry,” he backtracked. Then he went back to his chair and looked around at his notes. The screen didn’t have those scenes to choose from but it didn’t have the typical game rules and tips on it either.

Instead, he saw this small, medieval round table made up of individual boards all hammered together. On the table was a candle turned on its side and still alight to reveal a small chunk of the table was torn out with stab marks around it.

“Huh?” Story blinked and leaned closer until he noticed that he wasn’t staring at a static image. Rather, Story was staring through the screen as though it was a small window.

He looked through it straight on and saw a door and two windows. The windows had heavy cloths to keep light from escaping as well as some adhesive holding the edges in place. Not only that but the door was tied down with rope with a chair pinned under the doorknob.

Wait a second, Story told himself. Curious, he grasped both sides of the screen and slowly lifted it up. His little window moved as if he staring at the room through a camcorder.

“Applejack, you gotta see this,” he said absently. And as he said that, the screen winked off again. “Wait, it’s gone.”

“Uh! Try again,” AJ said with a shaking stammer.

Story glanced up at her and right away he realized the two of them weren’t in the game room at the barn anymore. Rather, they were in a medieval shop that had been trashed from a duel that had just ended.

And up against the counter was the paused moment of Platick being stabbed by the doppelganger as it bared down on him.

They were inside Griffonbound Vendors.

Platick’s POV
???

My consciousness went in and out as only heavy bouts of headaches and aching pain from my chest roused me.

The last thing I remembered was that doppelganger stabbing me. It backed away from me and watched as I slid to the floor, gasping like a fish as pain surfed up and down my body.

Beyond that, everything came in flashes. In one moment, I watched the doppelganger kick out the chair I put under the door and cut the rope I had around the knob.

Then I blacked out again. Next, as my mind buzzed terribly, I heard voices talking nearby. They sounded terrified at first but the longer they spoke, the more their fear turned to worry.

“...No way! I’m not le...ng him..."
...
...
...
“You sure th..........aying with fire..."
...
“........on. Can you really......conscience?"
...
...
“........etter hope..othin’ comes a this..."

There were two voices. One of them was...familiar. Actually, both were. But I was too weak to open my eyes at that time.

Instead, as the voices went on, they became so muddled that I couldn’t hear any of it clearly.It became constant murmuring for a time. Then without warning, they were gone.

Couldn’t bother helping me up? I imagined. Maybe it was the Hidden Sight coming to decide what to do with me. They came earlier than I thought.

Some time after that, I woke up again. I was able to open my eyes but there was a lot of white noise. Everything was too blurry to recognize anything.

From what I could figure, someone stumbled through the door. They had maybe a white shirt and a deep brown cloth that went down to the floor from the center of their body.

My vision started winking out from there. At some point they fell to the floor. The thump surged me awake enough to blink to swirls out of my eyes. It was a person. They were half crawling towards me. At the center of their white shirt was red fresh blood. It dripped onto me when they got close.

“I-It’s okay,” they shouted breathlessly. I could barely hear them. “B...e love of Tymora. Keep th..." Whatever they said, I didn’t stick around to hear it. There was a warmth from them and that was the last thing I noticed before I passed out for the last time.

Applejack’s POV
Game Room
12:48 AM

“And as you watch Sister Garaele slump forward on the barely breathing body of Platick Fortuna,” Story narrated, slowly closing the screen with as monotone a face he had since he learned about all this.

“That. Is where we’re stopping tonight,” he announced as he placed the screen against the table and closed his eyes to take a deep breath.

The table was silent. Every one of the girls sat in their seats, mouths hanging like swollen apples reaching for the soil below. Gilda and Big Mac were even watching from their seats in confusion.

Meanwhile I sat there with my full attention at each of the girls waiting for the uproar. And, never one to fail, Rainbow Dash was the one to break the silence.

She slammed her fists on the table and stood up, glaring Story down. “Are you insane?!”

Story didn’t answer. Instead, he slipped the screen into his pack and started reviewing papers.

“There is no WAY we’re stopping now!” She screamed. “What happened to Leanne?! Is the rest of the town okay? What about our characters?!”

“Story.” Sunset spoke with a low tremble. Then she drew a careful breath. “What did you just do? Why is Garaele’s bleeding? How and why did she get stabbed?”

I watched Story stare harshly into his backpack and take a deep breath before burying his emotions deep. “You don’t know.”

“What do you mean we don’t know?” She asked darkly. “You just said her own blood. Leanne’s not there and Platick’s unconscious. How did it turn out like that?!”

Story blinked and tapped his finger to his lips. “Huh. Weird, that’s not what I said. I said it seemed like her own blood. Devil’s in the details. Regardless, it’s unclear what happened. And you won’t know until we play again.”

“Bu—” Sunset stopped talking, reviewing his words carefully. “That’s what you’re doing. You’re hoping that if we don’t know for sure, it won’t happen yet.”

Story nodded. “Ms. Cheerilee didn’t have her arm broken until after you saw Sildar’s condition. Not when you found the ruined cart.”

“That doesn’t stop the fact that you completely went against our plans!” Twilight glared. “We had everyone go into a curfew. We even took the time to have Wester officialize the documents. Rainbow Dash rolled a natural twenty to convince the townsfolk. No one had a reason to leave their homes.”

Story hummed, saying nothing as he started to write things down. “Look. I’m not going to risk saying anything that’ll ruin this. And I’m sorry that this is a really messed up cliffhanger. However.”

He reached over and held up his phone, clicking the button so it showed the time. “We’ve been at this for nearly seven hours. That doesn’t even count the drive up here or the prep I did beforehand. I. Am tired!” He whined. “And I’m drained from all this magic junk! I don’t know about all of you, but I can’t keep going.”

He put his phone on the table and kept writing notes. He knew it was garbled to us so he didn’t bother hiding it. “And last I checked, you needed me to run this game, right? Can you trust me enough to tell you everything’s fine?”

Rainbow huffed and started rounding the table. “How can we trust you?! You just let someone get stabbed and all of a sudden, you don’t care?!” She got right up beside him and tried reaching for him.

I was right there to catch her hands before she could.

“Rainbow Dash,” I yelled back. She glared up at me. “Ah trust him.”

That made her step back. “Wh-What? Applejack, he brought someone to your character; to Platick!”

“Actually, hold on, that’s a good point.” Sunset frowned. “Applejack was there when it happened. If she knows what happened then—”

“She doesn’t,” Story cut in. “And I can’t tell you anything more than that.”

“And we have to just follow that?!” Rainbow glared. “What if this doesn’t work? And Applejack, why aren’t you mad? You should be more upset than anyone!”

“Yet Ah ain’t,” I retorted. “And while Ah’m at it, Story’s made a good point! We’re all tired! Ah remember you mutterin’ this mornin’ ‘bout how we woke ya up much too early ta start fixin’ up this here game room fer tonight. You were guzzlin’ down soda like a leaky tractor fer oil!”

“No! Come on, I only had, like, five cans of soda,” Rainbow tried defending.

“Um. I. I trust Story too.” Fluttershy weakly raised her hand, earning a look from Rainbow Dash. “When we told him about how Ms. Cheerilee was hurt from the game, he was very upset. I don’t think he would let someone get hurt like this.”

Story tried hiding his emotions but a relieved smile cut through his mask. “Thank you.”

Sunset bit her thumb for a second. “...Story?” She waited for him to look up before going on. “I want you to tell me. Not what happened in the game. I mean, tell me you know what you’re doing. That there’s nothing to worry about.”

Story looked her dead in the eye. Then he nodded. “I know exactly what I’m doing here. You can trust me. And Applejack can vouch for me.”

I tightened my jaw and gave a firm nod. “Eeyup. It’ll be fine, girls.”

It wasn’t a lie. I did trust him for this. But even though the gargling was gonna make sure I didn’t give anything away, it felt so wrong not spilling the whole truth. Especially when everyone’s so worried.

A few of them weren’t wholly convinced. Rainbow and Gilda especially. The latter seemed ready to charge Story too but she was getting talked out of that by Big Mac.

The other suspect was Twilight. She looked on the fence about everything but I put her down as unconvinced simply because the rest of us were all on board.

“Thank you,” he told me with a nod. Then, after writing a few more things, he tossed his pencil aside and took a breath. “Alright. I need to get this packed and drive myself home to bed so I can proceed to not sleep for the next week.”

“How far’s yer house?” I asked him.

“Um.” He blinked. “Driving here took maybe forty minutes? But that was with taking a few wrong turns when I got close to your farm. I think I can get back in a half hour.”

“Story, it’s almost one in the morning,” Rarity reminded him. “I cannot imagine your family wants you driving this late at night. I know mine doesn’t.”

“Oh, you don’t know how right you are.” Story flipped his phone over and opened it to the messages. From where I was, I could see a few reading ‘Mom.’ All unanswered.

Never a good sign, I noted. “Ah’m sure yer folks would understand. ‘Sides, Gilda said yer Mom’s met the other group ya run, yeah? That means she’s met Big Mac.”

“Eeyup.” Mac smiled.

“I’m not about to ask if I can squat on your farm for the night.” Story shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, really, but I can’t ask that.”

“Why not?” Pinkie blinked. “All of us are having a slumber party here! With you here, we can even have a ‘Welcome to the Sonic Rainbooms’ party right after!”

“The what-Booms?” He gave her a look.

“It’s the name of our band,” Sunset informed him. “But I guess that’s also a group name too.”

Story smirked weakly. “Do I need to play an instrument?”

“Piccolo’s don’t belong in a rock band, Story,” Gilda joked.

“Hey, at least I can play an instrument,” he fired back.

The biker girl gave a fake glare. “Watch it.”

“You sure you don’t wanna crash here for the night. Gil?” Rainbow asked her.

“Thanks but no thanks.” She shook her head. “I’ve been here all day and my gramps needs me for some help back at the house. Plus, I’m not scared of driving in the dark like some people.”

“Said ‘some people’ still control—” Story’s voice died. “Urgh. That threat’s pretty bad taste now that I know Gekio’s...alive. Sorry.”

“Eh, you never mean it. Still, have fun figuring that out.” Gilda rolled her shoulders and stifled back a yawn. One that Fluttershy caught anyways. “I should go before I pass out on my bike. Lemme know if ya need me for anything. Just don’t expect me to wake up early.”

We followed her outside of the barn and said our goodbyes. Then, once she started up her bike, we saw her off as she took off down the trail.

“Will she be okay driving in the dark?” Fluttershy asked. “The road is really uneven.”

“Nah, she’ll be alright,” Dash told her. “I know Gilda. She wouldn’t let herself hit a pothole.”

“Don’t start jinxin’ us, Dash,” I told her. “Come on. We could all use some shut eye.”

She gave me a nod. Then, she turned over to look at Sunset who stood there with her hands in her pockets. Twilight was beside her. “We still not playing tomorrow?”

Sunset furrowed her brow. “That was the plan. But I thought we would’ve reached Glasstaff by now. And Thel’s family is still locked away. That means three people are locked away somewhere in real life.”

Story grimaced. “They’re safe, for what that’s worth. The Redbrands told you they were basically being kept as collateral for the artisan’s in town.”

“Which means they’re not in immediate danger,” Twilight surmised. “Maybe we can find them? Is that possible?”

Sunset brought her hand over her forehead and through her hair, pushing it back. “I don’t know. If I had a way to ask T…” She bit her lip when she saw Story watching. Then she faked a yawn. “Sorry. Ask our other friend, I’d have our answer. That won’t be possible until she notices the problem and fixes it on her end.”

“She can fix it too?” Rainbow’s eyes lit up.

Sunset smiled. “Yeah. Although.” Then it curdled a tad. “She’s pretty busy based on the last thing she told me. If I can think of a way to fix the book over here, I’m gonna do it.”

“Book?” Story asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Sunset turned to him. “We had a magic book that let us talk to another friend. She’s pretty far away. The book’s ruined though and since we can’t let anyone know about magic...”

Story looked as though a light went off in his head. “Ah. A no questions asked, kinda thing?” Sunset nodded. “Sorry. I got nothing for you. I know a few friends who do commissions for painting minis and props and stuff, but nothing with books.”

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t want to ask someone I didn’t know personally anyways.”

“I understand.” He started walking into the barn. “I’m gonna pack up the rest of the stuff. Um. Applejack? Where should I sleep? If you don’t mind.”

I looked at my brother. “Mac? Ya still got that old easy chair in yer room?”

“Eeyup. Doesn’t unrecline though.”

“It still comfy enough ta pass out on?”

“Eeyup.” He gave a thumbs up to Story.

“Thanks man.” Story looked back to us. “After I get some time to get over this, I’m. I’m gonna try reviewing some stuff with the game. Up until now, I’ve been preparing and shifting things you’d eventually run into. Try to make it cohesive, you know? I guess the magic never broke apart when I did that but now that I’m gonna see what happens, uh..."

“I can stick around,” Sunset volunteered. “Anything I’m not supposed to know will get garbled anyway. Plus, I can help if any magic acts up.”

“I’d appreciate it.” Story tried fighting another yawn, which made Rainbow Dash and Twilight yawn as they saw it. “Yep. We’re all tired.”

A few of us smiled at the yawners before we started winding down for the night. The girls already knew they’d stay the night so they brought whatever they needed. It was a little tight but the seven of us, and Spike and Winona, all piled into my room.

But as I got comfy on the floor, letting Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie take my bed, I stared up at the ceiling and my mind wouldn’t let me fall asleep. All I could imagine was seeing Platick as he was; beat and cut to a pulp and laying against the counter.

He was frozen in time as I saw him with a knife embedded in his chest and blood everywhere. He wasn’t looking up at me. His head was drooping down as he stared into the floor.

I never saw many action movies or movies that focused on violence. It wasn’t that I was squeamish. I simply wasn’t a fan of them. Especially movies where they kept trying to blur the lines between good and bad. I guess they tried giving the main character a reason to do all this bad stuff. I think they called those characters anti-heroes? I hate that phrase.

Funny. If I hate it so much, how’d Platick end up like that?

I didn’t have an answer. I knew why I made him so unlike me but why did I go in that direction? Why not have him be someone really upbeat or crank up the hero factor? Make him a cheesy robin hood or some rip off of the Daring Do movies. Now that I was thinking about it, a treasure hunter would have fit with a rogue.

And if I made Platick friendly, we could’ve avoided all of this. He would have been on board with taking down the Redbrands since the beginning and I wouldn’t have had to make a struggle to even be on the same page as the others.

Not to mention, Platick wouldn’t have gotten hurt like that.

But that wasn’t the thing that was putting me up in arms. I put Platick in danger. I had him fight Leanne alone. I convinced the others that I could handle one lying shopkeep. It was reckless. Maybe that’s why I felt so guilty.

I turned to my side and spotted Sunset. She and I were flanking my bed so I saw her through the space underneath it. She had her eyes closed but I could tell she was awake too.

Curious, I pulled out my phone and tried turning the screen on in a way where the light wouldn’t wake anybody. It was past three in the morning. Granny let Mac and I sleep in a tad on the weekends but that usually meant eight or nine AM. I had maybe five hours to get some shut eye.

I closed my phone and put it down only to feel it buzz immediately. I looked again and saw I had a single message.

From Sunset.

Can’t sleep either?

I glanced up and saw her looking right at me with a frown. Her phone was in her hand.

I shook my head. Wish I could tell ya why. Then I watched her type and after a moment my phone buzzed again.

Same here. Maybe the same reason.

Maybe. I started typing.

What was it like? Stostine in sky-space?

Sunset read it and blinked. Then after seeing me waiting for the answer, she typed away.

Shocking. She spoke at me. Out loud. She guessed I was listening.
She wanted me to make backstory for her. Said she had empty spaces.

I watched the three dots move around on my screen as Sunset typed a lot and kept holding down the delete button after each round of typing. When she finally had something, she sent it and let her body relax with a huff.

I want to help her.

I read that and felt this pit in my stomach grow. If Stostine was like that, what about Platick? Sunset definitely had more for her character than I did. How much of him was missing?

Sunset twitched when she felt her own phone buzz. And when she looked up, this is what she read:

I’m right with ya. I want to help Platick.
Think Story will let us do that tomorrow?

We’ll ask him together. But we should do that after checking around first.
We need to find out who is connected to Thel’s kids and wife.

Right
Thanks Sunset.

No prob

Both of us put our phones down and went back to staring at the ceiling. It still wasn’t easy, but after long enough, my body finally forced my brain into falling asleep. It wasn’t a deep sleep, but it wasn’t as restless as it could have been.

Author's Note

Okay, now the fights are officially over.

At this point, the chapters have caught up with what I've rolled IRL. We're now back to me having no idea what happens.

I knew that Leanne wasn't an easy fight but because Dash beat the first captain 1v3, it made sense they would send only one person to fight Leanne in order to keep her from backstabbing the group mid-fight.
What I didn't expect was Applejack almost winning.

If that acid hit the doppelganger, it would have tried leaping out a window rather than fight. Since Platick missed, it instead took him down. If Platick went down quickly like expected this chapter would have never happened. Story would have concluded the session and there would be no argument.

That's the Butterfly Effect for you, I guess.

No character sheet this time. So, to make up for that, I have another 50 question's thing. This time it's Ravathyra Dagarkin's. And no, there's no accent to this. Writing these took long enough, I didn't want to try adding accents to these.

Until next time everybody!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(31) One on One

Ric⊬en’s POV
Grif⟟⍀⍾⟒ou⍾d Vend⍀⎍

“Platick!”

The instant the haze left our eyes, Glemerr stampeded into the shop. As she did, I clutched for dear life as I was thrashed about on her shoulder.

“Glemerr! Put me down ‘fore I fall off!” I screamed into her ear.

But she either didn’t bother or didn’t hear me as she came to a full stop at Platick’s side and sent me flying. Before I knew it, I sailed over the counter and onto the floor behind it; a fancy glass bottle shattering underneath me.

“Ughhhhhhhh..." was all the sound I could muster.

“Platick. Ya dere? It’s me, Glem! Come on, wake up!” Her voice demanded.

While I started picking myself up, I heard Glem shifting around some supplies. Probably her healing kit. “Ricven! You done doin’ whatever er doin’?! Platick needs help!”

“An. An’ you need a seatbelt,” I told her dizzily. When my head was clear I looked down and saw that my vest was soaked with something alcoholic. Fantastic. Now I look and smell like a drunk.

“Ms. Glem,” I started, standing at my full height to look over the counter and at her. “Calm yerself. Ya heard what the Master said; he’s still breathing. Which means he’s alive.”

“Alive and okay are different dough!” She shouted. “Who knows how long ‘til da next game! We gotta help ‘im!”

“And I couldn’ agree more.” I remained calm and rubbed my ear to get the ringing to stop. “But somethin’ tells me usin’ our heads rather than our voices would be the smarter choice. Help me search the store.”

“Search it? Fer what? I’ve already got a’ healin’ kit!”

“A healer’s kit ain’t gonna do much fer the pain. If Leanne had plenty a’ weapons ta fuel the Redfakes, I’d imagine she had a potion err two rollin’ around. They don’t run out between games, ‘member?”

“Oh yeah! Good idea. Don’t worry Platick, we got ya!” She leapt up to her feet and rushed to whatever was closest to her to search.

For the next minute or two, we tore through every shelf, cabinet, and lockbox in sight with Glemerr checking the spots just out of my reach while I did a careful sweep of the space under the counter.

By the time both of us got to the back room where Leanne showed us the weapons, I found them. In a locked cabinet door behind the counter were three potions of healing. She even had price tags on them.

Meh. She ain’t gettin’ our money.

Scooping them up, I waved Glemerr over. “Ms. Glem? Take these ta Ms. Vareén an’ Ms. Thorn. They’ll want some too. I got the Boy Wonder.”

“Good thinkin’,” she praised. Then she charged out. “Be right back! An’ don’t take da knife out ‘til he’s mostly recovered!”

“Got it, got it.” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. Then, as I came back to the main room, I studied Platick and Sister Garaele a little more carefully.

Since we were in the game, there wasn’t any danger of waiting. Except, was that really the case? So far, we’ve managed to heal ourselves from injuries or get heavily drunk. And there’s been plenty of times where we’ve felt more pain than what we started with.

That made me wonder. If we can be healed in between games, can we be injured further? And for that matter, could we be killed?

I wasn’t ashamed of that thought crossing my mind as I stared at Platick. Obviously I didn’t want him dead but the concept remained. Could we bleed out if the Master left us dying between sessions?

Or, the kingdom’s laws on necromancy aside, could we revive the dead?

I moved on from my thoughts and stepped up to Platick, uncorking the potion and tilting his chin up so I could feed the thing without choking him.

“Alright pal, time ta wake up,” I said as I carefully poured the potion.

It took a few seconds for the potion to work. Slowly, Platick’s eyes opened as he realized where he was. Once he had the strength, he took the vial out of my hands and started downing it with a newfound vigor.

Probably ten seconds in, he lowered the vial to breathe. Most of his visible wounds were already gone, save for the knife in his chest. “Thanks,” he sighed.

“Don’t mention it,” I told him. Then I smirked. “Besides, ya still got one bad bruise ta deal with.”

Platick looked down at the knife and acknowledged it with as much shock as a rubberband. “Oh yeah. This is the fun part.”

“Want me ta wave down Ms. Glem?”

“Wouldn’t make it hurt any less,” he noted. He stuck the vial in his mouth and held it with his teeth as he started drinking. Then he grabbed the dagger with one hand and held his chest with the other and pulled.

The dagger came out with less resistance than he expected but he screamed and thrashed as much as Sister Garaele’s frozen body allowed. After a handful of seconds, he forced himself to calm down enough to start chugging more potion.

Another ten seconds passed and he came up for air again. The boy had blood all over, his own and the clumpy blue stuff, but he moved and acted perfectly fine.

“Dear gods, I hate that shapeshifter,” he shouted.

“Shapeshifter?” I furrowed my brow. “Hol’ up.” I reached out and, without waiting for any permission, I scooped a gnomish handful of that blue gunk of Platick’s face. As he started doing the same with the rest of his face, I inspected it a little closer.

“Is this...doppelganger blood?” I flicked my hand as much as I could to get the majority of gross material off my hand before heading over to a few shelves. Glemerr had knocked off some rags in her search.

“Yep. It’s what it called itself at least.” He tried to get up only to realize Sister Garaele was draped over his arm. As he tried shuffling out, he couldn’t find a way to slide his shoulder out from between her hand and head. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“Wha—Oh! Hahahaha,” I started howling. “Oh, now that is too precious! Would ya like fer me ta give y’all some privacy err—”

“Shove it,” he said venomously. Then he leaned back and groaned. “Just help me out of this. I don’t have the leverage.”

I tried to fight out the laughter as I waltzed back on over, rag in full use as I inspected the issue from all sides. “Yeah. Yeah, alright, I think I got ya. Try saggin’ down and relax yer muscles, I’ll pull and then you push away from her with yer right arm. Ready?”

“Just get it over with,” he said as he already laxed every muscle he needed to.

It wasn’t an easy job and it nearly became too awkward for Platick as his face somewhat rubbed against Sister Garaele’s body for a moment. But eventually, I yanked him out well enough for him to scuttle out the rest of the way himself.

He huffed as he stood up, his face an obvious red despite how much he tried hiding it with anger and frustration. “...thanks,” he mumbled.

“Eh. I’ll take it.” I shrugged. I didn’t expect politeness in the first place. “Well, I don’t see a body in here. I’m guessin’ the doppelganger got away?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “My Player had me threaten the thing with the Hidden Sight. The second I was dealt with, it ran. Or at least, I think that’s what happened. I lost so much blood, even I don’t know how it ended.”

“Fun.” I frowned. “Wait, Hidden Sight? Why would that scare a doppelganger?”

“I had a...Let’s call it a calling card,” he said. “It’s something the Master plugged in for a backstory when my Player didn’t.”

I smiled. “Funny. Ya make it seem like ya have nothin’ tyin’ ya ta this world, yet you mention all this? A mentor? Callin’ cards? Ya sound like ya got more than others.”

“It sounds like it, doesn’t it?” He rolled his shoulders and started walking around the room, collecting his things that were scattered about.

I rolled my jaw for a second, walking towards the door and closing it. “Tell me ‘bout it.”

“What?” He stared at me.

“Tell me what’cha got,” I elaborated. “I noticed that when I proposed the two week idea, ya didn’t say anythang for or against it. I’m curious.”

He rolled his eyes. “The only reason I didn’t is because what would we do?” When he saw my judgemental eyes waiting for the real explanation, he relented. “It’s because she gave me a distraction. She didn’t have a reason behind it before.”

He bent down and picked up the last thing he had left to collect. Rava’s ring. “She came up with one though.”

“Right,” I said as I folded my arms. “That scene a’ yers. Haze aside, I was interested. What all did AJ have ya do ta get some proof?”

“...” His shoulders slacked. “...I. Can’t answer that.”

I hummed excitedly. “More intrigue, then? Nice.”

“No. I mean, I literally could not tell you.” He pocketed the ring. “She doesn’t have anything. Everything I said is something she came up with right then and there. I was almost impressed. She’s usually a terrible liar.”

“And yet an excellent fibber, it would seem.”

He gave a half nod like giving me a so-so response. “Maybe that’s why I don’t really care if she gives me a story. She gave me distractions. Long as they’re good enough, it’s fine.”

“Distractions, eh?” I nodded along as though I agreed with him. It made enough sense for someone like him. The history he has is a tarnished family name. I’d wanna be distracted too.

By about that time, the door opened back up to reveal just about everyone coming into the room by the lead of Glemerr.

“Oh, good, Platick’s awake!” She cheered.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” he told them. “Everyone alive?”

“Define alive,” Vareén mocked as she and Stostine entered the room.

This was the first time I got to see them up close and they looked absolutely miserable even with the potions doing their job.

“We all survived,” Rava replied as she entered last. “That’s the biggest part. Still, there were too many close calls.”

“You are not wrong.” Stostine shook her head. “Vareén and I nearly died. As did Thorn Wielder.”

I watched the doorway for a few seconds only to raise an eyebrow. “Speaking of, where is Ms. Thorn? Didn’t y’all feed her a potion too?”

“Yep! And she’s all fine now,” Glemerr cheered with a grin. One that quickly melted away to confusion. “‘Cept, uh. She’s stuck ta da ground.”

“Stuck?” Platick crossed his arms. “You mean she’s frozen like Ravathyra was?”

“Right. By the way, dId y’all figure tha’ out?” Rava asked us. “‘Cause Ah would nae noticed tha’ otherwise.”

A quick few nopes were fired at her before Vareén turned to me and Platick. “Thorn’s not the one frozen. It’s her vine.”

“I think it is some sort of symbiotic relationship,” Stostine explained. “Thorn usually controls the vine and it copies her emotions. But if the Master takes over with it, I imagine it becomes like all the people in this world.”

“Platick, yer Player was the one that figured out Thorn’s past,” I told him. “You get any knowledge yer Player didn’t?”

“Sort of,” he admitted. “It was a story I was told as a kid. I was to have an understanding of magic and so they used the Thorn Wielder as an example of druidic magic. That’s where the Master plugged it into, anyway.”

“But she was supposed to have been dead?” Vareén frowned.

“A while ago, yeah. Well, a while gets subjective when elves live for so long, but you get what I mean.” He shook his head. “She used the forest to her advantage and was believed dead when her forest burned down. Apparently, she was stronger than the druidic communities that lived around her.”

“I guess being dead makes you out of practice,” Vareén mocked. “If she’s supposed to be powerful, how’d one goon knock her flat?”

“That one goon nearly wiped out three of us,” Rava countered. “An’ somethin’ tells me Ricven would a’ been next.”

“No. All of us woulda been next,” I corrected. “If Stalwart took down Glemerr, Vareén an’ Stostine woulda died too. They wouldn’t a’ kept any of us alive. Platick? You mighta been the only one left.”

Platick folded his arms together as a haze hung over our heads. Not the haze that came with our Players, mind you. Rather, it was this realization that even if this world was fake, we nearly died.

And Platick would have been all alone.

Sunset’s POV
Sweet Apple Acres
Sunday, Early Afternoon

After a less than full night’s rest, everyone woke up to enjoy some breakfast made by Applejack’s family. Granny was overjoyed to see an overflow of people surrounding her dining table and was happily calling for Big Mac to pull more chairs out from the attic to help us.

It made a lot of us feel better by proximity. With how stressful the night had become, all of us savored the change of pace and smiling faces.

Well, all except for Story.

When Story never woke up for breakfast, Granny told Applebloom to ‘wake that boy up so he don’t miss his meal.’ Applebloom was part way out of her seat before a majority of us shot that idea down.

Applejack came clean to them. She explained that we had to let Story in on everything about magic and Story wasn’t taking it too well. That made the remaining Apples sympathetic immediately and Granny put Story’s meal in the oven to keep it warm for whenever he woke up.

Not long after that, Applejack started her chores on the farm while the girls headed for town. They were going to start looking into whoever could be connected to the people we came across in the game. Namely Thel’s daughters and wife and the artisans who were getting blackmailed.

I stayed behind and helped Applejack with her chores while keeping my phone nearby in case anyone found out something. I had promised I’d stick around with Story to work on the game and AJ and I wanted to meet with him alone too.

It was a little past noon when we heard from Applebloom that Story was awake and eating the breakfast Granny made for him. We were pretty deep into one of the apple fields— they all looked the same to me, if I’m being honest —so it was taking us some time to get there.

And, wouldn’t you know it, on the way back, my phone started ringing.

“That one a’ the girls again?” AJ asked me.

I fished out the rectangle and turned the screen towards me. Then I blinked. “No. It’s Ms. Cheerilee.”

Both Applejack and Bloom stopped to watch me with interest. Applebloom had no idea about Ms. Cheerilee’s accident so she was simply confused.

I tapped ‘Accept’ and put it up to my ear. “Hi Ms. Cheerilee. How are you doing today?”

“Well. Funny you mention that,” she started sarcastically. “I was actually wondering if you could tell me what you did to my ankle.”

“Yo-Your..." I paused and locked eyes with Applebloom who merely blinked. “What do you mean?”

“It’s fixed.”

I balked. “What.”

“It’s fixed,” her voice repeated. “My ankle was rolled and the doctor said it might be a week before I could walk on it again. I just got back from the doctor’s again and now my ankle’s fully healed.”

“What?”

“I went to a different doctor for a second opinion. I didn’t want to make the first doctor suspect anything,” she expressed. Well at least the magic secret’s safe. “The second one said it was fully healed. That I probably just sprained it and it was never elevated right or something. Which I know isn’t true.”

I wracked every possible scenario through my head. Even if Dunamancy ‘wore off,’ it didn’t dispel whatever already came true. The changes would stay as they were.

“And what about your arm?” I asked.

“Arm?” Applebloom leaned her head to the side.

“Not now Applebloom,” Applejack told her gently. “Run on ahead, it doesn’t concern you.”

Bloom stared back at her big sis and huffed, shoving her hands deep in her pockets and marched off.

“Still broken,” Ms. Cheerilee grumbled. “I thought it would at least get a little better. Maybe it did, but I wasn’t about to pay for another X-ray to check. What happened last night?”

“I-I don’t know. The character that’s connected with you didn’t magically get. Healed..." I paused, suddenly realizing something that happened while I played as Stostine.

"Is. Is that a..." Sildar looked up at Ricven. Then to me with guilt. I gave him a 'go ahead' motion and after some reluctance, he took it in his good hand and slowly let himself drink it.

We watched as a few of the weaker cuts and bruises on his body sealed and repaired themselves with each swallow. Then, to my relief, I saw the smaller of his two bad injuries recover; his wrist.

It was heavily swollen and a sickening purple as if he rolled it or tried blocking the swing of a club. But once the vial was empty, the wrist simply looked bruised.

“Sildar drank a healing potion,” I said aloud.

“...Is that supposed to mean something?” Ms. Cheerilee’s voice was deadpan over the phone.

“The game’s magic. It’s a lot to explain, but essentially the game affects people in real life. The character affecting you; his name is Sildar. He was riding a cart and was ambushed by monsters. His leg was broken and wrist purple and swollen.”

I heard Ms. Cheerilee take a couple seconds to let that sink in. With the few breaths and sounds of her registering what she heard, I could almost picture her incredulous face. “Have I ever mentioned how much this magic doesn’t make sense?”

“I don’t blame you,” I admitted.

“...Kinda wish my leg was broken instead,” I heard her mutter. “Alright. And I’m guessing this ‘potion’ fixed his wrist?”

“Mostly. It was still a little bruised apparently.”

There was a pause and then a sigh. “Yes, that’s the same with me, I guess. In that case, is there another potion that can heal his...and my arm?”

“Potions aren’t strong enough.” I shook my head for no reason. “And if our characters use magic to heal him, it won’t follow the real world.”

“Fantastic,” She grumbled. “Well, that’s not the only thing I called to talk about. I get to go back to school tomorrow. I won't need crutches, so I can at least walk around just fine. And, you won’t have to meet somewhere else for your club.”

“Well, that’s a plus.” I pulled away from my phone and looked at Applejack. “She’ll be back at school starting tomorrow.”

AJ grinned. “Great ta hear.” Then another thought popped in her head and she got serious. “Ask her about Principal Celestia.”

My eyes widened. “Right.” This time I put the phone on speaker since Applebloom was gone. “Ms. Cheerilee, I’m here with Applejack. Have you heard anything about or from Principal Celestia lately?”

I heard Ms. Cheerilee start to say something only to make herself stop. “...Why? Did the game do something to her too?”

AJ and I shared a look and readied ourselves for another round of catch up. Hopefully, Ms. Cheerilee could help us with this at least.

Story’s POV
Sweet Apple Acres House
Meanwhile

I sat back in my seat, my stomach nice and full after nearly three helpings of breakfast by my account. “Those were the best pancakes I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Yer darn right they are,” Granny said with a grin. “An entire family a’ Apples will get ya the best tastin’ meal every dern time! And thank ye fer packin’ it all away. Ah hate keepin’ leftovers. Never enough space.”

I smirked. “Sounds like the exact opposite of my family. We gotta have two days a week dedicated to leftovers.”

At about that time, the kitchen door swung open and Applejack’s little sister stormed in looking furious.

“Now what’s got you in a tizzy, Applebloom?” Granny asked.

“Just AJ bein’ all ‘big sis knows all’ again,” Bloom retorted. “Ah’m gonna finish up mah homework.”

She walked past me and I was left staring a hole in the table to try fighting off the awkwardness. Which Granny picked up on.

“If yer wonderin’ that yer any cause fer that, don’t you worry none,” Granny said. “Applebloom’s been all outta sorts fer a bit now.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that.” I looked back up. “I just figured I wasn’t supposed to see that, is all.”

“Aw, pushhaw! If ya didn’ see it here, ya prolly would’a seen it at school. Apparently, Bloom an’ her friends thought they’d have it easy since another one a’ the girls at school got sick err somethin’. They don’ get along too well. But fer some reason, one other girl’s been rufflin’ their feathers fer a bit.”

“Bullies?” I frowned. “Yeah, I kinda know what that’s like.”

“Nah, not that far,” Granny retorted. “That mess got sorted the moment they stepped inta Canterlot High. Now it’s just schoolyard teasin’. Bloom n’ her friends will work it out.”

Before I could stop her, Granny scooped up my dishes and took them to the sink. I got up to try offering my help but about that time, the door opened up again.

“Howdy Story,” Applejack spoke as she and Sunset walked through the door; the latter pocketing her phone. “Nice ta see you finally up and at ‘em.”

I gave them a drained smile. “Yeah, well. Thanks for lettin’ me sleep in. I didn’t realize I was that tired.”

“We don’t blame you,” Sunset told me. “Like we said, it’s a lot to take in. Especially when it was in the middle of everything.”

“Granny? It alright if Ah take a breather fer now? Ah only got a few bushels left an’ it’ll be done ‘fore sundown.”

“Homework done?” Granny glanced back.

“Yup.”

“Take yer time then.” Granny went back to the dishes. “There’s prolly five hours ‘til we’re outta light. Plenty a’ time ta take a breather. Are all yer friends stayin’ fer lunch?”

“They’ll have already eaten, Granny. But thanks fer the thought.”

The girls excused themselves, bringing me along with them as we brought ourselves to the living room.

“So. Any news on who might be connected to everyone?” I asked.

“Not much,” Sunset grimaced. “The girls thought Townmaster Wester might be the town’s mayor, so they tried checking with her. Except, the mayor hasn’t been seeing visitors for a while.”

Not a good sign, I noticed.

“Rarity did come across somethin’ though.” AJ took over. “Ya see, she doesn’t exactly own the boutique she works in. It’s own by some bigwig designer named Prim Hemline.”

“Never heard of them.” I shrugged.

“That’s what Ah said,” AJ agreed. “But apparently someone tried gettin’ huge discounts at the store with threats an’ other nonsense. They didn’t get anythang close ta what they wanted, but it drove Rarity up the wall hearin’ it.”

“I can imagine.” I felt my heart twist a bit. Even if the girls were unaffected by this Dunamancy crap, it looks like it still found a way. “And that’s my fault.”

“Stop saying that,” Sunset told me. “You’re not the one going around and doing this. And now that the Redbrands have been stopped, there’s no one around to extort Phandalin’s stores, right?”

I silently nodded. It was the one way the magic couldn’t stop me from answering.

“By any chance, do ya know how many shops were messed with in the game?” Applejack asked.

“Uh..." I did a quick inventory. It was a small town but having to list whatever shops were important took me a minute. “I, uh...I think seven? Yeah, seven sounds right. There aren’t many shops in town since a lot of stuff is homemade.”

“Which means there’s six other stores,” Sunset decoded. “Unfortunately, that’s about it. Pinkie said she only knows five sets of twins so she’s checking in with each of them.”

“Okay. Well, at least we’re finding something,” I said. “Should we go out and help them then?”

“Actually.” Sunset and Applejack shared a look. Then they both nodded and turned back at me. “We wanted to do something else. If you’re up for it.”

“If I’m up for it?” I thought about what that meant for a second and it hit me. “Oh. You wanna do something with the game, don’t you?”

“Only if you’re up for it,” Applejack reaffirmed. “If not, we can hold off. Whether we do it today or some other time, we want ta make sure you’ve had a chance ta recoup from last night.”

I closed my eyes and took a moment to breathe. That’s nice of them but we’re gonna have to come back to this sooner or later. And right now...

I opened them again and shook my head. “No, it’s fine. I’m feeling a lot better now that I’ve had some rest.”

“You sure?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I know this might be odd to say, but there’s no rush on this. We can wait.”

I shook my head, more sure of myself the longer I thought about it. “Thanks, but I mean it. I feel a lot better. Just as long as you don’t throw in any more magic. Like, if I see those sirens you mentioned or you both ‘ponying up’ or whatever, I might call it quits.”

“Ponying—” Sunset stood straight up. “How did you know what that’s called?”

“Ah let that slip,” AJ told her. “It came up durin’ the game. When we were dealin’ with Platick’s part?”

“Oh. Wait, but why did that come up?”

“We’d love to tell you,” I said. “But gargling. If it helps, I have no idea why you call it that.”

Apparently that did help because Sunset looked greatly at ease when I said it. “Anyways. That aside,” I went on. “What was it you two wanted to do? Or test, maybe?”

Sunset cleared her throat. “Well..."

Sunset’s POV
Game Room
Half an Hour Later

Story took a moment to himself behind the DM Screen he set up. Then, with a deadpan expression, he spoke. “I need to start asking you girls what you want before blindly saying yes or no.”

“That might be a good idea.” I shot him a smirk.

“Ya can still back out if ya want,” Applejack said. We sat opposite of each other at the big table so that we were the same distance from Story. “We wouldn’t blame ya.”

“Nah, that would kill whatever pride I had left,” he said sarcastically. Then, he shook his head and smiled back. “But seriously, I’ll be fine. I think I got a good taste of what the worst of this looks like before. I’m ready.”

We smiled back and looked over the stuff in front of us. Assuming that everything worked exactly like it did for Rainbow Dash, our bodies would need pencils to write, dice to roll, and paper to use while we were in Sky Space. I just hope my subconscious has good handwriting.

“Okay. Well, good luck. I’ll be right here. I think.” He cleared his throat and nervously shifted a few things behind his screen. “Alright. Let’s start a story.”

Again, I watched everything around me swirl as my eyelids got so heavy and I couldn’t keep myself from drooping my head in a random direction. Then, when I finally had the strength to sit back up, I wasn’t in the game room anymore.

Instead I was standing in the middle of the night sky with a single moon shining brightly down on me and the spotty layer of fluffy clouds masking the fictional world of Prima as best as it could. Meanwhile, twenty or so feet away, two more figures stood side-by-side.

“WooOooOoOoOah nelly!” Applejack’s voice broke repeatedly as she stood beside me. All of her shook like a chill was going across her body but her legs were fixed permanently in place.

“This is a lot worse than Ah thought it’d be,” she shouted. Then she looked around and saw me standing right beside her. “Sunset? That’s you, right?”

“Yeah. It’s me,” I confirmed. “And those are our characters.”

I pointed across the invisible room at the other figures. One of them had her eyes closed and arms folded together. It didn’t look as cool as she thought when one of her sleeves was missing entirely.

The other was a man in simple brown leathers that didn’t seem too damaged but his entire body was stiff as a board while he stared at the ground.

“Wooooo,” The man breathed deeply, trying to fight off the uncomfortable feeling “This was what you meant? The sky thing?”

Stostine nodded, opening her eyes to admire the scene around her. “Oh. So the time of day matches with whenever the game pauses. Interesting.”

“No. Not interesting,” Platick argued. “Can you finish explaining this? How’s come we’re the only two that didn’t freeze? How do we get down?”

“That is up to our Players. Or possibly the Master,” Stostine reasoned. “Although, I am feeling much more positive about my Player being the one who did this given what happened last time.”

Platick nodded slightly. “Yeah. Vareén said you had a breakdown or something.”

Stostine’s calm expression twisted to frustration. “I did not have a breakdown! I was trying to see if my Player would respond to me.”

“She said you were crying for a mother.”

Stostine facepalmed. “Curse you Vareén. I thought you had more tact than that.”

“Huh.” Applejack took a few steps forward towards them. “It’s sorta like last time.”

“Last time?” I blinked as AJ flinched. “What do you mean last time? You’ve been here?”

“Uh...A-Ah, um. It. Well, what Ah meant was—”

She can’t tell you yet. Sunset. It would just turn into gargling.

I frowned but didn’t question it further. “I got it. I can wait to hear about it later.”

Applejack gave me a thankful look before looking back at her character. “Still, Ah didn’ see ‘em movin’ before. An’ neither of ‘em look hurt either. Think they’re okay?”

“Hopefully.” I shrugged. “No one’s seen their characters hurt when they’re up here.”

Platick took a moment looking off in every direction. “So. How far does this place go? Or should we stay perfectly still?”

Stostine thought about that for a second and then frowned. “I have no idea. No one has ever had a reason to look for the edge of this space before.”

“Really?” Platick gave her a look. “You get trapped up here for long periods of time and you never bothered checking to see if there’s just a drop off somewhere?”

Stostine frowned. “I am sorry, it never came up.” Then her face calmed a little. “We did fight our friend Gekio when we first met. We ran back and forth so I do not think there are any sudden pitfalls.”

Applejack looked to me. “Is there an end ta this place? Err does it just go on ferever?”

“I found a wall by mistake,” I told her. “I kicked my die so hard it slammed into one.”

Platick sighed and slipped off his backpack. “Well, I guess that’s something to test while we’re stuck up here.” He dropped it to the ground and searched it. “You wouldn’t happen to have a rock or something that you can roll around, would you?”

“You mean like some dice?” Stostine smirked at that. “Ironically, no, I do not.”

“Funny, funny,” Platick mocked. Then he took out a crowbar and his rope. “Thankfully, one of the memories I got from my Player is a good knot.”

Curious, Applejack and I walked over to watch the man work. He tied his rope around the center of the crowbar and started tying this complex-looking knot that made Applejack chuckle.

“Overdoin’ it a smidge fer just securin’ a tool, ain’tcha?”

“Is that actually one of your knots?” I gave her a look.

“Ah wouldn’t call it mah knot, exactly, but it’s one a the better ones Ah know. Not hard ta undo when ya know how either.”

“There.” Platick stood up, wielding the crowbar in both hands. When Applejack approved of the work, I knew he had done it right. “Now I can test it.”

“How exactly?” Stostine wrinkled her nose. “What will that do?”

“I’ll toss it and see if the rope droops anywhere in the process,” he explained. “Then I’ll walk up to the crowbar and do it again until it either falls down or hits something.”

And Platick did exactly that. Taking the crowbar in both hands, he hoisted it overhead and heaved it as far forward as he could. It would make it maybe twelve or so feet before the weight of the rope pulled it down.

Then, it would clang against a nonexistent floor with the rope falling lifelessly behind it. Like everyone thought, there were no holes that the rope fell through.

Platick would go on to repeat the process two more times before he finally hit the wall. When he did, both he and the rest of us flinched and backed away as the crowbar clambered to the floor a little too close for comfort.

“Wall,” Platick answered as he walked up and tested the invisible surface. “Sturdy too. No give whatsoever.”

“It was somewhere between twenty and thirty feet,” Stostine remarked. “Were we in the center?”

“No clue.” Platick picked up the crowbar. “Only one way to find out.”

“Not exactly.” Stostine rose her hand in the opposite direction, making Applejack and I step aside since we were right in her path.

After a few arcane words that made no sense to me, Stostine fired a small missile of flame that sailed across the area. It went a fair distance before striking against another invisible wall.

I nodded, impressed. “Huh. How far do you think it went?”

“About seventeen yards,” both Platick and Applejack answered in sync.

“Question.” Platick turned to her. “Why didn’t you just do that in the first place?”

“You were having a clever moment. I would have felt bad ruining it,” Stostine said with a sly grin.

Platick narrowed her eyes. “I hate you.”

“Mmm. Do you, now?” Stostine smirked. “I saved you a minute of you playing fetch with a crowbar.”

Platick rolled his eyes and started undoing the knot from his rope. “Mind firing to the left and right then? I have a theory.”

“Sure.” Stostine turned ninety degrees and fired out another Fire Bolt. Then she fired another one as close to the exact opposite direction as she could. One bolt collided into a wall sooner than the other.

“About fifteen feet one way and thirty-five the other,” Platick noted. “Like I thought; square room. Shoot at the ceiling?”

“On it.” Stostine pointed her hand straight up and fired a fourth Fire Bolt. Platick’s theory was right and it struck a ceiling.

“You’re about five feet tall. That sailed about forty,” Platick calculated. “Fifty foot ceiling. Probably a perfect cube.”

Huh. That was kinda neat. Also good to know.

“Tell me.” Stostine turned around. “Did you really expect to throw a crowbar clear up there?”

“I wouldn’t have bothered,” he told her. “But now that I know how big the space is, I feel more at ease.”

“What makes you say that?”

“There’s no breeze, so this is likely an enclosed space. And we were resting back at the inn in Phandalin after the haze lifted. The main room was smaller than this. Now I know this isn’t just an illusion.”

“Wait. Resting?” I frowned. “So they really are conscious between games. That’s different.”

Did you two want to get started or should we keep watching for a little longer?

“Ah think we should start,” Applejack answered. “Much as Ah’m interested in seein’ these two move around, we didn’t tell the girls what we were doin’. Who knows how long we’ll take ta do this.”

I nodded. “You’re right. Plus, if they’re trying to rest between games, we shouldn’t keep them waiting up here for too long. They’ll run out of things to do eventually.”

Platick finished putting his things away and dusted off his hands. “Alright. So, if our Players brought us here, what happens next?”

Stostine smiled. “Well, for Rava and our friend Gekio, they were taken somewhere and given more history. I had pictured Sunset wanted to do the same for me.”

Platick frowned. “If that’s the case then...Applejack? You out there?”

I watched Applejack’s back shake with chills. “Ah just realized he’s got mah voice. Just deeper an’ no accent.”

I smiled. “I had the same reaction.”

“We cannot hear them,” Stostine explained to Platick. “At least, that is what I can assume.”

Platick scoffed lightly. “Alright, well, you said they can hear us, right?” When he saw Stostine give an weary nod, he looked forward. “I’ll run with that. Applejack, I’m guessing your here because of yesterday, right? That history you made up mid-session?”

“Uh. Y-Ye-Yeah,” she said awkwardly. Answering him felt less awkward than saying nothing.

“I can only guess that’s why,” he went on. Then he glanced over at Stostine, who looked back for a moment. “Did that mother breakdown work for you?”

Stostine puffed her cheeks. “If that’s you asking me to give you some privacy, you could have asked.” She tried folding her arms in her sleeves, only to look silly when, again, her missing sleeve ruined the look. Then she walked off in another direction. “Just go on. I will do my best to forget whatever you say.”

Platick rubbed his eyes. “Applejack, why did you come here with her Player?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Awww, they’re teasing each other~”

“Ah think that’s our fault, sugarcube,” AJ said. Still, she was smiling too.

“Whatever.” Platick reached under his armor and pulled out the platinum coin on a string. That made Applejack straighten up. “You wanted this to be important, right? Same with my name? But you left it blank up until now. I can only imagine that if I’m here in this creation place, it’s because of what you made up yesterday.”

Applejack swallowed the lump in her throat. “Uh-huh. Ah figured ya had some holes in yer mind.”

“So how much are you gonna change about me?” Platick asked aloud.

AJ blinked. “H-Huh?”

Stostine and I had a similar reaction of staring back at Platick.

“That’s what you were really gonna do, right? Change me.” He frowned. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but I know you, Applejack. I know you hate people like me.”

“Ah. Wha—now hold on a minute.” She took a step forward. “What makes ya think Ah ha—”

“I can almost picture you building an argument,” he went on. “Ricven was right. Terrible liar, excellent fibber. Especially when someone calls you on your faults.”

AJ started stammering as she retraced that one step. “Now that just ain’t true! Ah don’t lie abou—”

“But that’s why you made me, isn’t it?” He went on. “You hate thieves and since you were stuck with one, you just made one to hate. Like making a joke, isn’t it?”

“Ah didn’t make you as a joke.” Applejack glared. “Ah just. A-Ah just..."

Platick licked his lips, debating whether or not to keep going. “...You wanna fix me up so badly? Change me into something you like better? Go ahead and do it then.” He held his hands above his head. “Obviously I can’t stop you.”

Why’s he acting like this? Wouldn’t he want a better life?

AJ bit her lip as Stostine started walking back over.

“Platick, I think that is enough,” my character told him. “Is it really a good idea to challenge your Player like this?”

“What? Should I be happy she made me just to nearly get killed over and over?” He eyed Stostine for a moment. “You saw what happened to Ravathyra after she came back from here, right? She went from angry and hard to approach to a joyful morning-person. What do you think’s gonna happen to us?”

Stostine stopped walking and narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“This place lets them change our history, right? Our memories, or lack thereof? What do you think shapes a person? What makes you act like you? They change us in the right way, and we’ll end up like smiling freaks ourselves.”

Stostine glared. “That is not what happened to Rava. She still gets angry or sad like everyone else. I wouldn’t call her brainwashed.”

“Neither would I.” He shook his head. “In fact, from the few things I know about that Rainbow girl, I’d say she got the best outcome. Then again, Ravathyra’s Player didn’t make her a foil against herself.”

“Ye-Yer not a foil,” Applejack said with wavering resolve. “Ah didn’t mean...not on purpose. Ah. Ah’m...sorry.”

“So. If Applejack’s listening.” Platick faced forward again. “Go ahead and fix up my history. I’d welcome it. At least then, I can see what you have in mind for this family angle you’re setting up. But.”

He looked around as if trying to figure out where Applejack could possibly be. “...If you try turning me into some smiling fool? Even if it changes my own mind, know that I, right now, will never respect you.”

Applejack closed her mouth and leaned back, grabbing at her arm as she watched the sour expression on Platick’s face. She let her hat hide her face so no one could see what she was thinking. I’d imagine not even Story could tell from where he was.

Stostine, meanwhile, was forced to only stare at Platick in disbelief. “Do you really hate your Player? That much?”

Platick rolled his jaw and let himself relax. “...No. I don’t hate her. If I did, I wouldn’t bother talking to her. I’d sooner hope she’d drop the game and forget I exist. No, I just know her. And if I tried beating around the bush or kissing up, she wouldn’t appreciate it. She’d think I’m lying to get ahead.”

Applejack let out a lone chuckle as I saw her give this pathetic smile under the shadow of her hat. “Well. Ya ain’t wrong there.”

Does he really have to be that cynical about it? Applejack, you okay?

Applejack took a deep breath and shook the words off. “Eeyup. Just dandy.” She readjusted her hat and stared at her character. “Ah’d rather he be nicer, but the only one Ah have ta blame fer that is mahself.”

“Applejack,” I spoke softly. “What’re you gonna do? If what Platick says is true, if we alter them too much—”

“He won’t be himself,” she finished my thought. “No, Ah gathered that. But Ah’m pretty sure Ah know what he wants.”

She walked up to him and reached into his chest. Once she found the die, she pulled it out and admired it. A wood carved die the size of a soccer ball with the numbers burned onto each face.

“He don’ want me ta take the easy way out. He wants me ta keep him the same while Ah keep playin’ him. Even if it means Ah act like somethin’ Ah hate.” She nodded to herself. “If some lazybones that never worked a day in their life made me, Ah’d want them ta walk a mile in mah boots too.”

“That’s what he wants?” I frowned. “Are you sure?”

“He’s mah character, ain’t he? Ah let him think that Ah don’t care. That can’t be easy ta swallow.” She readied her die to roll it. “Maybe Ah’ll get used ta playin’ him. Maybe Ah’ll keep hatin’ it. But Ah’ll see it through.”

She looked up into the sky. “Ya ready on yer end, Story?!”

Ahhh! Okay, Rainbow was right; it sounds like you’re screaming in my ear! Yeah, I’m ready.

AJ looked at me next. “Good luck wit’ Stostine, Sunset.”

I gave her a smile and a nod. “Same to you.”

Finally, she looked at Platick. “Alright Platick. Let’s start with the family.” She tossed her die around the floor until it landed on no particular number.

And in the next instant she and Platick was gone.

Stostine out a heavy breath. “Okay, this was much worse than I pictured it going.”

I grinned. “You said it.”

Hey Sunset? I see a new box with Applejack and Platick in it. I’m gonna see what it’s like for them. I’ll see you on the other side.

“Okay then! Oh, and Story?”

Yeah?

“Thanks for agreeing to this. I know this has all been pretty weird.”

No problem! I’ll just add it to the list of favors you owe me. Which, by the way, I started my list.

“Luh. L-List?” I blinked. “You said list? What all are you having me d—”

Okay, bye now!

I sighed. “I see what he meant by me regretting that.”

“Um. Sunset?” Stostine spoke out. “Not to sound disrespectful, but. This is the third time you have brought me here. Can we please work on my life as well?”

I gave her a guilty smile. “Sorry, sorry. I’m coming.” I went over and scooped out the die from her chest and got ready to finally get started.

“O-Oh. If I may.” Stostine said, making me pause. “I want to say it a little nicer than Platick did, but. If possible, I would also like to keep my personality the same. If that means working on the bad parts of my life, I am prepared for it. Please?”

I felt my stomach condense a little. I think that means I need to watch those too. Oh, that won’t be fun. “O-Okay. I’ll do my best.”

I rolled the die, watching as the metallic shape bounded around for a second before soon enough coming to a stop. As it did, the night sky around us vanished and became a new moment entirely.

Author's Note

I don't really have too much to talk about with this Author's Note. But I did want to ask you all something important!

Which of the two characters would you be more interested to know the backstory of: Platick or Stostine? I'm writing at least one of their backgrounds for next chapter, but I wanted your opinion about who.

Like I said, this was a short Author's Note. Regardless, I'll see you all next chapter!

Cheers,
-Zeke

(32) In a Bed, Facing a Window

Stostine’s POV

Everyone in the group seemed to have their share of hardships from the backstories they were given. Glemerr had her time on the streets of Alderstone. Thorn Wielder survived her burned forest. And then there was Platick and the Fortunas. Perhaps the others had their own problems, but I suppose you know your own demons the best.

Mine came in the form of a cackling old woman seeking vengeance on somebody's firstborn, but there's a lot that goes into that. All of which I am glad to explain.

I was born an only child to a loving pair of parents that always stayed by my side. My father was Davin Swordhand and my mother, Melissa Swordhand. The last name came from my father’s family who possessed that last name for the last few generations. Because of this, we never worried about the Name Tax.

Davin was raised as an assistant for his father and worked as a scribe, aiding in political matters. Once grown up, Davin became something of a young statesman. He dealt with civil disputes and helped write smaller edicts and laws that the common folk would hardly recall or interact with. In terms of appearance, Davin was a short, rotund man with a thick mustache, thinning black hair, and a strong jaw.

His face was typically one of curiosity and he preferred keeping himself and others out of trouble in whatever way he could. I would not call my father a coward, however. He was simply non-violent to a fault. He kept himself well-groomed and clean and sought to dispel any sort of argument with conversation. He was, in his own eyes, a representation of how one in a position of power should always act whether it be in the public eye or behind closed doors.

My mother was his perfect counter. To begin with, she was not at all a political figure. Melissa was abandoned inside a temple of the God of Endurance; Ilmater. Her birth parents were never found by the church. And as she grew older, Melissa never tried to search for them. Rather, Melissa was incredibly content with her upbringing as an acolyte.

She had a powerful build with wild, curly red hair cascading over a warm smile. Mom also had a set of golden eyes that made you feel as though bathed in a light whenever she looked at you. She also had a number of scars from every time she never backed down from a fight. But, most importantly to me, she was an excellent story-teller. Sunset made it so I could recall every story Mom ever told me.

My favorite one to hear as a child was her childhood. With no one to claim her, Melissa only had the temple raising her. However, Mom admitted she never felt like anyone was in her corner. Everyone was kind and gave her a moderate amount of attention. However, she would find herself shuffled aside often enough as the priests focused on the ‘promising’ children.

So, Mom took that as a challenge. She would train her body every day after her chores until she was of age. Then, she participated in Ilmater’s Trials of the Body; seven trials that lasted over the course of four days. They were designed to test one’s endurance to its absolute limits. To become a priest of Ilmater you must pass, at minimum, three trials. To become a warrior of Ilmater, you must pass five. You can only conduct these trials once every two years and priests reserve the right to dismiss you at any moment if they believe you cannot handle it.

Most people surrender or get dismissed after the first trial. But Mom was determined to prove herself. So, she took the trials at the same time as all her wonderful peers with no mentor to guide or prepare her for what awaited her. One peer made it through four trials. The furthest of anyone else. It was impressive. Most participants aren’t expected to actually succeed any more than two trials in their first attempt.

However, Mom passed six. She wanted to take the seventh trial, but the head priest dismissed her after she broke her leg from the fifth. To let one die in the Trials would defile what Ilmater's Trials stood for.

But in passing six trials, Mom took an oath to act as a wall strong enough to endure any hardships for the sake of others. She carried out this oath by becoming an adventurer and joining a group that aimed to help others. They would travel for years and even after meeting Davin, Mom journeyed a few more times before slowing down and marrying him after his pleading. Not long after, I was born.

Yet, I was born not with blonde hair and golden eyes but dark brown hair and dull, lifeless green eyes. My skin was blotchy and I was unnaturally thin. It took the midwife several attempts to get me breathing. For the first several weeks, no one was sure if I would survive.

I never got much healthier. I grew at a slow rate and had little to no muscle mass. Instead, I grew up forced to lie in my room so as never to overexert myself.

In a bed, facing a window.

My room was barren, in a word. At least, compared to other children’s rooms. Or so I imagined. I had no toys and I never drew so there were never pictures to put up. Aside from my bed, a thin nightstand, and a small wardrobe with hardly any outfits within, I had no furniture.

The only form of decoration in my room was a set of heavy curtains framing that single window. My parents put it there to keep the sun at bay since the Sunset would worsen my migraines.

Heh. My player has a sense of irony, huh?

But whenever the sun was elsewhere, Mom or Father pulled back the curtains so I could stare outdoors from under my covers. The night sky or cloudy days looked peaceful with Openshaw as the backdrop.

That was my childhood for about twelve years. In a bed, facing a window. I could do nothing but lie there with coughing fits and fevers. On days I felt ‘adventurous,’ I would make it ten feet out of my room before the dizzy spells kicked in. Thankfully, Mom was right there to gently set me back down in my bed without letting me hit the floor.

I never got to leave the town. My parents told me I was born in the capital Agix but we moved soon after when Father was named Townmaster for Openshaw. It was unfortunate since there were no healers to help my illness. Still, it was nice for us since someone like me wouldn’t survive busy streets.

Mom also worked, managing a shrine of Illmater at Openshaw. But since there was nothing to endure in a sleepy town, she was free to spend most time with me in my room. She would set a chair beside my bed, brush my hair, and tell me everything she had ever seen.

The magic. The nature. The people. The fights. The animals. The traveling. The celebrations. The brightness and hope of everything I would never get to experience. It was the only thing I had to look forward to. Mom would get so invested in her own stories, she would forget my condition before even I did.

I remember when the doctors came by. They would visit our little town twice a month to check on the Townmaster’s daughter. They would check my temperature. High. They would ask me questions. “Yes. No. No. No. Sometimes. No. Two meals. Not much. No. Yes. Thank you. Goodbye.” They would prescribe medicines that only made me sleep more.

Then they would speak to my parents as though I was never there. They told them one thing and then repeated it to me but in this dumbed down way that made me feel stupid.

But what I remembered most, was that they would have me grip their hand as tightly as I could. And I tried. I would grip with all my strength, hoping I could make them say ‘ow’ or ‘okay, that’s good’ or anything.

One of the first doctors I remembered thought I faked everything for attention. He took nothing seriously and tried goading me, I suppose, into giving up an act that didn’t exist.

It had the opposite effect. He saw me trying with all my strength as my face turned blue from how much I was holding my breath.

Mom nearly threw him out my window when she saw me like that. Father almost joined in for the first time as he fetched me a glass of water. I never saw that doctor again. A part of me wished I had.

I didn’t know why back then. Looking back on it, maybe it was because he would be the first person to ever challenge me. To treat me as something other than a porcelain kid.

But regardless of what any doctor tried, they came to the same conclusion; major consumption. They kept saying I wouldn’t see the end of the year. Then they’d gawk when I was still alive.

But as I turned twelve, that’s when the delirium set in.

I remembered when I first realized it. Mom told her stories as usual but I had to ask her to stop when she went into gruesome detail. She described how she beheaded two monsters at once by tearing their heads off with magical gauntlets. How the sinew stretched as their flesh tore with a wet ripping sound. It made me squeamish and my coughing fits extreme.

But as I asked her to stop, Father stepped in and asked who I was talking to. I gave him a weird look and then pointed at where Mom was sitting only to realize no one was there. Not even the chair. Then, I felt someone laughing when I remembered Mom was at her shrine that day.

Other times, the doctors would come in and leave their medicine bag at the foot of my bed while talking to my parents. More than once, I got this idea in my head to switch the labels on their medicine vials. Mom told me to do it. Or rather, Mom’s voice told me to do it. Real Mom was furious and concerned when she caught me giggling to myself as I did it.

It only escalated. By the next year, Mom saw me swipe a scalpel from the doctor and wedge it between the floorboards in front of my door, blade up. That’s when she cried for the first time. Just broke down right then and there. It got even worse when I laughed at her face.

It was only for a few seconds. I felt glad I was...I don’t know, stronger than my own mom? When I came into my right mind, I broke down crying beside her. I felt horrible that I was still satisfied with myself.

Then Father came across us and right away joined in with his own tears. We looked pathetic. An entire family crying in their daughter’s near-empty bedroom.

When our eyes were empty, Father went to make us tea as Mom set me down gently in bed. Their bed. They didn’t want me sleeping alone that night.

While Father brought the tea, Mom began a story of hers she had never told me before. And judging by Father’s reaction, he never heard it either. It was the last adventure my Mom and her friends ever had.

The time they fought a hag coven.

A coven is composed of three hags. This one was formed out of two sea hags and a single annis hag. Mom said sea hags were easy to explain. They were creatures that preyed upon virtues such as beauty or hope and despised anyone representing them. But the annis hag? She had trouble describing it. Mom would admit in her stories when she was out of her depth or scared of something but laugh when looking back on it. This time, her fear was the same as how she described back then.

She depicted the annis hag as a mountainous woman with craggy gray skin and misshapen shoulders. Its head, whether magically disguised or her true form, never changed size. It was as though someone skinned the head of a granny and stuck it on a hunched over, ogre-esque mannequin. Complete with fileted skin for clothes and the skulls of children adorning her leathery belt.

The research Mom and her friends did was extensive. Their coven was based in southern Skel but the hags’ influence had begun affecting Leodaav’s northern coast as well.

As stories and personal accounts deduced, the hags targeted children in nearby villages; corrupting them. An annis hag reveled in churning children into little monsters to make those around them despair.

It got so bad that the children were becoming the hags’ private army. They would ruin food supplies, start fires that blazed out of control. Some kids would rig tools or set traps in a way where the adults would start getting injured or think they were cursed with terrible luck.

In many cases, this made the adults desperate and they sought out the nearby hags for help so they could survive the harsh wilderness or have enough food for the winter. But some villages would grow wise and know better than to make deals with hags and they held out.

When villages resisted, the annis hag twisted children until they were convinced into killing their own families. Their village would banish the children and they would run away to join the hags’ servitude as they destroyed the only lives they ever had.

Mom’s group picked up a lead when a northern fishing village was slaughtered by aquatic trolls. Then, after seeing the field of adults crying for some of the children to return, despite the tragedy they created, they got to work.

They dismantled the small army of trolls and other monstrous creatures that obeyed the hags. They expelled the sea hags out from their underwater lairs so the coven was all in one place. Then they struck. Four adventurers versus three hags.

The sea hags weren’t hard to destroy. Mom assumed they were simply assistants or stepping stones to be used. The coven leader was the real monster. Even with her coven gone, the annis hag had powers beyond explanation. She then used the tainted children to her advantage, letting them throw themselves at Mom and her friends. She wanted to force them into killing children.

Instead, the mage of the group put the children to sleep and spared them. But the distraction gave the hag enough time to unleash her largest bargaining chip: One last curse.

Should any of the four harm or attempt to stop the hag’s escape, their greatest values would be forever cast into ruin.

Mom and two of her friends didn’t care. They ran past the sleeping children and struck the hag with all their might. But the fourth adventurer faltered and the hag survived because of it. It escaped and the three of them felt...fine. Completely fine, actually.

Until about the time I was born. That’s when the curse was revealed and why Mom convinced Father to accept a political position far from Agix. That way, we wouldn’t be in the middle of the capital if something happened.

As Mom finished the story, Father was furious. He never knew any of this. Mom’s group never told the truth. But more specifically, he was furious that a curse would strike me rather than Mom or himself. Or anyone else for that matter.

It’s why nothing helped me feel better. Not medicine. Not bed rest. Not even the magical healing Mom or visiting clerics provided. The curse was too strong to dispel. And Mom didn’t want to tell either of us for a singular reason.

Leodaav wanted the secret kept.

The villages of Skel were terrified of that coven. And Leodaav, hearing that a group of ‘their’ people stopped the nightmare, seized on the opportunity. They sang the praises of my mom’s team and used that story as a selling point for the two kingdoms to build an alliance.

It wasn’t the only reason the kingdoms were in an alliance. It simply put a foot in the door for diplomats. Unfortunately, that meant Mom’s group was forbidden from setting the record straight. They couldn’t reveal the hag lived less they be marked as traitors of the kingdom.

Too bad too. Because as the group would later find out, the only way to weaken the curse enough to break it was by first killing the hag who had cast it.

Young Stostine’s POV
Openshaw, the Townmaster’s House
Late Night, Eight Years Ago

Many nights, I’d wake up in a cold sweat, shivering, or with my joints writhing in pain. Every time felt as though fate was randomly choosing what would drive me awake. It happened so many times, there were nights I wouldn’t bother reacting. I would wake up, feel miserable, and force myself to lay still until I passed out again.

Tonight was no different. I woke up twice already. Once in a cold sweat and a second with ‘Mom’ trying to convince me to smother Daddy in his sleep. I was conscious enough to ask Mom if she really told me to do it.

I didn’t need to wake her up to ask. Mom didn’t sleep that night. Both times I opened my eyes, she was their beside me. Just staring up at the ceiling as tears streamed down her face.

But this third time, I didn’t wake up from my disease. Or, I guess I couldn’t call it a disease anymore. Instead, I woke up to the faint sound of clanging metal.

Mom wasn’t in bed anymore. She was kneeling in a corner of the bedroom with a few floorboards stacked neatly beside her as she removed a set of plate mail as delicately as she could.

“Muh. Mom?” I whispered with a dry throat.

Mom flinched before looking up. There was a single candle alight beside her, revealing her reddened, puffy gold eyes from under her matted red, curly hair as she looked at me in misery. She tried forcing herself to smirk. “Hi honey. I’m sorry, did I wake you this time?”

“...” I blinked a couple times and slowly sat up. Their bed was so much more comfier than mine. Maybe because there wasn’t a me-shaped groove in it.

I stared at the things Mom had around her. There was an old backpack with a few supplies, a large shimmering shield propped against the wall behind her, and a set of gauntlets already on her hands. They thrummed with a magical power like she told in her stories.

“...You’re leaving,” I realized aloud. I felt my mind distancing itself from my body.

Mom’s face looked somehow more guilty in that instant as she looked down at her gauntlet. “...Yeah. Yes, I’m leaving.”

“Why?" I paused and remembered the story she told. How the curse would only be broken if. If... “A-Are. Are you gonna kill the hag?”

She wiped her eyes and took a breath. “No. We don’t have the time. We don’t have the help. I don’t even know where it is. I’m sorry.”

I frowned. “Then. Then why are you leaving, Mom?”

“Because it’s my fault.” She took another breath. “I did this. I’m the reason you’re like this. So, I’m gonna fix this. I swear I’ll fix this.”

I sat there trying to understand it all. She wasn’t going to hunt the hag. But she had her armor and magic gloves. Why would she need those?

I looked over to Daddy. He was snoring heavily with a piece of paper tied around his head with twine. His heavy breaths made the paper flap back and forth as it acted like a sleep mask.

I knew Mom wouldn’t tell me. And I knew she wasn’t running away. She never ran away. But if she was leaving for something that wasn’t a fight, why take all her stuff? It didn’t take long for me to think of it. Despite the hag’s delirium and my lack of sleep, I figured it out. Mom wasn’t coming back from wherever she was going.

So, against her wishes, I peeled the blankets off me and weakly slipped my legs out and onto the floor. I stood up and felt a bout of dizziness coat my mind as I blindly walked in the direction of my mom as best I could.

I wasn’t sure if I reached her or not, but it didn’t matter. She scooped me up in a huge embrace and held me there for what seemed like hours.

Her steel gauntlets eased their thrumming and it felt like I was being hugged by warm pillows. They were comfy enough to sleep on.

“I love you, Mom,” My voice was muffled in her shoulder but she understood me anyway.

“I love you too, Stostine,” she returned. “And I promise you. You’ll get to go outside. And I mean, outside. You’ll have friends. You’ll get to see those places I told you about. You’ll get to enjoy all of it. And, I pray, that one day. One day, you’ll get to tell me a story. And I’m going to love every second of it. Okay?”

I nodded, wedging my face further into her shoulder as I wiped tears and snot on her shirt. “Okay...Hey Mom?”

“Yes, sweety?”

“Can you tell me one more story? The Trials of the Body?”

She pulled me back, smiling through her own tears as she gave me a silly look. “Is that ‘cause that’s my favorite story?”

I hummed and nodded, rubbing my eyes with my wrist.

She bit her lip so her laughing wouldn’t wake up Daddy. “Fine. Come on, ya little bean.” She scooped me up and gently set me back down on the bed before kneeling beside the bed and regaling her favorite story.

Stostine’s POV

I was asleep in a matter of minutes. Mom told me that story so many times that I dreamt her telling the entire thing from start to finish. It was the first time in a while I remembered going into a deep sleep.

The feeling did not last long and the weeks following were a living hell. With Mom no longer keeping me company, I was left in my room alone for long periods of time. In a bed, facing a window.

I would feel the pain and sickness building up and overtaking my senses. Mom had used her abilities in the past to help me ignore those symptoms but with her gone, now the symptoms were back. The doctor’s medicine never worked either.

I would see the trees and birds and people off in the distance all going about their day as they always did. Then I would see the children of the town chasing each other or swinging from their parent’s arms.

They were just fine without me. They had no clue about me. Instead, I would sit inside and watch, coughing until the shutters trembled, while they got to enjoy their lives problem free. Maybe they got a runny nose now and then. Oh no! Poor them...

Except, it was thoughts like that which started kicking everything off. I became spiteful. I had these constant, foreign thoughts of how dare they swelling my mind. It would become a roar of whispers that I eventually found myself agreeing with. Sometimes out loud.

Although, how could you blame me? The voices were right after all. The kids got to enjoy their lives in this blissful town. Picking flowers, petting a dog, climbing a tree, running for more than two seconds? I wanted that. I deserved that!

Meanwhile, I had to sit in this empty room in constant duress. They had to know I existed, right? My Father’s the Townmaster for crying out loud. And Mom managed the only shrine for miles! How did none of them even bother coming to ask if I was okay?

‘They don’t want to feel guilty about you,’ ‘Mom’s’ voice would tell me. ‘They’re much happier pretending you’re not there. Cruel little bullies, the lot of them, aren’t they?’

“Yeah. They’re the cruel ones,” I said aloud one day in a huff. “If they ever do show up, I’ll just scream at ‘em.”

I never had the chance. No families came by to offer a home remedy passed down through the generations. No kids knocked on my window to make a new friend. Did no one know about me? Or did they just not care? No. Of course they didn’t. Why would they? Why should they care about a kid they never knew?

Fine then. I could have fun too. I can make my own fun. And I did just that. I played make-believe in a bed, facing a window. I was pretty good at it too. I came up with voices and accents for all those idiots. I would make up random, fun moments and problems they would have to deal with! I would imagine a new one every hour. Every hour of every day. Every day, for every week! It was all I did since no one was there to stop me.

And with each new problem, I stretched them to their absolute best. Each one more out of touch from sanity than the last, but I didn’t mind. Probably because I was finally having my own fun! For example, I dreamt of bears ransacking their homes for honey. Or the nearby river growing so wide it made their homes stick out like Lilypads. Or all their food turning to gross mush like they deserved! Or all of them going mad and eating each other! Or the children going into anarchy! A horde of mindless ogres smashing them and their belongings to a bloody pulp! Or their heads getting torn off by a rampaging troll as their precious little houses burnt to the ground! I would envision each of them plotting to storm into my house, gut my useless Father, rip me from my bed and deliver me to Auntie so I could finally be free! I WOULD ENVISION AUNTIE CRAWLING OUT OF THE GROUND AND CACKLING AS SHE TORE THE HEADS FROM THE CHILDREN’S NECKS TO ADD TO HER BEAUTIFUL BELT! I COULD HELP AUNTIE MAKE HER BELT PRETTIER! MAYBE SHe’d make me a belt of my neighbor’s skulls so that. I. Could. Have. A matching. Belt...

...

I would start crying myself to sleep when “Mom’s” voice became more demanding. She would go from pushing me to try things to demanding I obey her orders.

...Otherwise, Auntie would be quite displeased...

And when I still refused? That’s when the voice didn’t bother pretending to be Mom anymore. It just used my voice. My voices.

At random times, I would blink and see the world in a different shade. I would feel excited and happy, deserving of everything, furious and strong, sadistically cruel. Different voices would come at me suddenly, forcing me to think or behave entirely different from myself. Yet I agreed with everything they said. And Father was the only one to care for me. To try and stop me.

Not that it changed anything. I was too weak to act on any of those voices. There would be times I would step out of bed and quickly collapse from overexertion from getting excitable. But it still got worse.

By week three, my skin grew slick and blue like a drowning corpse and my hair started falling out in clumps. I would be shaken out of stupors by Father who told me I had been giggling and rocking myself unresponsively.

Eventually, it reached its peak. I couldn’t sleep anymore. I was in that headspace where I no longer felt tired despite being exhausted. It wasn’t Mom’s voice talking to me anymore, nor my own. It was her’s. Auntie’s voice. I knew her name was Auntie. She and my other voices kept saying it. My mind. Kept. Slipping, and I knew I wasn’t falling asleep! Yet I kept drifting in and out of consciousness.

I would blink and suddenly I tore apart the pillow on my bed. I would blink and the few clothes I owned were thrown on the floor. I would blink and the floor was slick with the froth of the sea. I would blink and pieces of seaweed replaced the few clumps of hair I had left. I would rub at my eye and feel the socket sink inward as teeth pulled away from one another like magnets.

I heard Father approach the door and I stared up in anticipation. I wanted him to take one look at me and prove that all of this was all in my head. That I wasn’t growing seaweed or my room wasn’t becoming a swamp.

I watched Father open the door, take one step in, and slip on the seawater. A small splash accompanied him and instincts made me cackle at his misfortune.

He grabbed at the edge of my bed and dragged himself up face-to-face with me and screamed at the visage of his daughter. An ugly, hag of a daughter as I tried forcing my claw down his throat to feel his still beating heart and feel the crushing despair of how much he FAILED TO SAVE HIS FUCKING DAUGHTER!

It wasn’t hard for Father to push me off. I was shunted back on the bed and as I flailed and tumbled off the opposite side and felt my back splash into the water. Then, faster than I ever moved in my life, I rolled onto all fours and scurried along the wet floor like a cockroach. I ducked under my bed and popped my head out the other side in time to watch Father slam the door and bar it from outside.

My consciousness started flashing as Auntie cackled in glee at what I had become. I cackled with her. Everything felt amazing! I moved and jumped with a speed I had never had in my life. So what if I had gills splitting open along the sides of my neck?! Who cared if my gorgeous claws tore up the floor and drained the sea water out of my room?!

Quiet town, huh? Apparently not quiet enough to ever pay me a visit! How’s about I pay them a visit? They’ll like a visit! If I didn’t get to enjoy the quiet, WHY SHOULD THEY?!

I jumped up on my bed with all fours, ripping the sheets with vicious euphoria. Then I looked up at my window and paused.

I was in a bed, facing a window. Like every day of my miserable life. Not anymore! Here’s what I think of this fucking window!

Like a rabid dog, I ran on misshapen claws before lunging at that window like it was my prey. I didn’t even bother throwing my hands at it to smash it. I simply barreled through head first, the glass shattering by impact as I flew out in a crash!

The whipping wind and rain pelted me as I belly flopped against the wet dirt, a crude imprint stamped onto the ground. I unstuck myself from the muck and launched myself on all limbs before screaming out in a frenzy; Auntie cackling like a madwoman in my mind.

‘Very good, my child,’ she told me. ‘Show this pitiful dump some interest for once in their lives. Oooooh~ Maybe start with your dear mother’s shrine?’

Yes. YES! The shrine! I mean, it’s not like Ilmater did anything for me.These morons don't deserve hope.That’s an easy fix...

I knew where the shrine was. Even without seeing it, Mom described where it was plenty of times. So with a direction ready, I whipped around and rushed off. Or at least tried to.

In reality, I only made it a few steps before a maroon-colored hand the size of a bear slammed into my back and pinned me to the earth.

I shrieked, twisting and writhing for any solution to get free. When all five seconds of that failed, I watched a boot step towards me just out of reach of my claws.

The voice that paired with that boot let out a disgruntled sound. “Urgh, already? So much for being punctual. Sorry Mel.”

The giant hand’s fingers tightened around me like a cage and lifted me out of the mud. I then watched this woman step up and pull out vials from a satchel before pouring over my scalp like conditioner.

Without warning, agony drilled into my scalp and everywhere this liquid made contact. I screeched out in agony, twisting in desperation to get away. I dislocated bones, screamed words I knew were probably swears, and bit into my lip in hopes of getting the blood to dilute the liquid but nothing worked. The pain was something I had never experienced but with each vial dumped on me, it became harder to hear Auntie’s commands or threats of her own. She was shut out.

I later learned the burning liquid wasn’t hot at all. It was holy water Mom had made and given to her former adventuring companion, and my new caretaker, Siora.

She had the giant hand carry me back inside and set me down on a couch in front of the fireplace as she explained everything to Father. He refused to leave the corner of the room as he watched me with a fireplace poker in his trembling hands.

I passed out not too long after that. I didn’t know what was said but apparently Siora convinced Father to grant her a home in Openshaw.

Over the next week, Siora took Mom’s place in my room. She sat at my bedside and helped fight off every manic episode or transformation I had. She tried easing my nerves too but we realized very quickly she was a terrible storyteller.

So instead, Siora would talk about herself at my request. She was the first elf I had ever met. My parents, most of my doctors, and the stray visitors were mostly humans with a couple of Dwarves and a single gnome now and then. So I was eager to meet someone new.

Siora was born to a pair of simple parents who were lower class artisans. Her life, according to her, would have been boring and consumed with weaving shawls and blankets had she not come across her grandfather’s spellbook. She practiced magic in secret and by the time her parents found out, so too did Agix’s Arcane Academy.

She was accepted after an evaluation and moved into the academy while her parents were too scared to ever visit the capital. After all, the war against the elven kingdom was still going on. Siora took her acceptance gleefully, however, and like Mom she reveled in proving those around her wrong.

Siora also knew dozens of spells and would be glad to demonstrate so many of them to me. She assured me she had spells for fighting the monsters from Mom’s stories but she would only show me her safer spells. Still, they were amazing. The large spectral hand that held me, an invisible servant that obeyed Siora’s thoughts, a large disk that could carry me and my entire bed like nothing.

She even had a spell that allowed people to fly. And she used it on me once! I was able to move around my room without my body stopping me. Siora was delighted to watch too but she couldn’t let me leave my room.

A few nights later, however, everything stopped. We were in the middle of Siora telling me about some of her days at the Academy when, without warning, I felt numb. All my aches and pains, the different personalities, her voice. All lifted from me like a thick blanket. I then felt my body grow weary and tired as an unstoppable exhaustion overpowered me. I lulled in one direction and the next, watching as Siora reached out at me.

I took her hand, muttering something as I lay in a bed, facing a window.

My head landed against my pillow and I drifted off in bliss. I didn’t know why back then, but that was the best sleep I had in my life.

And the night my mom was gone forever.

Siora the Mage’s POV
Openshaw, the Townmaster’s House
Three Days Later

I trudged my way through the door, letting a Mage Hand lazily flick it closed, and made my way to the dining room table. Once I was there, I dumped a pile of books and scrolls out in a disorganized fashion and fell into a chair to take a deep, exhausted breath.

I shook my head along with my hands for a moment before heavily slapping myself across the face two times in quick succession. Then, tugging some string off my blouse and a chip of wood from the table, I made a few gestures before summoning an Unseen Servant at my side.

“Make me a coffee,” I said while rubbing my eyes.

It moved towards the kitchen as I pulled my spellbook in front of me. Next, to be extra lazy, I resummoned my Mage Hand and had it open the book while I readied the spell scrolls.

I should have gotten these spells the moment we set out against that coven. Sadly, fifteen-ish years later and I’m only now doing this. Brilliant.

There were two spell scrolls I was referring to; Remove Curse and Protection From Evil and Good. Back when we took on the hags, Melissa handled these spells. I focused on evocation. You know, fireballs and the like.

I then turned my attention to the other books and piles of paper I dumped. Since I was a long way from Agix, the Academy wouldn’t let me check out too many books. It took a lot to convince them to send me this much. I had to call a favor on the Headmistress’s husband.

When he heard it was to solve a hag’s curse, he championed the request. But due to plenty of other problems, there were only three books he’d send me. Those and piles of in-depth notes he copied for me.

Thank you Tek, I silently praised. Crazy little freak.

I began transcribing Protection first. Neither of these spells would rid Stostine of her curse. If it was that easy, none of this would have ever happened. But we never thought of using these spells to diminish the effects. If anything, maybe I could ease Stostine’s symptoms. Maybe enough for her to take a nice walk outside?

I got lost in my work. An hour passed in seconds as I waited on the ink to dry for the first spell. By the time I looked up, I felt the Unseen Servant vanish and the coffee I asked it to make was almost cold.

Grumbling, I started chugging my coffee at the same time as a doorknob started fumbling. I didn’t even flinch when the violent slam of the master bedroom door against the wall echoed throughout the Swordhand house.

I put my now empty cup down and licked the coffee off my lips as sloppy footsteps came down the hall. And then fingers wrapped around the corner of the wall. Finally, one hungover Townmaster dragged himself into the main room with his other hand nursing his face.

He let out this low, tired moan of pain that only true blackout drinkers could relate to while carrying himself to the kitchen.

I scoffed and tossed the Protection scroll away from me. “Good morning,” I said extra loudly to prick at Davin’s brain. “Lemme guess, finally ran out of booze in your personal keg?”

His moan almost became a growl for a second. Although, that would require a spine, so obviously it meant nothing.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I decided as I unfurled the Remove Curse scroll.

That made Davin pause from his march and force himself to look at me. Big mistake since I made sure to sit where the sun would be right over my shoulder. And yes, I made sure that window was open too.

“F-For your information,” Davin fought on to make his point. “I am only halfway through that keg.”

“Woah,” I hummed sarcastically. He says that as though it’s impressive.

He looked away from me and rubbed at his eyes. Then, he stared distantly at Stostine’s door. “How is she?”

“Still asleep,” I answered normally. “I checked before I got started. The seaweed stopped growing out of her head and her breathing’s steady. But you would know that if you checked for yourself.”

I watched that phrase tremble down Davin’s spine. So I backed off. My point was made.

“I. I...I don’t have any right.” He shook his head. “I hurt her. And every time she gets unwieldy, I—”

“Enough,” I cut in, setting my quill back in its inkwell. I wasn’t going to finish this next spell anyway with this fool distracting me. “I was there, remember? Don’t reexplain it to me.”

Davin shrunk in on himself. “Apologies..."

I leaned back in my chair and propped an elbow over the back of it. “That doesn’t make you any less her father. I’ll commend you for one thing; most regular parents wouldn’t bother living in the same house as their cursed daughter. You at least have that much tact.”

Davin gave a hollow laugh. “...Melissa would do better. She’d probably never leave Stostine’s side.”

“Yes, well,” I mused. “That’s more than either of us, I suppose. I’m not that brave.”

As I stifled a yawn and stared down at my empty cup, Davin put on a strained smile. “Really? I thought elves didn’t sleep.”

“We still get tired,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “And I’d get my four hours more peacefully if I had..." I bit my tongue. No, I thought. I can’t ask Davin to watch Stostine. He wouldn’t last if something happened. Not his fault, either.

Hungover or not, Davin read the context. He was guiltstriken as he stared down at the floor and I tried finding the right words to snap either of us out of it.

When I failed, Davin cleared his throat. “I was planning on making some tea. Would, erm, you like some? Siora?”

I rubbed my temple. Davin wasn’t the only one that drank last night. And while I could hold mine much better, a headache was coming on. “I would, yes.”

Davin nodded and stood up as straight as he could and forced his feet to carry him to the kitchen. But the moment he was around the bend—

Crash! “Ahhh! oops...”

Davin scrambled back into view as he and I stared in surprise at one another. Then at the source of the sound. Then back again.

“Was that from Stostine’s room?!” Davin practically screamed.

I opened my mouth but all that came out was sass. “No, it was the rats. They adopted her— We heard the same thing, moron!”

Ignoring him, I scooped my spellbook and marched up to Stostine’s door. Once he snapped out of it, Davin followed behind and let his new resident wizard take the lead.

Huh. Never thought I’d take lead on anything.

I plucked a vial of holy water off the table beside Stostine’s door. Then, I opened the door and pulled back my arm, ready to throw it at—

A golden haired child with equally golden eyes.

“AH! Si-Siora! Daddy! I’m so sorry!” The girl was sitting on her knees next to the empty bed, picking up pieces of glass until we came in. The glass was from a vase of flowers Davin got for his daughter. He had me bring them in since he was still too scared to do it. I had to water them too.

But the girl I didn’t recognize. Not at first. And when she noticed, the girl shied away from our expressions. “I-I didn’t mean to! I can clean it up, I promise! Um...Are you mad?”

I stood there, locked in place. The child was wearing Stostine’s nightgown with Stostine’s blanket partially over her leg, but I couldn’t recognize her.

When we still didn’t answer, we watched the thin girl tear up. It was heartbreaking to watch if it wasn’t so confusing. Who was this?

She looked nothing like Stostine. She had a full head of hair that wasn’t her usual brunette. She had gold eyes instead of green, and she wasn’t emaciated. Not sickly either. I was here seven hours ago and this girl wasn’t.

This isn’t possible. I blinked a few times as Davin stepped past me and into the room. I stepped back, clutching the holy water in my hands. I didn’t know how to react to this.

“Sto...Stostine?” He brought up his hands but hesitated to do anything else.

“Um. Yes Daddy?” The girl asked mousily. She looked between him and the glass. “I’m sorry for breaking it.”

“You. You broke it?” He noticed a glass shard still in her hand and stiffened up. He probably thought she was gonna stab at him.

“Mm-hmm.” Stostine nodded and stared back down. It was a collection of blue and red flowers. Stostine’s favorite colors, I was told. “I thought they were pretty so I went to pull one out. But I knocked over the glass and it broke. I didn’t mean to.”

Davin took a really slow breath and reached for Stostine’s hand. When the girl didn’t react, Davin gently took the glass shard and flicked it away back to the floor.

Then Davin reached for his daughter’s hair. Careful as not to hurt her, he pinched a small lock of it and gave it a light tug. The hair was firmly in place. It didn’t come out.

“A-Ar-Are you okay?” He asked, crouching down to be at eye level with her. He didn’t care that he was close to cutting his feet on the shards.

Stostine opened her mouth to answer but then she thought about it. “U-Uh. I. I think so. It..." Then, as if she just realized it, her face lit up. “Yeah. I’m okay! It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Davin stared for a second or two longer before he suddenly started sniveling. “...Stostine!”

He pulled her in a tight embrace, crying like a fool as Stostine’s eyes darted in every direction. She was trying to register what was going on.

I had Mage Hand return the holy water back to the table in the hall and stepped in to admire the moment. I let the two take as much time as they needed before gently clearing my throat.

“Um. Stostine?” I watched her spot me over her father’s trembling frame. “What happened to you?”

“ I...um. I don’t know?” She said awkwardly. “I remember my head hitting the pillow and then...I think I had a dream? There was this. A, um. I think it was a church? And then a garden. And...”

She paused and looked back and forth for a second before her eyes focused in no certain direction.

“Oh. O-Oh, right. Hi Tabs! No, Tab. Tabbri...Huh? Tabs—err...Oh! Okay, yes, that! I remember now!”

Davin stopped hugging his daughter and stared at her. “Stostine? What was that?”

“Oh, the voice from my dream! He. Erm, she. Um...they are really nice! They got rid of the bad voices!”

Stostine stopped hugging her father and, without prompt, stood up just fine on her own. Further astounding us.

“Uh, Ms. Siora? Tabs said I need to show you something. And that you could help.”

“Help?” I frowned. “Help with what? And, I’m sorry. How did this ‘Tabs’ speak with you just now?”

“Uh. Huh. I-I guess only I can hear them. But! But watch this!”

Stostine rubbed her hands together and held them out, suddenly giddy with excitement. “Okay! Here goes! Zilla-ren!”

I blinked at the words. And then was further confused when a flame for a candle weakly sputtered to life in Stostine’s hands.

I recognized it immediately. Fire Bolt. An evocation cantrip apprentices are taught at the Academy. And it was the verbal components that I was taught at the Academy more than fifty years ago. They had since transitioned to a different arcane script.

It would also take most students the span of a month to be taught the glyphs and create a flame in their hands. Stostine did it in five seconds.

I placed a hand over my open mouth. “That’s something,” I muttered as several alarms went off in my mind.

“What the—?!” Davin clawed his way back to his feet and used me as a shield. “Siora? What’s causing that? Is Stostine okay? Will she be okay?”

“Huh?” Stostine stared down at it and pouted. “I think...Wasn’t this bigger in the dream?”

I took all of this in and nodded slightly to myself. “This...Admittedly, I don't know what this is.” I turned to him and began speaking in Elvish so Stostine wouldn’t understand.

“Melissa did something neither of us have experience with. And...I’m going to be honest. It looks like the original problem’s been solved. But now we got a new problem.”

“New problem?” His voice broke as he let that slip out in Common. Stostine lost her attention on the tiny flame as she looked up at us.

I ignored that and kept speaking in Elven. “Not yet, at least. But I hope I don’t need to remind you how they react to people with a natural talent for magic.”

Realization spread across Davin’s face as he took in a shaky breath.

“What are you two talking about?” Stostine asked, utterly lost.

“We. Are. Talking. Abouuuut~” I started in Common, enunciating each word to sound ‘peppy’ and like nothing was wrong. “How. I. Caaaan be your teacher! Yaaaay~”

Upbeat was never a good look for me. Actual social people would be able to tell right away. However, when Stostine heard that, she was swept up in the prospects of it all.

“Wait, really?! You’re gonna teach me?! I get to learn magic?!”

“You’re teaching her?!” Davin asked in Elvish. “But. But you just said—”

“I know what I said,” I spat back in Elvish while still smiling at the child. “But untamed magic is—” I bit my lip and forced myself to speak to Stostine. “We will! That is, once we’re sure you’re healthy. And I’ll warn you, the start of it is puh-retty dull.”

Dull for her, maybe, I imagined. But for me, this is gonna be so bizarre.

Author's Note

On top of real-life stuff getting in the way, this chapter took so long because I wrote this and the next one back-to-back. I wanted to see what people's preference was for who to focus on first.

Speaking of characters, I don't think there's too much of a reason to hide Stostine's character sheet anymore. It was hinted what happened to her here but if people want to confirm thir theories, you can check now. Or hold off until it's revealed in the game. Your call.

Oh, also while I'm at it, here's Stostine's 50 Answers page. I read back over it before and after finishing this chapter and it shows a few other parts of Stostine's life that didn't show up here.

The next chapter, like I said, is all written up already. After I edit it, I'll have it posted just as well. Which means edgelord Platick is up soon.

I hope you all enjoyed and see you next chapter!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(33) The Fortuna Massacre

Young Platick’s POV
Leodaav, Agix
Fortuna Manor/Hidden Treasures
Midnight, 14 Years Ago

None of us slept.

The house was a disaster. Every front-facing window was smashed by thrown rocks, bricks or knives. The outside of the manor was coated in mud, sludge, and dozens of splatters of paint or ink. Pieces of wall were cratered inward or torn away as the only thing that kept the house from looking absolutely destroyed was the fact that the inside was mostly in one piece.

A majority of the downstairs was the family shop; Hidden Treasures. It was something of a shop for ‘heroes,’ as Mom called them. They were actually travelers and adventurers but whenever Mom called them heroes, she would think back on good times of her own.

There wasn’t much of the family left inside. My grandfather, my Uncle Geld, Dad, and Mom were shackled and driven away by the city guard. At the same time, another uncle of mine, Uncle Silber, took his wife and kids and fled the city with our caravan company.

Our caravan company was named the Fortuna Trade. It was how our family made such good business. Even when rival companies or big name merchants tried blacklisting us, we survived because of the Fortuna Trade. It was where my grandfather Oro, who I always called Pops, first grew the Fortuna name.

No one blamed Uncle Silber for running. In fact, that’s what Pops told everybody to do. If something happened to the family, find the caravan leaders and get out of Agix. Above all, stay safe.

I wasn’t able to go with them. Neither was the family at our manor. Once Dad and the others were gone, that only left myself, Granny Relli, and my baby sister Moneta.

Granny Relli was in her late sixties and time hadn’t been kind to her. She stayed in her room most days while occasionally sitting out on the balcony. And, no matter what, she would be happily conversing with her spellbook.

Granny Relli was training to become a mage before Pops met her. She was pretty good at it too. But when she fell in love, Relli’s family cut her off and acted as though she was never part of the family. That just made spending her life with Pops all the easier.

But right now, she was in the hallway, her body strengthened by an Enhance Ability spell. With it, she held Moneta in one arm while casting Message on each of us in the house to give out commands silently.

Moneta was only six months old by this point. She stayed quiet thanks to a Suggestion spell Aunt Opal cast on her. She was pretty pudgy if you ask me and up until recently she was always a very quiet baby. Mom always wished I was this quiet when I was a baby.

Moneta had a tuft of blondish-brown hair and pale blue eyes that usually stared at everything in wonder. Granny Relli was a little disappointed when she saw that.

Granny’s birth family had silver eyes. It was something of a symbol for them. But none of Relli’s kids or grandkids had silver eyes. Until I was born, that is. Granny Relli was over the moon when she found out. To her, it was like her ancestors revealed they hadn’t abandoned her.

Then there was Aunt Opal and her husband, Uncle Fernol. They had run over to the manor from their own store and home when they heard what happened to us. They were also doing a majority of the packing. Aunt Opal was Pops and Granny’s second child. And if the Suggestion spell on Moneta wasn’t a give away, Opal was a mage too.

More than that, she was a half-elf like Pops was. Everyone else was human but that didn’t matter to us. Opal’s elven lineage just meant Pops wouldn’t outlive everyone now. She had glasses like Granny did but she also wore this funny looking witch’s hat. Purely for laughs, she would say.

Sadly, Uncle Fernol wasn’t as interesting. He was still one of the family but he didn’t know how to fight like Mom or Dad or use magic like Opal or Granny. He was a terrible salesman too, unlike me and Pops who were naturals.

But he was great for emotional support. He kept the family grounded and knew how to keep everything and everyone organized. And tonight, that was exactly what we needed.

I crept up the steps with a backpack full of all the food from our kitchen. “Granny? I’m done. And I made sure to put the bread and bags of flour between each of the plates, like you asked.”

Granny looked down at me and smiled weakly. “Good job, Platty. You’ve been very brave tonight.”

I returned the smile and carefully put the backpack over my shoulders as Granny told me. It was heavy but since everyone was carrying something heavier, I didn’t complain. “Is Mom back yet?”

Mom. She was carried off with the others almost a week ago but this morning, she came back alone. She was released from the dungeon after Pops, Dad, and Uncle Geld took the blame. But Mom was forced to implicate Dad. If she didn’t, the Guard would never have released her as early as they did.

Once she got back to us, she had a plan. She used to travel around with a group of friends all over Leodaav. She met and helped dozens of people in villages and towns far enough away from Agix where we would be safe. Even if word about the Fortunas ‘crimes’ reached them, they would know it’s all lies and take us in.

But we had to get out of Agix first. Thankfully, Mom had connections here too. She just had to reach them. She left about four hours ago, telling us to pack everything we needed and to pack light.

Only problem was none of us knew how to do the things she and Dad did. We didn’t know how to run away or deal with danger. Mom was a hero. We weren’t. We were a family that ran a store for heroes.

And when the slamming on the front door started, we cowered and flinched.

Yesterday at midnight, people broke down the door. There were four of them all with shortswords but no armor. They were thugs trying to steal everything still inside Hidden Treasures.

But when that happened, they didn’t expect Granny Relli and Aunt Opal.

Granny teleported them both downstairs that night and Opal let loose this huge Lightning Bolt. By the time Uncle Fernol ran down the stairs wearing Dad’s armor and waving around a shortsword of his own, the robbers ran for their lives.

That wouldn’t happen now. This time, there were more than four thieves. Without looking out the window, we heard an entire crowd of people gathering. We could see the torches lighting the street and, when the slamming started, so too did the shouting.

“DEATH TA THE FORTUNAS!” “DIRTY TRAITORS!” “THOUGHT YOU WAS BETTER THAN US, EH?!” “WORSE DEN ALL DA OTHER MERCHANTS!” “THEY GOT KNIFE EARS IN THEIR FAMILY TOO!” “DEATH TA FORTUNAS!” “BUNCHA WORTHLESS CROOKS!” “HEARD YA GOTTA KID IN THERE! BRING ‘EM OUT ‘ERE, WHY DON’TCHA?!” “YER NAME’S NO GOOD HERE!” “HEROES MAH ARSE!” “DEATH TO FORTUNAS!” “DEATH! TO! FORTUNAS!”

“DEATH! TO! FORTUNAS!”

Their screaming fell into this synchronized chant that shook the whole manor. I stepped back from the stairs, feeling Granny Relli’s hand on my shoulder as she tried calming me down.

Moneta opened her eyes and squirmed uncomfortably in Granny’s arm. The Suggestion spell kept her from crying but it couldn’t make her stay asleep.

“Are they in yet?!” Uncle Fernol screamed at us as he ran into the hall. At this point, staying quiet was worthless. He had three backpacks over his back and a shortsword by his side.

“Not yet,” Granny returned. “The door won’t break! It’s the windows I’m worried about!”

“We need to get downstairs,” Aunt Opal joined us, her spellbook floating beside her as her witch’s hat rested on her back thanks to the chinstrap.

“But that’s where they are!” I screamed back. “What if they see us?!”

“He’s right,” Uncle Fernol agreed. “These aren’t thieves anymore, that’s a mob! They’ll have swords! Crossbows! That’ll take down any of us!”

“But why?!” Aunt Opal demanded. “Protests and screaming?! Throwing rocks?! That I get! Why do they want us dead?!

Granny quickly reached over to the side table beside her and picked up a stone with a face carved onto one side. Mom had the other one but I didn’t know what they did.

But Granny did. Putting the stone up to her mouth, I watched as it glowed a faint teal color. As it did, Granny spoke pointedly and with purpose; without screaming too.

“Joya,” Granny started. “They’re here. Oro was right, those monsters are insane. Hurry back, they’ll be inside any second. Platick and Moneta are still here...Hurry soon!”

Joya Fortuna’s POV
Outside Fortuna Manor, Across the street

‘Platick and Moneta are still here...Hurry soon!’

I lowered the rock from my ear and looked ahead at the scene before me. Over forty psychopaths crowded around the front of my family’s home and every one of them had a weapon and armor underneath vests or cloaks to make them seem like commoners. They weren’t an angry mob. They were a band of mercenaries.

I looked behind me where three other people stood. I had one afternoon to gather whoever I could trust to help my family. Even with all the favors people swore they owed me in the past, I could only end up relying on three people.

First was Sgt. Glenmoran Marvis; a high ranked, red dragonborn Aura Guard and Boros’s—my husband’s—former superior. He had a number of scars from his time as a mercenary himself. However, the pristine Aura Guard half plate, the shield, and the longsword he sported made him all the more terrifying.

Then, leaning against the wall of our alley was Sai; an elven mage and good friend that traveled around with Boros and me. She was wearing a heavy cloak that hid any distinguishing features. Her typical outfit was traded for bland, muted clothes as well.

Finally, there was Madame Kiirnodel; a ‘tavern owner’ who was something of a teacher to me. They stood out the most with a flashy gold opera mask on their face and the poofiest, flashiest ball gown imaginable. However, despite the outfit, they didn’t seem to lose any mobility. In fact, they had the most alacrity out of any of us.

None of these three had anything to do with one another. In fact, Sgt. Marvis was staring daggers at the Madame every second he could. The only thing they had in common was wanting to help me.

I turned the stone to my mouth and proceeded to speak. “Don’t worry Mom. We’re outside. On our signal, get everyone out the back door. Only attack if they get through the windows. I love you.”

Twenty-five words said and delivered. As the magic sent, I tossed the Sending Stone to Sai. It was used up for tonight.

The mob had its leader and another muscle bound punk trying to brute force their way through the front door. It wasn’t going to work. I set that Immovable Rod myself. Still, sooner or later the mob would give up on the door and realize the boarded up windows were easier.

Sgt. Marvis stood up beside me and gritted his teeth. A small stream of soot and smoke poured from the side of his mouth. “Where are they? I set up guard shifts ‘round the clock. They should be here!”

“The mob scared ‘em off about forty minutes ago,” Sai told him. She was watching the mob for the past hour with Invisibility. “Some of them left without a word. Others talked a bit and either ran or skulked off...Last one’s dead in the next alley over.”

“And you let that happen?!” Marvis asked through a hushed growl.

“Oh please Marv, what was the poor dear to do?” The Madame challenged. “One mage vs forty-two men and women? You might as well split her open yourself.”

“Guys, enough,” I told them. “There’s only four of us now. We don’t have long and we need a plan. What do we got?”

Sgt. Marvis took a deep breath and sighed. “You’re right, my bad...Assuming they were hired like you said, they won’t be scared off by a show of power. And after killing and bribing my men, they forfeited any innocence. Go as loud as you need. We’ll capture whatever’s left. If more Aura Guard arrive, let me deal with it.”

“For once, I agree with Lt. Uptight,” the Madame told us. Said ‘Uptight’ glared in response. “We’ve heard of this band before. They have an all or nothing methodology. Expect them to stand their ground till the last man.”

“Loud and hard then, huh? That’s what I’m hearing at least.” Sai cracked her knuckles and took out a patch of mixed sulfur. “Joya? Any thoughts?”

All three of them waited for my order. Sai and Marvis had book and weapon alike ready and the Madame magically changed their outfit into that of a subdued maroon vest and dress pants with a cowl over their face to hide their identity. The golden mask remained.

I looked back to my home. By this point, the two in front were chopping at the door with handaxes and while they were breaking it apart, it still wasn’t going anywhere. The hinges were steel, the doors only opened inwards. If two cyclops couldn’t budge the Immovable Rod, two humanoid idiots didn’t have a prayer.

“I don’t care if it sounds selfish,” I began. “But even if you have to shield them yourselves, keep my family safe. Especially my kids. You got that?”

“Naturally,” Sgt. Marvis said as he stomped out the alley, sword raised. “I already planned to.”

“It’s not selfish, Joy. For once, it really isn’t,” Sai promised me, stepping out with the familiar arcane words for Fireball rolling off her tongue.

Madame Kiirnodel gave me a playful roll of their eyes and walked past. Since it was the first time I saw them without a poofy dress, I watched the way they walked. Their legs kept bending at wrong angles. Even the magic couldn’t disguise it. If anything, it was more unsettling how the illusions tried snapping the legs back in position.

They turned around and lifted my head by the chin so I wasn’t staring at their legs. Then they placed their finger against my lips in a shushing motion. “Rest assured, no harm will come to those children. I givE You my worD, JOya."

They walked out, prepping a Fireball of their own to match Sai’s. “And you know how I feel about promises~!”

I took a few seconds to shake the unsettling feeling off my spine and found my focus when one of the mob members kicked open a window board. Right away, he was met with a jolt of electricity, courtesy of my sister inside.

They found their entrance.

At that thought, I reached for my waist and pulled out a red-bladed dagger in one hand while forming three spectral daggers above my other. At that time, two Fireballs and Sgt. Marvis’s fire breath incinerated the mob from behind. A handful of them heard us coming but it didn’t matter. Four of them dropped dead before anyone could turn around.

Before the fire cleared, Marvis rushed in and cleaved his way through two more goons. One had her chest pouring out a massive gash while another cried out at the stump of an arm he was left with.

Six dead.

The brunt of the group turned around and readied maces and axes but by this point I ran. I took the hand with three magic daggers and tossed them in the air. The mob then watched as my knives suddenly pointed forward and whizzed over their heads before plunging into the chest of their presumed leader.

As he screamed in rage, I ducked under the axeswing of one lady and drew out a new dagger in my off-hand. As I leapt back to my full height, I ran my daggers along her leg and stomach before slitting her throat with a flick of my wrist.

She fell to the ground with fire and blood spraying out of her cuts as I stood and let myself be soaked in the crimson spray. I let the warpaint drip as I stared at the crowd. I already looked as red as Marvis.

“Uh-huh. There’s the Bloodletter I know,” Sai remarked as she tossed a simple Fire Bolt at another poor sap. That made eight bodies.

“Your nickname’s Bloodletter? Really?!” Sgt. Marvis gave me an odd look while blocking a mace from his next opponent. He then cut at their shoulder with his claw before skewering them with his blade.

I smirked under the coat and gave a mocking shrug before twirling around stabbing my daggers into another person’s chest and twisting like I was winding up clocks. One knife surged a bout of flames into his lungs while the other struck a major artery.

As he tore himself away from me, delirious and burning from the inside out, I took a chop to the calf and a sharp slug punch to the face that sent my vision rolling.

Suddenly, a bright flash of dozens of colors lit up the space ahead of me. Several of the mob members turned slack-jawed but the rest simply rubbed their eyes and closed in around us.

The guy who struck me was one of the many who survived the Fireballs and tried striking at me again. The dagger I slid through his neck told him otherwise.

“You ought to do better than that,” the Madame scolded me. “Don’t disappoint me now.”

I grinned, blood tracing each individual tooth before I took the knife in my opponent's neck and wrenched it like a valve. While I was painted with what was inside, I took the knife and flung it at the guy running up behind me, popping his eye.

As he clawed at the knife, I rushed up and stabbed at his abdomen half a dozen times, forcing flames to spit out as his skin popped and crusted. When I reclaimed my daggers, I held them in reverse grips.

Two ran past myself and Marvis, closing in on the Madame but they merely grinned ear to ear. Madame ducked under the first blade and caught the second with their palm, redirecting it into the ribs of the first merc. As they screamed, Madame crushed the sword with a tight grip, shattering the metal and leaving the upper half embedded in the guy’s chest.

The second one dropped her ruined blade and went for her dagger only for a bright beam of fire to burn into her shoulder, courtesy of Sai’s magic. “You’re welcome,” Sai tossed out.

Entertaining the idea, the Madame stepped up and swiped the merc’s dagger off her. After rending the woman’s head from her body to finish her off, Madame launched the knife across the street and into the face of a merc closing in on Sai.

As he fell to his knees, Sai finished him off with another fiery beam and Madame giggled. “Now we’re even.”

“Joy, you have weird friends,” Sai shouted at me as she fired her last Scorching Ray into a merc that was deadlocked with Marvis.

“You’re on that list too, you know,” I returned while severing someone’s jaw from their face into this funny mouth before ducking behind them and tracing their spine on either side.

Ahead of me, I watched around ten thugs ready their crossbows towards myself and the Madame. The leader shouted this one syllable in a tongue I couldn’t recognize and suddenly the mercs fighting us ducked away as the crossbows loosed.

I held up my arms but it didn’t matter. Marvis ran forward, pulling out his shield and sliding to a stop in front of me like a skilled ice skater. Four bolts plinked off his metal shield while a fifth one tagged his leg.

The Madame cast a Shield around herself that dispelled most of the bolts flying at her but two of them reached her. One in her arm and the second smacking into some invisible object just above her head.

I lowered my arms and smirked at Marvis. “Thanks for the assist.”

“Thank me later,” he shouted while slicing an approaching merc with the sharp edge of his shield. Then he chopped at the merc’s wrist, disarming them.

The battle continued like that for the next minute. They would catch one of us with a lucky strike but the other three covered for them long enough to recover and rejoin the effort. All of us started earning more cuts than we cared to admit.

On top of that, our mages had to sacrifice their safety to blast at the mercenaries running for the manor’s windows. There were close calls, but we were slowly whittling down their numbers.

Eventually, they fell down to less than half their starting number. Marvis and I stood beside each other as another fifteen murderers formed a wide ring around us. Meanwhile, about four people reached Sai and the Madame each.

“Ya know,” Marvis spoke under his short breaths. “Yer pretty good. If you didn’t fight like a maniac, I’d offer you a spot in the Guard.”

“Really? With. My shiny new. Criminal record?” I said between heavier breaths. By this point my hands were slick with blood and I lost four daggers in the slaughtering of these scum. “Don’t think the. Top brass would. Take kindly.”

“Screw ‘em,” Marvis said. “I got no time fer. For politics anyways. I train the city watch, not lawyers. Besides, I’m in the top brass.”

“That right? I thought you...Were a red dragonborn, not brass.”

“I can arrest you too, ya know,” he fired back.

“Touché.”

We watched as the area of the ring ahead of us opened up, allowing the boss to step in with us. Aside from the Magic Missiles I fired at him, he remained untouched.

He looked at the two men on either side of him and signaled to the window that had been kicked open. “Kill the family.”

No!

“NO!” I tossed another dagger, hitting one of the thugs in the shoulder but he kept going. About five mercs standing between me and my house raised their weapons but they weren’t what stopped me.

Instead, my body seized up as an arrow from out of nowhere struck me in my lower back. The pain brought me to my knees and I felt a pulse across every muscle like a ripple effect from the arrow.

Poison, I recognized. I think it's paralysis—Crap!

A few mercenaries stepped forward to carve me up but Sgt. Marvis stood over me, letting out another blast of flames that burned at their flesh.

“You good?!” Marvis shouted at me.

“Y-Ye-Y-Y-Ye-Ye. Erraaaagh!” My jaw started locking up but I forced whatever muscles would cooperate to try and force myself back to my feet. I didn’t work with poisons but I knew enough to focus my body into fighting it off.

“Wait a second...You.” Marvis straightened up and stared at the leader as they put out the fire on his cloak. “I know you. You’re Blindshot. I worked with you once.”

“Iiiis. I-I-Is tha’ uh...Good thing?” I had to force every syllable out but I was at least standing and holding onto my daggers.

Marvis growled and readied his longsword as ‘Blindshot’ pulled out a greatsword larger than the usual sort. “No. It isn’t.”

The leader had a sick grin spread across his face. “Been a while since someone called me that. I see you’re doing well fer yerself. Glen.”

Sgt. Marvis narrowed his eyes. “I always hated that nickname. Sounds too human.”

“Weird insult, but what would I expect from you?” Blindshot shrugged. “Look, I’ll tell you the same thing I told yer men. We’re here ta kill the rich kids; no one else. So, fer old time’s, if ya leave now I’ll excuse yer little escapade. The other three still die, of course.”

A visceral scream was the last thing one of Blindshot’s men let out as the Madame twisted his neck the other direction with their bare hands. “Ohohohoho~ I’d like to see you try,” they taunted.

Following that, a loud Boooom followed by the trembling earth was Sai’s challenge as she reduced some lady to mush with a giant glowing hand. The two mercs beside their buddy looked on in mortified terror.

“What they said,” Marvis returned as he readied his stance. At the same time, those two thugs Blindshot commanded ripped the remaining boards off the window. One of them fell to the ground, twitching and convulsing with lightning.

“Joya?! Hurry up!” My sister’s voice screamed.

“Opal!” I cried, forcing my muscles to obey me as I tried looking for an opening from the mercs. “Why are they still inside?!”

Blindshot let out a loud, obnoxious scoff. “You really think we’d just crowd around the front door? Give us some credit here.”

He’s got people in the back. No. No, I gotta get in there! Or someone has to... ”Sai! Sai, teleport in the house! The kitchen!”

Blindshot glared Sai down, raising his hands to snap his fingers. “Oh no you do—” FwoooOOOOOOOMMM!

Immediately, every merc to our left was incinerated with another Fireball. Except, it didn’t come from the Madame or Sai that time.

Standing at the second story balcony and overlooking the street was Relli; my mom. She bared down at the mercenaries as her spellbook floated beside her. Both of them looked down at the scenes with disapproving expressions.

“Relliana, I believe you just put a target on your back,” Mom’s spellbook mused sourly. “Not the wisest plan.”

Mom ignored her book and stared at me. “Joya, the children! Fernol can’t hold off the men at the back door!”

Taking my chance, I forced my stiff legs to run, running my daggers across two of the mercs as they tried picking themselves back up from the most recent explosion. By now the number out here was reduced to twelve.

Seeing this, Blindshot grinded his teeth and brought up his hand again. “Enough a’ that!”

With a solid snap of his fingers, I saw a glint out of the corner of my eye. Across the street from a rooftop, I spotted a blink of light before a mangled-looking lance rocketed out like a ballista bolt.

However, it sailed faster than any ammo I had ever seen. It never lost height, nor did it change its angle. It flew in a perfectly straight line over everyone at street level. I saw where it was headed and screamed.

No one could stop it. The lance ran straight through Mom’s chest, throwing her back into the house as the entire outer wall was painted with her blood.

“MOM! NO!”

No longer able to see her, I fought through my fears and dove through the first-story window. The last mercenary was only halfway through the door as I springboard of his back, dissecting his nape as I went. I landed awkwardly on the floor, my arm punctured by a board’s exposed nail, but I pulled it free and ran for the stairs.

“Belay that!” I heard Marvis shout. “Sai! Get in the house! Madame, on me!” He was giving out commands to the others.

I dashed up the steps three at a time, clearing the whole space in a matter of seconds. Then, I ran into my parents bedroom.

The windows had blood and pieces of offal dripping down them but it hardly mattered. The force of that lance launched Mom through the balcony door as she now laid against the side of her bed. The lance went out her back, forcing her to sit at this awkward angle as she fought to keep her eyes open.

“Mom! Mom, oh dear Gods, Mom! Please! Please don’t—no. No, please Tymora, NOOO!”

I fell to one knee beside her, cupping her face in some vain attempt to have her look at me. “Mom, g-g-get up! Come on, please don’t. Not like thi—”

I felt something dull lightly bludgeon me in the back of the head. Out of instinct, I pulled my knife and turned to tear it to shreds but stopped just short as Mom’s spellbook floated weakly behind me.

“Heavens child, you nearly carved my leather with that. Take hold of yourself!” It’s voice was that of a pompous old man. Not something that made me feel any better.

“Gordon, do you have any idea what just happened?! I know you don’t care about us, but you can at least preten—”

“You think I do not care?” He asked. The tiny metal face printed on the front of the book shifted its expression to one of anguish. “Joya, dear. Relliana’s family and yours may not get along but that squabble never met my ears. I remained by your mother’s side. I cared about her as much as you. But I have seen death many times. I will see it again. It does not rattle me.”

I stared back at Mom. She was gone. She was barely here when I reached her. Her eyes were half closed and blood was leaking out of her abdomen.

I forced my tears down and took a couple shaking breaths before saying my goodbyes to her. Then I stood up and looked at Gordon. “H-How...H-H-How are you still moving? I thought M-Mom’s magic—”

“I will not be for long,” he told me. “The last of your mother’s magic will leave me before the hour is up. I will help your friends. As I do, I trust you will reach your children?”

I gave him a nod and watched as the spellbook slowly floated back out the balcony before letting loose an orb of spiraling smoke. Dry groans of pain followed by the sound of bodies falling to the ground.

“Oh great, what’re you?!” Marvis barked.

“Your ally, dragonborn,” Gordon returned.

I ignored them after that and ran again. Except, rather than head for the stairs, I cut across the hall and into mine and Boros’s room. Wiping the tears and blood from my face, I tore open the top dresser drawer to reach the underside where a false bottom of plywood was waiting.

I peeled it off like a sticker and was hit with the pungent smell of brimstone as I threw Boros’s mustard yellow cape over myself. As I did, the arcane words hit my head and I quickly repeated them aloud.

In that moment, the bedroom was coated in thick smoke before I vanished and reappeared outside in a moment, at the back of the house where I immediately heard steel meet steel.

Ahead of me, trying their best, was my sister Opal and her husband Fernol fighting off four armed thugs. There were another two as well but they stood in a daze thanks to Sai’s magic after she teleported in.

However, standing behind them all was Platick. He was doing his best to hide behind the door frame as Moneta was now freely crying in his arms. Opal’s Suggestion spell was faded on her now.

“Joya!” Opal cried out, watching as I stood there, daggers drawn and drenched in blood. “Uhhh, what happened to you?!”

‘They got Mom,’ is what I wanted to say but didn’t. Not when Platick was right behind her. So instead, “Platick, honey? Mommy’s gonna need you to look away, okay? This will only take a second.”

Fernol, wearing an old set of Boros’s leather armor, tossed his sword at his attacker and focused on blocking with his shield. The merc stumbled in place as the sword miraculously cut into their shoulder, distracting them. Still, a different one moved in and went for an attack.

I ran forward, throwing one dagger at a lady’s jugular before she could turn towards me, and pounced on the man attacking Fernol. I latched onto his back, I dragged my knife across him like a brush until a fanciful ‘F’ was carved along his skin. Then, as the cuts ignited in flames I stabbed against the base of his neck and let him fall to the ground below me.

As his blood coated my armor, I lulled my head to the side and stared blankly at the final brute to my right while blood fell from my cheeks.

“You scared my son,” I said, playing up the act as their eyes went wide.

As if adding to the performance, a fifth merc I hadn’t noticed tried coming at me from behind. She made it about three steps before suddenly seizing in pain as she was electrocuted by my sister. They yelled in this stuttering voice until I twirled the flame dagger around to a reverse grip and swung behind me where I heard her voice.

I severed her vocal cords like a mad barber as flames emitted from his mouth and painted my mustard cape with ketchup. As Opal saw this, she ended the spell and gave out a sickened groan.

“For the love of Tymora’s Lucky Coin, what is wrong with you Joya?!” Opal cried at me.

“This is actually sorta tame,” Sai defended me. “You should’ve seen her when we fought trolls. Did you know troll limbs move on their own?”

I furrowed my brow and gave Sai a disapproving stare. “You could’ve gone without that part, Sai!” Thank the gods I had blood all over my face, otherwise they would see me blushing.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Fernol mumbled as he hid his face behind his shield.

Just then, a voice came in from the back of my mind. Gordon’s. ‘Joya, their leader just escaped through your window. He’s coming.’

Not bothering to respond. I pushed myself past Opal and Sai and to our back door. The one merc Fernol hit shook his arm while taking a swing at me with the other. He cut into my thigh but about that point I had plenty of momentum to make it indoors.

The others looked confused but when they heard the heavy boots marching down the hall, Sai and Opal left Fernol with the last attacker out back.

Blindshot stormed at us. His greatsword was gone and instead, in his hand was a wood carved spear. It was almost tribal.

He looked between each of us. Me, Sai, Opal, Fernol in the back, and then easily the weakest prey of us all; Platick, with Moneta in his arms.

Seeing them, he clicked his tongue. “Guess I’ll get them over with. Sorry,” he tossed without remorse as he pulled back his arm and launched the spear; snapping his fingers as he did.

Like the lance, the whittled stick fired with inhuman speed. Platick stared like a deer in the headlights, clutching his sister tightly as Opal and Sai dove to take the hit. But they weren’t fast enough.

Without time, I slid in Platick’s way and used myself like a human shield like Marvis had done for me. But with no shield, the spear was free to pierce my side.

I felt my hip bone break as I was taken off my feet by the force of it. There was no way that a human man just threw that spear. I’ve seen—felt—spears hit me before. They were never like this.

To make it worse, the spear had a bit of a spin to it that had it drilling further into my abdomen before getting caught on some form of sinew. I hit the floor in front of Platick, nearly knocking him over as I writhed and twisted in pain.

Several of the others screamed my name as I screamed syllables. I couldn’t focus on anything and I couldn’t hear anything over the beating of my heart in my ears. But what terrified me the most was that I couldn’t hear Moneta crying anymore. It made my brain go into overdrive as I fought to shake off the misery and pain.

It took all my will to look up and spot Blindshot still marching down the hall as he tore a picture frame from the wall.

“SAI!” I screamed, only barely hearing myself. “THE KIDS! GET ‘EM OUT!”

Sai did exactly that. She ran over and knelt down, taking what I assumed was Moneta our of Platick’s arms. I heard her shout...something to Opal and the last thing I could see was Blindshot about to break into a run before Sai cast Dimension Door, getting Moneta out of there.

When the spear hit me, I felt it exit partially out my back. I wasn’t sure if it reached the kids or not. It might have when I stumbled back.

In a rage, Blindshot tossed the picture frame into the air and snapped his finger again. This time, without any reason behind it, the picture frame sailed at Platick like a demonic frisbee.

With all the strength I had, I forced my legs under me and jumped, catching the frame with my jaw as I felt the wood and glass shatter my jaw. My own blood flooded my mouth as a handful of shards threatened to rend my neck apart as I hit the ground in a thud. I couldn’t see out of one of my eyes anymore and my broken teeth were stabbing the inside of my throat.

Everything sounded muffled. I felt Platick trying to pick my head up off the ground but all it did was push the glass in deeper. I think I heard crying while Platick tried to pull the glass out of my face. With my one good eye, I saw one of his fingers get cut.

Opal stood beside me, firing a burst of flames down the hallway in an attempt to stop Blindshot but all he did was flinch for a couple seconds as the wooden walls and ceiling caught fire.

‘Get out! Opal, take Platick and go!’ I tried speaking but my jaw wouldn’t move anymore. I tried pawing at the air towards my older sister, making a shooing motion when I tried sitting up.

“MOM! MOM, G-GET UP! YOU GOTTA GE—NO!” Platick was screaming in my face. My good eye was starting to swell as he tried thrashing out of Opal’s arms.

I had no idea if Fernol and Opal could handle the two guards still out back. I didn’t even know if Fernol was alive anymore. Just that Platick was further away from Blindshot and the man did not look happy about that.

He also didn’t look happy about the flame dagger I tossed into his pectoral.

He took it and then raged in shock as flames erupted from his chest. I was given that dagger back when I was traveling around with my husband and friends. The guy I got it from said it was like delivering a mini-fireball unto whoever was struck from it.

Blindshot still took it like a champ, however. And when the ‘mini-fireball’ was done, he tore it out and turned it around in his hands.

He said something probably really cliché and pointed the knife at me from four feet away. He kept talking, not that I could hear anymore. I didn’t care either. I was just smiling through the blood. That monster nearly killed my kids and I stopped him.

I saved the day. I’m still a hero.

He twirled the dagger in his fingers for a moment in a flourish. As he did, I used whatever strength I had left to spit a mouthful of blood at him. It landed on his boot.

Blindshot shook his head, chuckling to himself as he said a few more words. Not interested, I gave him a ‘hurry up’ motion and sat back. I was losing consciousness and no torture this guy could do would make it any more terrible than pretending to hear this guy monologue.

The guy gave me that much mercy. He stopped talking, gave a mock salute, and then snapped his fingers again. My knife lau—

Applejack’s POV
The Void

I watched the dagger shot out of Blindshot’s hand and into the center of Joya’s face. Dead in an instant.

Darkly, I started turning my focus away from the scene but the magic took that as a sign to finish off the act without me. So, I was forced to watch as Blindshot moved without my control. He stepped up to Joya, pulled the dagger out of her face, and then looked out the doorway as Opal ran deeper into the alleys with Fernol draped over her shoulder.

You can’t let me stop now, can you? I thought to myself.

Up until now, I was running this whole tragedy and I hated every moment of it. I probably made a bunch of Platick’s family really strong, or really weak, or maybe the whole thing didn’t make sense in Story’s world. After all, I only played for three days by this point.

So, did I care if it was realistic or interesting? No. I never cared. I did what I had to out of respect for what Platick wanted. Now the magic was doing its best to clear up the loose ends.

Platick forced his arm out of Opal’s grip partway down the alley and dared to look back at his house. He saw Blindshot, standing over Joya’s mangled corpse as fire crept up behind him.

And as Blindshot looked up at Platick, the boy’s heart sank as he took off like a dog after cats. His aunt was so distraught getting her husband to a doctor’s that she left without Platick. So, Platick unfortunately took a wrong turn into a labyrinth of alleyways.

Blindshot let the boy run. Especially when he heard the heavy steps of an Aura Guard approaching from within the manor.

“Blindshot!” Sgt. Marvis roared, standing in the flames of the house with his sword ready. Story said dragonborns like him didn’t get burned easily. “On your knees! NOW!”

A huge part of me wanted to make Blindshot surrender. To have him realize all the horror he just put kid Platick through. But I couldn’t. The magic wouldn’t let me. I had already set up the kind of monster Blindshot was. He was almost as much his own person as Platick was. And the magic forced everything to be believable.

But I didn’t want to sit through anymore death. I was so done with this and I just wanted out. Except, the only way to get what I wanted was by playing my part like a good little director.

Sunset, you got no idea how much I hate duna-dance—err, no. Duna...Whatever it’s called! I hate this so much.

After a second, I forced the darkest part of my imagination to play out the moment. It was disturbing how easy that was. Like I was born to do it.

“Not gonna happen, Glen,” Blindshot told him. Then, with one hand, he grabbed Joya by the neck and threw her body at the dragonborn’s clawed feet. “Nearly all my men are dead and I couldn’t finish the job. You take me in, they’ll see me dead by the end of the week.”

Marvis narrowed his eyes. “Who’s they?”

Blindshot shook his head. “No. But what’s it gonna be Glen? You gonna chase me down and let people believe the Fortunas mass murdered a buncha protesters? Or will ya stay and clean up her mess?”

I let the two stand off as the fire spread around them. I was able to kind of ‘fast forward’ to the part where Marvis pulled Joya’s body over his shoulder while Blindshot laughed him off.

From there, the two left out of different exits, Blindshot into the back alleys and Marvis out the front after disabling the Immovable Rod. Story told me about that thing. He helped with parts I couldn’t figure out.

As Marvis opened the front door, he stared out at the corpses either burned or cut to ribbons. Madame Kiirnodel was long gone already. And the magic book that came to help used the last of its magic warning Joya about Blindshot. It was lying lifeless in one of the many bloodpools.

Marvis bent down and picked it up just as guard patrols finally came rolling in. They were responding to the sound and flashes of Fireballs and a burning building.

“ABOUT TIME!” Marvis roared as I had him repeat my exact thoughts. “Cordon off the street and alert the fire watch! I want as much of this building saved as possible! And alert the city entrances! The instigator is fleeing on foot! He’s a human male in his early forties! Willen, A.K.A. Blindshot! Capable of magic! I repeat! Magic! Proceed with caution! Do not engage alone!”

The guards scrambled to obey every order but one in particular ran up to the Sergeant. It was the second in command of the guard patrol that was supposed to be watching the Fortuna Manor.

Duncan, I decided, as I let my frustrations out through Marvis.

“Sir!” Duncan began, standing up straight and giving Marvis a salute. His expression was more vacant than it should have been for the tragedy he was staring at. “Sgt. Marvis, I’m sorry! They convinced all the men to leave for one thing or another! And when they swung at Tristen I. I-I—Arrgh!”

With one arm keeping Joya on his back, Marvis used the other to grab at Duncan’s neck and pull him so close the soot and ash pouring from the Sergeant’s maw clouded his subordinates face.

“Tristen. IS DEAD IN AN ALLEY! YOU LEFT YOUR CAPTAIN TO DIE!” Marvis spiked Duncan to the blood-slick cobblestone. “And If you had any honor, you’d of stood your ground and died right there with him!”

Duncan dragged his elbows under him, observing how his arms and hands were now drenched in the blood of over forty casualties. But rather than reflect on it, the malice started to build in his eyes as his hands curled into fists. “Sir. I wasn’t gonna do that.”

Marvis and I both had our senses leave us for a moment. I didn’t do that, I noticed. The magic did it. It was controlling Duncan.

I could feel my control over the scene fading away. I didn’t have this odd omniscience over everything like I did until now. I could only see everything around Duncan and Sgt. Marvis.

“What did you just say,” Marvis demanded shortly.

Duncan took a breath and began standing up, turning to glare back at the massive dragonborn ahead of him. “I wasn’t going to, sir. I got a family. I gotta son. You wanted me to stand watch here, fine. That’s my duty. But I didn’t become a city guard just to protect a bunch of crooks in a fancy house! I became a guard to stop criminals, not sacrifice my life for them!”

...Oh, that ain’t gonna fly, I decided.

Acting on my anger, Marvis grabbed at Duncan’s chestplate and pulled him in close. “You think being a father makes you special? That you’re the only one with a kid?! There were children in that house! Innocent, young children! One of them was a baby! You think SHE’s a crook?! You think her life matters any less than your son’s?! You left those children to be slaughtered! And the killer got away!”

Marvis let go of Duncan’s armor and adjusted Joya on his back so her body wouldn’t fall off. “You see this woman, Duncan? Her mother sacrificed herself for her daughter. And then she sacrificed herself for her children. If that murderer gets his way, they’ll be dead for nothing!”

Duncan gave the dragonborn a dark look as Marvis stared back with the fury of the drill sergeant that he was. “Duncan Crow, you’ll be stripped of your rank before daylight. But before you are, I’m giving you two choices. You can finish your job tonight, go home, and tell that son of yours how you nearly let someone else’s kid die. OR. I have you dragged to the Iron Hill, right beside the Fortuna cell. And you can tell them as you rot beside them. What’ll it be?”

Duncan stared back at his ex-commander’s face. Without remorse, without regret, his expression twisted into pure hatred. “You think I was the only one? Tristen hated those Fortunas too. The only reason he stayed was ‘cause of your order. You! You’re the reason he died! And all you care about are the criminals!”

Reaching for his shoulder, Duncan stripped the Aura Guard symbol off his shoulder and tossed it into the blood. “He died for the Guard. Not criminals. And if this is what the Guard really are, well...I quit!”

Duncan stormed off as Marvis growled. The dragonborn bared his teeth and looked over to the closest set of real Aura Guard near him. “You two! Apprehend Duncan Crow! For insubordination, assisted murder, and treason! He will be tried in the courts of Agix!”

Hearing that, Duncan’s bravado broke as he ran, but he didn’t get far. Several Aura Guard tackled him to the ground and manacled his screaming form to a nearby lamppost where he would watch as the rest of the Guard did their jobs.

The firemen Marvis called for soon arrived and put out the fires before it reached any structural part of the building. Thankfully, they were in time to keep it from spreading onto the second level.

They brought Relliana’s body out not long after, setting her down beside the body of her daughter, Joya Fortuna. The two of them, plus all the mercenary bodies, made the death count well over forty people.

As the two of them were left alone, Sgt. Marvis bowed his head in respect and got to work like everyone else. After that, I began losing control over everything. Even Marvis fell out of control from me.

But I was fine with that. And when the scene became blurry and faded into the void of space with all the other memories I made before this, I felt myself take a breath. Then I felt my eyes close.

The bloodbath I had created was stuck to my mind like a fly in a field of yellow tape. I guess the game finally took pity on me too because, without proper warning, I was back in the game room in my family’s barn.

The magic was done with me. I finished what I set out to do and I felt terrible for it. With no help from the girls, my mind came up with everything. I wasn’t a violent person. At least, I didn’t think I was.

I felt dirty at how perfect I made it fall into place. At how well I started inventing all of this. The second I got used to the void, I was out like a shot. Is this what Rainbow felt with Ravathyra? Was this what Sunset and Twilight felt like as those demon versions of themselves? To have all these messed up thoughts and somehow feel proud of it?

Story acknowledged me when I woke up. He gave me this sad look as he took what I had created in stride. He was definitely rattled but not like I was. Probably because, to him, it was like watching a film I wrote.

Sunset was still out of it by this point but Story assured me she was wrapping up too. She was giving Stostine some happy memories after her own tragedy.

A good idea, I thought to myself. Maybe once I get my wits about me, I might go...wait...

Flashes of that massacre played out all over again like a tape real. It took shaking my head to make it stop.

I hated that. All of it! I never wanna do that again—Why am I already thinking about going back?! No way am I...

I gave one last shake of my head, confusing Story, as forced that thought away. No! I’m not going back. Not for a long while, at least. I’m sorry, Platick. I just hope I kept you as yourself. I hope I kept my promise.

Author's Note

This one was interesting. I knew what I wanted Platick's history to look like, but this chapter went through a few rewrites. That's what made it take so long. I couldn't decide where in Platick's life to make it start.

That's when I realized Applejack was technically 'writing' this chapter. So, I had her decide to set up the family and then get through the worst of it like ripping a band-aid. Band-aid over top stitches, maybe.

I've had both of them in previous chapters, but here's Platick's character sheet. Here's his 50 Answers too. Figured I might as well repost them since I did the same for Stostine.

Not sure when the next chapter will be out. I don't plan on having another backstory chapter for a while though.

Let me know what you all thought! Until next time, everyone!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(35) Point of Exhaustion

Rarity’s POV
Sweet Apple Acres
Sunday, 4:02PM

Out of all of us, Applejack and I were the only ones with cars. So when I got a call from Applejack giving me a summary of Story and Sunset’s argument, I told the girls and we took off immediately.

As we arrived, I didn’t really park in the ‘driveway’ area. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t let me. The moment I slowed down enough, Rainbow tore off her seatbelt and flung open the door before I could park.

“Applejack! Sunset, where are you at?!” Rainbow shouted as she jogged out of my car, slamming the door behind her.

I let out a sigh and simply parked where I was. “At least she closed the door.”

The rest of us spilled out behind her and right as Rainbow tossed the front door open, Applejack was right there with a scowl.

“RD, give it a rest, will ya?” She asked. “What’s howlin’ at the clouds gonna do exactly?”

“Where is he?!” Rainbow ignored AJ entirely. “Where’s Story? He’s got some explaining to do!”

“He went home,” AJ told us. “He left when Ah called y’all.”

“What?” Rainbow’s fists tightened even further. “He calls Sunset crazy to her face, tries calling the cops, and runs away?!” She fished out her phone and started dialing. “Who even does that?!”

“Rainbow, now hold on for a moment.” I walked over and tried lowering her phone but she pulled it away and kept tapping away. “Now’s not the time to be brash. We hardly know what happened.”

“What happened was Story screamed at our friend! Why aren’t you angry about that?!”

“Of course I’m upset things escalated. And normally, I would be as furious as you are. However, Applejack said Story tried calling the police. That makes this much more delicate than some high school gossip.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and tapped her foot as she pressed call. It rang maybe once before instantly going to voicemail. Rather than give up, Dash growled, hung up, and tried again.

Fluttershy stepped forward next, as did the others. “Applejack? Can you tell us what happened?”

Applejack gave Rainbow one more look and huffed. “Not everythin’, but, Ah think I know the jist. After the three of us finished up Platick n’ Stostine, Story thought it’d be wise ta call Ms. Cheerilee and catch her up.”

“Makes sense.” Twilight nodded. “If anyone can corroborate what may have happened with Principal Celestia in the real world, it’d be her.”

“That ain’t all.” Applejack frowned. “Ms. Cheerilee’s leg’s all better now. Said her ankle fixed itself sometime last night.”

“Probably when we fed Sildar that potion,” I realized. Then I realized something else. “Hold on. We gave him that potion. I thought everything we did didn’t connect to something in the real world.”

“Not directly, no.” Twilight shook her head. “But Sunset said we could indirectly. We didn’t heal him. The potion did. If we used healing magic or made the potion ourselves, it probably would have done nothing for Ms. Cheerilee.”

Again, Rainbow Dash growled and glared at her phone. “It’s no use. He must have it off or something.”

“Maybe ‘cause he don’t wanna talk right now,” Applejack told her. “If you’d listen ta the whole thang, maybe ya’d get why.”

Begrudgingly, Rainbow Dash followed the order and shoved the phone back in her pocket.

Unfortunately, Applejack didn’t have much more on the matter. Ms. Cheerilee apparently knew something about Principal Celestia, but Applejack left when Cheerilee told them not to tell anyone. Not even the rest of us.

When AJ left, she saw Applebloom listening in. She already heard that Ms. Cheerilee had her ankle broken and that something magic had gotten into the game we played. If that wasn’t bad enough, Applebloom also heard that something was wrong with Principal Celestia.

Applejack dragged her out of the barn but Sunset and Story stayed. She didn’t know what caused all of this. But as Applejack returned, she saw Sunset closing the barn doors and using Story’s phone. Then she bared the barn from inside.

About a minute later, the screaming started. Before Applejack could knock, one furious Story threw the door open and stormed for his car while a distraught Sunset kept trying to convince him to stay.

Applejack had no idea what was said aside from what Story said on his way out. The first was that he wanted to pretend ‘unicorns’ didn’t exist. That told us Sunset must’ve ended up telling him about the other Twilight’s world. Something we didn’t have much knowledge of ourselves.

The second was how Story tried calling the police. We assumed that’s why Applejack saw Sunset with Story’s phone. For whatever reason, Sunset had both of them lie to keep the police away.

“And then Story got in his car and went home,” Applejack concluded. “Sunset just dropped, mutterin’ to herself. Haven’t said much since.”

“But where is Sunset?” Pinkie asked. “Did she go home too? I don’t see her anywhere.”

“Ah brought her indoors.” Applejack pointed at her home behind her with her thumb. “Story wasn’t too pleased when he left, but Ah don’t think that’s what’s gettin’ to her. She keeps mumblin’ on about lettin’ her down again.”

“Is she talking about Principal Celestia?” Twilight frowned.

“Ah think?” Applejack shook her head. “Honestly, Ah’m not sure what ta make of it. Sunset ain’t sayin’ much and if what Story said was true, Ah don’t know where mah bet’s at on this race.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Obviously, we side with Sunset! It sounds like Sunset tried telling him the truth and he acted like a total jerk!”

“I, um. I-I don’t think that sounds like Story at all,” Fluttershy spoke up for him. “It sounds like Story got overwhelmed.”

“Perhaps,” Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. “But maybe he should have thought about that before trying to get the police involved with a magical problem.”

“Ah’m sorry.” Applejack shook her head. “But Ah draw the line at that. If y’all heard how the talk wit’ Ms. Cheerilee was goin’, you’d see that no one was in their right mind. Sunset was actin’ all iffy, Story was crazy ta get answers. Even Ms. Cheerilee was acting outside her kernels!”

“I’m not saying Sunset was in the right here,” Twilight frowned. “It sounds like no one was. But it seems like Story escalated things by calling. He was in the wrong the most.”

“Uh-huh? Well that’s a shame. Cause Ah’m thinkin’ that’s exactly what Ah woulda done.” Applejack glared down at Twilight, who stared right back. “All this time, we’ve been dealin’ with magic on our own. The Fall Formal, Battle a’ the Bands, Friendship Games? All them times, we dealt with the problem ourselves ‘cause it never got worse ‘til it was too late.”

“And you all always came out on top,” Twilight insisted. “That’s what I’ve heard.”

“Well, doiy!” Pinkie gave Twilight a look. “By the time the real problem showed up, we only had fifteen minutes left! Just enough time to fix the problem, save the day, and learn a valuable lesson!”

“But this is more than one big fight.” Applejack looked over all of us. “This is gonna keep goin’ at least ‘til the end a’ the week. Maybe longer! An’ so far, we got a Principal in danger, honest folk gettin’ extorted, and a mom and twin daughters missin’! Speakin’ of, did y’all manage ta track down any a’ that?”

The question brushed past us like a dry wind. We spent all day searching for answers, but we hadn’t found any leads for the big issues. Only smaller connections.

“W-Well, yeah! Course we did!” Rainbow straightened up. “We figured out Pinkie’s family is connected to the silver mines! And-And they heard creepy noises at a watch tower on the edge of their land! That’s probably connected to the zombies I heard about!”

“We didn’t check much further than that,” Twilight revealed, making Rainbow shrink back. “But we also looked into the mayor. You see, the town hall's website has a link to reserve time to talk with the mayor. She makes multiple times in her day so that people can talk with her about issues. It was an entire sticking point in her campaign. But, suddenly, the link to reserve time is disabled. She's not accepting visitors.”

“Yes, that was not suspicious at all.” I rolled my eyes. “Then we went to the mall. Everything seemed normal but Fluttershy noticed all the crossbows in a hunting store were recently purchased.”

“The store owner said that a group of hunters ordered them all for a trip,” Fluttershy explained.

Applejack slumped her shoulders and shook her head at us all. “A haunted tower, the mayor in distress, and a bunch a’ fellas buyin’ up crossbows? Tell me somethin’, do y’all think were at all in a position ta deal with any a’ that? If anythin’, the cops sound like the perfect folk fer that.”

“I agree.” I nodded, watching Twilight and Rainbow Dash stare at me. “Girls, you cannot seriously expect us to do anything about that, can you? Criminals with crossbows and missing persons? We are seven high school girls. A Fall Formal gone wrong is one thing, but this?”

“But if magic is causing this, how would the police stop it?” Twilight kept arguing. “You heard Sunset. Everything that happens in that game will happen. Which means it can’t be stopped by normal means.”

“Is yer solution ta turn a blind eye ta callin’ the authorities? ‘Cause ya think they can’t help? Twilight, do ya know how plum crazy that sounds?!”

“Not as crazy as doubting your own friend!” Rainbow returned.

AJ narrowed her eyes. “So Story ain’t our friend now?”

“He ditched us, didn’t he?”

“When the alternative was havin’ all his friends screamin’ at ‘im? Yeah! An’ Ah don’t blame ‘im!”

“Well, it’s his fault for screaming at us first!”

“Ah don’t think you were listenin’ when Ah said why he was screamin’!”

“Like that matters!” Rainbow roared. “He turned his back on his friends! Far as I’m concerned, he wasn’t friends with any of us!”

“Jus’ like that?! Need Ah remind you, he got ya back in touch with yer friend Gilda? Even after he remembered who ya were?”

“I—W-Well, I..." Rainbow’s voice was caught in her throat for a second.

“I think you’re right, Applejack.” Twilight took a slow breath, earning a double take from Rainbow Dash. “I don’t think Story meant to be rude here. But I’m standing by what I said. Him calling the police was careless. He should have at least waited until everyone was here.”

“But Applejack said he and Sunset made a promise to Ms. Cheerilee.” Pinkie hugged herself out of discomfort. “If they promised not to tell any of us, how would he tell us why he wanted to?”

“Pinkie Pie, I’m sorry.” Twilight shook her head. “But if a promise is something important like this, people should know when to break one.”

“But. But it was from Ms. Cheerilee,” Fluttershy said, miraculously finding her voice. “She’s our teacher. What if Story thought that Ms. Cheerilee knew best? Would he tell us then?”

“Exactly!” Pinkie nodded rapidly. “Even if it wasn’t a Pinkie Promise, if Ms. Cheerilee asked, then it has to be something huger than huge!”

“It cannot be that hard to figure out,” Twilight droned. “Obviously, it’s something to do with Principal Celestia. And we already know she’s in danger. What else could there be?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Everyone watched as Sunset closed the front door of Applejack’s house. Her eyes and cheeks were red from tears and she looked visibly exhausted, but still, she walked outside with us.

“Are you alright, darling?” I asked her. “Are you sure you shouldn’t lie down a little longer?”

“No. I’m fine,” she said levelly. “I just...I don’t think it hit me just how much this mattered to me until now. Same for Story, I’m guessing.”

“Speaking of, what’re we gonna do about him?” Rainbow said venomously. “He ran off before anyone could do anything.”

“Nothing.” Sunset shook her head. “He doesn’t want to be a part of this? Fine. It’s my fault for throwing this at him so much. Maybe he was right. Maybe keeping him unaware was smarter.”

Applejack grimaced while I gave her a soft look. I know you don’t think so, Applejack. Just leave it be.

“He won’t say anything. I texted him asking him not to. He said he wouldn’t before blocking me.”

I took in a sharp breath. That’s not good. “Sunset? What did you say to him?”

She just shrugged. “I told him I wouldn’t bother him again. Just as long as he promised not to tell anybody about anything that happened this weekend. He said he won’t.”

“That’s. What ya texted?” Applejack sounded like she was about to lunge at the poor dear. “Everythin’ that just happened, and you decide ta ask more of him?”

“He said it himself.” Sunset kept her voice the same. “He wants to go back to pretending none of this exists. I get that.”

“Uh oh. He blocked me too!” Pinkie Pie held up her phone, showing her text to him was suddenly in a green bubble than the usual color.

“He probably blocked all of us,” Twilight answered. “Which means he really is done.”

Most of us checked our phones just to make sure. None of us were left unblocked.

“He did ditch us. Which means he’s ditching Principal Celestia too,” Rainbow nearly crushed the phone in her hand. “Great. NOW how do we save her?!”

Well, he still goes to the same school, I remembered. We’ll speak to him there. Maybe try and move past all of this.

“Our only option is playing the game ourselves,” Sunset explained, taking me aback. “It’s the only way we can progress now.”

“What?” “Huh?” Fluttershy and I blinked, taken aback for a moment.

But Applejack took it further. “Now, hold up. Yer tellin’ me we’re gonna take a game that changes real life n’ run it ourselves? When we got no clue how ta do that?”

Sunset gave her a look. “It can’t be hard to run. Story mentioned the magic acted like a personal assistant to him. That means it’ll be the same for—”

“Yer missin’ the point!” Applejack cut in. “If we make even one mistake or we hold back on each other, that game’ll chop us like a wood chipper! Stostine? Rava?!” She looked over to Rainbow who looked like her heart stopped for a moment. “What happens if we get ‘em in real trouble?! Then we’re really swimmin’ deep in the mud! You really think that’s a better plan than just apologizin’ ta Story?!”

“Apologize?” Sunset’s face finally showed an emotion. Frustration. “For what? I told him not to stay for Ms. Cheerilee’s promise. He stayed. Then, he wanted to know the truth when I tried to keep it from him. So I told him. I did what he wanted, and then he got mad at me.”

“Yer forgettin’ the part where you coerced him into lyin’ ta the cops!”

Twilight stepped forward again, steeling her nerves. “The police would have prevented us from actually helping Princi—”

“Uh-uh! Ah ain’t taken that answer anymore!” Applejack tore off her hat, holding it in a death grip as she pointed at Twilight. “Ah refuse ta believe there’s a reason ta excuse yerself fer lyin’ ta police! Y’all know that’s wrong!”

“Regardless, he made his choice,” Sunset tried to rein it in. “This is the only way to save Prince—Principal Celestia.”

“It ain’t, and you know it.” Applejack walked past Sunset, who watched her pass. “And if yer refusin’ ta admit that, then that means ya lost yer rogue.”

That made Sunset break her wall. “Wh-What? Wait, Applejack, you can’t jus—”

“Ah can and Ah will.” She made it to her porch and turned around. “If you wanna make this personal, fine. But Ah’ve seen scarecrows with their heads more attached than yers right now.”

“Y-You can’t just..." Sunset took a few seconds to steady her breath. Then she shook her head and turned around. “Rainbow Dash, help me out here.”

Rainbow snapped out of her thoughts, suddenly reconsidering all of this. And when she looked up at Applejack, she let out a shaky breath. “I’m...Actually, I think Applejack’s right.”

“What?” The wind in Sunset’s sails died there.

“Other than Story, I’m the only one who’s used that screen. I barely knew what I was doing. I don’t want to let our characters down." She focused up to Sunset. “I’ll give Story a chance to explain himself. But if he doesn’t apologize too, all bets are off!”

“Yeah,” Pinkie cheered. “Story’s our friend too! And we shouldn’t let him stay upset without at least talking to him.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I added, with Fluttershy happily nodding beside me.

“Girls. I understand Story didn’t do this out of spite, but how much time would this take?” Twilight asked. “Gundren had ten days in the game. Principal Celestia’s on the same timeline! We’re risking Story coming to his senses on her time!”

Sunset stared at the ground. “We can’t take that risk. We need to help her now.”

“Ah understand where yer comin’ from,” Applejack admitted. “But its much safer if we have someone who knows how ta run things.”

Twilight shook her head. “Alright...How about this then? All of you try to talk to Story. See if you can get him to come back. While you do, Sunset and I will look into finding another option.”

I sighed. “Splitting up? Is that really the wisest choice?”

“He doesn’t want to talk to me,” Sunset said stoically. “And, honestly? I’m the same. I’d prefer if he didn’t come back.”

I gave her a stunned look. Sunset...There’s more to this, isn’t there? What aren’t you telling us? And why don’t you want to?

“Well then you can leave it to us, Sunset,” Pinkie cheered gleefully. “By the time ol’ Pinkie Pie’s done, we’ll be back to having fun like we did before the magic even showed up!”

I let myself smile a tad. As did the rest of us on our side of things. “If anyone’s up for the task, I could think of none better. Pinkie Pie? We’re at your disposal.”

Story Spinner’s POV
Monday, 6:30AM

It was weird. The night before, after the bombshells dropped and I literally entered a world of my own design, I fell asleep in seconds. I guess my brain was so thoroughly fried that it didn’t bother keeping me up.

Now, it wouldn’t shut up.

Mom let me sulk in my room for the rest of yesterday. The only time she came to talk with me was when she dropped off some dinner. Dinner which I barely ate. I pecked off pieces of bread from my burger and a few fries but that’s all I bothered with.

She wanted answers to. She wanted to know why I came home without a backpack. Or where all my D&D stuff was since I was as obsessed with it as my brother was with video games. Or, most of all, why I was acting so miserable. I was almost miserable enough for Mom to forget about me spending the night at a farm with little to no warning.

And what was my answer to all her worrying? If you guessed ‘more lies’ then congrats, you either know me or you’re as terrible a person as me. And of course, she didn’t believe me. Not completely. She was Mom for a reason. But she also realized I wasn’t in a state to tell her the truth. So, she let me have my space.

Cut forward to now. My alarm clock was blaring on my nightstand and my eyes stung from staring up at my ceiling. I didn’t feel like getting up. I was half tempted to skip school altogether. I mean, after all, it wasn’t like Mom would get a call from the princ—

...

I made myself sit up, forcing that messed up part of my mind back into whatever pit it crawled out of so it could die quicker.

Shower, I thought. A shower will make me feel like a human being again.

Normally, my mornings went by on a solid schedule. I would wake up at 6:30, run through the shower, throw on some clothes, devour a single cinnamon stick with a glass of milk, then drive to school. My car was the whole reason Mom let me transfer schools.

But somewhere among all of that, I would find time to add something to my world. I’d make up a holiday or invent some antagonizing force. Maybe draw part of a map or figure out the population of a town.

It adds up over time. If you did something even once every other day for several years, you’d eventually have an entire world. When I was as old as my little brother is now, I had all these big picture ideas for what my world could be. Maybe someone would make it a movie or video game or something. That was back when I came up with the ‘cool’ stuff like how the world was created or what the magic looked like.

What the magic looked like? Huh. Ironic, isn’t it? I asked myself as I turned on the shower. While the water heated up, I turned on the sink and tossed a huge splash of water into my face.

COLD! Cold, gah, that was cold!

I shook my head, looking at myself in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot, I was breathing heavily, the frozen winds of Upane whipped around me, my hair was soaking wet in the front and sticking up in the back, and you could almost see my brain booting up in real time.

Hold on. I blinked, staring at my reflection. Frozen winds? Why are there...N-No. Nuh-uh, no!

My reflection wasn’t that of me in my ugly tiled bathroom. Instead, I was looking out on a continent from my own world. Upane. It was a continent far west of Se’Quona where the girls were based.

When I was a kid, I modeled Upane to look like a giant South America. Since then, I made it a harsh tundra and it has been untouched since. I had vague ideas. Tribes of nomadic races, a harbor town, an Ice Giant threat. Nothing concrete though.

But as I stared into the moving image of the snow powdered, blistering winds, I dove my hands back into the sink’s water and soaked my face and eyes once more. It wasn’t nearly as cold this time, and after a good eight seconds of rubbing my face, I peeked up at the mirror again.

“Gone,” I said in a heavy breath. I leaned myself against the bathroom counter. “Okay...It’s okay, Story. You didn’t sleep! You’re just tired. D-Don’t freak out, alright?”

I was telling this to my reflection, staring at it as though expecting it to respond. It didn’t— thank goodness! —but that didn’t stop me from staring at, well, me.

I looked terrible.

Still, I forced myself to go back to my morning routine. I took my shower, first letting myself simply exist in the hot water for the first couple minutes, and got dressed. When that was done, I got back to my room and looked at my clock. 6:54AM.

Took that shower longer than I thought, I realized.

“Story! Button!” My Mom yelled from elsewhere in the house. “Come to the kitchen! Pancakes!”

Pancakes? I stared off down the hall. My house was two stories and my and my brother’s rooms were upstairs. As was Dad’s office, but that door stayed closed.

“Mehhhh..." I could hear my brother’s quiet groan echo down the hall. Then he shouted. “...What kind?”

“I got apple cinnamon, and then I got chocolate chip,” Mom replied. Neither of them minded shouting across the house. After a pause, Mom shouted again with a full mouth. “M’okay, Ah go’ ome less choc’late!”

“Ah! No, wait!” I heard the familiar thump of my brother falling off his bed paired with the yelp of our pug. She loved sleeping in his room despite the fact I took care of her. Maybe it was because they were both so lazy.

“Story?” Mom shouted after swallowing her food. “You up yet?”

I sighed and started walking out my room with a stack of school supplies and books under my arm. “Yeah, I’m up. One second.”

Mom was a critical care surgeon, meaning she couldn’t always be there for us in the mornings. She would either already be working or sleeping in from the sometimes twenty-plus hour shifts she had the night prior. On top of that, there were days where she needed to be in-house at the hospital, on-call, for a full twenty-four hours.

My brother and I were used to it. Maybe that was unhealthy, but we understood what Mom’s job had demanded. All we could do was try and be good when she came home to pass out in a bed that had something more than ‘legally’ a blanket.

My brother was already in the dining room by the time I got downstairs. He had four pancakes stacked up on a plate and they were drowning in syrup. He didn’t even bother with a knife, he was just stabbing a fork and twisting until the pancakes tore apart in a fluffy glob around his utensil.

“Guh mor’in Sturry,” he said with way too much food in his mouth.

“Button Mash,” Mom said in a warning tone. “Eat first. Then talk.”

“Su’ry!” Button did just that, swallowing most of the chunk of food and nearly choking on it in the process. “Sorry Mom!” It was short lived as Button went right back for another glob of chocolate chip pancake.

“Didn’t you talk with food in your mouth like a minute ago?” I asked, my sarcasm breaching through my exhaustion.

Mom only smirked. “I’m a doctor, not a lawyer. I’ll contradict myself if I want.” Then her expression softened. “I didn’t let Button touch the apple cinnamon. How many do you want?”

“Uh...I-I’m good, actually,” I told her, shaking my head. “I’m not really that hungry.”

Mom opened her mouth to talk, only to stare back at me.

Button wasn’t paying too much attention. “Does that mean I can eat his pancakes too?”

“...Button,” Mom said calmly. “Go eat in the living room.”

Button Mash stopped his fork inches away from his mouth and looked back up at both of us. When he finally realized the tension wafting from both of us, he dropped his fork down, picked up his plate and glass of milk, and shuffled past us.

“Good luck, bro,” he half-whispered as he walked past me.

“And play Tirek’s Revenge,” Mom called after him. “Level fourteen. It has louder music.”

Uh oh. I sighed. She doesn’t like Button playing the console before the bus comes. He gets too distracted. Not a good sign.

We spent another half minute standing around as Button powered up the game. We heard the deep, rumbling laugh of ‘Tirek’ that came with the music and the sounds of Button quickly dancing around the menu.

When the level started up, the sound of demonic screaming and the sound of blasters and lasers leaking out of the living room, Mom finally spoke.

“Story.” That was somehow more foreboding than the opening hum of Tirek’s heavy metal opera in the background. “You haven’t eaten since you got home. You look upset and you’re not telling me why. What is going on?”

I grimaced while my stomach churned. Which, unfortunately, felt worse since there was no food in there to help keep it stable. “I-It...I told you, Mom, it’s nothing. I’m dealing with it.”

“It’s nothing, but you’re also dealing with it?” She crossed her arms. “Story, enlighten me. How do you deal with nothing?”

“With great difficulty,” I muttered, realizing how little sense I was making with my sleep deprivation.

“Then let me help,” she told me, easing off the sarcasm. “You just need to tell me and I’ll listen. You know that, right?”

Funny, I thought. I wonder if Mom would still say that if I really did tell her. I wouldn’t even blame her for not believing me.

“I know. But, I promise, it’s fine. I just..." I have to tell her something. But, what do I... “Uh...Hey Mom? What if I, erm...I-I think...Do you think I’m obsessed with D&D?”

She didn’t answer right away. Mom fell into this silent, neutral expression. Her eyes slowly grew dark as it felt as if she was staring straight through me.

“Erm...Mom?”

I suddenly felt really self-conscious. For a moment, I thought my senses were fading away because the heavy metal music from Button’s game was getting quieter. It took me a second to realize Button just turned down the volume on his game to eavesdrop.

Before I could backpedal what I said, Mom took a step forward and clasped her hands on my shoulders, making me flinch as I suddenly realized Mom’s entire expression had darkened.

“Uh oh. Hyper Mom Mode,” Button murmured from the dining room entrance.

Instantly, Mom turned her head and focused all her ire and fury at Button, startling him so much he scrambled back for the couch and turned the music back up to full power.

Then Mom looked back at me. That dark madness had me regretting saying anything as the pitiful screams of Tirek’s army accompanied her expression quite well.

“Story Spinner..." She said, purposefully using my full name. “Who.”

“Who, eh. U-Um...W-Who?” I stammered.

“Who messed with my son?” She clarified. “I want a description and a name. It’ll be done by nightfall.”

I stared into my Mom’s inhuman gaze, watching as it grew emptier with each passing second. Sh-She...I can never tell if she’s serious when she does this...

I licked my lips and cleared my throat, forcing myself to dig deep to find a way to respond to that. “M-Mom?”

“Yes?”

“It...Is fine,” I told her. “I took care of it. They won’t bother me again. I blocked their numbers. I’m just reeling a little bit.”

“Numbers? Plural?” Her eyes narrowed as I shut my mouth good now. “There’s more than one?”

With trembling hands, I got Mom to let go of my shoulders and I backed up. “Mom...If I eat a pancake, will you calm down?”

“Oh, happily,” she said, all the darkness and hate vanishing from her face and swept her hair back behind her shoulder. “I want you to at least eat something before you go to school.”

My brain took a few seconds to render what she just said as my fear switched gears to a glazed look of unamusement. “Huh. So that’s where I get my acting from.”

“Had to come from somewhere.” She rolled her eyes. “Besides, you told me all I needed to know. I know who my quarry is now.”

I blinked. “What?”

“What?” She fluttered her eyes innocently. “Anyway, your pancakes are in the microwave. I already put syrup and butter on for you. Eat fast so you can make it to school.”

She glanced down at the books and supplies I put on the edge of the table and frowned. “Where’s your backpack?”

I grimaced again. “Don’t you remember? It got ripped up.”

She gave me a blank look, chewing lightly on the inside of her cheek as she waited for a punchline. “...Alright. Button?!”

The music stopped when Button paused the game. “Yeah Mom?”

“You kept your old backpacks in your room, right? From elementary school?”

“Uh, yeah? Why?”

“Get one for Story. He lost his new one,” she said, looking back at me and putting air quotes around the word lost. She even managed to do it without enunciating the word. It was almost impressive.

“Already? That thing was so big, how’d you lose it?” He asked me before heading back upstairs.

Mom gave me a look, also expecting an answer.

“I, erm...I didn’t.” I clammed up beyond that.

Mom gave it a few more seconds and sighed. “You know. For what it’s worth? No. I don’t think you’re obsessed with D&D. You have other hobbies. You love being in theatre. You go to the movies often. You’ve proved that your games don’t get in the way of school or your future. You’re not obsessed. You just love what you do. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

She pulled me in for a hug, which I was happy to give back. I didn’t think she was going to press it any more. That alone made me feel like I had less on my shoulders.

When we were done, I smiled back at her. “Thanks Mom. I, uh. I think I needed that. I’ll be okay, I promise.”

Love Tap’s POV

I watched my son walk into the kitchen. He was still tired and depressed but he at least looked better now than he did yesterday.

“I know you will,” I told him. “Just get through today and take it easy when you get home. I’m not working but I have a couple of errands I need to run. I won’t be back until a couple hours after school’s done.”

He opened the microwave, revealing the five apple cinnamon pancakes I made for him. My boys would never admit it, but my pancakes never looked good. They always looked a little burnt. But I made up for it with the chocolate chips or cinnamon applesauce I mixed into the batter.

As he went to the table, I glanced over in the direction of the stairway. “I’m gonna go check on Button. Get ready to go once you finish your pancakes, alright?”

“Got it Mom,” he told me as he walked back to the dining table with a fork and knife at the ready. He can say he wasn’t hungry all he wants, he was eating those pancakes before he left.

Especially since I parked my car behind his, I told myself as I walked to the stairway. Oh! That reminds me, I’ll need to move it when he’s ready to go.

I made it to the bottom of the stairs right as Button Mash was coming down at the same time. He had two backpacks with him; one in each hand. The first was Tirek’s revenge and the second was some...kiddy looking game with a cutesy squirrel on it.

“Okay. I’m gonna ignore the fact they made an elementary schooler, mature-rated game backpack.” I pointed at the Tirek one first. Truth be told, I don’t know what I was thinking, buying him that when he was eight years old. I must’ve finished an in-house shift when I did that.

Then I pointed to the squirrel. “And what in the world is that thing?”

Button looked at it. “Nutty the Squrrel’s Collectathon,” he said with no awareness. “It’s a kaizo game. Only pros know how to play that thing.”

“I do not remember you ever wearing that to school,” I told him.

He shook his head. “I never did. I think Gran got it for me for Christmas once.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. Mom, sometimes I wonder if you do these to mess with them. “Can I see it for a second?”

“Sure.” He passed the squirrel pack to me, to which I promptly tossed it aside.

“He’ll want the Tirek one,” I told him.

“Yeah. I just wanted to give him the illusion of choice.” Button hopped down the rest of the steps and toward the dining room.

“Hold on a second.” I lightly pinched the propeller of his beanie, having him stop before he got too far. Then I proceeded to speak to him in the only way he would take me seriously.

In Humgonian. “Kisha eth rhellaya yeri gaezo.” ‘We must help your brother.’

Button’s eyes widened for a second. Then he slowly earned a look of solace himself. It wasn’t nearly as grand as mine, but he was learning.

“Fin mae mori?” ‘Who are they,’ he asked.

“Ektums.” ‘She-Devils.’ “Felk.” ‘Seven.’

“...I-It’s Fekh, Mom,” Button corrected me.

Crap, I was doing so good. “Vo zhokwa.” ‘No matter.’ “Aqqisat vitihirak…erm, y-yeri gaezo.” ‘Keep watch…erm y-your brother.’

I frowned. I tried. At least he’s on board.

Button nodded. Then he gasped. “Does that mean you can check me out of school early?!”

“Not a chance.” I shook my head. “Keep him busy after you get back home. Take him to the movies or something. My treat. Just try keeping him off his phone and let me know if he’s on the move.”

“You got it Mom! Mission accepted!” He marched forward, ready to bring Story his backpack.

Then he gasped and ran into the living room, where our pug was happily licking his plate clean “Puggles, no! Stop licking my plate!”

I facepalmed. “Button Mash! How many times have I told you, don’t put your plate on the couch.”

“I’M SO SORRY! IS SHE GONNA BE OKAY?!”

“Button Mash, calm down! It’s maple syrup,” Story called out from the dining room. “And it’s natural. Puggles is fine.”

I let out a small groan. “Take the plate to the kitchen Button,” I told him. Both the pug and the couch now had syrup everywhere. Great. Now I gotta wash the dog and the furniture. This better not stain.

However, despite it all, I couldn’t help but smile. Even if this was my only day off for a while, it was still a day off. Still, I sometimes wonder how these two get through school without burning it to the ground.

Suddenly, a sharp Crash! sound echoed out from the kitchen, making me flinch.

“I’m okay,” Button shouted.

I lowered my eyes, letting out a huff as I glanced at the TV. The menu had Tirek’s silhouette at the top of the screen with his piercing yellow eyes. “Gonna be one a them days, huh Tirek?”

As if he heard me, Tirek’s dull chuckle echoed out my TV speakers. It was a loop that played every, what, twenty-ish seconds?

That didn’t stop me from sticking my tongue out at it. “Oh shut it, ya dumb centaur. There’s a way to cheese you and I know your creator. You mean nothing to me.”

Ever so coincidental, Tirek’s laugh came to a stop and the glowing eyes flickered out.

That’s what I thought, punk.

Author's Note

These next couple of chapters will be a bit shorter than what I normally write. Not sure if I'll be able to write them all the quicker but I feel like it'll help keep it in order. That said, let's we see what the game's really done to reality?

Also, if anyone's familiar with them, Story's family is the human-world version of Button Mash and Button's mom from a series called Button's Adventures. I don't know how many people still remember that. It's been about eight years. Feel old yet?

Until next time!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(36) Persuasion Check

Pinkie Pie’s POV
Canterlot High
Monday, 7:21AM

I reached into a side pocket of my backpack and pulled out two things. The first was a set of binoculars I had Fluttershy lend me. They were her dad’s and he used them for birdwatching, which explained the cute little birdie Fluttershy painted on it at some point. It was even singing tiny little music notes. Awwww.

The second was something I only used for the most delicate of cheer-up operations; a tape recorder. My family was just the teeniest bit old fashioned, so it was a tape deck recorder, but that was all the better. That meant, should it come to it, I could destroy the evidence. That way, any failed operations would stay classified. Forever.

Once I was ready, I shimmied along the wall of lockers, stopping at the turn of the hallway and poked my head around the corner. Then, with the binoculars, I saw it clearly. About twenty-seven and a half feet away was locker #329. A.K.A. Story Spinner’s locker.

I pressed play on my tape recorder and held it to my mouth.

“Deep Pie’s Log. Mission one, codenamed: Give Story His Stuff Back So He Doesn’t Give Up D&D Forever. Otherwise known as; G’Shs-Bshd-GudF [Name in progress].”

“Pinkie Pie, I know I said we were at your disposal,” Rarity, alias Diamond in the Rough (or DR for short), started. “But don’t you think this is a bit excessive? I mean, wouldn’t it be better to simply hand Story back his things?”

I turned around and gave DR a look. Her, as well as DashPass, Light Talker, and Applejack, were stacked up behind me out of sight from the target’s locker. We were blocking seven other lockers in the process, but it was a worthy cost for the mission.

I stopped the recording for a second, tutting. “Oh, poor, sweet DR. Don’t you know that the best way to cheer somebody up is with a surprise? Just imagine how glad Story’ll be to see his backpack hanging in his locker waiting for him! Not to mention, I made this.”

With a flourish, I pulled a card out of my hair and held it between my finger and thumb to show to the girls. It took me most of last night, but it was the perfect apology letter.

The outside wasn’t eye-catching, but that was on purpose. As much as I wanted to make it up to the Pinkie Pie Code, I figured Story wouldn’t like a huge fancy picture, or glitter, or the spring-loaded confetti packs, or anything too exciting right now.

So instead, the front of the card only had “We’re Sorry Story” written in as good a ‘fantasy’ font as I could get it to be. It took me a lot of time and a lot of wasted stationary, but I finally got it to look jusssssst right after the forty-eighth try.

The inside was lined with a piece of fake parchment paper I learned how to make online with a note written in ink. That was somehow easier too! Once it was written, I tucked it inside a small envelope that I sealed with a red wax seal. That’s what the girls saw me holding now.

“...And it’ll work?” DR asked, looking hopeful.

I gave her a wink and clicked ‘record’ again on my recorder, turning back to the locker. “We begin with phase one; Deploy the Rainbow. DashPass, that's your queue!”

DassPass rolled her eyes, but smirked. “Sure thing, Deep Pinks. For the cause,” she said plainly, weakly pumping her fist a little bit into the air.

“That’s the spirit!” I gave her a thumb’s up and watched her casually walk down the hallway. “Alright. Now for phase two; Infiltrate the Unit. Light Talker, you’re with me. I’ll take point. Applejack, DR? You’re on evac. Break!”

I stashed the recorder and letter before going into a dive roll, making it about a tenth of the way since Story’s locker was in the middle of a long hallway.

While I kept dive rolling nine more times, Light Talker followed behind. She walked fast and kept her head low so as not to make eye-contact with everyone in the hallway staring at us.

As we moved, DR turned to Applejack. “She doesn’t expect us to do that too, does she?” All she got was a shrug.

When we arrived, I jumped to my feet and carefully checked the edges of the locker. It doesn’t seem to be trapped or rigged. Good.

I turned the lock wildly to the left, just in case Story had it set to the last digit like Twilight does for her locker.

“Alright Light Talker, we made it.” I held my hand out towards her. “Pass me my kaleidoscope.”

“O-Okay Pi—wait," Light Talker stalled, scrunching up her nose. I had her on equipment duty, so she had all my supplies with her. “Don’t you mean a stethoscope?”

“Not this time, Light Talker,” I said, shaking my head. “These locks are in a field all their own. Stethoscopes just won’t cut it anymore. And it’s Deep Pie! Don’t give us away!”

“Oh! Um, sorry Pi—I-I mean...Deep Pie?” She said, awkwardly passing me my kaleidoscope.

“Thank you!” I smiled at her, taking the kaleidoscope and peering into it, turning the end of it back and forth. “Oh wow! I forgot how pretty all the oranges were! Teeheehee, I have got to use these bad boys more often!”

I passed back the kaleidoscope and then quickly put in Story’s combo. 17. 52. 20. Once that was done, I pulled the latch, and it opened like a charm.

Light Talker stared in confusion, looking between the kaleidoscope and the locker while I pulled my recorder back out. “Mission update. We’re in! A few close calls, but we’re at the home stretch. Proceeding to the final phase: Placement.”

Putting the recorder away, I turned to my partner. “Light Talker...Light Talker?”

I blinked, watching as Light Talker was looking into the kaleidoscope, turning the dial in both directions as she held it up towards the light.

“Light Talker!” “meeep!” Light Talker jumped, fumbling for a second to catch the kaleidoscope and not let it fall to the floor.

“Focus,” I commanded. “We can’t afford to waste time! Quick, pass me the backpack!”

“Ri-Right! Sorry Pink—No, I-I mean Peep—err, Deep...here.” She slid the backpack DR bought for Story off her shoulder and passed it off to me.

Story left it along with his D&D notes at Applejack’s barn. We figured if we were gonna try talking to him again, the best step was to give him his things back. He probably left it all behind so he could leave faster anyways.

I stepped up and hung the backpack on the hook in his lock—

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

From the other end of the hall, DashPass pounded on one of the lockers, startling everyone in the hallway. They all glared at her, but she didn’t pay them any mind as she turned to stare at a locker while putting on a hat to hide her rainbow hair. She couldn’t get across the hallway in time without Story spotting her.

I gasped and grabbed Light Talker. “Quick! We need to hide!”

She let out another quiet yelp as I tossed her and myself inside Story’s locker, slamming the door shut and sealing us in.

I’m gonna be honest. There was hardly any space for us here! Seriously, how does the school expect two people to hide in one of these things?!

So instead, we stood absolutely still, nose-to-nose, hiding from our target. Somehow, I dug my recorder out of my pocket and brought it to my mouth to speak.

“Deep Pie with an update,” I began, whispering so as not to give us away. “We evaded detection, but for who knows for how long? We’re at the mercy of our allies on the outside now.”

“u-um. d-d-deep pie?” Light Talker stuttered even quieter than usual. Wow, she really didn’t want to be discovered! “H-Ho-Ho-howdowegetout?”

“Well, that’s easy, silly! That’s what our evac team’s for!” I cheered, now somehow pulling out my phone. I had to hold it up against Light Talker’s ribs to see what I typed, and I had to hope she didn’t mind.

“Applejack. Need. Evac. Now. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Winky face. Thumb’s up. Annnnnnd send! There! All taken care of!”

“u-uhm...deep pie...?” Light Talker said.

“Don’t worry about it!” I told her cheerfully. “I put DR and Applejack on evac duty for a reason! With their skillset and experience, we’ll be out of here and Story’ll be none the wiser!”

I felt my phone buzz in my hand from a text message. “Ya see?! That’s them right now, telling us they got it covered!”

I glanced down at my phone and read it out loud to Light Talker.

HOW

“...Huh!” I sounded off. “They even encrypted the message! They are on top of this today!”

Not a second after that, Light Talker and I heard the tumble of the locker turn from one number to the next. 17...52...

Hold on, I thought. They don’t know the combo. They don’t even have a kaleido—Uh oh...

As if answering me, the latch was pulled up and the locker was opened, revealing Story Spinner himself. He had this cute backpack half opened and was about to stuff a book in here only to stop when he saw both of us crammed inside.

I quickly acted natural, while Light Talker went with the ‘so-red-in-the-face-everyone-thinks-I’m-a-tomato’ routine.

“Goooood morning, Story!” I cheered happily. “Fancy seeing you here! How ya doin’?!”

For the first couple seconds, Story stared at us with wide eyes and a mouth that opened and shut like a freshly caught fish. With each time he nearly made a sound or spoke a word, my excitement became more and more obvious on my face as I waited for him with bated breath.

But, as the seconds passed, the surprise died from his face, and he settled down. And then I saw his eyes. They looked...sad. Actually, his eyes looked terrible! They looked more red than white, and he had dark sacks under his eyes that were easy to spot once he settled down.

He said nothing. That was on purpose. He didn’t want to talk to us from text messages, so I assumed he didn't want to talk in person either. Not only that, but he only looked at me. He refused to look at Fluttershy at all.

It was a shame. I had thought that, if we got caught, maybe seeing Fluttershy would make him open up a bit and talk. It was doing the opposite though. So much for that working, huh?

Still. When Story wasn’t surprised anymore, I quickly filled in the silence.

“W-We-We brought you your backpack!” I told him, pulling the backpack between me and Fluttershy and holding it out to him. “I like your new one, buuuut, it might not be big enough for your books? We don’t you want to have—”

Story silently reached out, taking the backpack from me. I smiled a little brighter but flinched as Story took it and tossed it to the floor beside him in one fluid motion. I could hear the dice and folders inside of it crashing around. "To. Carry. Everything..." I said with a strained smile.

Next, he opened the locker wider and stepped aside, pointing into the hallway while staring unmoving eyes at me.

‘Get out.’ That’s what they looked like they were saying.

I felt my hair flatten a little bit as I gulped and nodded. “O-Okay. Right, yeah! No problemo! Come on, Fluttershy.”

It took some work, and an awkward moment of silence, but Fluttershy and I shimmied out of his locker and back to the hallway where there were already a bunch of students watching.

Applejack, DashPa...Rainbow Dash and Rarity were nearby too, albeit keeping their distance. We agreed not to surround him all at once. We didn’t want to make him feel cornered.

I turned around to try talking some more, but Story moved on. He roughly tossed a few things into his locker and took out a math book. It was for his first class and none of us had that with him.

Oh no! The letter! “Story, hold on!”

Once Story had what he needed, he tossed the locker closed and turned to walk away.

“No, wait!” I ran ahead, going around him and standing in his way. He tried side-stepping me, but I did the same and we ended up dancing in the hallway for a second before he stopped and narrowed his eyes. “Story, I just wanted to—”

“I swear.” His voice was only loud enough for me to hear him. He sounded like how Sunset did when we saw her yesterday. “If you don’t leave me alone. Right. Now.” He narrowed his eyes until they were as thin as playing cards. “I swear, I will scream ‘magic’ at the top o—urrrrrggg! Ah, not now...”

From mad to pained, Story gripped the side of his head. He was gritting his teeth and stared at the ground as his eyes shifted around in a bunch of directions. A little too fast, if you ask me. And while his eyes bounced, other students in the hallway stared in worry and confusion. So did we.

“S-Story?” Fluttershy stepped up beside us, too worried to try shaking him out of it. “What’s wrong? Ar-Are you ok—”

“I-I-I’m...Fine,” he forced himself to say while holding his breath. It took him a few seconds, but he straightened out and took a few heavy breaths. He was massaging his temples too. He looked even worse now than he did when he first saw us.

After he got his breathing under control, and then noticed everybody looking at us, Story shook his head and looked back at me.

“...Please,” he said sadly. “Please, just leave me alone. I don’t want to be near any of you. Go. Away.”

I went to say something. A small joke to try and cheer him up or an apology, but...But I couldn’t. I only stared at how sad his eyes were. At how upset they looked. And when they kept staring back, my voice got caught in my throat and my hair made this small pffffffffftt sound as if it sprung a leak.

“Oh. Um. O-Okay, well...We-we’ll just. We’ll just. Go then. Buh. B-Bye then, Stor—"

“W-Wait. Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy was forcing herself to speak up. And when she saw me getting all sad too, she traded her voice for mine. “Um. S-Story? Pinkie Pie spent all night making a letter for us to give to you. We wanted to, erm. Tr-Try and get it to you. Won’t you please take it? We...We wanted to make sure you. g-got it...”

Story didn’t turn to look at her. He just moved his eyes to the edge of his vision and looked even miserable hearing her. Then he focused back on me.

“...” He took a low breath, rubbing one of his bloodshot eyes. “...fine. Fine. Can I have it?”

I felt my face light up for a brief moment before I took out the letter and held it out. Story scanned over it, staring at the wax seal that held it closed. He wouldn’t see anything else until he opened it.

When he got his fill, he gently took it out of my hand. “...Look,” he breathed. Then he noticed the students still watching in the hallway. He spoke quieter. “I already talked with Sunset. Alright? I'm doing what I said. I’ll stay quiet, I promised that. Just...Leave me alone? Okay?”

He took the letter and walked back over to his locker, sliding it through the slots. I then heard the wax seal snap off the envelope’s fold and fall somewhere in the bottom of the locker while the card landed elsewhere.

“I’ll read it later.” He started walking to class, clunky math book under one arm and kiddy backpack under the other. “Goodbye.”

He walked off without any other words said. The bigger backpack was left on the floor near his locker. Once he was past us, the nearby students gave worried looks and whispered at each other.

Story ignored them and walked with his head hung low. When he passed Rainbow Dash, she saw him for herself. Then, she saw how I was doing and weighed her options. Only after a second or two did she choose to come back towards me.

Rarity and Applejack came over too. With all of them, we left the hallway together and took Story’s bag with us. Once we reached a quieter part of the school, the girls took a couple minutes cheering me up.

They wanted to convince me it wasn’t my fault. That I did the best I could to cheer him up. They told me that we were able to give Story my letter, so it wasn’t completely bad. Even when I didn’t say much, they were there for me.

But they didn't need to be there for me. What about Story? What about Sunset? Both of them were way sadder than I was but everyone was here for me. That just made me more upset. So why? Why don't either of them want us to cheer them up? They both look so lonely but we can't help.

And then there was the thing Story said. ‘I’ll stay quiet, I promised that.’ What did that mean exactly? Does that mean no one knows why he’s upset? Not even his other friends or his family? Just how lonely was Story? And how do you make someone not lonely if they don’t want to talk? How do you get them to cheer up? I don’t want to make Story or Sunset more sad but I didn’t want to ignore them either.

How can I be a good friend if I can’t cheer either of them up?

Applejack’s POV
Canterlot High, Outside the Cafeteria
Monday, 11:38 AM

Like last Wednesday, I and the girls were all stacked up at a table. We had a few D&D stuff out but we weren’t about to test anything. Sunset and Twilight played along with our decision on that. Besides, there were other students eating outside like us this time. That made me confident nobody would try something silly.

However, that left us sitting around with different levels of frustration. Twilight was buried in her notes, writing and reviewing plans while occasionally feeling around for a chicken nugget on the tray beside her. Now and again, Spike would paw at her hand whenever she was about to eat a die by mistake.

Pinkie Pie was sort of the opposite. Rather than staying busy like Twi, Pinkie pecked at her food with this semi-vacant look. The school day was half over by now and a few strands of Pink’s hair were still lying flat past her shoulders.

Beyond Pinkie’s attempt this morning, a few of us tried reaching out to Story during or between classes. Rarity had second period history with him while RD and I shared fourth period chemistry. And in neither of those times did we make any headway.

In fact, if I didn’t reel her in, Rainbow would be stuck with detention after school with how she was trying to get Story's attention in the middle of class. Story wasn’t jazzed dealing with that either. I figured as much when he locked eyes with me.

I managed a stiff nod at the time before he stared down at his notes for the rest of class. The fella looked like he was gonna fall into a snooze the whole time too.

So, with Twilight and Pinkie distracted, that left Fluttershy, Rainbow, and me in this awkward spot while we debated a new idea. Rarity would have joined in on that too but she was about fifteen feet away from the table on her phone. Something about having to cancel a spa appointment today.

And then, there was Sunset.

Except for Twilight during class, nobody saw her up until lunch. She never even responded to texts. Instead, she had been in her own head while the rest of her looked exhausted. She hadn’t bothered getting food from the cafeteria and had spent nearly the whole time trying to align the pages of her magic book back together. She still hadn’t figured out a way to repair it and according to her, it also meant the other Twilight had no way of coming to see us anymore.

Sunset mentioned at one point that if she kept the pages aligned, then the other Twilight could repair it on her end. But that would mean Other Twilight would first need to notice the book’s damaged. And if Other Twilight was as busy as she was during the Friendship Games, that might be a while.

Soon enough, Sunset stopped prodding at the tome and just glared at it behind tired eyes. She’s barely said a word to us since yesterday’s spat, I remarked. Actually. Has she said anything today?

From the other side of the table, I heard the light plap! of Spike swatting away Twilight’s hand again. “Careful, you almost ate it again.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and this time grabbed the die with more purpose. Specifically, the magic one that had no numbers on it yet. “I meant to this time.”

That piqued my interest. “How’s come?”

“I need to test something,” she told us. Then she shook the die around in her fist. “I’m going to see if I can access Sky-Space without Story. Let's—”

“Woah now.” I reached up and lightly held her fist. “You really think that’s the wisest plan?”

She frowned. “We all agreed that while you try talking to Story, Sunset and I would try finding an alternative way. This is how we find it.”

“It hasn’t even been a day yet.” I kept a hold of her fist. We both knew she couldn’t shake free of me.

“But Story’s brushed us off every time so far,” Rainbow reminded me. There was this strain in the way she said it. “Is there any convincing him?”

“W-We haven’t been giving him any time to himself,” Fluttershy tried speaking up. “Maybe he just wants some space? That might be why he blocked all of us.”

“Fluttershy, you said both of you knew each other long before we met him last week, right?” Twilight turned the tables. “He’s even blocked your number. I don’t think he's getting some space.”

The sound of a leather book thumping closed made us all notice how we were starting to lean forward on the table. Sunset had given up on staring at her book for today. And as she closed it, a few pages became unaligned again.

“Let’s stop this,” Sunset said with full monotone. Her voice was as dry as chipped paint too. “He’s out. That’s it. He won’t talk. He won’t listen. At least we can be assured he won’t tell anyone about dunamancy.”

“Because you told him not to?”

Sunset glanced over at Pinkie, who was staring over from under her bangs. “...Yeah. And he told me he wouldn’t.”

But Pinkie didn’t go back to her food. Instead, she kept this unsettling eye contact with Sunset as she slowly held up her hand. “Can I see?”

Sunset just furrowed her brow. “See what?”

“The message,” Pinkie said carefully. “Can I see what you sent him?”

The two stayed in a deadlock as the rest of us stayed quiet. “...Why?”

“I wanna know how you told him,” Pinkie pressed. “Can I see it? Please?”

That seemed to snap Sunset out of her doom some, but she still refused. I then watched Sunset begin curling in on herself. Like she was on the defensive towards us. And that, coupled with the frazzled hair and wrinkled clothes, as well as her eyes getting a little crazed, were starting to paint a vivid picture that something was off.

“Sunset.” I spoke softly, but even that made Sunset tense up a bit more. “Is, um. Is it ‘cause a’ Ms. Cheerilee’s promise? Is that why ya can’t show us?”

Sunset looked between the others for a few seconds. Mostly between myself and Pinkie, who was backing off when she heard the excuse I threw out there.

“Uh, y-yeah. Yes, it is. That,” Sunset affirmed awkwardly as she nodded. “Ms. Cheerilee made me and Story promise to keep it a secret and the way I put it in the message, I talked about it. A bit. Actually, I probably shouldn’t keep that sitting in my phone.”

Sunset quickly pulled out her phone and quickly tapped away on it, leaning back away from all of us as, a couple slides of her finger later, the messages were all deleted. “There.” She stowed it away. “I’m sorry girls, but what Ms. Cheerilee said? She was really on edge about it. Applejack saw it, she didn’t even want us to tell you girls. I really am sorry. Really!”

A few of the others looked to me, unsure what to think. And in that instance, I gritted my teeth and nodded along. “She’s right, y’all. Ms. Cheerilee really did want it hush-hush. I ended up walkin’ out ‘fore she told what the secret was. Not ta little yer kinds a' promises Pinkie, but what Ms. Cheerilee had goin’ felt even bigger than Pinkie Promises.”

“Mmmm...” Pinkie had some sort of debate with herself before she folded against her food and started getting distant all over again. “If you say so, then okie-dokie. I’m sorry Sunset, I had no idea."

“I-It’s fine,” Sunset told her. Meanwhile, I was packing up my tray and stood up. “Applejack? Where are...?”

“Ah’m headin’ onta class early.” I then grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. “We got about fifteen minutes an’ Ah got Ms. Cheerilee’s English next. Ah wanna drop by early ta greet her ‘fore the rush moseys on through.”

“Alright, I’m back everyone.” Just then, Rarity was sauntering back to the table as she tucked her phone away. She looked more unnerved than usual, but that was starting to become the norm. “Applejack, you’re leaving?”

“Eeyup. Ah’ll meet up with y’all after school. Don’t worry.”

I tipped my hat with one hand, picked up my food tray with the other, and walked away. When I made it into the cafeteria without the girls stopping me, I tossed my garbage into the bin and took a deep breath.

Maybe seeing Cheerilee early wasn’t a lie, but...That half-truth felt dirty. I’m sorry girls. I just need a bit.

I straightened myself out and walked past the tables of other students hanging around and pushed myself out into the hallway. Just having a room between myself and Sunset made me feel a little lighter. Which, in turn, made me feel more guilty.

Sugarcube, I got no clue what’s going through your head, but that was the easiest lie I’ve ever read off you. Whatever you told Story, it wasn’t about Ms. Cheerilee.

I shook off the tensity best I could and started down the hallway. Ms. Cheerilee’s classroom was on the other side of the school from the lunchroom so the quiet helped clear my head.

It wasn’t just Sunset either. Everyone was getting stressed now. It wasn’t anything like the fights we had before the Fall Formal, but I spotted the signs. It was getting toxic. And if things kept up, saving Principal Celestia was gonna be more than a struggle.

With no one in the halls, I never got stopped. There were two lunch shifts at our school now that we had an influx of transfer students. The girls and I all had first lunch. The folks who had second lunch were in class right now. Fifth period took place at the same time as lunch, meaning it was the longest period.

Gearing up for that, I turned down the hall leading to Ms. Cheerilee’s classroom. What I didn’t expect was to see one other person nearby. They were standing in front of their locker and lightly thumping their forehead against it.

Story Spinner.

I stopped walking and found myself watching. He looked terrible. More so than he had this morning. If you put him and Sunset side by side, they’d push away from each other like magnets with how negative they were.

But then I saw something weirder. Without warning, Story stopped thumping his head. He let out this painful groan as he clutched the wall of lockers with one hand and gripped the side of his head with the other. Exactly like he did this morning when Pinkie talked to him.

He lurched forward and breathed heavily; like he was dizzy, or someone knocked the wind out of him. And at the same time, it looked like this headache pounded at his noggin from outta nowhere.

When it looked as worse as it was gonna be, he started trembling. Almost violently. His breathing got more intense, and I just watched like a deer in the headlights as he slowly pulled himself away from the lockers.

“Get...Out..." He mumbled, barely loud enough for me to hear. “I hate it...lemme alone...!”

His whole body tensed up for a moment and after five or so seconds, he flinched, and his eyes shot open as he took in a huge gulp of air and fell against the lockers once more. He was drenched in a cold sweat.

What in tarnation...? I took a couple steps forward out of impulse. What’s happening to him?

I got maybe twenty feet before Story glanced around and quickly spotted me. When he realized who he was staring at, he tried righting himself real quick but the breathing and sluggishness were too bad to hide.

But I said nothing. And neither did he. We just stood there, waiting for the other to say something. And since I had no idea what to say, I kept my mouth shut and let him at least have his silence.

Maybe a minute passed as he caught his breath while attempting to appear presentable enough to keep other students from asking questions. We weren’t in any sort of staring contest or anything. Any time one of us thought we heard something, we’d look away to make sure we were the only ones still in the hall.

Then, finally, the silence got too loud for him. He sighed and gave me a motion. “Go ahead.”

I furrowed my brow. “What?”

“Go ahead. S-Say it,” he told me as he let his hand fall on his leg. “I should stop moping. We don’t have time for this. I overreacted. I’m selfish! Just say it! It’s what all of you are thinking; I know it.”

I thought that was a weird thing to focus on. Why would I want to talk about that and not how he’s frea...Oh.

Taking the bait, I thought about it for a moment. Each of the things he said, none of us believed. Rainbow Dash might’ve come close, but she was more concerned about an apology. She wouldn’t bad mouth him like he was thinking.

So that’s what I told him. The truth.

“Well. RD thinks yer actin’ rude. Wants ya ta apologize ta Sunset.”

Story took a moment to let that register. “Yeah? Wh-What about you?”

My brow furrowed deeper. “What about me?”

“I mean, Rainbow and Sunset can’t be the only ones that hate me. I. I-I screwed up. Badly. And I walked away, and I’m. I. It-It’s—I screwed up. Can you just say it so we can get this over with?”

“Screwed up?” My face lightened into a sad frown. “Story, we’ve all screwed up. We’ve worn down every screwdriver in the shed with how bad we’ve screwed up. Heck, I just left a table full a’ girls who are takin’ turns kickin’ themselves. And, tell ya the truth? Ah think you’ve screwed up the least.”

Story gave out a snort. “Alright. Sure.” He turned to start pulling things out of his locker. “Thought I’d get a straight answer.”

“That is mah straight answer.” I doubled down, stepping towards him. “And now, Sunset won’t even tell us what she asked of ya after ya left.”

That made Story freeze. I couldn’t see his face since his locker door hid it, but his body turned rigid. Forget screws. Looks like ya hit the nail on the head, AJ.

“She deleted it too,” I added on. “And now, she’s riddled with guilt. About you, ‘bout the principal, ‘bout another friend of ours, and now at us. Pinkie’s losin’ her spirit, Rainbow doesn’t know what ta think, Twi’s thinkin’ too much, Rarity and Fluttershy don’t got a clue how ta handle any a’ this, and Ah—”

I bit my cheek and took a deep breath. I was heated. Not at Story, just at everything. Everyone was holding onto something. And being around everyone plus the whole police situation yesterday? I thought telling Story the truth and coming clean was the right decision. I still think that. But with how we're all behaving, I...

Story peaked out from his locker. I had his attention.

“...Ah think Ah’m fallin' deep into my own worry,” I admitted. “Ah’m realizin’, this whole week's been nothin’ but one problem after the next. And. And Ah’d love nothin’ more than ta solve it all. But even Ah know ya gotta refill the oil ‘fore ya burn through the lamp. And mah light's gettin' awfully dim.”

Story meekly nodded along before slowly transitioning to a lost look as he shook his head. “Um, c-could you try that last part again?”

I closed my eyes and nodded at him. I can’t believe I’m gonna say this.

I took a few seconds, chewing my cheek some more before finally saying it straight. “What Ah mean ta say is...Ah think Ah wanna day off.”

“A. A day off?” Story replayed, making me cringe slightly. “What?”

Welp. It’s out there. I hate that I just said that, but. Ugh. Keep digging, I commanded myself. “All this nonsense about magic? These last few days? The game, all of yesterday’s argument, the poli—” Nope. Nope, you say that and Story’ll think you're blaming him. “...Ah wanna pretend like none of it exists. Alright?”

Story leaned back, pulling out a book before slowly closing the locker door and giving me his full attention. “You...You want to ignore it?”

I nodded, tossing my hands up a little before letting out a huff. “Yeah! Ah do. And Ah hate that Ah feel this way! Ah hate ignorin’ problems. That don’t fix ‘em, it just lets ‘em build. That's what led ta all this nonsense in the first place! But the place mah head’s at righ’ now? And where everyone's heads are at? A hedge maze would be scoffin’ at how lost we are.”

As if to prove it, Story let out this discordant scoff. “Take it from someone who is trying to ignore it all, it doesn’t help. I just feel worse.”

“Oh, Ah feel terrible about it,” I admitted with a sweeping motion. “It sucks as all get out. Ah feel like if any a’ the others were tellin' me the same thing, Ah’d tell ‘em we all gotta power through it. But this feelin’ Ah got? Every second Ah see the girls gettin’ depressed, Ah feel like Ah’m fallin’ right there with ‘em. And if ya don’t mind me copyin’ what ya said Saturday, Ah’m tired. Ah’m tired a’ goin’ one day ta the next tryin’ ta deal with something Ah don’t understand.”

“And you think a break will help you feel better?” Story asked.

“Ah dunno! No? Yes? Maybe?” I shrugged. “Maybe it won’t. But what Ah do know, is that while ya might not wanna talk ta all a’ us, we’re still yer friends. And as yer friend, Ah don’t think we’ve hung out outside a’ all the madness.”

“...” Story blinked a few times. “Y-Yeah?”

“So, Ah’m figurin’...How’s about this.” I took a few more steps until I was just five feet away from him. He was at least willing to look me in the eyes. I thought this would be a good time to extend an olive branch.

“For today,” I started. “We don’t bring up magic. We bring up none of it. How’s about we just go hang out somewhere? Take a day?”

I saw Story tense up at the word ‘we’ with a deep breath. Dang it, I think I phrased that wrong. “I-I don’t think—”

“Now, Ah don’t mean all of us,” I clarified quickly. “It’d just be you an’ me. Ah wouldn’t tell the girls. Ah don’t think they’d be on board with us goofin’ off anyhow. Ah just...We both want to ignore this. And we both hate that we feel that way. Right?”

Story eased up, folding his fist inside his palm. “Yeah. Yeah, I hate feeling like this. But... Isn’t this selfish?”

“Ah’d say so, yes! Still, it’s gonna be naggin’ at me whether we do it err not. But who knows? Maybe after we get some fresh air, we can try coolin’ off the others an’ think with our heads fer once. So, what do ya say? Ya up for it?”

Story thought it all through sincerely, slowly starting to nod. Then, as he sighed and dawned this ironic smirk, he nodded more firmly. “I guess...I guess, if I feel miserable with someone else, it’ll be easier? Fine, sure, I’m-I’m in.”

I gave him a smile. “Thanks.” Then after a couple seconds, I realized I had no idea how to actually do this. “Erm. Eheh, Ah don’t suppose ya got any place in mind, do ya? Ah don’t got too many ideas fer how ta take yer mind off a’ things. ‘Side from sittin’ around in the shade.”

Story bobbed his head a little. “Well, my brother really wanted to drag me out to the movies after school. I think my, uh..." He debated with himself for a second before shaking his head. “He, erm, wanted to cheer me up. You interested?”

“Sure.” I smiled. Movie works. “If ya want, Ah can bring Applebloom along. Keeps us from bringing up anythin’.”

“Uh, yeah, no, that sounds fine. Um...But." He fought with himself for a moment. "Erm. Y-You said Rainbow was upset at me. But, uh. W-What about Pinkie?" He finally forced the words out.

"Pinkie?" I blinked. "What do ya mean?"

Story built up his courage. "Well, I'm pretty sure I made her upset. And, uh." He reached into his pocket and took out a piece of old looking paper with the words We're Sorry Story written all fancy-like. "I read her card."

I chuckled and smiled. Heheh. What do you know. Worked just like you thought, Pinkie. "Ah wouldn't worry too much. Pinkie knows ya didn't mean it. If yer lookin' ta make it up to her though..."

Story caught on and slowly nodded along. "Yeah. I think you're right. But, how are you two gonna avoid tell—"

At that moment, the bell for lunch change rang out, cutting us both off as a few doors down the hall were pushed open not two seconds later by students trying to sprint down the hall to reach the lunchroom.

“You leave that up ta us,” I told him. "And Ah'll make sure Pinkie knows too. She's good at keepin' folks like us in good spirits."

I glanced over behind me to find that Ms. Cheerilee’s door was already open for us. Huh. I don’t think it was like when I got here. Did she—

“I think you're right.” He nodded. “Okay then. Should we meet up after school then?”

“Fine by me. But, uh, Story?”

“Yeah?”

“Do ya mind, um, unblockin’ me first?” I took out my phone and waved it a bit while Story cringed and nodded.

“R-Right! Yeah, I should probably, um...Does Fluttershy and the girls all—” “Know ya blocked us? Eeyup.” I smirked as he looked even worse. “Ah’ll do my best not ta let ‘em know we're talkin’ to ya 'til yer ready. Ah won’t lie to ‘em, but Ah’ll respect the privacy if ya want. Deal?”

“Deal.” He quickly pulled out his phone and got to work on it while the both of us got into Ms. Cheerilee’s room before those from lunch could get back. "I'll unblock Pinkie too. And, Applejack?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For the straight answer, I mean."

I gave him a nod and started off to my own class. This felt like a step in the right direction despite how much I felt like I was betraying the others. I probably was. But if I could help everybody get some piece of mind, maybe we could all end up back on the same page. Plus, if Pinkie was coming, she would be a much better fit for cheering him up. This time the right way.

And all it costs is me swallowing my pride and telling Granny I’m taking a day off with Applebloom. Oh boy, Mac’s gonna hold this over my head for a week.

Author's Note

It's been a while. I'm pretty sure I've said that before, but yeah. "These next couple of chapters will be a bit shorter than what I normally write. Not sure if I'll be able to write them all the quicker" Those were words of a fool that didn't know what life does to people with plans. :rainbowlaugh:

That said, next chapter's draft is already completed. I wanted to try and do the characters justice with these next couple of chapters, especially those that haven't gotten as much spotlight as others. But the reason they (AJ & Pinkie) don't is because I don't really use them too much. And with 8 characters in the main roster (plus their game characters), it's easy to ignore them.

Let me know what you think! I love taking in feedback wherever I can. Helps with stories & DMing.
Cheers,
-Zeke

(37) Missing Players

Applejack’s POV
Monday, After School

When the last bell for school let out, I cleared up every loose end I needed. I didn't want to leave anybody out to dry if I was going to slack off like I promised. Firstly, I had to speak with Granny. I needed her permission to excuse myself and Applebloom of any chores after school. I dreaded the thought of shrugging off work last minute like this and I was going over the whole spiel I had ready for. I told myself it was gonna be an uphill march and that I needed to lay out as many good points as there were to make a good case to her. I was even trying to reschedule how I could knock out the rest of my chores later today or bright and early tomorrow without coming off as lazy or rude. I was so sure that I had to make my side of things as perfect as I good.

However, when Granny asked what I was hoping for and I told her, she threw me the one curveball I was not expecting.

“Sounds good ta me!” Granny's smile was beaming right out of the gate. “Ya got some good timin', Applejack! Ah was just thinkin’ of a way ta get Bloom’s mind off’a thangs! She’s been mighty down since last week and some time with her sister oughta be just what that girl needs. Just as long as ya can promise ta be back in time ‘fore supper, ya hear?”

It took me a second to click my jaw back into place. “Uh. Y-Yeah! No worries there, Granny! Boy, Ah didn't know you'd be so alright with this. Ah'da thought what with me bein' so busy this week that we'd be too behind ta afford some time like this."

"Ah, psssh! No need ta fret 'bout that none." Granny waved my words off. "'Sides, you an' yer friends went and cleaned up the whole barn last weekend. After findin' all them extra bushels and a few parts ta spiffy up the tractor, Big Mac's been itchin' ta git them pieces together and put it ta work. He'll be happy ta take the extra payload. You just go get Applebloom an' enjoy the break."

"Guess Ah can't argue with that." I shared Granny's smile for a second. "Thank ya so much, Granny. Ah don' know what ta say!”

“Nothin' probably," Granny told me. "People never like hearin' folk talk durin' the movies. Not like they can hear each other much nowadays what with all them explosions and fancy speakers. Oh! Before ya get, d’y’all need some spendin’ money? Ah’m bringin’ the ladies over tonight for our first poker game in months and Ah can tell it’ll be a lucky night!”

“Nah, that’s, erm, alright Granny! Good luck with the game, I s’ppose,” I hustled my way outta the lunchroom and held my head higher than when I entered. It was a weird feeling. Everything I said in there was the truth. I didn't even need to bring up Story like we had agreed. I wanted to think I felt weird because I was being selfish about going, but I was more than happy to try cheering up Applebloom too. Maybe, even if I was being selfish in one way, Granny wasn't who I was being selfish towards?

I pulled myself away from those thoughts and focused on the next person; Applebloom. She was giving me the cold shoulder since I dragged her outta the barn yesterday. What's more, I was now using her as a way to get Story to talk to us again. Once I realized that, all the guilt and worry came right back full force, and I dreaded tracking AB down.

Along the way, I tried thinking of how to smooth things over with her. I don't regret pulling Applebloom off like I did. The girl needed to learn that listening in on people talking was wrong. But bringing up privacy or any other topic like that to Bloom was a slippery slope if I wanted to make amends with her. I almost started to imagine Applebloom trying to ignore me the moment I was her in line of sight.

“Applejack!" Applebloom shouted as I rounded the corner. She and her friends her hanging out around the main entrance and she jumped up and ran over with this look that matched the feeling I had in my stomach. "Ah am so sorry ‘bout yesterday! Ah didn’t mean ta eavesdrop on Ms. Cheerilee’s condition, honest! An’, if it helps, Ah made sure ta apologize ta her too right after her school was over. She seemed ta take it pretty well! Ah don't think she's holdin' a grudge on me err nothin'. She even let me sign her cast!”

I was stiff as a board when her friends followed after her and tried to follow up to tell me the whole interaction and that Ms. Cheerilee really did forgive them. A part of me wanted to tell her that the talk we were having about Ms. Cheerilee wasn't her condition, but then that might lead to explaining everything else. The only thing I ended up doing was putting a hand on her shoulder and trying to comfort her.

“It’s alright Applebloom,” I started, uneasy. “Ya must’a been mighty curious when ya heard Sunset’s side a’ the call.”

“Ah was,” she told me. “But it wasn’t mah thing ta know. Ah didn’t mean ta pry inta Ms. Cheerilee’s secret err nothin’. Ah shoulda trusted ya and walked away the first time, Applejack. Ah’m sorry.”

Please don’t say trust, I pleaded from my mind.

“Yeah, same goes for us,” her friend Scootaloo added. “Sweetie Belle and I were trying to ask Rarity and Rainbow Dash the same thing, but they wouldn’t tell us either. We thought you were all ignoring us.”

“I thought Rarity was literally ignoring me,” Sweetie went further. “She was on the phone all morning with the dumb spa and sounded like she only cared about them when I asked. Maybe she was just trying to have an excuse not to say anything.”

That made me focus up. “Now hold on. They wouldn’t do that. Rarity’s your sister, Sweetie. She wouldn’t go on pretendin’ ya don’t exist. There’s just a lotta storm swayin’ the trees right now. And Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t hide anythin’ from you unless it was outta her hands. You know that.”

Both of them nodded along, taking my words to heart as I turned to Applebloom. She started to tense up, expecting me to lay into her with a good talking to.

“Now, Applebloom, the reason Ah wanted ta find ya was. Erm...Do ya wanna go to the. M-Movies? Ah wanted ta invite ya.” I finally blurted out. It was a blindside to her. It was probably the last thing she expected her ‘chores first’ big sister to ask her. But after I repeated it and told her I had Granny’s permission; her friends did the rest and she was on board. No arguing necessary.

It felt so weird seeing my family not call me out on it. But, obviously they wouldn't question me. Why would they? I would do anything for them in a heartbeat and, in their eyes, I wouldn’t have some ulterior motive. It was a blessing to have a family that would be so good to me. Maybe I hadn’t lied persay, but I wasn’t being truthful. But even then, I had that backwards feeling a second time. That I wasn't in the wrong here. Maybe I was in the wrong for assuming Applebloom was just going to come with me, but if she said no it wasn't like I was about to force her. If she ultimately told me no, I would have respected that. At this point, I felt like I was trying to force myself to be guilty.

Applebloom grabbed her backpack and I tossed her the keys so she could wait in my truck when she was ready. I still had one more person to talk to. I saved her for last because I considered Granny and Bloom a warm-up. I wouldn’t need to lie or keep the truth from them if it came down to it. But this was where I had to back out of a deal I already made. And just like with Applebloom, the guilt reared its head again.

I made my way out of the building and towards the soccer field where we all agreed to meet. It was a slow walk and when I got in sight of the meeting spot, I noticed only two of the girls waiting for me. Sunset was pacing a little in front of the bleachers and Twilight was sitting down and petting Spike. After Sunset spotted me, she seemed to calm down for a few seconds and wave me down. I held up a hand, too awkward to wave back, and in that moment, I saw Sunset withdraw her hand. She muttered something to Twilight, and as I closed in, she shyly excused herself and told us she needed to walk Spike.

Twilight left us alone and Sunset stared at me with a tired glance. She knew.

“So, you’re leaving me too, huh?”

I didn't respond immediately and Sunset took the silence to nod solemnly. “Pinkie said she had a project come up that she had to take care of. She looks pretty cheered up considering how down she was earlier...You know what that's about?”

I gave out a few uncertain hums and Sunset took it as a queue to nod again. “Got it. Pinkie wouldn't tell me either. If you won’t tell me, then just...just go. Twilight and I will manage the fire tower fine without you guys. So, I guess there's no worry about that.” Her eyes trailed off.

“Sunset.” When I finally spoke, my throat sounded sore. “We can all tell yer upset. We're here for ya. You can tell us anythang.”

She snorted. "Here for me, huh? Funny. Because it looks like two of my friends are playing hooky with a liar instead of helping me find a way to solve this magic."

Liar? "What do you mean? What has Story lied about?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh. So that is what this is about." I flinched, but she kept going. "You and Pinkie want to cheer up a kid who had a tantrum instead of helping your friends. And you say that you're hear for me?"

"Story's our friend too, Sunset." I frowned. "And just like with you, we've been tryin' ta reach out ta him. In the past twenty-four hours, the feller's learned that magic was real and then got told ta lie to the cops fer a reason you still ain't told us about yet."

"And what is there to tell about it?" Sunset threw up her hands. "They aren't able to do anything about it. The magic has everything set into motion and the only way it will end is how it ends in the game. That's why we're trying to figure out what's taking effect here! So, we can deal with the fallout when it's fixed! That's when the cops can help. Not any sooner! And if he just trusted me like I told him to, they might be in a spot to do that already! But no. He couldn't just settle with that"

"..."

"...What?" She asked, standing up straight to face me.

"..."

"Look, say something or just go. I'm assuming that nothing I say at this point will convince you to stay. I get it."

"...What're you hidin'?"

She blinked. Then crossed her arms and glared. "I said go."

"Story mentioned unicorns before drivin' off." I did the opposite. "Now, Ah only heard the tail end a' yer argument, but none of it had ta do with Twilight's home. You told him about it. Didn't you?"

Sunset stood defiant. "It's like I told you, Applejack. He's a liar. He said he was going to help and that he wanted the truth, but that was a lie. I told him all of it and he left. And if I told him nothing, he would've left. He just wanted an excuse to run away."

"Sunset, you don't really believe that." I saw it in her eyes. "You told him something that you don't want the rest of us knowin'. It was either in that barn or in that message, but it was somethin'."

Sunset just looked angrier. "Don't do this. You guys are my friends. Why can't you just trust me?"

Trust. I shook my head. "Sunset, Ah do trust ya."

Sunset looked me in the eyes. "If you really trust me, then—" "But Ah trust Story too." I clarified. "And, sure, the fella floundered, but don't that remind ya of anybody?" She started looking away. "He never went inta this intendin' on bein' selfish. Ah don't think he had a plan at all. He took it all ta the chin and toppled like a rotten silo. He deserves a shot ta explain himself once he's calmed down. An' you know that if he's lyin', Ah'll be the first ta catch it."

Sunset just kept looking away, but her eyes were getting wider. She was starting to piece together that something was going to come of this. "Don't do this," she murmured. "Please don't do this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Ah'm not about ta abandon him, Sunset. And, whatever you and he were shoutin' about, Ah think y'all need ta try and put it ta rest. It doesn't do any of us good ta have in-fightin' when we need ta work together on this. Now, that said." I took a breath and my chest felt fine. Again, that guilty feeling was gone. And so was any idea that I should have felt guilty in the first place. "Ah'm gonna get goin'. Mah sister’s waitin’ for me at my truck and Ah gonna go help Pinkie. Ah'll talk later. Ah promise Ah will. And Ah'll be ready ta talk whenever you are.”

With that goodbye, I left feeling more confident. A part of me hoped that we would at least have an understanding, but all it did was remind me exactly why I took a walk at lunch in the first place. And Sunset made no attempt to stop me just as she didn't before. When I made it back to my truck, Applebloom was inside playing on her phone. I gave her a nod, tossed my bag in the back seat, apologized for the wait, and we took off.

The first couple of minutes were pretty stiff. Even if my head was clear, I couldn't just shake off talking to Sunset easily. Applebloom must have picked up on it too and when I saw her squirm a bit in her seat, I started to fill her in on what the real plan was. How Story still was freaked out about the magic and Pinkie was going to join in and help make this a day for all of us to just recover. Applebloom looked understanding and said that she would like that a lot too. I then asked if she wanted to talk about it and from there, I gladly gave her my ear for the whole car ride.

Like Granny told me, Applebloom and her friends had it rough the last couple of days. Sure there was homework and quizzes on top of chores and slight misfortunes that she just wanted to vent about, but when she alluded to some problems they had with one of the other students I at once recognized the pattern.

“Lemme guess. Tiara an’ Silver up to their usual nonsense?” I gave her a short look while we hit a red light.

“Jus’ Silver Spoon,” Applebloom sighed. “Diamond Tiara’s had some silly sniffle since the week before and her dad’s practically coddlin’ her or so we keep hearin’. Ah know it ain't right ta say it, but mah freinds and Ah were sorta lookin' forward ta the quiet. We don't mean ta say that Tiara deserves bein' sick err anythin', but we can only take so much before we're gettin' detention waved at us fer snappin' back. But instead of lettin' ourselves calm down, it feels like Silver’s puttin’ double the effort to get under our skin and make up fer lost time!”

I gave out a sad chuckle and started forward when the green light came. “Maybe we ain’t the only ones who need a pick-me-up. Silver Spoon might be worried about her friend being out sick for so long, is all.”

Applebloom grumbled for a bit. “Yeah, Ah guess. If Sweetie or Scootaloo were sick fer two weeks, Ah’d be worried too. But Ah still wouldn’t take it out on everybody else.”

“Come on now, you know better than to let some mean words get the better of ya.”

“Oh, that ain’t all that Silver’s been doin’!” Bloom sat up while I pulled us into the mall’s parking lot. “Just this mornin', she nearly got thrown into the office fer screamin’ at the whole class! She was accusin’ everyone in math about stealin’ her calculator.”

“Was it just in her backpack err somethin’?”

“Nah, it really was missin’, Ah’ll believe her on that. She’s one a’ the most organized students in the class. Ah wouldn’t think she forgot it. My guess is maybe she went to bring Tiara her homework last weekend and Tiara held onto it by accident.”

“Well, at least you’re taken the high ground and thinkin’ it’s a simple mistake. Not much anyone can do ‘bout it but share a calculator 'til she gets it back.” After I found an easy spot towards the back of the lot and we got out and started our long march.

Bloom gave me a bored look. “How’s come ya always gotta park this far? There's thirty better spots in this row alone.”

“Oh please, the west field's gotta be four times this length, easy. If we’re gonna be sittin’ down fer two hours straight watchin’ somethin’, we can at least get our steps in first.”

She only giggled at me. “You know, the whole point a' slackin’ off is ta not put effort inta thangs.”

“Well, maybe Ah ain’t tryin’ ta slack off, ya ever consider that?” I smirked at her as we entered the mall.

“Mm-hmm. Whatever ya say, AJ,” Applebloom hummed. She and I both knew that, in a small, partially correct way, I did want to slack off. Polish a stone, it’s still a stone, after all.

“Okay, okay, you’ve made yer point. Let’s just hurry up and get to this slackin’ part.”

“Y’know, yer missin’ the point a’ slackin’.”

“Can’t miss it if Ah ain’t aimin’.”

We entered the mall with a goal to track down Pinkie and the others. The mall’s theatre wasn’t far from the main entrance, and we got in earlier than I thought it'd take so we weren't in any hurry. Although, Applebloom just paused a few steps from the doors and stared with me as a small army of folks moved in a frenzy. We weren't scared of crowds, but it wasn't familiar for us to see so many folks. Especially when indoors. But seeing dozens of, if not over a hundred, people moving about made me feel out of depth.

"Are malls usually this busy on Mondays?" Applebloom looked up at me. She had never gone to the mall right after classes were out.

"Dunno," I muttered. Unfortunately for her, I wasn't sure if I had either. "Stick close. Last thing we need is ta get lost in the stampede."

A part of me wanted to guess that this was part of the game. Our characters did bring a bunch of supplies to the village. Then again, those supplies only helped a provision store and the Griffonbound Vendors. A mall seems a little big to match two stores. And how would that effect a food court or movie theatre?

There's also the problem that Leanne’s not really Leanne. I chewed at the inside of my cheek. I, or rather Platick, stopped that. What’ll that do to this place? I didn't even know if there was ever a real Leanne. For all I know, the doppelganger might've come to Phandalin as Leanne. If that's the truth, is Griffonbound Vendors gonna be out of business? Does that mean some shop's gonna be doomed to go under?

“Oh, Ah think Ah see 'em.” Applebloom announced as she pointed ahead. At the end of her finger, still a small walk away beyond the crowds, was Pinkie and Story. As well as a boy about Bloom’s age staring hard at a phone or something the same size as one. They were hanging around a bench outside the theatre with movie posters set up along the walls to show off to folks passing by. Story’s little brother was the only one sitting down, completely ignoring the conversation Pinkie was leading with Story.

Even from here, I could tell that Pinkie had just about regained her zany self as whatever she was saying was as energetic as her body language. We started to move, slowly shifting our way through the crowds, and eventually we could hear her.

“—about the scene where the man on the dogsled started smashing through everyone’s yards and then crashed through that birthday party and flicked the birthday cake into the air riiiiiight before his dogs stampeded through the yard while the kids were screaming?! All while the hot air balloon finally falls out of the sky and lands in the swimming pool to splash everybody with a huge wave that ruined the cake but still gave all of them an amazing bouncy castle to make up for it?!” Pinkie didn’t even waste time breathing as she was staring tensely at Story, who was taking a second to register whatever they were talking about.

And after a couple seconds, I could almost see the lightbulb sprouting out of his head. “Ohh! You're talking about the final chase scene where all the racers start closing in on the finish line! I mean, effects are effects." Story shrugged dismissively. "The whole thing was ruined when the scene ended with that stupid turtle-beat-rabbit metaphor from Mountain Biker beating them all. It was such a cop-out.” Story shrugged. “To start, Mountain Biker barely had any screen time. You don't know a thing about that character, and it's played for laughs that he gets the cash prize. Meanwhile, we have two main characters that need that cash prize for real reasons. And then you wanna bring up the dogs? How is Bob's Led supposed to flip a cake into the air before his dogs reach it? There are four dogs in front of him. Do you know how long that canoe paddle needs to be to reach past four dogs and then flip a cake into the air? And if that wasn’t enough, the dogs aren’t rhinos! They can’t just stampede through six sets of fences!”

“Upupup! Five sets of fences,” Pinkie corrected as she held out five fingers for emphasis. “One of them was already smashed by The Unicycler. And I'm pretty sure that those canoe paddles had special powers. How else do you explain Captain Canoe rowing through the canals of Venice and turning on a dime without hitting the walls even once? I think we both know it wasn't the Captain. He was never good enough to pilot that canoe!"

"Pfft! Obviously, it wasn't the captain," Story scoffed. "The Captain always goes down with his canoe," he and Pinkie said in perfect unison. "Thank you. And I'll admit that scene was funny. But you wanna bring up The Unicycler? Everything about him describes everything I hate about that movie. And I don’t care who you are, nobody can build up the kind of momentum needed to charge a unicycle through an oak fence.”

“To be fair, he only made it through the one fence,” Pinkie settled with a laugh. Then she shook her head. “But come on, it wouldn’t have been as hilarious if the dogs jumped over it! And the kids’ screaming wouldn’t have seemed that believable! And you know that must’ve been a really fun scene to make!”

“Their screams were supposed to be scared, not excited.”

“Why? I’d be excited if I got to scream in a movie!”

“Would you? Are ya sure? You’d be happy if a man on a dogsled and two women in a hot air balloon crashed your birthday party?”

“Are you kidding?! That would make my birthday party the best day ever! I would’ve been so surprised, I woulda made a face like Woah-ohhh~! Or no-no-no, wait! Maybe something like Ahhh-WoooOoOooOoh! Oh! No, hold on! It would actually sound like EEE—”

Pinkie’s screams went quiet as Story, thankfully, put a hand over Pinkie’s mouth as her muffled scream and rubbery flailing arms was now at a noise that would only attract the attention of everybody in eyesight rather than earshot.

Story gave her a flat look. “...Negative three. Out of ten. Movie.”

“How's a negative three even work for a rating?”

By this point, Applebloom and I were close enough to be part of the conversation ourselves. The only reason we were able to hear them from so far out was the lack of other people in the mall drowning them out.

“Oh, hey Applejack,” Story said, putting on a new expression to hide his frustration. “We’re talking about the movie Last One There. I like giving negative numbers out of ten for movies when there in that 'so bad it's good' kind of spot.”

Pinkie pulled Story's hand away. "I've heard of that before. But come on, it's at least a negative six out of ten!"

Story stared back at her. “Then you admit it's a terrible movie!”

Pinkie just smiled. “Well, doi! I never said it wasn't! I just really like laughing at it! You should see my older sister Maud when she watches it with me. It's her favorite terrible movie!"

Story shook his head. "Sorry, I don't think it's that terrible."

“Uh, guys?” I waved my hand, catching both of them before they could forget where they were. “Don’t we got a movie of our own ta catch? I know Ah got here quick, but we should probably decide on one soon.”

“No worries about that,” Pinkie chirped. “A bunch a' movies don’t start for at least thirty minutes! We even have time to candy up!”

Story nodded along before glancing over his shoulder at his brother who was still playing with some handheld game. “Button? Hey, pause it.”

“Huh?” Button looked up, kind of bringing his handheld game up so it could stay in his peripheral until he finally noticed us. “Oh, hello.” And he went right back to his game.

For a couple of seconds. Then he gasped, paused it again, and glared straight at me. “Wait a second. You.”

“Uh...yeah, me? Hi?” I looked back at Story. I do something wrong?

“Ignore that,” Story told me with a cringe. “I think he got the, erm, wrong impression. You know?” He wore this guilty look as he said that.

Oh. I see. Button here probably saw Story coming home steamed as a sauna yesterday. He’s probably mad at us. There’s a good brother.

“But Story,” Button whined. “Dag bevats mun Ektums unn lon aerasz iet—Wahh!”

Story let out a breath as he nonchalantly pushed Button’s beanie over his eyes and held it there with a huff. “Ignore that too. He’s been talking gibberish way too many times today. It’s a dumb language from one of his games.”

I blew out a raspberry and stayed in better spirits. “Ah don’t know any a’ what he even said, so no water off my back.”

“Oh! Got it!” Pinkie held up her phone at me so I could see some weird app on it while Story tensed up. “‘Are these two she-devils not the girls who.’ Wow, if people like the game enough to make a whole language, it’s gotta be fun!”

Story eased up and shook his head. “Please stop looking up translators. You’ll just encour—Argh!" Story released Button’s head and clutched his own, giving out a hiss of pain as his eyes were clamped shut. "Ow—Owwww!”

Quickly, Pinkie and Button were right beside him with me walking up beside them. It looked like the same headache from school was still there. “Y’alright Story? Do ya need ta sit down fer a spell?”

“He had one of these when he went to pick me up,” Button told us. “He had to pull over.”

“That. That sounds really bad,” Applebloom glanced at Story again. “Is it a good idea ta be watchin’ a movie with headaches like those?”

“He had two others at school,” I told him. “What does this make, four? Story, are ya sure yer alright?”

“I’m—I’m good. Good, yeah, good.” Story took a deep breath and shook his head. “They’re not...They don’t last. Long. Besides, it's not like the halluci— I mean. I’m fine now.”

“Maybe I should ask Mom what she thinks.” Button Mash pulled out his phone and then looked at me and Pinkie. “She’s a neurosurgeon. She would probably know what this is, right?”

"Button, it's fine. I’m good now.” Story shook his head one last time, standing up straight. “See? Nothing to worry about. Besides, it’s Mom’s day off. I don’t wanna bother her. Just leave it, alright?”

Pinkie and I shared a look. Yep. We’re both thinking the same thing. Magic.

He walked backwards a bit until he was right between two movie posters which he gestured to. “Besides, let’s focus on the movie, yeah? They got two movies about to start in the next thirty-ish minutes. Which means either Power Ponies: Midnight Pendant or Round Ticket Train. Or, we try waiting out an hour to watch Stormy with a Side of Pudding. And I already know which movie Pink—”

“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie started jumping so she could raise her hand higher. It was an act, but one she did good at keeping. “Stormy with a Side of Pudding! Please-please-pleeeease! Rumor has it they used actual pudding for the sets! Even for coating the buildings!”

“I heard it too,” Story admitted with a chuckle. “Forums say they couldn’t hire set designers who were lactose intolerant.”

He was hamming it up on the positivity, but I figured it was best to let him. “I dunno. Sounds a little bonkers if ya ask me.”

“It’s supposed to be such a good movie though!” Pinkie promised us. To which Story stood behind her and gave us a so-so motion with his hand.

“Hold on.” Button glanced around, spotting one movie poster that was mostly in darker colors. “Oh. There! What about Howling Hunter?!”

“Woah, Ah heard a’ that!” Suddenly, Applebloom’s face lit up. “That’s the one where the killer trains howler monkeys ta latch onta her prey an’ scream so loud, they go deaf!”

“Wait, what?” I blinked.

“Uh-huh!” Button nodded like crazy. “And everyone on the internet says she does that so that the victims can’t—Hear the Howling Hunter!” They said at the exact same time.

“We are not watching The Howling Hunter,” Story enforced.

“Why not?!” Applebloom gripped. “It’s playing at the same time as that puddin’ movie!”

“Yeah! We can wait!”

“Well in that case, Applebloom can wait a few more years,” I told Button, looking at Bloom. “Granny would be howlin’ louder than them monkeys if she heard you watched somethin’ like that. Not ta mention, it’s rated fer adults.”

“Story, you can get us in there though, can’t you? They know you! Please? Come on, please?!” He begged.

“Not. Happening.” He said it slower, so they’d hear us better. “Forget our ears, Mom’ll have our brains on her operating table if she hears I let you see that movie.”

“We won’t tell,” Applebloom promised us. To which Button nodded frantically.

“Uh-uh. Ah ain’t about ta lie ta Granny. An’ neither are you, missy.” Then I thought about the other titles a bit more before I remembered something I had checked before coming here. “Hey Story? What about that middle one ya mentioned? The train one? Ah heard it’s pretty good.”

“Right.” Story nodded at me, his interest fighting off his fatigue. "Round Ticket Train is an action/mystery kinda movie starring Chestnut Magnifico and Emerald Mask. An inventor creates a train that can go ‘round the world in two days without stopping. But for some reason, a few passengers are looking to steal the blueprints and make sure this train never reaches its destination. But when everyone's a passenger, who's here to see the train stopped and who's just along for ride? And more importantly, who steps off first?”

I gave him a comical look. “Made that summary up yerself, didn’t ya?”

Story took a second to realize that and sunk a bit. “Force of habit, I guess.”

“A tagline for your blog, right?” Pinkie asked quickly.

“Yeah, actu—I mean. Urgh. You did that on purpose,” Story groaned with a sour look while Pinkie just chortled at him.

“You gotta blog?” I smirked.

“Yeah. Yeah,” he admitted bashfully. “I try to keep it quiet, but I let it slip to Pinkie while we were waiting.”

“He won’t tell me what it’s called.” Pinkie mockingly pouted. “So, I’ve been asking him what he rated a bunch of movies so I can track it down.”

Story straightened up. “Wait, that’s why you kept—You weasel.” He gave her a look while Pinkie stuck out her tongue. “That is...Admittedly clever.”

“Thanks!”

“Ah’ll keep it hushed,” I told him, earning a boost in attitude from the fella. Then I glanced over at the Round Ticket Train poster. Thirteen and up. Yeah, Applebloom’s old enough. “Ah’m for it. Bloom?”

“Yeah, Ah s’ppose,” she settled. “Ah’d still rather see Howlin’ Hunter, though.”

“No Howlin’ Hunter,” I told her.

“Awww. Fine, Ticket Train works,” Button relented.

“Okay, I’m on board too,” Pinkie joked with a snort. “But Story, if you ever go see Side of Pudding, you gotta let me come!”

“Deal,” Story nodded. “Besides, with all of us here, I’m gonna need to watch a bunch of movies to restock my points.”

That’s when Button looked over in awe. “Wait. You mean it?”

“Yep.” Story nodded. “I’m upgrading us all to deluxe seats. My treat.”

“Woah now.” I frowned. “Don’t them deluxe seats cost double, err somethin’? We can’t ask ya ta do that.”

“It’s not double for me,” he clarified. Then he pulled this purple and black movie card out of his pocket. Some sort of membership card. “I can cover it with points. Blog aside, I‘m kind of a movie buff.”

“Yes!” Button started running in. “I’m getting one of every candy!”

“Not if I do first!” Pinkie took off, catching up to Button as they both ran into the theatre and at the concession stand.

“What, hey, no!” Story stuffed the card back in his pocket and walked after them with a drained expression. “I don’t have that many points! Guys!”

I watched them all running off with an amused look. “Ya know, compared ta this mornin’? Ah think this was the right idea.”

“Yeah, it sounds like it.” Applebloom and I went through the door next, watching as Story started giving out a spending limit. Only for Pinkie to get out her own money and announce she was paying for snacks. At that moment, Story joined with the other two and ordered all sorts of stuff; Pinkie’s excitement getting infectious on him and Button. "Does his family know about the magic too? Or just him?"

“Just him. Let's try and keep it that way for now. Besides, we got other problems. We gotta get our own feed 'fore those three drain the food stand dry.”

Rainbow Dash’s POV
City Hall
1 Hour Later

The heavy doors closed behind us with a dull boom when we were near the bottom of the outside steps. I was crumpling a useless piece of paper into a nearby trashcan.

“That was a waste of time. That lady wouldn’t call the mayor once! She even gave up saying anything and pretended we weren’t there!”

“Well. it wasn’t completely bad,” Fluttershy walked up beside me. “She let us talk to somebody in the end. And he was very polite.”

“Please! Like that guy’s gonna do anything.” I glanced at her with a frown. There was no one around us so I didn’t have to care about what I said. “That secretary used him to get rid of us.”

“True. But, um, he said that he would at least check in on the mayor.”

“And what does that do?” I argued back. “He works there everyday. Either he already knows something’s up and won’t tell us, or he’s in the dark too and can’t do anything about it.”

Fluttershy went silent for a while, trying to think of an answer, but nothing was coming up. Instead, she just slumped more and looked more upset than I felt. Seeing that made me rethink my words. “Err. Look, whatever. Twilight tried the website. We tried showing up. It’s a dead end. We can still try one of the other things we found yesterday.”

Fluttershy nodded, trying to match my hope. “Okay.”

I nodded along, more for my own sake, and sighed before glancing around. “Alright. Next problem. What’s happened to Rarity?”

We glanced over at one of the only cars in the lot. Usually, City Hall would be packed with cars, but it was barren today. We had an easy time finding Rarity leaned against the hood of her car and biting her nails. She was completely lost in thought with her phone in the other hand hanging beside her. Seeing that, we shared a look and jogged over.

When we all went inside together, Rarity was talking circles around that secretary. Rarity might have gotten her to let us at the mayor too, but that was when she got another call, and all the momentum went out the door with her. We tried waiting for her, but it was nearly a half hour before we got passed off to somebody else.

We knew that her phone call was about the spa again. All day, she’s been calling and being called by someone at the spa. We thought it was about her cancelling an appointment at first. When we asked, she instead told us someone was going through a tough time and looking for advice. None of us had any problem letting her step away for calls after hearing that.

Once we were within speaking distance to Rarity, I called out. “Hey, Rarity? Everything cool?”

She bounced off her car’s hood in a jolt, spotting us trudging over. Then she looked at her phone’s clock and curdled. “I completely lost track of time! Girls, I am so—” “Save it,” I told her with a hand held up to stop her.

“You didn’t miss anything. The lady saw a guy walk inside a little after you left and pawned us off to him. Apparently, he was a vice mayor, which, I didn’t even know was a thing. Then, he covered for the mayor too. It was all a bust.”

Rarity didn’t lighten up. “Still, I might’ve been able to talk us into the mayor’s office next. I should’ve come back in immediately.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “It’s alright Rarity. You didn’t do anything wrong. What about Ms. Aroma? How is she doing?”

“She...She’s absolutely terrified that something has gone wrong,” she told us while she began unlocking her phone. Then she looked up at me. “Fruity Aroma is the assistant manager for the spa Fluttershy and I frequent. Our friends, Aloe and Lotus, along with Lotus’s mother Cherry Blossom, haven’t been heard from since Friday.”

“Haven’t been— they’re missing?!”

Rarity finished tapping something on her phone and passed it to me. I took one look and recognized what kind of website it was. It was a Missing Persons website. And the three most recent results read Lotus Blossom, Aloe Vera, and Cherry Blossom. They were all added today.

I stared back in horror as Rarity looked at the phone, defeated. “Wait a second, this is what you’ve been talking on the phone about all day?! Rarity, why didn’t you tell us?!”

“We weren’t sure they were missing,” she told us. “I only learned this morning that all of this was happening in the first place when Ms. Aroma called to say that my appointment for today was canceled. I meant to cancel it after school regardless so we could investigate, but when she told me that Ms. Blossom and the girls hadn’t shown up today, I thought I was paranoid. And, besides, I did tell someone. I told Sunset.”

“You told her?” Fluttershy frowned. “But, I don’t think any of us knew.”

“She said she didn’t want anyone finding out until we were sure. And she asked me not to tell anyone until then. I felt guilty about it, but we did still have school after all. It’s not as if we could’ve abandoned our classes and started searching there and then. So I agreed. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Aroma told me she was certain they were missing, so I was waiting to hear what she had to say about the whole ordeal. That was why I stepped out here.”

“Well, now that you know, we can start looking for them, right? We need to call Sunset and the others too. Maybe try and get a hold of Pinkie while we’re at it.”

Rarity’s expression just got worse. “What?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I got off the phone with Sunset a few minutes before you came out here. When I told her that they really were missing, she seemed heartbroken like us at first. But when I told her that I wanted to go help find them, she. She told me not to.”

I felt a part of my brain cramp in on itself. “Say what?”

Rarity gently put her phone away. “She told me that we have to ignore it. She thinks that Lotus, Aloe, and Ms. Blossom are related to the mother and twins who were kidnapped in the game. And I agreed. There’s no reason they would suddenly be missing like this otherwise. But then she said there is nothing that can be done about it and that the Dunamancy has done its work. Sunset believes it’s pointless to try looking for them.”

“The twins,” Fluttershy said with a gasp. “Everybody mistakes Aloe and Lotus for twins.” Then Fluttershy thought about it for a second. “Maybe Sunset didn’t mean it like that? She could have meant that the police might find them?”

“No, Darling. That isn’t what she meant.” Rarity narrowed her eyes at the ground. “I asked her that exactly. She said nobody will find them. Not us, the police, or their families. The only way they’ll turn up is saving them with the game.”

I stared back at her, a chill going down my spine. “So that’s just it? She thinks you should give up on your friends? Because she thinks we can’t help them?!”

“Now hold on a moment. It's not quite...she explained to me a few—" Rarity tried making up an excuse, but she died only a few words in. Eventually, she nodded and confirmed it. “Yes. That was the gist of it. I tried asking what would happen, but she didn’t have an explanation. Sunset seems to have this idea that they’ve been whisked off to some impossible space that none of us have any hope of reaching. And she was just so sure that something terrible would happen if I attempted to go anyway.”

“Hold on. Would? Or might?”

Rarity paused for a second. “She went back and forth on that detail. At this point, I don’t think she knows for a fact. She is just worried about us and very much against the idea.”

“And, are you against it?” Fluttershy asked, sitting on the car hood beside Rarity, ushering her to sit back down with her.

“No. I’m not.” Rarity furrowed her brow. “I told her I couldn’t ignore this. And then, that’s when I realized how distraught Sunset sounded over the phone. Like she had been since yesterday. But whenever we try asking what’s got her so out of sorts, she keeps closing herself off about it and refuses to explain why.”

I folded my arms and let Fluttershy calm Rarity down. Why is Sunset acting like this all of a sudden? We’re all here for her, but she keeps pushing us away. Even with Pinkie. She was all cheered up and Sunset was suspicious about it. And now, we can’t go and help someone else? None of this sounds right.

I let out a low growl and focused on Rarity. “Rarity? Forget about Sunset for a second. Forget about this stupid magic too. These are your friends for crying out loud! And we know for a fact that they’re missing. Act like none of this other stuff is going on. What do you wanna do?”

Rarity looked up at me and after a few seconds she let out a heavy sigh. “I want to find my friends.”

“Awesome. Then we do that.”

Rarity tensed up. “Just like that? Darling, we don’t know what’ll happen if we do. Sunset said that we can only handle what comes after we—”

“Sunset said that she doesn’t know how this magic works! None of us do! But we’ve been spending yesterday and today going around trying to find what changes what! Now that we have a lead and its friends of ours who are in trouble, Sunset says we shouldn’t look?! She’s the one that said we can’t change fate or whatever directly! But we haven’t tried to do anything that proves that! So, let’s try!”

“Rainbow Dash.” Rarity stood up again. “I would love nothing more. But we only know as much about this magic as we do because of Sunset. If we’re saying everything Sunset knows is wrong, we have nothing to go off of.”

“And, what, we have something right now?! We’re sitting in an empty parking lot doing nothing!” I looked between them, determined. “If I found out you guys, or any of my friends went missing for days, nothing Sunset says would ever stop me. I would be out there doing everything to find you guys. If I sat around doing nothing, I'd feel like I’m letting you down. Rarity, you can either keep doing nothing and never find them or try everything and make sure.”

Rarity stared back, going over the words. Sunset was our friend and obviously whatever happened yesterday hit her pretty hard. And we needed to help her too. But right now, there’s three people who haven't been seen for days. If she doesn’t want to help, she can wait.

Finally, Rarity took a slow breath, trading her phone for her car keys. “We helped Ms. Cheerilee when we discovered her leg was broken. Nothing bad happened there. In fact, we were able to help her not long after. And nothing went wrong. Why is this suddenly any different?” Rarity unlocked the car. “Girls? Get in and hold on. I don’t care what this horrid fate magic is trying to do. But I refuse to sit idly by any longer while it rampages all over the place making catastrophes around the people we know. We find them, no matter how long it takes.”

Author's Note

Been a long time coming, hasn't it? Something over a year, I think.

Since I last posted a chapter, I've graduated, moved states, and gotten a career. So, I've been pretty busy. Nevertheless, I've still had this story on my mind off and on. And seeing as how I have this streak of never finishing stories, I wanted to revisit this one and try and work on it for now. As of this moment, I have another three chapters already written. But because I want to make sure I can try and get something of a schedule going, I'm going to hold off on posting them.

Instead, I'm going to try posting on a bi-weekly schedule. So, expect the next chapter around the first Saturday of February. And this time, like I said, I have a reserve. It'll be here.

Huge thank you to the people who read this story in the past! If any of you guys are still around, I've been rereading some of the comments from time to time. I always love reading what you guys have to think on them.

That said, until next chapter.
Cheers,
-Zeke

(38) Eye See You

Th⍀r⍾ Wi⊑⍜d⊑r’s POV
Phan☌⎅⍜in

Argh!" Story released Button’s head and clutched his own, giving out a hiss of pain as his eyes were clamped shut. "Ow—Owwww!”

...

“He had two others at school,” Applejack told him. “What does this make, four? Story, are ya sure yer alright?”

“I’m—I’m good. Good, yeah, good.” Story took a deep breath and shook his head. “They’re not...They don’t last. Long. Besides, it's not like the halluci— I mean. I’m fine now.”

...

"Button, it's fine. I’m good now.” Story shook his head one last time, standing up straight. “See? Nothing to worry about."

See? Nothing to worry about.

At those words, my body seized in pain. Enough to make me awaken for a short time. But, when the pain passed, so did my mind and I was gone until this tingling sensation danced across my tongue. Healing magic. Magic red liquid that restored blood lost from wounds. I knew that feeling from before. Rava used it to wake me up last time. This time, it was Glemerr.

“Thorn, wake up!” She shouted. All her wounds from the red caped killer fight returned. She had not yet drunk the liquid herself. She gave it to me. “We need ya on yer feet!”

When my blood was restored, I took Glemerr’s arm and she threw me to my legs. My vine pulled against my arm. It was still and failed to answer me. It was still like the people in town. And I felt hollow. But the part near my arm was alive enough to allow for movement. It let me grab my scythe when Rava offered it, at least.

“Okay! Rava, you next,” Glemerr tossed the liquid to Rava. Rava tossed it right back.

“Aw no. Not me! Yer a walkin’ bag a’ stabs! Yer chuggin’ next.”

“We do not have time for this!” The other elf of us shouted from behind. She drank her own healing liquid as Stostine hung over her shoulder. Stostine's breathing was fast. Faster than humans normally breathed. Her eyes also flickered one color to another. We knew what it meant. “We have maybe a minute before it kills us again! We need to come up with a plan!”

Rava looked past Glemerr who drank liquid. “RICVEN! Ricven, Platick, hurry up!”

There was no reply.

“HURRY UP!” Glemerr spat out last sip of liquid. Her scream roared across this village. Silence followed.

“Stostine.” Other elf stood Stostine up straight. “Last time, you realized what was killing us. That’s what you said. Remember?! You need to tell us!"

Stostine blinked a few times. Her irises swirled green and red. “Oh, puh-lease, what can you do with my insights?!The last three times we fought it, YOU fucked off to the shadows and let it tear up your sorry a—”

Elf slapped Stostine hard across face and Stostine hung in an unnatural, crooked pose. Like a sapling bent from a windstorm. Stostine’s hand twitched like a spider in many directions. It made my hair prickle seeing it. But Stostine took a deep breath and I calmed with her.

“Th-Thank you,” Stostine breathed. Her eyes were gold again. “And deepest apologies. Now. Everyone.” Stostine looked across us. “It’s the Nothic. It took us out one by one last time. We must be cautious about its gaze. Its eye does not just read secrets. It accelerates the rotting of flesh.”

“Good ta know, but why’s it keep comin’ after us?!” Rava passed the liquid to Glemerr and readied her hammer and shield. “An’ why now?! An’ why ain’t it frozen like all the others?”

“In dat second time, Ah 'eard it,” Glemerr called with a low tone. “It was jus’ me an’ Platick left. It was eatin’ you guys. It was shoutin' 'bout bein' hungry. Den it go' us.”

Rava gagged. “It ate us?!”

“The Redbrands did say Glasstaff made skeletons,” Stostine said. Her eyes shown blue. Emotion left her face. “Rotting flesh may attract rats. Rats that gnaw on bones the necromancer would want. Counterproductive.”

“Vareén, she’s gettin’ upsy again!” Glemerr called.

“Stostine, we need you to focus,” other elf told her. She then knocked an arrow in a direction no one watched. “Weaknesses! What is a Nothic’s weakness?”

“I...I don’t know,” Stostine answered when blue faded away. “I guess, it’s not too hard to hit? Maybe?”

“What do ya mean maybe?” Glemerr asked. “Every time Ah move in, it don’t give me dah chance! It gets me first. And, where are Platick an’ Ricven?!” Glemerr cupped her hands to mouth. “RICVEN! PLATICK! IT DON’ TAKE DIS LONG! WHERE ARE YA?!”

The darkness answered. A lone dagger was thrown from the black expanse and to our feet in Stostine's flames. The toss was unskilled, not from the human man. Worse, skewered on the blade was a set of small, severed hands. Chewed off by how the markings looked. The gnome's hands stuck to the human man’s stolen dagger. It threw it from beyond our darkvision.

“I grow so tired feasting on you all,” its voice creaked from beyond the shadows. All of us focused on its sound. Stostine and other elf prepared fire and arrows towards it.

“Each time I kill the last of you, the world shivers in an inky, black haze. And your meat leaves my body. I was promised meals by him, yet he is living stone. Every creature but you is living stone. And not only can I not feast on them, I cannot GLEAM! Their minds are false! Even your minds are false. This world is false! EVERYTHING! IS! FALSE! WRONG! A FABRICATION OF LIVING STONE AND FRAILTY!”

“That has nothing to do with us!” Stostine shouted back, both hands wreathed in flames. Its mad screaming unnerved us, yet Stostine sought her prey in the darkness. “We are stuck just as you are. We are not the cause of your hunger, nor your anger!”

“But you still are a cause,” it told us. “Catalysts of something more. Something beyond this world. And yet still! I can gleam from you all! Not of the falsities of this world, but the truths of another! Like that gnome! His vessel held secrets. Not of his own. But of Rarity’s. Her secrets give sight to a true world. And her magic and flesh I would have savored on my tongue! The potential makes me shiver...Pity the gnome departed himself in order to save his keeper! I wanted to gleam her truth. And the human I did away with when his false secrets clouded the true.” Its voice became a growl. “Whichever of you I keep alive, I’ll gleam and dig until I find it. That path to your ‘Players.’ And I will never let them go...”

The monster’s eye illuminated from the darkness. A swirling orb of green shining through us like sunlight and leaves. Stostine and the elf did not look away. Instead, they used it as a target to strike.

Stostine threw bolts of flame at the green orb while the other elf fired an arrow and readied her next. Amidst the barrage, Glemerr bellowed a powerful roar and rushed with fists held high and Rava behind her with a hammer ready. Reflected by Stostine’s flame, I saw the bloody results of our ally. Lying beside the creature was the gnome’s carcass. His arms were missing, and a trail of blood led back to the building that creature found him in.

Even when Glemerr got close, it never relied on instinct. It stared back at the orc and let the aura of his eye stream out in a beam of sinister aura that struck Glemerr and tried passing through her. All of Glemerr’s body spotted by the light rotted off of her frame. Her hair, skin and muscles began to fall away. Parts turned to dust. Others slipped from bone. But Glemerr screamed and hurled herself at the monster. It dodged with speed and raked claws along her ribs.

It took an arrow to the shoulder but did not care. A few sparks of fire hit but had weakened from the distance. Rava protected Glemerr by striking her hammer against the monster's claw and that was the first time it flinched in pain. It growled for a moment, its eye closing and therefor was hidden by Stostine and the elf. We heard Glemerr fighting and occasionally could spot her shoulder at the edge of Stostine's fire light. There was a shriek from it, then a roar from Rava. Then a mad cackle before the eye reappeared and swept its sinister light across both Rava and Glemerr multiple times.

Their bodies decayed fast. We only saw them whenever the light reflected through them. Glemerr’s arms had shrunk half their size and her thighs gave out under her own weight. She was heaving. Rava tried hiding behind her shield, but the light passed through it and her armor without fault. We could see Rava’s bright hair turning dull as it fell out in clumps Her armor became too big for her new size.

“Vareén,” Stostine shouted. She launched more fire.

The elf growled but obeyed. She tossed her bow aside and ran in with her sword. The monster did not instantly notice her approach. It was rubbing its eye from using its green light so much. But when Vareén was up close to it, it instead heard her at the last moment and battered away her sword. Then it thrust the other claw through her stomach like a blade.

The elf, surprisingly, did little more but flinch at this pain. She grabbed the embedded claw with one arm and held firm. This surprised the beast long enough for her to plunge the blade between its ribs. Stostine and I watched it back away into the darkness where once more we could not see it. But we heard it cry in anguish.

Stostine stopped casting Firebolt. Too many friends were nearby. She instead took out crossbow, cast a Light spell on a bolt, and then aimed. “Rava! Use this!”

The bolt flew not towards the creature, but a piece of Rava’s armor. Rava was unharmed but shoved into the dirt from force. When she sat back up, she stared at the bolt from the illuminated space. We saw the monster fending off Vareén clearly now.

“What do ya mean use it?!” Rava demanded.

Rava took bolt from the ground. The shadows swayed and revealed Glemerr’s semi-hulking body as she dragged it up onto her knees. Then she pounded the ground, let out another roar, and went in for a tackle on the creature’s side. Its left claw was trapped in the elf’s body and was now wrist-deep from her struggling. It had no way of stopping Glemerr. Sadly, she was too weak now and her tackle meant nothing while the elf was the only real threat. She kept stabbing with her sword, using it like a giant knife. Plunge after plunge, the creature became angrier until it finally came up with a plan.

It ignored the elf for a moment and twisted in a circle. She clung at its arm in an attempt to stay skewered while Glemerr tumbled back. After its spin, it dragged a free claw across Glemerr’s face. The orc tried to bring up her arms, but it was too late. Glemerr's flesh peeled off easily with the monster's claws and Glemerr was brought down.

“RELEASE ME!” Creature shouted at elf, who only stabbed her sword between ribs once more. She left blade within its flesh this time. Then, with her hands free, she took its arm and impaled herself further until its hand emerged beside her spine.

How is she fighting?! Horror stained my face while the monster’s hand coiled and roll from her wound. It tried finding flesh to rip itself free. Other el...Vareén held back screams of pain and reclaimed her blade to try stabbing once more.

The monster was furious. Abandoning its left arm, it drove the other claw into Vareén’s wrist and twisted. Every tendon was torn apart. Vareén's grip on her sword gave away and it clattered to the ground. She was defenseless and the monster took this time to hold open its eyelid once more from directly in front of Vareén.

But her flesh did not rot like the others. Instead, her skin oozed off in slick balls of gray mass. Vareén screamed, her tongue and teeth rotting too, until Rava brought the shining bolt in front of its pupil. The monster shrieked, covering its eye as Vareén spit out bits of rot and dust from her mouth. Teeth came out too. Its arm whipped and Vareén, with thinner flesh, slid off like meat from a stew.

It shanked Rava in shoulders with its claws and lifted her above its head before launching her a distance away. Her armor clattered and the bolt fell from her hands between them. The monster picked Vareén up by the scalp.

“YoU ARe fIrSt! I WilL coNSuMe MInd aNd fleSh aLiKe!” Its eyes glowed once more. This time with its pupil filling the entire orb. Vareén twisted and pulled but when she stared back at the eye, her body went jolted constantly and froth spilled from her mouth.

Twilight Sparkle’s POV
Meanwhile

We were driving outside of Canterlot City towards the Pie Family Farm to find the retired fire tower. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were originally going to come with us, but both of them left to cheer up Story. This meant that Sunset and I were alone. Well, almost alone. Spike was with us, but we still needed a way of driving out of town to get to that tower. And, after some consideration, I suggested we could ask my brother, Shining Armor, for help.

Sunset...Well, it wouldn’t be accurate to say that she agreed. She seemed pretty distant after her talk with Applejack. I didn’t want to pressure her into telling me anything if she didn’t want to. Still, I was not going to leave her alone like this. I thought the best way to help was to try and find answers like she had asked all of us in the first place. Even still, the best Sunset responded with was a mumble or a nod while occasionally absently glancing at her phone. I assumed it was for Rarity and the others for an update on their progress. At this point, it all seemed like autopilot for Sunset as her face was permanently stuck in a sad frown.

It didn’t take much convincing to get Shining Armor to help us out. He already knew how bad magic could become if left unchecked after what happened with the Friendship Games. He didn’t need us to elaborate on the specifics of the magic. He was fine with helping us out and lending a hand wherever he could. It also came as a surprise that Shining knew about the fire tower personally. Apparently, it had been used as a space for college students to hold parties. It used to be a tradition. Up until a few years ago, that is, when the Pie Family was upset at how loud it had become. Likely because of Pinkie and her sisters being too young to stay up late from the music and lights from the edge of the forest.

When we got close, Shining spotted something that neither of us had. He pulled over for a second, approached what looked like a small boulder, and then dragged it away and revealed it was some sort of false decoration. It had some dirt and was overgrown with plant life, but behind it was a dirt path. He got back to the car and told us it was something that had always been there even before he went to college.

Before we could drive, however, Sunset’s phone went off. It was finally Rarity. When Sunset saw that, she took a second to try cheering herself up and asked if they had learned anything. I heard Rarity’s voice, but not her words, and Sunset’s expression dropped all over again. Then, she unenthusiastically excused herself from the car and walked a small distance away to talk in private. I decided to let her have her space and stayed in the car to wait. I wanted to stay by Sunset's side, but I wasn't sure if her walking away was because of Shining or me. I stayed in the car.

“Well. I guess there’s no need to rush anything.” Shining opened the door and fell back into the driver’s seat. “But your friend looks pretty upset. And she didn't say a word the whole way out here. Is everything okay?”

I sunk a little into my seat and absently scratched behind Spike’s ear. I should’ve expected him to ask. “It’s a little hard to explain. All of us are divided on how to fix all of this. And it came to a head when a new friend of ours wanted to...”

I narrowed my eyes. Wanted to call the police. I knew that wouldn’t be the right way to word that. Things were more complicated. And saying that to Shining wouldn't go over well. Or, no, not like... I scrunched up my face and ignored the bad taste that thought left in my mouth. I was still in agreement that reporting the magic like this would be a poor decision. We were the leading experts on this. If decisions were taken out of our hands, I truly believed that things would get worse. But the fact that I knew what Shining's response would be about not calling the police made me doubt myself.

“...Wanted to what?” Shining asked, now worried for me.

“...He wanted to make the magic problem public,” I ultimately said. It wasn’t absolutely accurate, but it would have been a result of Story’s actions. “He thought that by informing more people about magic, it would be safer.”

Shining looked forward for a moment while he thought about it. “And, what do you think?”

After a few seconds, I let out a breath. “I think he doesn’t understand what he’s trying to do. Canterlot High and Crystal Prep have both agreed that the magic we’ve seen should stay between all of us.”

Shining frowned. “But, Twily. Is that really something that you can keep quiet about forever? Since Principal Cinch stepped down temporarily, students have been getting along with each other more. And that’s terrific, but Cadence and I have heard everyone talking about the Friendship Games. Some of them keep in touch with Canterlot High’s students. They try avoiding the topic, but what happened still comes up.”

I stopped scratching Spike’s ear and sunk even lower into my seat. And a ping of guilt and nervousness started to hit me. “Have they been talking about me?”

“I didn’t say that,” Shining eased. "Actually, a few of them have asked about you. They want to reach out to you. To see how you're doing."

“...” I felt my heart start to pick up and my breathing started getting heavier. I saw Spike look back up at me, confused. I cupped the side of his face with my hand and tried to give him a smile, but something felt off. And Spike seemed to notice it too when he stared at my hand and then at my face.

“Twiligthr?” Spike called at me.

‘What?’ I asked. Or tried. But that just made Spike’s ears stand on end.

“Hye.” Shining lightly grabbed my shoulder. I turned and felt my head lull a little. “Twiligt? Aere yio odsay?”

‘What did you say?’ I felt my mouth move, but the sounds that came out of it weren’t the same. And my breathing felt…distant.

Then, it happened.

That ‘ping’ I felt slammed against my mind in full force. I thought I had flinched, but then I heard Shining and Spike screaming in terror. It felt dull and fading. Then, last thing I saw was the look of utter horror and fear from Sunset as she returned to the car. She dropped her phone and sprinted towards me. I lost consciousness. Or at least, I believed I did. I couldn't feel my body. Everything went dark and quiet all at once. The world around me shut away and in its place was the one thing that brought another layer of fear to me.

It was another version of me. She had dark purple skin, raven wings, and piercing bright magic shaped around its demented eyes and spiraling out of its head like a horn. The very same me that nearly destroyed my friends and a school’s worth of innocent people. Another Sparkle, shrouded in midnight and grinning at me with my own face while I floated in an endless shroud of stars and midnight.

“YoU ARe fIrSt! I WilL coNSuMe MInd aNd fleSh aLiKe!”

Midnight Sparkle’s voice screamed with my voice and something else’s. It was laughing maniacally, trembling like a glitching puppet. I tried to move away, swim, fly, push, pull, anything that would create distance, but my body froze. Not from fear but from some sort of force.

“YoU rEAllY thoUghT I’d stAy GONE, DiDN’t you?!”

‘No. No, you’re not real!’ I wanted to scream that, but instead, my voice echoed across the void. ‘Sunset Shimmer helped me defeat you at the Friendship Games!’

That only made Midnight Sparkle cackle more. “hoW aMUsiNg! YoUR sECretS GrAnt mE a foRM! I wiLl eNJOy feAsTIng On yOur Mind! it sEems YOur tHiRst oF MAgiC rIVals MINE!”

She started moving closer and then I saw it. Her face—my face— began to shift. There was a collection of bones popping and skin stretching like elastic as my face on her body transformed before my eyes.

The entire head inflated to the shape of a lightbulb. The deep purple skin split apart in places to reveal reptilian flesh bubbling from underneath. Its nose sucked into the head with a slurp until it no longer existed. Teeth sharpened like needles and the lips flaked away. But worse of all the changes were the eyes. They congealed together into a single putty-like orb that took most of the ‘bulb’ part of her new face. My new face. That mass was a singular eye that took up the entire face with the two pupils swirling together until the eye was just one massive dot with a deep purple glow that lit me up like a spotlight.

I felt my skin literally and figuratively crawling across my body from every space the light struck me. I felt my body hyperventilating despite this distant feeling I had washing over me. It felt like I was only an observer in a suit that could do nothing as this demon's laughter engulfed me in a nightmare.

⍙ho⎍⍾ W⌰el☌er’s POV
P☍a⍾dal⌰⍾

I tugged at my arm, furious Acrine was frozen like the world while Vareén was trapped in the monster’s gaze. Even if I had magic that reached her, it came from my vine. Unless I was free, I could only observe. Rava tried standing. But with her muscles now dust or missing, she struggled. Her armor was too heavy for her. Glemerr's body bled at the monster’s feet, unmoving. And now Stostine could not throw flames without hitting Vareén.

The whole time, it spoke through Vareén. It spoke of a new form and thirst for magic. None of which we understood nor wanted to. The only good tiding was Vareén’s flesh no longer rotted at its gaze. However, she trembled and frothed at the mouth like a diseased animal. She had no control of her body.

“Release her!” Stostine demanded, her eyes a piercing red glow. “Release her now or I will make you regret it!”

“yOUr THrEatS meAn notHiNg! THis oNe IS a Gate ANd notHing mOrE! I wIll esCaPE tHiS FalsIty anD mAKe tHiS TWilIGht MINE!”

Roaring in anger, Stostine flung the fire from her hands to the ground and, having no other choice, drew a small knife from a side pouch. It was not even a dagger. More a thin needle to cut one's food. She started running.

“I SAID RELEASE HER!”

When she was halfway there, the monster prepared his other claw to tear her in half. Before she was anywhere close enough, Rava used all her strength to grab Stostine’s leg and pull her to the ground.

“If me an’ Glem can’t stop it, neither can you! You’ll just die beside ‘er!”

“And you’d let Vareén suffer?!”

“Think girl! It can’t look away from ‘er! Jus’ shoot it from the side!”

“It’ll just turn!”

As they shouted, the monster cackled madly. Its eye flickered from sea green to purple while Vareén’s body started to relax. I kept pulling my vine, trying to drag it and the earth with me. To be useful for them.

If I can be free, I can fight! I want to fight! Please, Acrine!

Another yank and I looked at my scythe. Then my vine again. The world returns to truth when Players come. Acrine will be fine. I only need a moment!

I leveled my scythe where my vine met the earth. I must help! I want to help!

I pulled my scythe over my head, readied myself, and—

“GGGGRRRRIIIAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”

The visions Twilight was tormented with vaporized around her. The swirling green and purple void lost their color and the mangled Midnight Sparkle, once yards away from her, was merely a foot from grasping at Twilight’s face.

Her mind created a thousand possibilities on what the evil clone wanted with her. She felt her own face tingling more and more as it closed the gap. A part of her mind imagined the nose in her peripheral shrinking out of sight to match what was Midnight’s. It introduced to her a new hell on whether or not this was all real.

But now, Midnight Nothic split apart into nothing and finally, the poor teenager was at peace. The illusion became a vacant space and Twilight’s mind gave way to quiet unconsciousness. Her seizing stopped growing while her brother, dog, and friend stood ready to help however they could.

I dropped my scythe and held my ears. The scream echoed in my head until I cursed my mind for listening to it. I fell on my knees and when it finally ended, the scream still rang across the sky.

Wrapped around the body of the monster was the human man; Platick. He clung to its body like an ape with one hand on its shoulder and the other jammed in the creature’s leaking eye where a dagger was twisting around.

The creature dropped Vareén. Her twitching ceased at once before she coughed out froth and her rotten flesh. The shining bolt on the ground revealed to us the creature writhing and twisting, desperate as it grabbed Platick and threw him.

Platick landed with a splat. He was covered in his still wet blood with his chest's clothing ripped apart. A puddle of blood was already gathering under him.

“YOU! THE HUMAN! I TORE YOUR STOMACH APART! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!”

Platick stood back up, clutching his stomach. He coughed blood and other shimmering liquid.

Healing liquid, I realized.

Even without sight, the monster stared exactly where Platick stood. “I was close! CLOSE! A MOMENT MORE and I would have that girl's mind! YOU’VE ROBBED ME OF REALITY!”

Platick didn’t answer. He spat out more blood and healing liquid. When he was done spitting, he looked at Stostine and Rava. “Who has the potion?! Wherever it is, get i—” his words were choked by more blood.

Vareén did not answer. Glemerr did not move. Stostine looked to Rava who tried dragging herself to Glemerr's body. The healing liquid hung from her belt.

“NO! NO ONE RISES!” I roared, looking now to Rava. She flinched. “I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU ALL THEN TAKE TWILIGHT AGAIN!”

“NO!” I stood again and took the scythe in my hands. With a twist, I swung at my vine with no delay. The part underground was solid. That above ground not. It was mine to sacrifice.

Using that, I severed Acrine and the world went mute. Colors, sights, sounds, feeling, all of it felt like I was not living. Not as before. I felt my heart slow and fight against my will to act. I only ran out of feral desire.

I shrieked, raising my scythe high. I had to shove Stostine away with my elbow. The whole way, the monster turned to face me and bared its claws. Its teeth formed words I gave no thought to hear. From the side, Platick’s hand left his stomach and drew a dagger. I saw it. His stomach was open. It leaked from a wound that monster caused and Platick’s hand was all that saved it from nature’s rot. It too had healing liquid spilling free.

The liquid. He did not drink it. He consumed it, I realized. The want of life. The wild rage. I knew that desire. We would both use it.

Platick threw the dagger and it stuck into the monster’s shoulder, making it flinch. It tried ignoring the pain and focused instead on me. It knew I was coming, but his attempt to strike me failed. The dagger made its arm weak and sluggish.

I ducked under the arm and slammed my foot into the earth. I reached for a connection no longer there, though I dismissed this empty feeling. Using raw instinct, I twisted my body and let my scythe whistle across the night air. It found no resistance. The monster found no head atop its neck.

With no force linking me and the earth, the scythe’s weight tossed me aside. I fell to the ground. I did not care where I landed. My task was done. The monster’s head landed next. And then its knees. And finally, between me and Glemerr and Ricven’s bodies, its chest crashed without defiance.

It was finished. Stostine, Rava, Vareén, and Platick were all alive. Glemerr was not and Ricven’s body was worse than her’s.

I held up my arm, looking at the short tendril of vine that hung out. It was crumbling to dust. I was empty. Acrine gave me purpose. There was less than an arm’s length, and the crumbling plant shrunk every instant. In an act of defiance, I dipped my arm and vine into the creature’s blood. It was nutrients now. The vine’s crumbling slowed, but it was too late. The creature took my life a fourth time.

I heard Rava struggling in her armor. I turned over and watched her struggle to reach Glemerr and her healing liquid. She stared back with tears in her eyes. I smiled softly and closed my own. The anger that moved me had left. The creature was dead. If this world brought it back, it would bring me as well. And if I did not awake, I would know the others would be safe until our Players returned.

Sunset Shimmer’s POV
Meanwhile

Spike and I panicked over what we were supposed to do. Spike wanted to shake Twilight out of it. He was shouting and howling for her to wake up. I was trying to run over to Twilight’s door. I wanted to get her outside of the car and lie her down on the ground. She was banging her arms and legs on everything and Spike was trying to hold Twilight’s head straight.

I opened the door and immediately Shining shouted for us to freeze. I had never heard anyone shout that loudly or forcefully before. Not without being angry, at least. I obeyed him and took a step back as he picked up Spike and took him out of the car.

I tried making a case or telling him we had to get her out of there, but he ignored me and worked fast. He ran around the car, set Spike down beside me, and worked to move the seatbelt away from Twilight’s neck. Then, he lowered the passenger’s seat back as far as it would go and turned her on her side to help with the foam. She now faced myself and Spike as we stood there, mortified. Her eyes looked as if they were rolled into the back of her head. She couldn’t hear or see us.

When Shining tossed away anything loose that Twilight might bump into, he removed her glasses and then opened the backseat door and pulled out a towel. He worked fast to wad it up and then tuck it behind her head as a makeshift pillow. He had full control of the situation. Maybe it was training from Crystal Prep, but Shining made every action with purpose and when he ran out of things to do, he stayed by her side. He wouldn't pull his eyes away from her for even a second and was ready to act however he needed to next.

“Wh-What do we do now?” I asked, sounding entirely out of breath. “Is she gonna be okay?!”

“She’s strong. She’s going to be fine.” His voice was trembling, but his face remained stern. “Sunset, I want you to be honest with me here. Is this anything like back at the Friendship Games?”

I took in a breath and felt a chill. “What?”

“Is it?” He glanced at me for a second before turning right back to Twilight. “I wasn’t there. I only heard about it from Cadence and Twilight. I didn’t see what anything looked like. I know she was turned into some magical thing, but it sounded like Twilight didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t push it. But you need to tell me! Did anything like this happen before?!”

I shook my head. “No. Nothing like this. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Magic’s gotten to our emotions, or attacked us, but I’ve never seen anything like this! It's never made anyone sick or-or go into shock like this! Is she gonna be okay?!"

“I'm going to keep an eye on her," he told me. "Listen. Open the trunk. There's a first aid kit in there and some emergency blankets. I want you to set up the blanket. When she starts to calm down, we're going to move her onto the ground, but not a moment before that! Understand?"

"Y-Yes! Yes, got it! Blankets and first aid! On it!" I ran over to the driver's seat and found the trunk pedal. Once I pulled it, I rushed over and saw Spike trying his best to push the trunk open from underneath. I did it for him and he leapt in, immediately digging out the kit and carrying it over to Shining. I found what looked like a bundled-up blanket and pulled it out to bring over.

"Thanks Spike," Shining told him, taking it and opening it only to set it down beside him. "Water! Spike, do you know where—" "Backseat! Already on it!"

Spike ran under the car to the driver's side and from there leapt into the backseat to start rummaging while I rolled out the blanket. It was pretty big, so I folded it over to try and cushion it a bit more.

After what felt like eternity in my head, Shining started to stand up. "Sunset? She's starting to calm down. Be ready."

"Right!"

Twilight's spasms slowed to just minor twitching and her breathing began to calm down. I stayed a couple feet back, wanting to give her space to breathe, but it wasn't until I saw Twilight coughing out the foam and spotted her purple irises start to open again. Oh thank Celestia, she's okay!

“Twilight? Twilight, can you hear me?” Shining spoke, his stern attitude breaking into worry.

“i. y-yeah...? shining?”

“Oh, thank goodness! You suddenly started convulsing and we were so worried. Here, let’s get you out and onto the ground, okay? We need you to lie down flat. Sunset? Slow going, alright? And be ready to support her.”

I nodded and together we worked to carry Twilight out of the car. She was weak and slow to respond, but she wasn't trembling anymore. When she was good and on the floor, Shining doubled back for the towel and gently put it behind Twilight's head again as a pillow. During all of this, Spike dropped off a bottle of water and then carefully dragged the first aid kit close to Twilight before finally retrieved her glasses.

“Twilight, I want you to try and keep talking with me, alright?” He spoke softly. I started to unscrew the water bottle, but Shining shook his head. “Not right away. But be ready." Then he looked back to her. "You just had a seizure. You were out for a little less than two minutes, but I want you to keep talking to us. Try and walk us through what you remember. Or just anything at all.”

“I...Yeah, okay. Sure.” She was short of breath and started wiping the foam away from her mouth. “We. We were talking in the car. Sunset walked away to talk with Rarity. You were worried about her.” She looked around, spotting me sitting on the ground a couple feet to her side. She didn’t have her glasses on, but I wasn’t a hard shape to miss.

“We talked about Crystal Prep," she continued. "And then, I felt this pain in my head. And then...Then, there was.” She started explaining what she saw. What she called Midnight Sparkle, the space-like void around her, and then it turned into that image Story showed us from the game. The Nothic.

“Wait, a Nothic?” Shining Armor perked up. “Is. Isn't that...Twilight, is that from the D&D game you and the others play?”

I gave him a curious glance. "You know about that?"

"Yeah, I do." Shining nodded to me. "Those books Twilight's been keeping with her are mine, actually. I was kind of excited when I heard all of you were interested in playing it. I thought only Dad and I would be fans of that game. But I don't get it. Why did you see a D&D monster?"

Twilight curled in on herself a little, looking guilty. And when Spike nudged her glasses into her lap, Twilight put them on and gave me a sorry look and struggled to come up with an answer.

She wants to keep the magic a secret, I thought. Because of me.

I frowned and stared at the ground for a second. "...I can explain." I admitted, watching Twilight's shadow as she turned to give me a look. "The magic got into the game. It's what's causing problems around town. I've been asking the girls to help me figure out what's going on, so we know what's connected to what in the game."

"And there's a nothic causing this?" Shining blinked.

"That...I don't understand." I shook my head. "The magic isn't supposed to be able to affect us. We were supposed to be safe. The magic shouldn't. I-I don't. Twilight, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't think anything like this was going to—" Twilight leaned forward and tried her best to pull me in for a hug. She was trembling again, but not in the same way that she was from the seizure. This time, it came with sobs.

"This isn't your fault." She told me. "In fact, I don't think it was anybody's. Please don't blame yourself for this." She pulled away and looked me in the eyes with a smile to try and cheer me up. "When I saw it, the Nothic said it wanted to use me. It wanted to get out of Story’s world. But it wasn’t just the Nothic. It was hard to tell, but I think I heard our characters too. Stostine mostly. She was furious. And then I saw something attack Midnight Sparkle from behind. It looked like a ghost. And when they tore at its eye, everything went away. Our characters were fighting it off as best they could. But I think they're in trouble. Some of them sounded hurt. They demanded it let go of Vareén.”

"Vareén?" I blinked. "But why would something attack Vareén? How is anything attacking Vareén? We aren't playing the game. And we have our character's papers. Story couldn't try anything with them even if he wanted to!"

Twilight sat up and I saw Shining give me a signal to pass Twilight the water. I did and she took a long sip before speaking again. "I don't think he's causing this. And I know you and Story had a fight and you don't want to talk about it. And I won't force you, but...I'm sorry, but I need to find out what happened. We need to find him and the others. I'm terrified something bad might happen to them next. It might be going after another character right now. And I can't imagine this happening to our friends."

"Twilight, I don't know about his," Shining Armor warned her. “What if you have another episode like that? We should drop you off at home. Wherever your friends are, I can help get Sunset to them. Besides, magic or not, we have to tell Mom and Dad about what happened to you. We can't hide this.”

Again, Twilight looked over to me and I watched Shining follow her gaze to me as well. He was suspicious to see her hesitating like this. Especially because of me.

A part of me knew telling Twilight's parents was the right choice. But the rest of me was trying to come up with another option. I even tried determining if it was possible to tell them about Twilight's condition without the magic. The less people that knew about what was going on, the better. It was bad enough that Story, Gilda, Ms. Cheerilee, and now Shining knew. The list was getting too long.

"Sunset." Shining waited until I looked up. "I'm not about to lie to my parents. Especially now that my little sister had a seizure. If neither of you will tell them, I will.”

Twilight struggled between the two of us for a second, but ultimately, she nodded. “Sunset, I don’t want to lie to them either. Not them. Please understand.”

I took a breath and shook my head. “Of course I understand. And I don't blame you. There's no other way around this. We tell them about the magic and let you rest. And...I'll figure out what to do. You're right. We need to make sure this nothic problem doesn't happen to the others. That's our first priority right now.” I started reaching for my pocket only to freeze. "I dropped my phone on the way back. Spike? Could you help me out?"

"No problem! I'll sniff it out as fast as I can." Spike took off down the path the same way I came back from and started sniffing around.

"That reminds me." Twilight looked to me after Shining helped her to her feet and was ready to catch her if it came to it. "You got off the phone with Rarity. What did she say? Were they able to find the mayor?"

"Mayor?" Shining looked between us. "What happened to the mayor?"

"It's a long story," I told him. "Not to mention, they couldn't see her anyways. Rarity told me they were trying their best, but the secretary was stopping them. Then, Rarity found out who was connected to the twins and mother."

"Twins and Mirna," Twilight gasped. "She found them? What happened?"

I bit my lip. "That's even harder to answer." Spike sprinted back over with my phone in his mouth. I gave him a nod, wiped the dog slobber off, and opened it. No more calls or texts since I got off the phone. "Come on. I'll call them on the way back and then fill you in."

Shining helped Twilight back into the car and I packed the trunk. Once everything was ready, Shining Armor drove us back to their house. As he did, I opened my contacts and tried calling Rarity back. It went to voicemail, but not before a few rings. So, I tried Rainbow Dash next. It only took two rings before it too was sent to voicemail. Meanwhile, Fluttershy's went straight to voicemail without ringing once.

“You have to let it go for now,” I told Rarity over the phone. “I know they’re your friends, but we can’t help them. Fate is stuck like this. Nobody, not you or the police, will find them unless we save them in the game first. The whole point of tracking down what's connected was to figure what to do and where to go in the aftermath. Not to force things to change!”

“Darling, I don’t know if I can just walk away from them like this! They’re just as much my friends as you and the girls are. At the very least, I want to be there for their families and tell them they aren’t alone in this. I at least want to talk them through this!”

I shook my head, my heart wrenching as I spoke. “Doing that will only make it worse. You'll only be giving them false hope. If they ask for your help, what are you going to tell them? The truth? That they won't find them? The only thing we can help is with the game. It's better to leave it be and focus on the real problems.”

No! I panicked. She thinks I don't care. Please, just pick up and listen! I tried Rainbow again. She sent it to voicemail faster. Rarity must have told the others. No. No, I'm sorry, please answer! It's for Twilight! In a small panic, I was about to ask for Twilight's phone, but stopped myself. They think I'm trying to talk them out of it. If I call with Twilight's phone right after trying myself, they might start ignoring her calls too.

Instead, I tried Applejack's phone. Then Pinkie's. Both skipped straight to voicemail. It was like with calling Fluttershy. Something was blocking the call. Blocked... I opened Story's contact. I stared at the number for a few seconds. The chat history was cleared, and I never had a picture for him like I did each of the girls. At some point, I debated deleting the number from my phone entirely. I ended up not and, for this one moment, I was almost glad for that.

I unblocked him, pressed call and, like Pinkie and AJ, direct to voicemail. Not a single one of my friends wanted to answer my calls. I pushed them away and now none of them wanted to talk when we needed them most.

After a few more attempts, I finally gave up and opened the group chat that included Story. I spent the next five or so minutes trying to find the best way to write out an apology to the girls and then try explaining to them what happened to Twilight. I hit send and, the whole way to Twilight's house, there was no response and I felt absolutely terrible.

Author's Note

Originally, this Author's Note was at the top of the chapter warning about the chapter for applying all the usual tags without some build up. I went ahead and remade the Note for down here because that's what the tags on the story are for.

This is why the story officially has the gore tag though. The story might not be actually gory compared to others, but for moments like this, better safe than sorry. Plus, I likely took any shock value out of this chapter with the unneeded warning.

That said, in Thorn Wielder's honor, I figured I would post this here:Thorn Wielder's 50 Answers. I said in the past I made something like this for each character and I wanted to start fanning those out too.

Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope that you have been enjoying the story! And, of course, give me any critiques you got. They are always appreciated! Especially if it's on something that I need to improve on.

Cheers,
-Zeke

(39) Missed Calls

Rarity’s POV
Canterlot City Suburbs
Monday Afternoon

The drive between City Hall and Cherry Blossom’s house normally took fifteen minutes. In my haste to make up for lost time, I cut it down to eight. The entire time, Fluttershy was anxious, and Rainbow Dash was a little too excited by my bad habit. It had gotten so bad that when someone honked at me, I couldn’t even tell where it came from. I took that as my final warning and slowed down, but by that point we were already in the neighborhood.

While I drove, Fluttershy was on my phone speaking with the spa’s assistant manager, Fruity Aroma. She was the one who reported Lotus and the others as missing. Since Mrs. Aroma had a key to their home and was a trusted family friend, she could allow the police to search it for any clues. They never found anything that determined where Lotus and the others had gone.

Currently, Mrs. Aroma was still at Lotus and Cherry’s residence. She was desperate to find anything that would help track them down. We were heading there to hear the whole case in person and offer our help. Regardless of whether or not Sunset thought it was a good idea.

“Oh. Rarity?” Fluttershy turned to me. She was in the passenger seat and Rainbow was in the center of the backseat, leaned as far forward as her seatbelt allowed. “Sunset’s trying to call. Should I switch to her?"

I bit my lip while turning onto a new road. “Send it to voicemail. I'm afraid I might lose myself and say something I'll truly regret if I answer that call.”

Fluttershy’s mouth formed an uncomfortable line and she did exactly that. Then she told Mrs. Aroma we were just down the road and put the phone down. “Do you think we should at least let her know where we’re going? She may be worried about us.”

“Fluttershy, if you think that would be best, I will not stop you,” I told her. When I spotted Mrs. Aroma in the doorway of one of the houses, I started parking. “But I think for right now, a little distance would be best.”

“I mean, that’s what she’s been doing to us,” Rainbow huffed. “We tried all day to talk to her and she’s blown us off every time. She needs a taste of her own medicine.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and then took out her buzzing phone for a moment. She frowned at it, declined the call, and stuffed it away.

“Now, Rainbow Dash, let’s not go that far,” I told her. “Whatever’s happened, she doesn’t mean anything by it either. We all need to take some time. We’ll help where we can here, and then approach her when we’ve composed ourselves.”

I took my keys, tossed aside my seatbelt, and climbed out before walking onto the grass. I made it perhaps three feet before Fruity Aroma was already halfway down the yard. She looked as exhausted as she sounded over the phone and her spa uniform was absolutely disheveled and missing a few key elements. One most specifically was the hairband she always wore to keep her hair back. With it gone, her hair was a frazzled mess and hid her eyes that now lacked their usual attentiveness. She had a light jacket over her uniform despite the warm weather and was clutching her phone in such a way where she may have forgotten she was holding it altogether.

Nevertheless, her face lit up upon seeing us and she did her best to act in brighter spirits for everyone’s sake but her own.

“Rarity, thank you so much for dropping by to help.” Mrs. Aroma pulled me in for a hug. She wasn’t the type to give hugs, so I returned it with all the care I could. “My husband and Aloe’s family have been looking all day for some hint about Cherry and the girls, but so far there’s been nothing!”

“It’s quite alright Mrs. Aroma. We’re just happy to help in whatever way we can.” I patted her hand and gave her a smile of my own. “With enough of us out there looking for them, it’s only a matter of time until they’re home safe.”

“Speaking of enough of us, where are the police?” Rainbow Dash asked after glancing around. There were no other cars around except for mine and Mrs. Aroma’s. “Shouldn’t they be around here looking for clues or something?”

“Oh, yes!” Mrs. Aroma ushered us all to follow her inside Lotus and Cherry’s home. “They left maybe a half hour ago. They were here almost all morning. When no one heard from Cherry or the girls all day, not even the school, someone suggested a wellness check. And since I was the last person that might’ve seen them, I answered some questions. I have a key for Cherry’s house too. I asked the police if I should leave everything as is, but they said that this isn’t considered a crime scene.”

“Wait, it's not?” Rainbow asked, making Aroma pause at the steps to the front door. She whipped around and I could see the doubt and worry behind her eyes.

“N-No?” She said quizzically. “They said that since Cherry’s car and most of their phones are gone, they likely left on their own. And they said these things don’t usually mean there’s a crime scene at home. Why? Does that sound strange?”

I slid between Rainbow and Mrs. Aroma. “I think Rainbow Dash just assumed that if the police searched everything, it would be considered a crime scene. It’s not always the case, darling.” That last part I said with my back to Mrs. Aroma and a tense expression on my face. I was trying to make her get the hint.

Thankfully, she did. Rainbow started nodding frantically. “Right! Right, yeah! Totally my bad! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Mrs. Aroma nodded after a second. “It’s fine. To be honest, I don’t understand much of how this works myself. I don’t even read mystery novels. I just try to steer clear of things like this.”

I gave out a chuckle and tried to stay in light spirits. “Well, not to worry. I’ve read plenty of them for both of us.”

Aroma seemed to take the joke well enough and walked in with Fluttershy following behind. Meanwhile, I kept Dash out with me for a second. “Rainbow Dash, you cannot just blurt out things like that!”

“I said sorry!” She whisper-yelled back to me. “But it doesn’t make sense! The mom and twins from the game got kidnapped at home!”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Mrs. Aroma showed Fluttershy a few things the police investigated. “In the game, yes. But we’ve seen multiple times now that not everything is a one-to-one basis. If it turns out nobody was kidnapped, then we shouldn’t throw that word around. Besides.”

I stood at my full height and spoke regularly. “In most crime mysteries, it’s a rule of thumb to never chain yourself to a theory. Always focus on the facts.”

Rainbow gave a deadpan stare. “You really think relying on mystery novels is gonna work?”

“It’s not like I can rely on experience.”

Both of us stepped inside and looked around, but there wasn’t much to investigate. There was no tossed furniture or signs of any distress. There were extra pillows and blankets in the living room, but I knew Lotus and Aloe tended to sleep over at one another’s homes often. They were huge fans of terrible horror movies too. The TV was turned on to a streaming service that was cycling through movie stills.

We caught back up to Fruity Aroma and Fluttershy in the kitchen and right away I plugged my nose. Starting from the sink, there were mostly mixing bowls and pans with a few cooking utensils. But no plates and silverware. Instead, those were still laid out on the dining table with half-finished pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Flies were buzzing over the scraps and platters of leftovers.

“Like I said,” Cherry continued talking to Fluttershy. “Cherry’s car is gone and all of their phones, save for Lotus’s, are missing too. So are Cherry’s license and keys. The police think they left the house willingly. But we can’t figure out where they could have gone.”

Fluttershy spotted a calendar hanging from the wall inside the kitchen. After checking it over, she looked back at Mrs. Aroma. “Does Miss Blossom have a planner? Anything that would show what she might have been up to?”

“That was the first thing they checked.” Mrs. Aroma shook her head. “That and the girls’ social media. The last time they posted anything was on Friday night.”

The last day they were ever seen then. “And you’re sure about that? Not even a like or comment anywhere after Friday? The two of them are online all the time.”

“Positive.” Mrs. Aroma nodded. Then she started counting them out. “I checked UsTube, Photogram, Twixxer, Posterest, Snaptalk. For both of them! I even checked the business accounts hoping they signed into the wrong one.”

Rainbow Dash hummed for a second. “Do either of them have a TokTik account?”

Mrs. Aroma took a small gasp and then groaned. “TokTik. I thought I was missing one! Lotus makes videos for that one during slow days. Honestly, how many social media accounts does everyone need?”

I pulled out my phone and opened TokTik at the same time. “Oh, I think we can all agree it’s imperative we keep up with the latest trends. Not to worry though, I know Lotus’s account. She’s constantly making these goofy ones Pinkie and I laugh over.”

Mrs. Aroma huffed. “You know, a trend implies you're moving from one account to the next, not collecting them.”

I allowed myself a small smile and opened Lotus’s account. I clicked my tongue. “It doesn’t look like Lotus posted anything. Then again, it is her phone still on the dining table.”

“What about Aloe?” Rainbow asked. “Anything from her?”

I hummed and tapped around. “I know that Aloe has an account, but she doesn’t usually post anything. Still, I follow her too. Doesn’t hurt to...Wait! Rainbow Dash, good call! She posted one!”

“She did?” Fluttershy hurried over with the others to all look over my shoulder. “Is it about where she is?”

“Not quite.” I held out my phone to show Aloe’s page. “It says here that the last and only video she made was posted on Saturday. From the look of it, Lotus made the video’s description.”

I pressed play and all of us stared at the screen. It showed one of those singing fish decorations mounted on a wall. We saw the tiny red button underneath it get pushed by Lotus’s finger. It ‘flopped’ around a little before turning to the camera and speaking.

“Let’s get ta fishin’!”

Only, it was in Aloe’s voice.

Then the camera switched to Aloe. She was dressed in her pajamas and wearing a tiny ruby pendant. She was standing in a dining room entirely different to the one we were in. Right down to the walls, ceiling, and décor. In general, the building looked like a log cabin rather than a suburban cookie-cutter home. It also looked like it could do with some spring cleaning in a few places.

However, we also saw a window behind both her and the dining table. It was a bright sunny day and there was a massive forest right outside. The tops of thin trees seemed level with the window itself, if not lower in elevation.

Aloe was obviously doing her best to keep from laughing and just as before with the fish decoration, Lotus’s hand moved into frame. It was obvious that she was holding the phone too. Lotus then pressed the ruby just like she did with the button. Then, Aloe started moving her head and arms around to mimic the fish before looking directly at the camera.

“Let’s get ta fishin’!” Her mouth was moving, but it was this rough, country voice that was entirely unlike this petite, adorable spa worker.

That’s where the video ended and Rainbow Dash was trying to contain herself while the rest of us were chuckling a little. I guess, given the severity of the situation, the last thing we expected to see was the two of them goofing around.

That's definitely Lotus’s style of humor, I confirmed. I checked the description but frowned. “Found a cool fish sign. Might be broken though. #letsgetfishin #saturdaymorning +LotusB.”

“So, they did leave the house on their own. Oh, thank goodness,” Fluttershy said with a breath.

Rainbow cleared her throat. “Remind me to follow them after we find them.”

“Alright, so, assuming that this was after breakfast,” Mrs. Aroma said, gesturing towards the flies. “Aloe should still have her phone. But no one can get a hold of her. It doesn’t help much.”

“Not so. We learned a lot of things from this.” I replayed the video and paused on the fish. “First, it's just as you said. They wrote Saturday morning in the description. Which says they left right after breakfast and straight to wherever this is. I’m assuming there’s no talking fish décor anywhere here, yes?”

“Oh, absolutely not,” Mrs. Aroma confirmed. “Cherry can’t stand fish. Not for fishing or eating. She hates the idea of even visiting the aquarium.”

“Is there anyone you know that has this thing?” Rainbow asked. Aroma simply shook her head.

“Nevertheless, we know then that it isn’t at home. But, the fact that Aloe was in her pajamas also shows they aren’t anywhere public. The two of them would never go anywhere in public without getting ready.”

Mrs. Aroma nodded. “You’re right. There are two outfits laid out on Lotus’s bed. One’s hers and the other Aloe’s probably. I don’t get why they wouldn’t take the time to get ready though.”

“Maybe they didn’t care enough.” Rainbow shrugged. “I mean, wherever that is, it doesn’t look like they were up to anything important.”

“And they didn’t clean up their plates before leaving.” Fluttershy thought for a second. “Maybe...They didn’t think they’d be gone for long?”

“Possibly.” I played the video through some more. But what would they be doing that would be a short trip?

“Let’s focus on the location,” I decided. “We’re trying to determine where more than anything else. Let's start with that window. There’s no forest that near this neighborhood. And the structure is incredibly unique. There’s no plaster or drywall to be found. Just wooden slats. And the roof beams are visible.”

Fluttershy tried looking a little closer, so I passed the phone to her. “...I see pine and juniper trees. And fully grown ones. Trees like this should be more than twice as tall as a two story house, at least. But they’re shorter. This house is probably on a hill.”

“Hey, good point.” Rainbow looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Now that you mention it, you never see that many of those trees anywhere near town.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “They’re not. You’d see something like this closer to the Everfree Forest.”

“The west side of town,” I deciphered. “Come to think of it, it’s not a long drive from here to the west side. Maybe ten minutes, tops.”

“Or, if you’re driving? Five,” Rainbow joked. I gave her a look, but I felt a splash of warmth on my cheeks and decided to let her win.

“Maybe right outside city limits?” Mrs. Aroma tapped at her chin. “But they left their dishes on the table. Cherry might not be the most organized person in the world, but she wouldn’t leave dishes out if she were leaving town.”

“Possibly, they didn’t think they’d be gone forever.” I crossed my arms and thought aloud. “A short trip. They didn’t get dressed. They went just outside of town. They drove. And on Saturday morning. What might that tell us about where they are specifically?”

“Maybe they went to visit someone at their house after breakfast?” Fluttershy frowned. “No. They would have gotten dressed if they went to visit someone.”

“If that’s the case, then the alternative is that they went somewhere no one was at. We know when and how. Saturday morning and Miss Blossom’s car. We’re almost out of clues for where, so that leaves us with what and why. Why did they go there and what were they doing?”

“Well, they were making a video,” Rainbow tossed.

I gave out a chuckle. “Rainbow Dash, Lotus might love making videos like that, but she wouldn’t go to someone’s house just to shoot a video of a tacky fish toy. Especially when her phone’s here with us.”

Rainbow clicked her tongue and nodded along. “Right. Good point.”

I retrieved my phone back from Fluttershy and tapped my finger on the screen so it wouldn’t go to sleep mode. We’re already at a dead end. There’s bound to be dozens of houses on the outskirts of town. So what else?

A notification for a text message appeared from Sunset. It was addressed to a group chat. I sighed and flicked the notification away. Sorry Sunset, but not now. We’re onto something here. I promise.

I bit at my nail and thought about it for a second. If we’re running out of clues from this angle, should I try something else? Perhaps the game’s events? Even though it wasn't the same scenario, other events may be similar. To start, there’s the events leading up to the kidnapping. The mother and father were out for a night to themselves when the criminals killed the father. Sometime later, the mother and twins were whisked away without anyone to save them.

In reality, Miss Blossom was a single mother to Lotus. Lotus didn’t know her father personally. Cherry Blossom’s husband was a soldier that lost his life some time ago. That seemed different. Then again, the game’s father was a city guard killed before the events of the kidnapping. You could argue the same difference.

I paced into the living room, letting the girls talk amongst themselves or watch as I moved. We learned from Mirna’s father and a craftsman of town that Mirna and the twins' home was broken into. They were then kidnapped by the Redbrands and dragged off to a lodge in the woods.

Broken into. I shot a look at Mrs. Aroma as she took the chance to clean the dishes. Now that breakfast didn't matter, there was no reason to leave it out. I suppose their house was ‘broken into.’ Someone entered their home without their knowledge. This was after they went missing, however.

Then, dragged off to the woods, I continued thinking. Fluttershy confirmed that they’re somewhere near, if not in, the woods. That’s similar to the game, too. Thorn Wielder was the one who found the hunter’s lodge the Redbrands were based in. It was only a few minutes outside of town.

A hunter’s lodge. I suppose if Lotus and Aloe represent the twins, it’s not far-fetched to imagine a hunting lodge represented by the home of someone who loves hunting.

Loves hunting? Wait. We heard about something regarding hunting not long ago. I whipped around to the others. “Fluttershy, Can you confirm something?”

“Erm, yes?” Fluttershy perked up, followed by the others.

“Yesterday, you said the hunting goods store was sold out of crossbows. Is that right?”

“Mm-hmm. That’s right. They were purchased and then picked up earlier in the week for a trip out of town. They were still missing when I went to check on Sunday.”

“From the décor to the location, that home Aloe was in is exactly what I would imagine a hunter’s home to look like. If a hunter bought one of those crossbows and then left town, he wouldn’t be home on Saturday when they paid a visit. Now, we still don’t know for sure why, but those two events sound like they’re of some similar thread, no?”

“Maybe they’re friends with that hunter then!” Rainbow grinned. “Which means if we find out whose house that belongs to, we might just find them!”

Fluttershy had a flash of insight within her eyes. “I remember the store owner mentioning hunting and fishing meetings that happen at people’s homes. Maybe he would know.”

Mrs. Aroma watched us coming up with plans and theories and let herself take a breath of relief. “I’m no hunter myself, but I know how I can help. Rarity, could you forward me a link to that video? I can send it to Aloe’s family and the police to keep them updated on what we found. It might narrow the search in some way. Not to mention, I think Aloe's family would appreciate seeing their daughter in high spirits like this.”

A warmth welled up within me and I made quick work of the task. “Think absolutely nothing of it! I’m just thankful I was able to help at all.” I gave a glance at Rainbow Dash, who gave me a thumb’s up in return.

Story’s POV
Canterlot Mall
A half hour later

The doors to the theatre were thrown open with the five of us each carrying oversized sodas. Together, with my points and Pinkie’s generous snack fund, we ate like kings for that whole movie. I think Applebloom ended up pocketing a few candy bars by the end of it. Pinkie did too, except ‘pocket’ wouldn't be the right word.

“Er, Pinkie?” I glanced at the back of her head. “You have a chocolate bar sticking out of your hair.”

“Huh? Oh!” Pinkie felt around for a second and pulled out an entirely separate candy bar from deeper in her hair. She stared at it before giggling at me. “This isn’t a chocolate bar, silly! This is a peanut butter bar!” She then proceeded to slide it back into her hair until it was entirely out of sight.

The theatre doesn’t even sell that candy bar, I thought silently. How long has it— I forced myself to stop thinking about it and shake my head. “You gotta be doin’ this kinda thing on purpose.”

“Well, obviously,” she admitted. “What, do you think candy bars just fall into my hair everyday?”

I bit my tongue and stared back to the chocolate bar as my voice betrayed no emotion. “No, of course not. That would be crazy. If only though, right?”

Applejack, watching this whole thing, chuckled to herself before pulling the chocolate bar out of Pinkie’s hair and handing it to her. “Like we told ya Story, don’t think about it too much.”

Pinkie happily took the chocolate bar and set her soda in her hair, with it somehow staying upright, so that she could use her other hand to open the wrapper. “I remember. It just gets so difficult, you know?”

Applejack and I kept debating the physics around Pinkie Pie and her lack of them. At the same time, Applebloom glanceed over at my little brother who already had his face stuffed into his JoyBoy. “What game are ya playin’?“

“Ballad of Glyphs,” Button mumbled. “Rhythm game. Solve puzzles to beat enemies but every move you make has to be made to the beat.”

“Ballad of...Oh, wait.” Applebloom paused. “Ah think Sweetie Belle mentioned that before. She said she listens ta the music online all the time.”

“Yeah, it's pretty good. And, people make remixes and original songs all the time. It's still pretty popular.” Button stood in place for a second, pushing buttons like a madman for a couple seconds before he grinned and sped walked back up to us. All while he still had the jumbo soda in his other hand. “They can post them for others to download and play too. They’re not good though.”

“Not good? Almost every time Sweetie listens ta music, she’s got a new song from it. What Ah’ve heard ain’t bad either.”

“The songs are good,” Button told her. “But the levels are horrible. The inputs never match with the songs or just don’t feel right. Or, the inputs feel good but the songs remixes are bad. That’s why I only play the original levels the game has.”

Applebloom then started to frown. “But, yer game don’t have any music comin’ from it. Is it busted err somethin’?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I'm playing on mute. The people that made the game made the puzzles so good, you can play without music and still follow a rhythm. There’s even an achievement and costume if you beat all the levels muted.”

“How’s that even work?” She was just stumped. “A rhythm game don’t sound too fun if there ain’t any music.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Button’s face twitch for a second.

“Uh-uh.” Button shook his head. “A good game doesn’t need music to be good. Good music just makes it better. People do Mute Percent runs of B.o.G all the time. It's got a really active player-base for runs like that too.”

“Mute Percent runs?” Applebloom wrestled with those words for a second. “Can’t say Ah know what that. Is...oh.”

Applebloom stopped walking altogether and stared off in another direction. After a few steps, all of us noticed she wasn’t catching up. We stopped to turn and look for ourselves.

She stared at another girl her age across the space. She had gray skin with dark gray hair tied into a tight braid and cyan colored glasses that drooped on her nose. Her clothes were mostly purple and pink and she had this odd silver spoon accessory clipped to the front of her shirt.

As we all watched, I reached over and palmed the top of Button’s propeller beanie, signaling him to stop too.

Applebloom hummed. “What is she doin’ here?”

“Maybe she’s tryin’ ta find a get well soon gift for Tiara?” Applejack asked.

“I dunno,” Pinkie frowned. “She’s heading towards the food court. Everybody knows that there’s much better get well soon gifts on the other side of the mall.”

“I’m not sure that’s it.” I frowned. “She looks really downtrodden. If she’s getting a gift, would she be that depressed about it?”

Button finished his level and decided to put it in his pocket for now. Then, when he looked where all of us were, a look of realization crossed his face. “Wait. Silver Spoon?”

All of us turned to him. “How do you know her?”

“The hospital kid center,” he told me. “We both went there until a couple of years ago. I think she said that her dad’s a doctor. She kept trying to rub it in my face but when I proved Mom was a doctor too, she stopped trying to one-up me.”

“So even at a hospital she’s tried bullyin’ folk?” Applebloom’s stare became a glare. “Unbelievable.”

“More common than you’d think,” I told her with a breath. When Applebloom looked at me, I went on. “There’s always been a weird ‘power struggle’ at that center. Our Mom’s position made us untouchable, in a weird way.”

“But I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have any older siblings,” Button told me. “She’s an only child.”

AJ started looking a little unsettled. “Is she at the mall all alone? I don't see anyone with her.”

Applebloom's expression flattened a little. "Ah mean, she's old enough ta walk around the mall on her own, Applejack. I mean, she is as old as Ah am."

AJ returned Applebloom's look with one of her own. "Ya know that yer not allowed ta go somewhere in town without somebody older nearby. 'Specially not alone."

"It ain't like Canterlot City's dangerous err anythin'."

Applejack turned to me next and gave me this look of 'see what I deal with?'

I just smirked at her while I stood beside my brother who was back at his game. Couldn't be me. AJ shook her head but said nothing else.

I turned back to Silver Spoon. AJ's got a point though. If Silver Spoon is Button's age, she's likely just young enough where she should still be at the kid center. The only reason Button isn't is because I'm old enough to watch him. But if no one's there for Silver Spoon, who knows that she's here?

I was debating whether I should say something, but then my vision warped. It was sudden and before I knew it, the walls and ceiling of the mall vaporized into the sunny outdoors. The shops around us halved in quantity and those remaining molded into wooden buildings that were either homes or village shops. The carpet and tiles beneath us became patted down dirt with sprinkles of grass and weeds spread about.

Everybody, my brother, the girls, all the mall goers, every one of them vanished into mist in a breath. In their place was maybe ten people in total, all dressed like fantasy medieval peasants and miners that milled about like everything was fine. None of them seemed to respond to the world snapping into place, nor did any of them seem to notice I was staring at them with a panic in my eyes.

The only thing that was still the same was Silver Spoon herself. She trudged along as before, staring at the ground in an attempt to keep from making eye contact with anyone else. However, she wasn't entirely tangible. She looked translucent. Like a 3D hologram you would find from a sci-fi movie. Except, overlayed on her was someone else mimicking the same actions.

In Silver Spoon's space was a half-elven woman with gold-trimmed clerical robes and a golden coin instead of a silver spoon around her neck. Rather than a tight braid, the half-elf had a messy bun. Finally, instead of Silver’s tired expression, the half-elf had a determined one. She walked the same speed as Silver Spoon and appeared as a hologram in much the same way. It was as if the two visuals were fighting to see which one came out on top.

“Another vision,” I mumbled.

Ahead of me was Sister Garaele, the priestess of Tymora from Phandalin, alive and moving directly ahead of me. Having this vision didn't give me a headache like the last few times magic stuff happened to me. It was more like that vision I had at the bathroom mirror. Before I could wrap my head around that, an explanation of what I was seeing came to mind.

She’s on her way to the blacksmith, I told myself. Someone stole her merchant scales and she needs to replace them to do her service. But it will take time. Maybe a week, depending on when supplies arrive. Sister Garaele will leave, dejected, and go to vent her frustrations at her friend Leanne. Or, at least, who she believes to be Leanne. In reality, she'll be talking to the doppelganger that took Leanne's place. Still, the doppelganger will give her the store's scales and Sister Garaele will cheer up.

A pale orange hand moved in front of my face and snapped its fingers a few times. And suddenly, reality was back to normal.

“Earth ta Story,” Applejack told me. “Y’alright partner? Not another headache, is it?”

“I, erm, no,” I stuttered. “My head’s fine. But, earlier you mentioned someone named Tiara, yeah? Who is that?”

Applejack hesitated to answer, but Applebloom didn’t. “Just the meanest bully in Canterlot High. Silver and her are usually joined at the hip.”

Joined at the hip. Applejack saw the gears working in my head and must have started to get the same idea I was. And when her eyes shot wide open, she turned to her sister. “Applebloom. On the way here, ya said Silver Spoon lost her calculator, right?”

Modern day scales.

Applebloom nodded. “Uh-huh. Like Ah said, she was accusin’ the class of someone stealin’ it.”

Sister Geraele knew someone stole it. I stared back at Silver. So. If that kid is Sister Garaele, that would mean her friend is...Has anything happened to her friend?

Applejack seemingly read my mind and turned to me. “Diamond Tiara’s been sick as a doornail fer the last week. She’s been missin’ some assignments from school over it too.”

My face hardened as I tried not to freak out in front of my little brother. That matches with a couple of things the girls haven’t learned yet. Things that haven’t been confirmed. That’s different from what Sunset told us.

“Maybe that’s why she’s going to the electronic’s store.” Button Mash pointed ahead, making us turn to watch as Silver Spoon walked into that storefront. “To get a new calculator?”

“Is that gonna work?” AJ asked me.

If it’s anything like Sister Garaele’s storyline? I shook my head absently. “No. It won’t.”

Button gave me a look. “What does that mean?”

Without thinking, I spoke. “They won’t have one. It’ll take some time before i—”

Suddenly, Pinkie let out a gasp. “Oh my gosh! Button, look! There’s a flier for some kind of giveaway at the game store!”

“Really?!” Button’s full attention was yanked far away from me and Pinkie gave Applejack and I a cheeky grin before looking back to him.

“You wanna go see what’s up?!”

“YES!” Button whirled back to me. “Can I, Story?! Can I, can I?!”

“Can he, Story?! Can he, can he?!” Pinkie repeated, copying Button’s excitement.

An awkward smile creeped onto my face and nodded along. “Sure, Button. But no spending money on anything until I give you the word.”

“Got it! You’re the best!” He took off running, with Pinkie bounding off right behind him.

Applejack looked to her sister next. “Hey, AB? Why don’t you go along with ‘em? Weren’t you talkin’ about gettin’ a game for Scootaloo recently?”

“Fer her birthday, yeah.” Applebloom nodded. But she didn’t take the bait. Instead, she looked to me. “Is this about magic again? Are Silver Spoon an’ Tiara gonna be alright?”

Applejack looked ready to pounce with an answer, but stopped herself short. She was looking at me with her own mix of curiosity and worry. Yeah. I'd be curious too. I stared back at Applebloom for a few seconds. Then I smiled a little.

“They’re gonna be okay. I don’t know if this stuff’s any less confusing for you, but for me it makes almost no sense. That said, Silver Spoon will be fine in a couple of days. And.” I shrugged as nonchalant as I could. “Bittersweet note, so will that Tiara bully.”

A flush of emotions rolled around on Applebloom’s face, but happiness won out. “Well, Ah s’ppose that’s great ta hear regardless. Thanks. Ah’ll warn, slash, let mah friends know. Also.” She looked at Applejack next. “If Ah do spot somethin’ Scootaloo would like, could Ah possibly get an advance on mah next allowance?”

AJ thought for a second. “We’ll see about that. Fer now, get ta lookin’. Me an’ Story gotta talk a bit more.”

Applebloom nodded and hurried off after Pinkie and Button, leaving Applejack to face me with a smirk. “Couple ‘a days huh? Different tune than what you were singin’ yesterday.”

I took a single breath and tried playing it cool. “Yeah, well, uh. Who’s to say I’m not lying to make a kid feel better?”

Her smirk grew wider. “Me.” Dang it.

Then she let the smirk fall. “Look. Ah’m sorry that magic ended up creepin’ inta this on its own. Ah wasn’t tryin’ ta drag ya inta the line a’ fire with this.”

I shook my head. “You’re not the reason I keep getting headaches and hallucinations. Which, speaking of, thanks for snapping me out of that. That lasted a lot longer than the headaches, I think.”

She stepped closer. “What were ya seein’? Ah could tell it was based around Silver Spoon, but me an’ Pinks saw nothin’.”

“Well, it was weird. She was layered over—” “Applejack, hey! And. Story?!”

We looked across the space and, waving us down from about twenty feet away despite how many odd looks she got, was Rainbow Dash. She and Rarity were tied for the front of the pack while Fluttershy was doing her best not to have any attention land on her.

“Girls! Hey! Erm. What’re y’all doin’ here?!” Applejack quickly looked nervous as she stepped between them and me. Seeing that, a couple alarms went off in my head. She did say Rainbow Dash was mad. Oh no.

“That’s what we should be asking you,” Rainbow told us. “We thought you were supposed to be riding out with Sunset and Twilight to check out that fire tower, not...here.” She trailed off, staring at me as I shrunk further.

“Right. That. Ah can explain that. Erm.” She proceeded to not explain that. “We had. I mean. Ah, and Pinkie. Applebloom too, was, uh. Story wasn’t feelin’— not that Ah’m...urgh, dang it.”

After four or five more stumbling words later, I stepped out. “She saw me looking like a miserable loser and offered for us to cool off with a movie. Pinkie and our little siblings are here too.”

Fluttershy glanced around. “Button’s here too?”

I nodded and pointed my thumb further down the row of shops. “Yeah. They all went to the game store just now. Just missed them.”

“Okay, hold on a second,” Rainbow stepped up. “You ditched Sunset and the rest of us to hang out with the one who ditched all of us in the first place?”

Applejack took a deep breath and stared Rainbow Dash down. “...Yes. Ah did. And Ah’m sorry Ah did that. Ah told Sunset ah wouldn’t be comin’ with her before Ah headed out here. Look, Story’s our friend too. An' he’s just as in deep in this as the rest of us. Ah couldn’t just leave someone out ta dry in a windstorm. Ya have ta believe me, RD. This ain’t about choosin’ sides. Especially not when those sides are between our friends.”

Rainbow waited until she was done and then looked back at me. I tried to meet her eyes, but just ended up staring at the ground.

Eventually, Rainbow sighed. “It’s no biggie. You could have at least let the rest of us know though. We had no idea you were even here.”

I started looking back up. Rarity and Fluttershy were giving me simple smiles and Rainbow Dash turned to me next. She kept this stoic frown “You doing alright? You know, not counting whatever happened yesterday?”

I managed to keep eye contact long enough to stand at my full height. She’s not trying to bully you. You don’t have to flinch at her. “Y-Yeah. A little bit. Magic won’t leave me alone, but I at least got to enjoy the movie. And, um...I’m sorry. To all of you. I shouldn’t have walked off like a baby. That was really messed up of me and I should’ve been a lot more mature about that. I want to do better from here on out. If that’s cool with you guys.”

The others smiled wider, while Rainbow took her time to consider my words. “We forgive you, Story,” Fluttershy started. “Yesterday, we only heard about what Applejack knew and from that, it sounded like everything had gotten a little scary.”

Rainbow watched Fluttershy, and then Rarity, move in to accept my apology before she broke the tense staredown. “Yeah. Yeah, I forgive you too. When I heard about you trying to call the cops, I thought you were going against us or something. I was ready to track you down myself without even hearing you out. That was really not cool of me. My bad.”

I let out a laugh. “You know, I think I was half expecting it. I mean, I deserve it. I felt like garbage for trying to call them and then running away.”

“Not at all,” Rarity told me. “We knew that you would have your reasons. And, when we have time, we’d like to hear your side of it.”

“My side?” I felt my stomach drop. Fluttershy said they only heard what Applejack saw. They want my side. Did Sunset not say anything? “Erm. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I need to explain myself. And I will. I promise.”

Rainbow crossed her arms, but her expression softened. “You better. Although, we're gonna have to hold that thought. Right now, you can make it up to us by giving us a hand.”

I calmed my nerves and looked everyone over. “If you’re asking me to run a game tonight, I’m sorry, but no. I don’t think I—” “No, no. Not that.”

Rarity stepped forward and pulled out her phone. After a few taps, she handed it off to me. “Now, there’s no judgement if this is too much for you. It is somewhat dire.”

“Maybe a little judgement,” Rainbow muttered, earning an elbow-tap from Applejack. “Okay, fair enough, yeah, no judgement.”

Rarity started explaining who the three girls in the pictures were and how they had gone missing. I took some time to study each of their faces and as Rarity kept explaining, it happened again. Just like Silver Spoon, the world faded away. The phone was the only thing that stayed with me while everything, even all the lights in the mall, faded to near darkness. The phone was my only source of light.

When I registered what happened, I activated the flashlight on Rarity’s phone. At that moment, I noticed I was in an underground chamber. It was a long, rectangular room that was partitioned into three areas with iron bars. Beyond those bars were two separate jail cells with filthy straw lining the floors. In the central area where I stood, a door to the west was closed and opposite that door was a heap of discarded clothing. Clothing belonging to the four individuals in the cages.

The northern cell had just one person; ⍜⊑⎅⍾⍾⊑. ⎐☍⊑ ☍⎅☌ ⎅⍾ ⌰⎍⍀⍾ ⎎⍀⍜⍜⎅⎍ ⎅⎍⍀⌖⍾☌ ☍⊑⎍ ⍾⊑⎎⋏ ⎎☍⎅⌰⍾⌰⍾⟊ ☍⊑⎍ ⍙⍀ ⍙☍⊑ ⋉⎅⍜⍜ ⎅⍾☌ ⎅ ⟟⌰⍜⍙☍⏚ ⟊⎍⎅⏚ ⍙⌖⍾⌰⎎ ⍙☍⎅⍙ ⋉⎅⎐ ⌿⌖⎎☍ ⍙⍀⍀ ⍙☍⌰⍾ ⍙⍀ ⋏⊑⊑⌇ ☍⊑⎍ ⋉⎅⎍⌿ ☌⍀⋉⍾ ☍⊑⎍⊑. ⎐☍⊑ ⋉⎅⎐ ⋉⊑⎅⋏ ⟟⎍⍀⌿ ⍜⎅⎎⋏ ⍀⟟ ⟟⍀⍀☌ ⎅⍾☌ ⎐⌖⍾⍜⌰⟊☍⍙ ⎅⍾☌ ⍜⍀⍀⋏⊑☌ ⟟⌰⍜⍙☍⏚. ⎐☍⊑ ☍⎅☌ ⟒⊑⊑⍾ ☌⍀⋉⍾ ☍⊑⎍⊑ ⟟⍀⎍ ⎅ ⊬⊑⎍⏚ ⍜⍀⍾⟊ ⍙⌰⌿⊑. ⎅⍾☌ ⍙⍀ ⌿⎅⋏⊑ ⌿⎅⍙⍙⊑⎍⎐ ⋉⍀⎍⎐⊑, ☍⊑⎍ ⟒⍀☌⏚ ⋉⎅⎐ ⟟⎅☌⌰⍾⟊ ⌰⍾ ⎅⍾☌ ⍀⌖⍙ ⍀⟟ ⎍⊑⎅⍜⌰⍙⏚ ⋉⌰⍙☍ ⍙☍⊑ ⟊⌰⎍⍜ ⋉☍⍀ ⎅⌇⌇⍜⊑⟒⍜⍀⍀⌿ ⍜⌰⋏⊑⍜⏚ ⍙⍀⍜☌ ⌿⊑ ⎅⟒⍀⌖⍙. ⎅ ⏚⍀⌖⍾⟊ ⟊⌰⎍⍜ ⋉⌰⍙☍ ⌇⌰⍾⋏ ⎐⋏⌰⍾ ⎅⍾☌ ⎅ ⍙⌰⎅⎍⎅ ⍀⍾ ☍⊑⎍ ☍⊑⎅☌.

The other cage was busier. It had three people inside of it instead of one and like ⍜⊑⎅⍾⍾⊑ they also had on gray, filthy tunics and iron collars on their necks chaining them to the wall. Then, like Sister Garaele, the people who they matched in real-life were fading in and out of the same place. There were two eighteen-year-olds in pajamas looking dehydrated and exhausted. Aloe Vera and Lotus Blossom. They looked disheveled and were shaking just like their game counterparts as well. Meanwhile, the woman between both of them, Cherry Blossom, was matched with Mirna. She looked in an even worse condition than the girls.

Seeing all of this, the scene of what I was looking at came to mind like foreign memories told in my voice. Mirna and her twin daughters, Nilsa and Narra. They were kidnapped a while ago by the Redbrands to be used as hostages against Phandalin’s shops and laborers. The Redbrands have no clue who’s actually related to them, but they hardly care. If anything, they’re worried that if they find out who’s related to them, the people who aren’t might refuse to give them whatever they want.

However, they almost have no need for them anymore. In a matter of days, their usefulness will run out and they will be either sold off or fed to the Nothic and have their bones used by the necromancer. They’re only fed the bare minimum so that they aren’t strong enough to fight back.

I looked back to the lone person in the cell. Their story also ran through my head. Just like Mirna and her twins, and then Sister Garaele before that. I already knew their stories. The stories were what I wrote in my notes. Almost word-for-word. I put them in here. I decided their fate. And if the girls didn’t save them, that meant I decided their deaths.

Then, the girls did something. Lotus flinched and spoke towards Aloe and her mother. Aloe spent a second to pull out a cell phone and—

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

“Story! What are you doing?!”

In an instant, I was tossed back to the mall, with Rainbow’s hand this time snapping in my face. I jumped back and saw all four of them looking at me with concern and confusion.

“NO!” I shouted, gripping Rarity’s phone like a vice and taking a few steps in a random direction. I switched back to the missing person’s page and tried to focus on their appearances. “Come on, come on, again! Do it again! Dang it! Rainbow Dash, why did you wake me up?!”

“Cause you shined a flashlight in our faces,” she said, creeped out. “You were looking at us and not saying anything. People are staring at us.” That last part was a low whisper.

I shook my head, but looked at AJ. “Applejack, it happened again. The girls in these pictures? I was looking at them. I saw them!”

“Wait. You saw Lotus and Aloe?” Fluttershy turned her head at an angle.

“Are you serious?!” Rarity didn’t bother being quiet. If anything, she was more dramatic than I was. “Story, that’s incredible!”

“No, it’s not incredible,” I told her, furious. “I only saw them for a second. The twin girls in this picture are both in their pajamas. They look like their starving, and one of them was taking out her phone to do something when somebody snapped me out of it!”

“Pajamas,” Rainbow breathed, ignoring my glare. “You really did see them! Do it again!”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” I focused on the girls again. I was drowning out every mall sound and light I could. I was about to start chanting the stupid game mantra, but Rarity put a hand on my shoulder just in time.

“It’s alright, Story,” she told me carefully. “Stop before you give yourself an attack. The fact that they’re still out there such a relief like you wouldn’t believe.”

“I don’t understand.” Fluttershy walked up to me again as I passed the phone back to Rarity. “What happened? You didn’t say the words. And none of the magic from the game appeared.”

“It’s happened a couple of times today. I woke up and had this vision in my mirror. Then, it was the sudden headaches all day. Now, it’s back to visions. I saw Sister Garaele right before you guys showed up.”

“That’s still a huge help,” Rainbow Dash declared. “Oh! Rarity. Do that thing you did with that video. Uh, deduce Story.”

“Darling, I don’t exactly have much to go off of that we don’t already have,” she told Dash. Nevertheless, she looked back at me. “Story, is there anything that you might be able to give us? We already think that they’re on the outskirts of town at a house belonging to some sort of hunter. The hunter’s lodge. And you said that they’re in their pajamas, but we already knew that. Are there any other details you could tell us?”

“Well, I could try,” I told them. “Hopefully it’s not a garbled mess. I saw that the girls are all trapped somewhere. Possibly underground? The blue-haired girl—” “Her name is Aloe.” “Aloe, right—Aloe took out her phone. They’re not hurt, but they look very hungry and dehydrated. The mom looks even worse. And they’re shivering and cold.”

“Cold? And possibly underground?” I nodded like crazy, happy that none of that was garbled to them.

“Maybe they’re stuck in a cave?” Rainbow tossed.

“Why would they be in a cave?” Rarity asked her. “The last place we saw them was inside someone’s house.”

“Well, underground and at a house,” Applejack thought aloud. “Maybe they’re stuck in a basement?”

I turned around to her. “That matches up perfectly! Mirna and her twin daughters are trapped in a cell underground.”

Applejack cringed, as did Fluttershy. “Now that we couldn’t understand.”

“Crap. Okay, um.” I turned to her fully. “What you said?” I said slowly. She nodded along. “Yes. Correct. Good answer.” I started nodding very obviously.

“Yes? So it is a basement? Alright, does that help?” AJ looked at the others.

Fluttershy bit her lip. “But. The weather feels great outside. Even if it is a basement, would it be that cold?”

“You may have a point.” Rarity looked at the pictures on her phone again. “Aloe still has her phone. If she’s had it this whole time, then she would have tried calling someone by now. A basement in the woods might have next to no service, but I would imagine you could at least get a bar to send a text sooner or later. Cell service even right outside of town isn’t that horrendous.”

“And, if she has her phone, that means they weren’t put there by someone, right?” I told them. Most of them nodded in agreement. “So, they’re just stuck then? Not kidnapped like the characters?”

“We were on our way to speak to the store that was sold out of crossbows,” Rarity explained. “We figured that the person that worked there may be able to tell us about whoever owns the house in Aloe’s video. Could the two of you accompany us?”

I shared a look and soured. “We’d like to, but we brought Applebloom and Button here too. They’re with Pinkie for now, but we need to take them home first.”

“Would ya be alright if Ah took Button home for ya?” Applejack asked. “Outta the two of us, you sound like the better help in trackin’ down Aloe and the others. Besides, both of us got cars. Second Ah get Applebloom home, Ah can meet y’all wherever ya end up.”

“That.” I stopped myself for a moment. You’re throwing yourself headfirst again. Last time you did that, you cracked. You need to be sure about this.

“...That sounds best,” I finally decided, nodding along. And I’m doing it anyway.

Rainbow Dash stepped up, lightly slugging me on the shoulder. Ow. “No backing out this time. Got it?”

“Otherwise you punch me harder?” I half-joked, rubbing the sore spot.

“You got it.” She was grinning too much.

We turned to stare down the hunting goods store. All but Applejack, who was about to walk towards the game store. “Pinkie Pie? Everythin’ alright?”

Right away, all of us turned back to see Pinkie walking towards us. Applebloom and Button weren’t with her and she didn’t seem to even react to the others being here beside us. Instead, she was staring up at us with tears flowing down her face and her hair half flat almost to her waist. One hand was tucked behind her hair and against the side of her head.

She didn’t say anything until she was close enough where only we could hear her. Maybe it was to keep from causing a scene, but even so, we caused more than a scene on our own already. When she got close enough, Pinkie moved her hand from her head and revealed that she was on the phone. She was holding it out towards us and I saw the name appear when the screen lit up.

Pinkie turned her phone back on to look up a few things while inside the store. That’s when she saw the missed calls and the text addressed to everybody. Even me. And once she held out her phone, she pressed the speaker button. All of us went silent.

“Okay,” Pinkie said through a sob. “Everybody’s here. Even Rarity and the others. You’re on speaker.”

“Girls? Story?” Sunset spoke after a second. She tried to sound level, but we could read the emotion from that one word alone. “We need to talk.”

Author's Note

And the hunt is on.

A small announcement for this time around, I'm trying to set up a better system for all the character sheets and, I guess, 'handouts' for this story. I have a Google Doc folder I'm putting together with character sheets, the fifty question stuff, and some maps of "Story's" world as it exists in this game. It'll probably be sometime between now and next chapter when it's finished, so I'll try and have a link for it on next chapter's Author Note.

Also, something I'm trying to set up is playlists for the D&D characters. It's something a friend of mine does when he makes characters and I've wanted to try it, so I'm gonna test out the idea with the seven characters (Stostine, Ricven, Glemerr, etc.).

I only have 1-3 songs for most of them and I wanna get to 7 each if I can. If you guys have any cool song ideas, let me know! Once it's set up, I'll throw that in the Handout Folder too.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you thought of it as well as any critiques you might have. I'm always trying to get better.

Cheers,
-Zeke

(40) Investigation Check

Story’s POV
Outside Canterlot City Mall
Monday, 5:18 PM

Everyone, except for Fluttershy, was gathered outside in a partitioned section of the mall’s lot where the industrial dumpsters were stationed. Sunset wanted us to meet in private but Rarity refused to leave the mall until she talked to the hunting store. This was the compromise. None of us were thrilled with it, but there wasn’t much room to complain.

The trash was picked up recently so we had hoped the dumpsters lacked the kind of stench you’d expect. It didn't. So, in a desperate attempt to avoid it, we tucked ourselves opposite said dumpsters and did our best to ignore the rusted metal and tasteless graffiti sprayed around it.

From our group circle, Sunset stood separate from the rest of us. She arrived with the help of Shining Armor and his car. That was the first time I met Shining and he was willing to help Sunset talk about Twilight. However, Sunset sent him to meet up with Fluttershy inside since she was watching Applebloom and Button Mash alone.

Applebloom knew all of the girls and Fluttershy’s family and mine were friends, so Button knew her too. We didn’t want either listening in on us. Although, a few of us also didn’t want Fluttershy in case things got really bad. No one was angry at her and no one wanted her caught in the crossfire.

Sunset took control of the conversation from there. She filled us in on Twilight’s condition with a matter-of-fact form of speaking. She looked hurt the entire time but her tone never waivered. Even when all of us went from worried to mortified when we learned what Twilight saw. The Nothic.

“She was so certain that’s what had caused it,” Sunset wrapped it up. “It was in her mind, she said, taking the form of Midnight Sparkle and distorting it. From what Twilight told me, she heard a few of our characters in the background. Mine and Rainbow Dash’s, at least. Twilight couldn’t make out everything they said, but she was sure our characters were trying to fight it off. And it sounds like they won. For now.”

“Our characters were fighting it?” Rainbow grabbed at her arm. “I mean, I sorta assumed they were doing their own thing in there, but are they in danger? Are they trying to go through the game without us?”

Applejack looked at me. I had this distant look as I stared forward. “Say, Story? Them headaches you’ve been havin’. Ah saw two of ‘em, but yer brother said one got so bad, ya had ta pull over. D’ya think that freak monster from yer game’s cousin’ ‘em?”

“I’m sorry, headaches?” Sunset turned at me, making the two of us flinch. “You’ve been having unexplainable headaches all day?”

I gave out a grunt and a nod. “Yeah. Four times. And even though they’re gone for now, I’m seeing things from my game. Like visions. Maybe like Twilight was.”

I watched Sunset’s eye twitch before she started glaring. “Your game’s magic has gone off all day and you didn’t bother to tell us?!”

“Nooo~” I hummed, starting to glare back. “I had headaches all day. The visions started a half hour ago. And I didn’t see a Nothic when my head pounded. Just pain. A lot of pain. Next, you’ll want me telling you about every splinter I get.”

Her glare deepened. “No, not splinters. But a heads up when you’re about to run like a coward would be nice.”

“Better than a witch who keeps quiet about how they screw others over,” I spat back.

“Alright, you two, let’s calm down,” Rarity got between the both of us and made sure neither of us got within range of the other. “Today has been stressful for everyone and it’s not even sundown. And, unfortunately, arguing about each other’s baggage will not make this any better.”

“Rarity, you don’t get to play mediator,” Sunset turned to her next. “I know your phone was on. I know you saw me calling. We talked ten minutes before I called back. And you didn’t pick up! None of you did!”

Rainbow Dash moved up, taking Sunset’s anger. “If you’re gonna be mad at anyone, be mad at me! I’m the one who convinced Rarity not to listen to you. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to be there for Aloe and Lotus after what you told her and I pushed her into it. I‘m the reason you couldn’t reach us. Not her.”

“No, Rainbow Dash, you’re not.” Rarity shook her head. “I was the one who decided to ignore your calls and messages. And it was my choice not to check between Lotus’s house and the mall. And I am sincerely sorry for that, Sunset. Both to you and Twilight from the bottom of my heart. I should’ve been more mature.”

Sunset took a few shaky breaths, considering their words. “...I needed you there. I needed any of you. Twilight needed you. I get that your friends are in trouble, and when I told you that you shouldn’t go, I didn’t mean we were going to ignore them. I could have worded that better. What I meant was that something will always stop us so long as their game’s equals are in danger.”

Rarity frowned. “And I understand that now Sunset. I get where you’re coming from. Except, that’s still not enough. They’ve been gone since Saturday morning. Trapped somewhere for over two days without food or water.”

Quickly, Rarity started running through what she found while out with Rainbow and Fluttershy. What they learned from the video and Missing Person report. It was bullet points at best, but I assumed it was everything we needed for now.

“I wanted to try and follow up Fluttershy’s crossbow lead with the hunting store,” Rarity concluded. “I guess there’s a few reasons as to why, but more than anything I assumed that if magic changed two things in town, maybe they were related to one another.”

“Everything does trail back to the Redbrands,” I added involuntarily, earning a nod from Rarity and a curt glance from Sunset.

Still, Sunset let out a breath and tried keeping calm. “I get why you did what you did, Rarity. I do. And again, I wasn’t trying to pull you away from them. I just wanted us to focus on what will actually save them. Not just that, but also what he said.” She jerked a thumb at me instead of looking at me. “About everything tying back to the Redbrands? That’s something to be worried about too.”

She looked across all of us. “Threatening the town authority? Kidnapping, extortion, and loading up on weapons? Murder? We’ve never dealt with that before. And Canterlot City has rarely had anything that major. It’s a quiet town. But still, all of those things are capable of happening. And because it can, that means the game can make it a reality. And about Lotus and Aloe? In the game, the twins were taken by those Redbrands. What if the same happened here?”

“But it didn’t!” Rainbow shouted.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Sunset shouted back. “And I hope you’re right. We have enough problems as it is. It’s another reason why I wanted to focus on the fire tower and City Hall. City Hall those problems seemed tangible. Like something we could check without it benign dangerous.”

“There are supposed to be zombies at that fire tower,” Rainbow Dash protested. “How is that any less dangerous than a gang?!”

“You really think zombies are dangerous?” Pinkie shooed the worry away with a smile. “Haven’t you seen movies? They’d never be able to catch us so long as we don’t trip over a root or something.”

Sunset shook her head. “It’s like I said. The game changes fate in plausible ways. There’s no such thing as zombies so that wouldn’t carry over. It would only focus on details that can make sense.”

Applejack realized something. “You were thinkin’ we’d check out what makes the fire tower important, as a test run. Weren’t you?”

She nodded. “Exactly. If zombies are the only problem, it would be okay for us. To ease into preparing for these problems.”

“But, we don’t have time to prepare,” Rainbow stressed. “They’ve been trapped for days in a basement. They’re starving down there! And Story said he saw them shivering too. Who knows how long they have!”

Sunset looked back at me. “Those visions?”

“Yeah. It was only for a few seconds, but it happened when I looked at their pictures from Rarity’s phone. They looked bad.”

Sunset saw my expression. Whatever she thought of me aside, she knew Rainbow Dash was right. She relented. “Okay. Okay, you’re right. If they’re on a timeline, then...I see your reasoning. And, maybe going slow isn’t the right option here. They might not have enough time for us to play it safe and it’s better to act now rather than later. In that case...”

She took another second to calm herself before walking over to me and holding out her hand. “Story? Since we don’t have much time, and innocent people are in trouble, do you think you can actually stick around? Until they’re safe, at least?”

I tightened my jaw. “Yeah. I'm gonna do better than yesterday. That I promise. And once they're safe, we go right back to hating each other.” I took her hand.

“Deal.” Sunset barely shook hands. One squeeze and she pulled away from me and looked over the rest. A formality. “Whoever has character sheets, get them. Next, does anyone know the closest place to set up for the game?”

“What?” I blinked. “No! Did you ignore what Rainbow Dash said?! We don’t have time for that! You guys might have a solid two hours minimum before you save them.” I held up two fingers just in case the gargling was getting in the way. “Especially if we need to play out your characters like it’s a normal game. And after that, we’d still need to track down the real girls and save them. If that wasn’t enough, we don’t know if we can even play without Twilight. There’s no time!”

“It’s the only way forward,” Sunset stayed resolute. “Maybe, if you were with us from the start, we wouldn’t be forced to—” “Hey, knock it off. He’s right.”

Rainbow stepped beside me, catching me off-guard. “You kept telling us we can’t change what’s going on ourselves. But we did! Rarity pinned down what happened to Aloe and Lotus. She’s the one that got the police and everybody searching in the right place. That was Rarity who pulled that off. Fate got changed. She did that!”

Sunset’s words caught in her throat for a second, but a moment later she shook her head. “Nothing has changed, Rainbow Dash. They still haven’t been found. And they won’t be until the twins from that game are saved.”

“And why not?” Rainbow challenged. “They didn’t vanish! Story saw them. They’re in a basement. Or a cellar. Or somewhere. They aren’t gone and we can get them.”

If only I could’ve watched a little longer, I chastised myself. That’s when Pinkie’s hand landed on my shoulder. She must’ve seen the grief spread all across my face. And the grin she shined towards me helped clean it off.

“Ah think she’s onta somethin’, Sunset,” Applejack told her. “Them girls are out there. And you said this Dunamancy only works in a way that makes sense, right?”

Sunset sighed and nodded. “Yes. Like I said, in a plausible manner.”

“Well then, plausibly, those girls are still stuck,” Pinkie Pie pointed out. “If the Dunamancy put them there, all we gotta do is find them and get them some nice food and cozy blankets. Like a slumber party! And it’s not like they’re gonna get yoinked around into a new basement each time we find them.”

Sunset groaned. “No, it wouldn’t throw them elsewhere. But something will always stop us.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” I shrugged. “The game whisked them from home and trapped them. If we find the basement, we get them out. If we can’t get them out? We call it in and the police get them out!”

“Exactly,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “There’s nothing that’ll stop us from saving them. Fluttershy said the hunting store would know. And if they don’t, they know a bunch of hunting groups. We’ll ask them. There’s a way to do this. We just have to try!”

“And if that doesn’t work?” She demanded, glaring at Rainbow Dash. “What if we spend all night trying and it really is too late? That means we bet all of this on some attempt to defy fate.”

“It’s better than doing nothing and giving up on them,” Rainbow argued. But Sunset simply shook her head.

“For the last time, I don’t want to give up on them. Going into the game is the answer. And that’s what I’ve been telling you all.”

“I mean, I really wanna check on Glemerr and our characters too,” Pinkie admitted, her upbeat mask cracking for a moment. “But like Story said, the game would take too long! All play and no work will make you lose your smirk.”

I shot her a look. “Was that supposed to be a reference?”

She giggled bashfully. “My bad. I guess I still have movies on the brain.”

“Girls, we don’t have a choice.” Sunset frowned. “I’m telling you that we cannot save them unless fate has been reversed. And now, we’re wasting valuable time arguing this.”

I took a breath and stared Sunset in the eye. “And I keep telling you. We don’t have time for that.”

“Unfortunately. That doesn’t change anything,” she retorted. The venom in her voice towards me alone wasn’t missed. “It’s the only answer. The end.”

I sighed. “To save them; right? And what would happen if we didn’t?”

She huffed. “You know I don’t have an answer to that. Something will stop us. Maybe our tires pop. Or, the cellar is stuck, and breaking in brings down the house. Maybe the Redbrands are involved and they’re in worse trouble than we thought. Anything could happen that keeps destiny from being stopped!”

“So then, the reverse would be true, yeah? You can promise that they’re safe?”

Sunset opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Not immediately. “What do you mean?”

Everyone was looking at me. I stepped to the side and addressed all of them. “Right now, they’re stuck underground. They’re cold, hungry, dehydrated. They’re alone. They have been for days. This is an emergency and the worst could happen at any moment. So then, my question, Sunset, is this. Are they even in real danger?”

She stared at me like I was an idiot. “What are you talking about? Of course, they’re in danger! I never said they weren’t! Which is why we need to move fast, or else—” “Or else what?”

I stepped forward. Sunset did the opposite. “Or else it’s too late? Or else we might not be able to save them? But why would that be, Sunset? If their fate is just like the game, then that means their fate is linked to the characters in the game, right? The same game that’s on pause?”

Sunset again tried to reply to me. I raised my brow, waiting for it. But nothing came. She closed her mouth for a second.

“Story.” Rarity stepped forward instead. “We are not about to walk away, nor can we keep wasting time. Even having this argument is wasting the time we could be spending on the lookout.”

“Oh, I agree. This is a huge waste of time.” I snapped my glare right back at Sunset. “But someone humor me for a second. Because I still don’t understand something. Their fate is tied to the twins and their mother. That, we confirmed through the crazy visions leaping into my eyes. However, one difference is important here. Mostly, the mom and twins aren’t starving. They’re held hostage. You know this as fact. Ricven confirmed that with the charmed Redbrand.”

“Yer right,” Applejack muttered. “Those bandits aren’t starvin’ ‘em. They wanna keep ‘em as leverage over the craftsmen. But Aloe and Lotus aren’t bein’ held fer ransom er anythin’.”

“No. They aren’t.” I shook my head, watching as Sunset was actively trying to come up with a new argument. “Rarity proved that. They willingly left their house and went somewhere no one else was present. Even if they were kidnapped, like the game, someone would have come forward with a demand by now. Nobody has. No one knows where they are. Meanwhile, the characters are much safer right now.”

Everybody reacted to that last sentence with confusion and surprise. But not the kind that I was hoping for. Gargling, I noted. Crap.

The girls had no way of knowing, but at this point, the Redbrands lost. They held no power over Phandalin anymore. I knew because I prepared ‘what ifs’ throughout the campaign depending on what the party did or did not accomplish. This was one of them. What would happen if the party and Redbrands killed each other?

The Redbrands were now a third of their original forces and the two captains, Anbera and Stalwart, were captured or dead respectively. No one was there to keep them together. Glasstaff had no interest and the third captain, the doppelganger Platick fought, never commanded the Redbrands directly.

With the Redbrands handled, Glasstaff would turn their dead into a small army of skeletons. He would then quickly leave Phandalin, not attacking the village. He knew the full force of the kingdom would chase a necromancer capable of killing a town to the ends of the earth. It was better to disappear.

However, Mirna, Nilsa, and Narra were no longer being held captive. The remaining Redbrands don’t care anymore due to the party’s actions. Instead, those girls will just be trapped there over the next week with minimal food in their cells. And since the Redbrands fled, that meant people from Phandalin were safe to come and break them out. They would be saved one way or another.

That was their fate. However, no one in Canterlot City has any idea where Lotus and Aloe are and they’re on limited time. There’s a good chance they might not make it if we don’t act fast. Fate was different.

“Sunset.” I watched her stare back. “You’re so certain fate is linked. But the game’s on hold. Those three girls kidnapped by the Redbrands are there and their fate is unknown. And they’re in this stupid Schrodinger's Cat problem and will stay there until the party opens that box. There will be this permanent question mark on whether or not they are safe until it is determined fact.

“We could play the game right now.” I stepped forward again. Sunset didn’t back up. “Or, we could play in a couple hours. Heck, we could hold off playing until next week. It doesn’t matter. Those twins and mother will be in the exact predicament anyway.”

Suddenly, it clicked for her. Sunset saw the argument. I watched the light behind her eyes settle. “The fate of the game can be delayed. Our world can’t. Life keeps going.”

Applejack stood up straight. “What does that mean fer us? Does that mean if we just stop playin’, all the problems work themselves out?”

Sunset bit her lip. “That’s one way to put it.” All of us instantly understood her meaning. “But we can’t let everything work out as it is now. The Redbrands, Principal Celestia, Aloe and Lotus, the Field Baron. There are still plenty of things happening in the background that we don’t know about. Aren’t there?”

She looked at me. I grit my teeth and nodded. I couldn’t reveal to them what the game would do next, but the chill visible on Sunset’s spine told me she understood.

“After school tomorrow, we’ll go back to playing,” I told them. “But tonight? We have other problems. Problems we need to fix.”

“Fine. You made your point.” Sunset looked at the others. “And Rainbow Dash, you’re right too. We have to try. We can’t avoid them until we play. There’s no time anymore. We have to hope this idea all of you want to try works. So, Rarity? The hunting store. What’s your move?”

“Well, firstly.” Rarity looked at the two of us directly. “Applejack? Story? You two need to get Applebloom and Button home. And Story, do you think you may be able to convince your family to let you search with us until we find them? It might go well into the night.”

At that, I relaxed. “I think so.” I pulled out my phone. “Telling my mom about the Missing Persons report should be enough. She might even help. And a medical professional on stand-by is huge.”

Sunset hesitated for a second before she asked me something stupid. “About that. You never answered me back then. You didn’t tell them, right? About the—” “You mean, did I lie to my family like you wanted?”

The tone shift made an awkward flinch shockwave across the group. But Sunset seemed unaffected and narrowed her eyes. “I never said that.”

“No, you didn’t. It was just implied. Kinda like the barn,” I spat. The anger fell out of me before I could stop myself. She stopped looking at me. I couldn’t tell if she was remorseful or not.

“If that’s what you’re really asking me, then no. I didn’t. They keep asking me why I was ups—distant and I keep avoiding it.”

From the corner of my eye, Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to say something, but Applejack cleared her throat. “Alright y’all, we’ve spent enough on this. You guys all get a head start on that store. And let Fluttershy know someone’s comin’ fer our kin. In the meantime, Story and Ah will catch up when we’re done. Got it?”

Rainbow was hesitant, but when Rarity took her hand, she took the hint. “Yeah. Alright, just. Don’t take too long. Okay?”

Sunset looked over to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, when we pass the food court, can you stick with Fluttershy? Even though Shining’s with her, I want all of us to stay buddied up at the least.”

Pinkie’s grin stretched wider while she gave a mock salute. “I’ve been practicing all day for this job! Pinkie “Buddy” Pie has it all under control.”

At that, AJ and I watched the others take off back towards the mall. A few seconds after they were out of sight, Applejack gave me a soft frown.

“You know the two of ya shouldn’t be strikin’ at each other like that. Tensions are high enough as it is.”

“I know.” I huffed and stared at my phone. “I know. I don’t mean to keep bringing things down. I’m just mad. You know why too.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. However, right as she was about to tap ‘Call,’ she lowered it and looked at me again. “Story, Ah know y’all ain’t droppin’ this anytime soon. Ah’d be shocked if ya did. But do ya not wanna consider findin’ some peace down the road?”

Not you too. “Applejack. Would you ever want to make up with someone who made you lie to the police and then used nonsense to convince you it was okay? When you’ve only known them for two weeks?”

Applejack gave it some thought for a few seconds. “It wouldn’t be easy. And I wouldn’t bother the next day. Probably not that next week. But Ah wouldn’t look forward ta hatin’ them forever.”

I wanted to scoff and write her off as a better person than me. Instead, I felt my shoulders sag even more. “Yeah, well. Maybe it’d be easier to forgive if she apologized. As in an actual apology. Not muttering sorry while handing me the phone.”

Applejack again nodded. “Yeah, Ah think yer right. And, this ain’t an excuse, but maybe the reason Sunset isn’t apologizin’ is fer the same reason you walked. She’s more steamed than a hog in a sauna.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right.” I stared down at my phone. Mom’s contact was sitting there, with the call button staring back at me. “So...What would you do in my place? If you wanted to warn Applebloom and Granny Smith about magic they didn’t know about.”

Applejack considered my words for a moment. She even started looking at her phone. After a few seconds, she nodded along to herself, hit ‘Call’, and waited for the other side to pick up.

But before they did, she answered. “We mighta only hung out once beyond these games, Story. But Ah think you know exactly what Ah would do. Once the fires have been put out, a’ course.”

A second or two later, the other side picked up and she started focusing on the call. Meanwhile, I looked at Mom’s contact. I think I do. Thanks, Applejack.

I started the call and braced myself for Mom to answer.

Rarity’s POV
Canterlot City Mall’s Hunting Goods Store
Monday, 5:30 PM

The four of us made good time jogging through the mall. The crowds had thinned since we were between the afternoon and evening rush for today. That made it made it easier to spot Shining and Fluttershy in the food court so that Pinkie Pie could join them as we passed.

The rest of us carried on into the store itself. It was one of the larger stores in the mall with window displays on either side depicting scenes of basic camping experiences. There were four mannequins in total across the two displays. All of them, including the child mannequin, were dressed head-to-toe in the kind of apparel you would expect from game hunters.

It’s the same outfit for all four of them, I noted to myself as we jogged inside. The child mannequin even had the same sized outfit as the regular ones, only tucked and folded. I can even see different outfits past the entrance. It’s almost violently lazy.

The inside of the store was better by comparison. Scattered about in a tasteful distance were displays one could interact with. There were grill sets and coolers in a backyard setting, a hunter’s blind you could step into with a couple of fake deer stands around it. Then, there was the fishing section.

There were some fishing pole stands beside several accessories that I’m sure a fishing enthusiast would recognize, but that wasn’t what made me come to a stop. It was the small pyramid of wall décor talking fish in front of the setting.

“Oh, Rarity! Rarity, I see someone at the counter,” Rainbow called out, waving me over. “Come on, we can ask her!”

“I. Erm, hold on a moment.” I stepped forward and looked at the pyramid of decorations. They were set up on this oddly sized, wooden pedestal. Normally, pedestals like this would only be a foot or so in length and width and close to eye level with the customer. We had a few pedestals at the boutique for some light accessories.

However, this pedestal had custom dimensions. It was about the length of a small table and three or so feet deep with a small cabinet built in. On top was a half dozen wall decorations in their boxes and a ‘try me’ decoration in front of them all.

“What’s wrong?” Sunset rejoined me at the pedestal.

“These toys,” I told her. “They look precisely like the one in Aloe and Lotus’s video. It might’ve come from here.”

“Are they new?” Sunset walked up and took the box from the top of the stack. “Because if so, I don’t know too many people who would want these things.”

At that point, Rainbow Dash stepped aside as a woman in a dull red apron came out from around the shelves to greet us. She had a name tag that read “Coin Toss” and cleared her throat a little to gain our attention.

“Hello girls,” she said, folding her hands together. “So sorry, but could you put that one back up top? We’d appreciate it if you took a box from the shelf instead of the setup here.”

“Oh, sorry.” Sunset placed it back. “We’re not looking to buy one. My friend here said she recognized it and we’re trying to find out who it might belong to.”

Coin Toss gave a short chuckle. “Yeah, good luck on that. Just about every fisherman in town has one of these things. It became a whole trend with them about a month or two back.”

“Are you the only store that sells them?” I asked.

“Locally, sure.” She shrugged. “You could buy one online, I guess, but the company that produces them drags their feet about deliveries. That’s why we got them in bulk.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know someone who lives in a log cabin that purchased one of these, would you?”

“Why?” She narrowed her eyes. “Because I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to list every customer and their shopping habits. Especially to people who don’t shop here regularly.”

Understandable. I took out my phone and began to open it. “It’s not about finding the person, to be honest. It’s about finding some friends who have gone missing. Here, look at this.” I passed my phone over. “This is the local Missing Persons page.”

I quickly ran over who Lotus and the others were and the key details about their disappearance. Coin Toss’s demeanor quickly turned from suspicious to concerned in a matter of moments as she scanned over their faces.

“The only lead we have is a video they made playing with one of these fish decorations. The house they were in seemed like a hunter’s cabin, and it was our only lead. Have you seen any of these ladies before?”

“Uh...No, I haven't. Sorry.” Coin kept staring at them, trying to rack her brain. I believed her. “And I’m sorry to hear about your friends. If there’s any way I can help, I would, but I’m pretty sure I’d remember any of these three coming in.”

Sunset started to nod to herself, already beginning to resign. Rainbow Dash wasn’t done though. “What about the guy with the fish and the cabin? Do you know anyone like that?”

“Like I said, most of the fishing types in town have these things. And I’m also pretty sure there’s, like, dozens of cabins outside a’ town. I can’t help with that alone. Again, I’m sorry.”

Sunset shook her head. “It’s alright. We knew that it was a bit of a longshot going in.”

“Now, wait a second.” I gave Sunset a small look. “Darling, I would not be so insistent to come here if the Missing Person’s page was all I had to go off of. Like I told you, we have a video.”

I turned to Coin Toss next. “Could I see my phone back? I’d like to show it to you if you have the time.”

Coin did so and stuffed her hands into her red apron pocket. “By all means. My manager and our regulars are outta town for the next day or two, so I’m in no rush.”

“They’re out of town?” At that, Sunset blinked. “What for?”

“Hunting trip. They left last Wednesday. Something around twenty people in total.”

“Wednesday?” Sunset blinked. “Why Wednesday?”

“Got me.” Coin Toss shook her head. “Maybe that’s when people’s schedules lined up? Or when the hunting grounds had some rooms available? The lodge gets booked often enough, I heard. That could’ve gone into it.”

“Here.” I passed the phone back. “This is the video in question.” We watched her review the video, spotting the fish immediately and throwing up an eyebrow at the voice. Then, when it got to Aloe, she looked around the screen a little before she ‘spoke’.

“Let’s get ta fishin’!” The gruff voice sounded out, making the woman snicker for a second.

“Eheh. Alright, didn’t expect this to be their last message.”

Sunset looked at me. “That was the video?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “It’s what you see in the video, not what they’re saying.”

“Well, except for the fish, I’m not seeing much.” Coin rewound the video back and forth. “I don’t know whose house this is. I agree it’s probably a hunter, but that’s it. If the guy had a buck or something mounted in the background, it’d be easy to figure out. The Hunter’s Lodge Association keeps a good record of every buck, duck, and set of horns worth mounting.”

“I see.” Sunset seemed a little off-put as she leaned back.

I pushed on. “Do you know anyone else that may be able to help? Someone who might know the owner? Or, better yet, that association! How can we best reach them?”

The woman shook her head while handing me back my phone. “You won’t. Everyone who manages the HLA is on that trip too. I can try calling the lodge they’re staying at, but I don’t think the connection out there’s that good.”

“If the connection’s so bad, how’d they book the trip in the first place?” Rainbow asked.

Coin only shrugged. “I didn’t book it. Maybe it was email or something? The only reason I know the phones are bad out there is because my manager said so. Still, I can try.”

Sunset avoided looking at me, but I could spot the pained expression on her face. “Yeah. It’s a long shot.”

But something will always stop us. Sunset’s words rang in my ears when I saw her face. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?

I racked my brain for a second. We learned from the store that the fish toys came from here. We also learned about the hunting trip and this HLA. How did that fit into what we already knew?

There were a few things in common with the game. First was the people missing. Then, there was the matter of a hunting lodge the family was trapped in being a hunter’s cabin here. Finally, the village of Phandalin knows that the family was taken, and likewise, Canterlot City knows about Lotus and the others missing from the report.

As for what was different, the Redbrands seemed to have no part in this. Aloe, Lotus, and Cherry’s disappearance wasn’t being used for extortion. They also were not stolen from their homes. They left willingly. Lotus and the others had been trapped since Saturday, while the twins and mother were gone for longer.

Is there anything else? I wondered. Any other details that haven’t been accounted for?

There was perhaps the father’s death, but that was before the events of the game. Plus, Lotus lost her father years ago. The only thing that would apply to would be Aloe’s father, but he’s in no danger.

Not the father. Not the Redbrands or extortion. The hunting lodge is answered, so too is the condition, and the girls themselves...

…The grandfather!

“Ms. Coin Toss.” I again retrieved my phone and went back to the missing person’s page. “Do you know about any elderly men that have a toy fish and live in a cabin? Perhaps with some resemblance to Cherry Blossom or Lotus Blossom? Maybe even went on that trip?”

“Elderly men?” Rainbow blinked.

“Uh...Let me see ‘em again.” She handed me back my phone and I switched it to the Missing Person report once more. “Looks like her, huh? Give me a second.”

“Do you have an idea who it is?” Sunset asked me.

“I think so.” I nodded. “Think about the video. How did they set it up?”

I mean,” Rainbow hummed. “You said Aloe didn’t make videos so Lotus used her phone instead. And Story saw Aloe with her phone too to prove it..”

“Not that.” I shook my head. “I don’t mean literally. I mean, how did they get into the cabin to make it? If the owner left on Wednesday, they wouldn’t leave their house unlocked for days. Cherry Blossom would probably have a key or something. She had to have known whoever owned that house.”

“An elderly person that looks like—” I saw the look in Sunset’s eyes. “You’re thinking about the grandfather.”

I grinned victoriously. “I think that’s their grandfather’s house. Lotus’s grandfather, specifically. If her grandfather went on a hunting trip, he may need someone to house-sit for him. Cherry Blossom makes a quick trip and maybe, spur of the moment, Lotus and Aloe decide to tag along. They find the fish toy, make a cute video, and then while they’re exploring the house, maybe they wind up in the basement somehow?”

“Wait.” Coin Toss stood up straight. “Cherry. Cherry...Cherry Wood?”

“Cherry Wood?” We turned back to face her. “Is that the grandfather’s name?”

“I mean, maybe?” Coin considered it further. “He’s not too much into hunting. Moreso just fishing. But, I mean, yeah...The more I keep looking at this lady, I’m seeing a few things in common.”

“Would you know his address?” Rainbow asked.

“Uh, no?” She gave Rainbow an odd look. “I’m an assistant manager, not his assistant. That said, I know where he works.” Coin gave my phone back to me and walked over to the fish toy that was in front of the pyramid of boxes.

Then, she picked up the display and adjusted a dial on the back of it before setting it back down. Right after, she clicked the button. The fish ‘flopped around,’ just like in Aloe’s video before turning to us and opening its mouth to speak.

“The Talkin’ Wall Bass! Presented on a display stand made here in Canterlot City by yer’s truly; Cherry Wood! Buy a fish, then look up Cherry’s Woodwork! Let’s get ta fishin’!”

It was a gruff voice. The same gruff voice from Aloe’s video. “Let’s get ta fishin’,” I murmured. Then I gave out this exasperated laugh. “Let’s get ta fishin’! That’s it! That’s the same voice! Let’s get ta fishin’! We found it!”

“You found the fishing?”

From behind us, Applejack and Story were starting to walk over from the entrance. It had been something over ten minutes since we left the parking lot. They finished their calls by now.

“No, the voice that said it.” I grinned at them. “It’s from a man named Cherry Wood. He’s the one who owns the cabin! It’s Lotus’s grandfather!”

“Grandfather?” Story blinked. “But the grand—” he caught himself once he spotted Coin Toss amongst us. “I mean, how? If they were at their grandpa’s house, why would they be reported missing?”

“He’s likely not there,” I told him. “He’s out of town.”

Sunset looked back to Coin Toss. “Does this Hunter’s Lodge group have a website or something? You said we can’t reach them because they’re on the trip, but it has to have pictures or something, right?”

Coin Toss nodded. “They do. Wait here, I’ll go grab a business card from the checkout.” And with that, the assistant manager stepped away.

“Nice call Rarity,” Rainbow congratulated. “How’d you figure it out?”

“In hindsight, I should have thought of that much earlier,” I admitted. “The grandfather’s the one who told our characters about it in the first place.”

“I remember.” Sunset nodded along. “He said he was a carpenter. And that the whole village helped keep the Redbrands from figuring out who was related to the kidnapped family.”

Then, Sunset looked to Story. “It might be garbled if you tell us, but does anyone in Phandalin know the grandfather? Someone that we can connect easily in real life?”

“Oh! What about Sildar?” Applejack tried. “Apparently, he an’ Vareén paid a trip ta Phandalin ‘fore the game. And we know Sildar’s Ms. Cheerilee. Does he know?”

Story shook his head. “Sorry girls, but I don’t think this is the right angle. I kind of made up the grandpa on the spot. I saw Twilight trying to find a reason for Vareén to be invested, so I made up Grandpa Ruppert.”

“You just made up a character in the middle of the game?” Sunset glared. “That was after we told you how serious this game had become, and you did it anyway?!”

“That’s how I’ve always done it,” he said, the stress rising in his voice. “Like sixty percent of the time, DMs make up small details on the fly! That’s how DMing works!”

“You cannot keep doing that,” Sunset told him. “It might’ve worked here, but it won’t always!”

“Okay, I get that,” Story started. “However, I cannot make a census for every community you guys visit and a schedule for every random jobber walking the streets. Some cities have thousands of people in them. Phandalin has around two hundred alone.”

Sunset huffed. “I didn’t say map out a whole town’s worth. Just the people we’re going to interact with.”

“And I’m supposed to know who you interact with?” He deadpanned. “You realize you’re asking me to predict what you’re all going to do, right? Including Pinkie Pie?”

Sunset again tried to reply but relented the same moment Coin Toss came back. “Touché.”

“Here ya go.” She passed the business card to the closest among us; Rainbow Dash. “And here’s a second one for Cherry’s Woodwork. He made that podium thing all those wall fish are on top of. He left a pack of these when he brought it in.”

“Woah, is this a wooden business card?!” Rainbow Dash held it up so the rest of us could see it. The name Cherry’s Woodwork was lasered onto the surface in a pinkish hue as well as a name, address, and a simple design of a tree framing the side of it. “Okay, that’s kinda cool.”

Coin Toss smirked “I mean, he’s a woodworker. I assumed he’s got plenty of scrap wood for this kinda thing.”

Rainbow passed it around to the rest of us. “You know, after we save Aloe and Lotus and get everything handled, we should have some of these made for the Sonic Rainbooms! Imagine how cool it would be to show off these things! What do you think?”

A few of the others chuckled at the idea, but I tapped at my chin for a moment. You know, I’m not entirely against that. AFTER we save the girls, of course.

“Wait. Did you say Rainbooms?” Coin Toss blinked, her expression becoming unreadable for a second. “I’ve heard of that name.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow’s grin doubled. “I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised. I mean, it’s only natural people would start recognizing us at this point. We’re as good a band as we are detectives.”

There were a few eye rolls and smiles following that, but Coin Toss didn’t join in. Instead, she seemed somewhat agitated at Rainbow Dash. “I didn’t realize you were that group. I take it that girl with the light pink hair from Sunday is a part of you all too?”

“What, you mean Fluttershy?” Rainbow nodded along. “Yeah, she’s our friend too. She’s the one that was asking about the crossbows.”

“...Yeah. Yeah, so that was one of you,” Coin Toss said to herself. “Gotcha. So then you’re that group from Canterlot High.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s us,” Rainbow Dash answered, spotting a look from Sunset. “Huh, what’s up?”

Sunset was about to shake her head, but Coin Toss turned to look as well. The two of them fell into a short-lived staring match for a second before Coin started scanning us carefully. Our smiles were gone by this point.

Only after Coin Toss finished whatever she was looking for did she speak. “Tell me, there’s six of you in all, yeah? That’s what I heard last.”

“I mean,” Rainbow began, spotting Sunset staring back at her with a focused gaze. “Well, there’s, um—”

“Yeah, you’re right. There’s only six,” Story interrupted. “You know, like the number of colors in a rainbow?”

Coin Toss zeroed in on him and again studied him. It was difficult to spot, but I could see Story trying not to show any concern while he met the lady’s gaze.

“Uh, right! Like he said,” Rainbow said awkwardly. “Yeah, there’s totally only six of us! There’s nobody else that’s part of—” Applejack put her boot over Rainbow’s sneaker. Not hard enough to hurt her, but just enough to make her stop talking.

“Uh-huh.” Coin folded her arms. “You realize that there’s seven colors in a rainbow?”

Story let out a nervous chuckle, but tried playing it off. “...Okay, fine. You got me.” He raised his hands in mock surrender while Coin raised an eyebrow. “You’re right, there’s seven. We know that, but the name was just so good, you know? And, originally, right? The idea was that the seventh color was the fans. It’s an inclusive kinda thing. I know, I know, that sounds corny. We’re in the middle of workshopping it. You got any advice?”

She didn’t take the bait. Instead, she shook her head and spoke pointedly. “I heard your group had six girls in it.”

“Oh. E-Erm, well. That’s. A little rude.” Story gave a side eye to the clerk. “I mean, rumors like that get on my nerves. Yeah, I get it, most of the group is girls. But what does that make me at that point, scrap metal? I’m still here.”

Once more, Coin Toss didn’t buy it. She just kept staring Story down, ignoring every act he tried. At that point, she was trying to figure out who among us would be easier to talk to next while we were trying to find a good moment to excuse ourselves from the store.

Although, to his credit, Story had one more trick. He sighed, stared the lady down one more time, and cleared his throat. “Anyways, we need to get going. We gotta find our friends and we don’t wanna waste too much of your time. I mean, I can only imagine how busy you must be with that delayed inventory that came in recently.”

In that instant, Coin Toss’s focus was dead set on Story again as she stared in surprise. “How do you know about that?”

Story let himself smirk and after clearing his throat again, gave a perfect mimicry of Coin’s voice. “That’s what I heard last.”

She blinked a few more times, but before she could reply, Story wrapped it up. “Alright, we’re outta here! Thank you so much for all the help, miss! I’ll put a great review online later. Have a good one!”

When his face was turned away from her, he looked like he was about to lose it while eyeing as many of us as he could. We quickly got the point and fell in line behind him, leaving the store.

On the way out, I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder. Neither could Rainbow Dash. But we walked faster when we noticed Coin Toss staring us down. And we didn’t stop until we were out of eyesight. She didn’t follow us out. But even when we broke the line of sight, all of the soulless eyes of those deer stands watched us go for her.

The second we crossed back into the mall, Story became a nervous wreck. Applejack held her hat over her face and Sunset and Rainbow Dash were watching to see if she was coming after us.

“Okay,” Story wheezed. “I didn’t misread that, did I? That lady was weird.”

“No, you read correctly,” I told him. “She was perfectly fine up until Rainbow Dash mentioned the Rainbooms.”

“Yeah. Good catch on that Sunset,” Rainbow told her. “I’m assuming none of us are ever going back there, right?”

“No. None of us are,” Sunset told us. “And Story, that lie didn’t work.”

“No, not at all,” he admitted. “However, she only thinks there’s six of you, not seven. So she either doesn’t know about Pinkie or about Twilight.”

“Probably Twilight,” Applejack guessed. “She only became part a’ the group a week or two before you. Plus, ain’t nobody forgettin’ Pinkie Pie.”

Sunset nodded. “Speaking of Pinkie, let’s find her and Fluttershy. Once Applebloom and Story’s brother get picked up, we need to get out of here. While we’re at it, I’ll check in on Twilight.”

“Agreed,” said a few of us. We all started towards the Food Court at once, but this time with all of us looking in every direction for anyone staring back with a purpose.

Author's Note

Hey everyone! Wanted to first say, sorry that I missed a deadline last week. A few giant JRPGs had come out *cough cough FF7 cough* and my life's been consumed playing not it, but the prequel of it so that I could then play that game. Basically, I get distracted like a child. So sorry!

I don't have too much news other than one thing: I mentioned that I'm trying to organize the character sheets and stuff to be easier to access and less splattered all over the Description section of the story. I've also been neglecting that due to video games. However, it is just about set up. I'm going to try finishing it before the end of this weekend (so before 3/11 to anyone reading after the weekend this chapter was posted.)

All that in mind, that's all I have to report this time around. I will see you guys (hopefully) in two weeks! That is, assuming video games do not keep consuming my life.

Cheers,
-Zeke

(41) Out of Character

Platick Fortuna's POV

After all of the adrenaline of tearing apart the Nothic left my system, I couldn’t move. I was leaving behind a trail of blood everywhere I went and the whole way there, Stostine was acting as my crutch until we made it inside the Stonehill Inn. In a cruel turn of irony, she was now the healthiest and strongest of all of us that remained.

She didn’t have the strength to set me down gently, however. Once we made it to my and Ricven’s former room, Stostine let me fall onto the bed and fell to the floor, heaving and coughing as bad as I was. She wasn’t heaving blood but her eyes were flaring in every shade for the time.

She left me in the room once she recovered. She needed to help Rava and Vareén next. Rava’s armor was now too heavy for her to do much other than crawl and Vareén...I’m not sure. I thought I saw her impaled on the creature, but she was moving a little too well for that. Maybe. It was hard to tell in the darkness and lack of focus.

For a while, I drifted in and out of consciousness. I couldn’t tell how long it had been. But when I woke up long enough to try untying my boots, my body seized and I let out this agonizing howl. I don’t think I had ever heard myself scream so loud.

Stostine, followed eventually by Rava, rushed in to check on me. But the moment they had, Stostine retreated into the taproom and I heard retching. The entire time I was lying in here, I was bleeding liters. The healing potion I forced into my stomach continuously replaced that blood. The result was an endless fountain.

I couldn’t speak without screaming. I just looked at Rava pleadingly. A cold chill ran down her spine, but she got the message.

I managed to keep my eyes closed until, all at once, the pain ended. Suddenly, my body relaxed, and the pained groaning I made no longer had a reason to exist. It was over. I owed Rava a great deal.

I gave myself a couple of seconds before slowly opening my eyes. I was outdoors, lying on the nonexistent floor courtesy of the cube of air in the sky. I saw the moon partially hidden by clouds just as it was when Stostine and I were here last. It gave me just enough light to make out silhouettes of everyone who ended up here before me.

Except, I didn’t need it. For whatever reason, about ten feet to my left, a campfire was set up on the ‘ground’ and illuminated the entire space. Below us as well. It cast a few of the others’ shadows against the clouds around us.

As I looked around the fire, five people looked up to greet me. Ricven, Glemerr, and Thorn I already expected and from their reactions, they did not seem surprised to find me showing up either. The other two were also expected to find here. They had been dying over and over like our group and met us here each time. They usually died before us too.

The first was a goliath woman named Gekio. She had multiple furs adorning her; most from animals larger than myself. However, she had removed most of them this time around. They were now being used as mats for the others to lie on. The sides of her head were clean shaved while the center had black hair grown out and swept backward into a tight braid. Sparks of electricity coursed across their gray skin and her muscle mass rivaled Glemerr’s. She was probably taller than Glemerr, but it was hard to tell when they were both cross-legged near the fire.

The second was a tiefling, but there was no way they were related to the Redbrand Stalwart. This tiefling was blue-skinned, had small horns that would better fit a young goat, and had a thin, meek body type. He was dressed in merchant’s attire with a small backpack beside him, a large-ish satchel in his lap, and a roll of cloth with tools and parts in front of him. Even the way he looked up at me and then returned to his work made him appear mousy.

I didn’t know his name. The first time we all died, he and Gekio were already here and he was in a fetal position in the corner. The next two times he was one of the last to die. He appeared, the cube shattered, and we reset back to where we were when our Player’s game ended to fight the Nothic again.

“About time ya finally kicked it,” Ricven said with a short smile. “After the maulin’ it gave ya, I was almost sure you'd beat me here.”

I sat up, taking a deep breath now that my body allowed it. Then I wiped my face. The cold sweat followed me up. Interesting. “Eeyup. I’m fine, by the way. Nevermind however long I was bleeding out.”

I started to stand, silently relishing the freedom of mobility. Glemerr stood up to meet with me and Thorn greeted me with a nod.

Over the last several times, Gekio introduced herself to the rest of us. Stostine, Glemerr, and Ravathyra worked to introduce the rest of us from their previous visits up here. It wasn’t the best introduction though. She was one of the first to die each time and she was usually too angry to explain what was happening on her side before we were all sent back. Well, angry and distracted from the—

Wait a second.

I looked all around the space. It’s not here. “Hey, guys? Where’s the horse?”

I watched the tiefling flinch, finally reacting to my presence. After a short breath to calm himself, he glanced back at me. “H-He, erm. Spark is still alive. I hope. I unhitched him before the troll could reach us once more and set him free.”

“Troll?” I blinked. “Is that what’s been killing you?”

He nodded. “Yes. And each time I returned, there was less time to act. This recent attempt, he was closer than previously.” The tiefling spoke with a foreign accent. It sounded...Bosheren. From the deserts south of Leodaav. “I think it was waiting for me. It might have realized I keep appearing in the same place.”

When Glemerr reached me, she offered me a little berry. I recognized it as one of Thorn’s Goodberries. “Thanks fer pickin’ up me slack, Platick. Thorn told us what ya did ‘fore she dropped too.”

“She did?” I gave Thorn a suspicious look. “And exactly how much did she manage to convey?”

“Not much, admittedly.” Ricven shook his head. “Said you appeared ‘like a predator’ from the shadows and ripped out its eye. All while you leaked ‘healin’ liquid’ from yer gut.”

Gekio gave me a toothy grin. “Gotta say, beanpole, I can hardly believe that story. Didn’t think ya had it in ya.”

“Glad to entertain, “ I deadpanned. I refocused on the tiefling, who was about to pick his work back up. “You seem more talkative than the first time you were up here.”

He paused, staring at his work for a moment before sighing. He began to put it back. “Yes, well. You’re friends and I have had a few hours to talk things over. Originally, Gekio. She, erm...Frightened me. No offense.” He nodded at her.

She waved it off. “None taken. That’s what I go for. You just caught me at a bad time. I still can’t believe that ball a’ goo is what keeps doing me in.”

“Ooze,” the tiefling corrected. “And if you’re correct on the color and reactions, it is more directly known as a Black Pudding. Very problematic for one with an affinity for lightning. My condolences.”

Gekio mumbled and groaned in frustration before laying on her back. Glemerr smiled at me. “Platick? Allow me ta introduce ya! Dis here’s Nicor! Or Journey! Either a’ dem names work apparently. And Journey? Dis is Platick! He’s one a’ the grumpy ones.”

Glemerr took one large step forward and loudly whispered. “Although, actually, he’s not really. He’s pretty nice.”

“Cupping your mouth doesn’t make you any quieter.”

“...He’s also super smart an’ perceptive.”

Nicor smiled as he finished putting away his tools and materials. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Platick. I would say it is a pleasure, buuut~” he held up his hands, gesturing to where we were. “You know.”

“Mostly.” I walked forward and joined the circle around the campfire. “The only thing I don’t know is how you all have a fire. Did someone die with firewood?”

“No, not firewood. But, it is my doing,” Nicor informed me. He clapped his hands twice and the campfire, firewood and all, vanished. While my eyes were still unadjusted to the light, I heard Gekio let out a groan towards the tiefling. “Sorry, I was making a point. I will bring it right back.”

I watched Nicor’s silhouette pull out a thin tool and reach forward towards the center of where the fire was. He made a few small motions, produced a small bag from within his robes, and flung it in the same place.

Then, suddenly, a campfire again. The logs of firewood appeared exactly as they did before and the fire roared for a few seconds before settling back into what it was before. “See? Not an issue.”

I gave Nicor a look. “Was that magic? I didn’t hear any incantation.”

“Well, in a way, yes. But, really no,” Nicor explained, putting his thin tool back. It was merely a paintbrush. “I could never master the trade. Not enough for the Arcane Academy, at least. It all stems from glyphs and prepared materials. Which, thankfully, arrived with me. It’s weird though. I could’ve sworn I left some of my tools I have here back in my wagon when the troll arrived, while those in my pockets are now gone. It was the same with Gekio and your friends.”

Ricven nodded. “My runnin’ theory is that we arrive with whatever was on our person when our Players stop the game. Shame. It means we’re stuck with only trail rations and water. Plus whatever Thorn conjures with her vine.”

I turned to Thorn. She had her arms wrapped around her knees and her other hand weaved into her vines. Her scythe was beside her. After she adjusted to the fire vanishing and reappearing, she kept her feet near it.

“How is your vine?”

Thorn looked up at me, somewhat taken aback by the question. I guess she didn’t think I’d care.

“...Vine good.” She held the vine with her other hand, tracing the tendril with her fingers. “Whole. Alive.”

I nodded, popping the Goodberry into my mouth. It tasted like an apple. Like a Sweet Apple Acre one. It caught me off guard for a second, and I almost spat it out from confusion alone. I guess, in a way, I was glad I didn’t. It tasted pretty good.

“How are da others down there?” Glemerr asked, her face turning stoic for a second. “Ah know Rava and Vareén were bad. Ya don’t think any a’ dem are gonna show up next, do ya?”

“The Nothic’s dead,” I reminded her. “Long as they don’t look for trouble, they’ll be...Well, alive, I guess.”

“Ya sure ‘bout that?” Ricven raised an eyebrow. “‘Cause, maybe I misinterpreted Miss Thorn, but she said Vareén got impaled and then hit point blank by that Nothic’s rottin’ gaze.”

“No.” I sighed. “Thorn told you correctly. That all happened. Rava was gazed too, but it didn’t get her as bad. Although, it did more than try to rot Vareén. You remember how it tried to get in your head?”

Ricven took a slow breath and drew out his violin. “Lemme guess. It went straight fer her Player’s memories?”

I shook my head. “I think worse. I think it went for her Player.”

Ricven nearly let his violin fall out of his hands. The others went silent with varying levels of shock or confusion covering their faces. The only one who didn’t was the gnome himself as he turned to glare at Thorn.

“Ya didn’t say it got ta her Player! Or that it got in her head!”

Thorn flinched, but quickly found her spine and glared back. “Say Twilight. Not Player.”

“Twilight’s the NAME a’ Vareén’s Player!”

“...Oh.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Gekio stood up. Likely too anxious to stay in place. “That monster managed to reach out at one of our Players? That’s a thing? They can do that?”

Ricven let out a disgruntled growl and put his violin right back away. “That’s what it nearly did ta me. At the time, I had no idea it was gunnin’ fer Rarity herself. If I’da been any less weak-willed, it woulda prolly succeeded too.”

“It would have finished,” I repeated. More for myself. “And by how it spoke, it would’ve probably fused itself into Rarity or something.”

“Wait, what, fused?” Nicor shuddered. “How do you mean fused? A Nothic can fuse with people?!”

“Not normally, no.” Ricven shot the idea down and then looked at me. “Platick, the heck you mean fuse?”

“It called Vareén a ‘gate.’” I used air quotes. “And it said it would escape this world and make Twilight his.”

Ricven took the words and turned them over a few times, settling his gaze toward the fire. “Is that even possible?”

“Not when Platick’s dere ta stop ‘em,” Glemerr assured. However, her bravado faltered for a second when she looked to me. “You, uh, did stop ‘em. Right?”

I nodded. “Something tells me that if it comes back, it’ll have a personal vendetta against me. I tore out its eye, remember?”

Again, a shudder went down Nicor’s back. “It sounds so disgusting when you say that. All the ichor and grime. Urgh! Although, in a practical sense, that would be the fastest way to nullify a Nothic. Well, mostly nullify. It would still have claws.”

“Trust me, I am aware of that.”

“Twilight.” Thorn looked at me. “Twilight. Vareén. Okay?”

“Actually, that’s a good question.” Ricven looked over as well. “We know Vareén ain’t dead. If she were, she’d be up here with us. But how is she really?”

I shrugged. “No idea. Stostine dragged me to my bed and that’s where I stayed until I finally died. I know Vareén was aware enough to drink a potion when Rava gave it to her after the fight. But Stostine needed to go back out to move her next.”

“And dat’s it?” Glemerr slumped. “She didn’t say err do nothin’ else?”

It took a moment, but I remembered. “There was one thing. I was going in and out of unconsciousness. The pain was what woke me up most of the time. But one time, I woke up to screaming. It wasn’t the kind of scream from someone getting scared or attacked. They were shouting something. And then, I heard Rava’s voice. And…I think a door? By that point, I decided everything was safe and I fell back asleep.”

Glemerr got more depressed. “Vareén didn’t like lettin’ me tend ta her wounds. Was prolly Rava tryin’ ta help. She knows first aid a bit.”

Ricven went back to the fire. “I learned about Nothics from a Dark Auction in Agix. The Master’s the one who gave me that memory. They mentioned how Nothics could be used to drag knowledge out a' unwillin’ victims. Even said it was a torture method in its own right. How long was Vareén under it?”

I took a second to take stock of that moment. “I’d give it...half a minute? Maybe more?”

Ricven grimaced. “They said it takes one look to drag up a specific memory. How much searchin’ would ya say you could do in half a minute?”

“Enough.”

“Exactly.”

The silence followed. I watched the campfire start to peter out. Nicor did too, and quickly reached for a small pouch on his belt, produced a pinch of white sand-like material and flicked it at the flames. The fire flared back to its regular strength and he kept the pouch by his side.

“...But. Vareén’s Playa.” Glemerr brought up again. “Is she okay dough? And, is yer Playa, Ricven?”

Ricven let out a hollow chuckle. “Oh, I’m sure my Player’s fine. She’ll have no worries carryin’ on like nothin’s the matter.”

“And the Twilight girl?” Gekio pressed. When no one had a clear idea, eyes fell back on me.

I shrugged. How am I supposed to have any idea?

Twilight Sparkle's POV
Twilight’s House, Bedroom
6:00PM

“I promise, Sunset, I’m okay. And if you don’t believe me, Spike’s right here keeping an eye on me. He can speak for me.”

I put my phone on speaker and held it out between myself and Spike, who was sitting on my bed beside me. Spike hopped up onto all fours and smiled at the phone even though it wasn’t a video call.

“Yeah, everything’s okay over here,” Spike told her. “Twilight tried pacing around her room and I made sure to pull her right back into bed.” I rolled my eyes. When he said he ‘pulled me back,’ he meant he pulled at my sweatpants by the ankle until I relented.

For the most part, I was doing alright. When Shining brought us all back to our house, walking from the car to the top of the stairs felt more taxing than it should have. Shining had called our parents on the way as well and they set up my room so that I wouldn’t have to leave my bed for anything. Not even food or water. But when Sunset had helped make sure I made it alright, I heard my parents and Shining debating what to do next for me. Especially since this was magic-related.

“No more Nothic or Midnight Sparkle or anything? Everything’s quiet?”

“None of that’s happened since.” I set my phone down and pulled my laptop over. I had it opened to a few articles and explanations about seizures. I wasn’t about to take any of it as definitive, but it helped me to have a better grasp on the subject.

“A few sources say that the side effects that result from a seizure can last anywhere from hours to days. Except, from what Spike’s seen, it doesn't sound like I’m having normal side effects.”

Spike lied back down in front of the phone. “There’s been a couple of times where Twilight’s just fine and typing on her laptop, and then the next she starts staring off in a random direction. Just doing nothing. For like a minute or two. She doesn’t even know she’s doing it. She just snaps out of it and goes on doing what she did before.”

“O-Okay? But why is she doing that?”

“I dunno.” Spike shook his head. “I try asking her, but she doesn't remember doing it. And each time it happens, she acted funny too.”

“Funny how?” Sunset’s voice cracked a bit, making me flinch.

“From how Spike explains it, it looks like I’m reacting to something. One of the times, I looked angry. And in another, I had tears in my eyes. I don't even feel any time pass. It feels like I blink and suddenly Spike's calling my name...I’m. It’s starting to concern me. But the worst part is that I get this feeling in the back of my mind. Like I don’t want to remember what caused me to get emotional.”

The phone went silent for a little bit before Sunset responded again. “Give me a minute. I think I want to check something with Story.”

“Story?” I blinked. “But I thought he blocked us all. How are you going to get his opinion on any of this?”

She didn’t answer me immediately. All I heard was incomprehensible muffled sounds. She likely had her phone away from her ear and was moving around. After about ten seconds, I could hear distant voices. It sounded like Sunset speaking to someone else.

I glanced at Spike. “I’m not misremembering, right Spike? Story tried to walk away from all of us, didn’t he?”

He shrugged at me. “That’s the last I heard.”

After about five more seconds, I heard more sounds from the phone before a new voice spoke from the other side of it. His voice.

“Um? Hi. Uh, Twilight?”

“Story?” I blinked, trading glances with Spike for a moment. “You’re with Sunset and the girls?”

“Kind of a long explanation,” Story told me. “And it’s still kind of going on. But, more importantly, how are you feeling? Sunset told us all about the Nothic. And the, erm, seizure. I’m so sorry that you’re going through all of this.”

My jaw tightened while I remembered how Sunset felt after Story’s blowup, but I put it out of my mind and stayed cordial. For her sake. “Right. Well, I’m resting as well as I can. And we’ve noticed that I’ve been blacking out constantly since I got home. Or, in truth, Spike noticed. It feels like no time passes. And this doesn’t seem like a typical side effect for seizures.”

“Oh. I see what you mean now.” That last part I assumed he said to Sunset. And that’s when I realized why Sunset brought him over.

“Um. This might sound kind of out of left field, but I gotta ask. Do you feel afraid? About your own memories, I mean? Obviously, this is all probably scary, but does it feel like there’s this—” “Unfounded fear?”

Those words we said in unison. It was exactly as he said and I sat up once he proved it. “Yes! Yes, that’s exactly it. Spike tells me that I look emotional whenever I black out, but when I try to figure out what I was so mad, or sad, or happy about, I get this overwhelming fear welling up in me. As if something terrible would happen if I remember it.”

I could hear Story take in and then release a breath. “Alright. Yeah, that’s. That’s how I would describe it. Okay.” He mumbled to himself. Mostly small ramblings as he tried to recall something.

“Okay, uh. Alright. So, what you’re going through is when a Nothic feels around in a person’s mind for memories. Usually for Nothics, they either reach out for the deepest secrets a person has or for something specific. And I’m assuming a Nothic doesn’t know you personally. It probably tried scraping for whatever was easiest. Like, again, deepest secrets.”

I scrunched my body up in a small fetal position. “My deepest..."

...moRe KnoWledGE...thAt lItTle DeVIce…

...wHAt doOrS MaY...tRY to usE It...

...uNLeaSh thE mAGiC...

...I dIdN’t unDerSTanD MAgic BefOre. bUT i dO noW...

“...twilight! Twilight! Twilight! Come on, snap out of it! You gotta stay with us here!” Spike was frantically shaking my shoulder and shouting into my ear until I finally snapped out of it.

“Huh?! Spike? Spike, I-I’m okay! I’m okay.” I wiped my tears and tried to smile. “See? Perfectly fine.”

Wait, tears? Am I crying again?

I paused. Spike looked scared and the phone was still on speaker.

“Spike? Spike, what’s going on?!” It was Sunset’s voice again. “Story, what did you do?!”

“Nothing, I swear!” Story was talking loud enough to just barely be heard. “You heard everything I said, you were right here!”

I scooped up my phone and held it in front of me. “Sunset, I’m here. I’m okay.”

“Are you?! Twilight, you went quiet for almost a minute! You were—y-you..."

I felt my face. I let out this uncontrollable sniffle before I could calm myself. I didn’t even know what I was crying about. Just that I...That I was responsible for something.

“At least put it on speaker,” Story’s voice was there, barely audible. After a second, I heard him sigh at regular volume. “Okay? Twilight? You blanked out again. And, you were sobbing.”

“Sobbing?” “Sobbing?” I and Sunset said that at the same time.

“He’s right,” Spike nodded along. “It was just like the last time. And she looks okay again. Her cheeks are a little puffy, but she doesn’t look sad anymore.”

“Sad, huh?” Sunset asked. “And Story, you said deepest secrets? I mean, I’m not sure if it’s a secret, but could the Nothic have found—” “Bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah!” Story cut her off loudly.

“Whatever it is, don’t talk about it! Twilight, if you start thinking about it, you’ll just blank out again.”

I understood what he told me, but it was easier said than done. Just hearing them talk about it made me try by instinct to recall what I had done. Although, when I tried, this alien chill ran down my spine like before.

“Well, no problem there. I don’t think I want to remember it.”

“And that's part of it too,” Story told us. “Any memories a Nothic finds, it drags them up front and invades them. And the person it happens to relives the Nothic scrambling around in there for a bit.”

“How long?” Sunset asked. “How long is it going to last?”

“Depends how much it messed with her. In my game’s world, Nothics are used for torture. Purely because of this reason.” He sounded anything but proud of that. “I’m hoping that wasn’t garbled. Rarity rolled high enough to know, so I’m assuming the whole party would know.”

“But what kind of memories would it try to go after?” I asked him. “Crying, I guess I understand, but Spike said I looked mad and happy. I don’t have any deep secrets that would make me act like that.”

“There’s been some other times where she’s just smiled or frowned,” Spike added on. “Like she’s been daydreaming.”

“That sounds pretty wide range,” Sunset pointed out.

“I said that’s what it probably went for,” Story replied. “I don’t know what that thing wants exactly. It could have aimed for whatever. Secrets are just what Nothics prefer.”

“Well. Is there a way to recover from it faster?”

There was a pause. “Maybe? I designed why and how Nothics are used for world-building. I didn’t sit and think about an entire healing process afterward. Especially since magical healing exists.”

“Tell me it wears off.” Sunset tone was far from pleading.

“It does, it does. Anywhere from a night’s rest to a few days. So long as the Nothic doesn’t keep getting her. Just, for now at least, try not to set any of those memories off.”

I guess that does have some logic to it. “Okay, I’d be willing to try that. Any advice on how?”

“Well, it probably grabbed a bunch of memories that are either important or that you have a lot of. In other words, the biggest or most common things you do. So, without thinking about it, what would that be?”

I rolled my eyes but tried to oblige. “I like to read.”

“Okay. Great. Stop reading.”

“You can’t be serious.”

Spike snickered. “He knows who he’s talking to, right?” I turned my frown at him next, but he kept snickering.

“Story, I can’t just avoid reading everything. That’s ridiculous.”

“I think he means to try and avoid reading until you’re okay,” Sunset said with more sympathy.

That’s still cruel. “Why would reading in general set it off?”

“You said you’ve been reading articles online,” Sunset reminded me. “And Spike said you blanked out when you did it. On top of that, I didn’t see you blank out like that when I was there. Something’s triggering it. Even with articles you’ve never read before.”

“But. B-But. What about school? I have assignments I need to work on. There’s a math test this Wed—”

...oPeN teXtbOoKS to pAge 178…

…nOW. sCaLenE. IsoSCelEs. And eqUIlAteRAl. wHAt...

...cORreCt twIlIgHt. bUt tHAt’S neXt weEk’s aSsigNMenT...

Story Spinner's POV
Canterlot Mall, Near the Entrance

“Twilight? Twilight! Not again,” Spike groaned over the phone. “She’s just smiling at the wall this time.”

I shook my head. “Great. One of her trigger words is Math.”

Sunset looked at me. “How long will she act like this?”

“Probably a day or two? Maybe more? It will wear off but I don’t know when.” I wrapped my arms around me and walked a few steps to the side. Sunset had moved me away from everybody so that we could talk to Twilight without anyone passing by to hear. The others were waiting around the entrance of the mall with our siblings.

Originally, we tried to gently fill Button and Applebloom in on how our friends were missing and that we wanted to find them. Button went kind of quiet and understood why Mom was coming. Applebloom was the reverse. She wanted to come help too only for Applejack to tell her that wasn’t an option and that Big Mac was already on his way.

Soon enough, my mom arrived to pick up Button. I started to fill her in myself and that was when Sunset pulled me aside. My mom still wanted to understand what was happening, but that was when Shining Armor explained it was about his sister.

Sunset’s glance had me stay nearby. “You said maybe she could recover faster. What’s the maybe?”

I faced her fully. “Eventually, she’ll be able to remember the things she keeps spacing out about. At that point, she can focus on the memory as many times as she needs until that fear goes away. But I won’t lie. It’s gonna suck.”

Sunset was about to say something else, but at that point, Twilight’s woke back up on the other end of the phone. Rather than have both of us keep talking, Sunset took the phone off speaker and focused on Twilight.

While she finished up the call, I excused myself back to the mall entrance. It didn’t take both of us to rehash what I told Sunset and it would probably come off better from anyone beside myself.

It only took a few steps to get into view of the others. Mom was talking directly with Shining Armor, who listened intently while the others had a mix of emotions. Mostly concern. And after Mom finished speaking, Shining looked upset. And as I got close enough to hear them, he replied.

“More than anything, we’re worried that bringing Twilight to the hospital might end up making her feel worse. Not physically, I mean, but mentally,” Shining told her. “The last few days have been exhausting for her. We just want her to get some rest. What if the hospital makes her more stressed than before she arrived?”

It was a weak excuse. Probably because it wasn’t the truth. I and the others had avoided telling my mom about anything magic-related. We just focused on the facts. For the most part, we had our story straight with her. It was only when one of us tried to fill in the blanks with lies that Mom saw through us.

However, Mom gave Shining this sorrowful look. “Shining? I know that what happened was terrifying. And I couldn’t begin to imagine what would happen if either of my sons had something like this happen to them. And I am so sorry about what happened with Twilight. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to hear that she is home with her family instead of moving around. And I agree that it sounds like she could use some rest. However, a seizure doesn’t stop being a problem when someone wakes up. There may be lasting effects. Complications that might exist that we cannot spot immediately. Especially if this is her first seizure like you mentioned.”

Shining took a second to take that in. He had no counter. Neither did the girls who were slowly recognizing how serious Twilight’s situation was. The only one among them that was trying to find something to counter with was Rainbow, who was trying and failing to rack her brain for some excuse that would keep Twilight from going to the hospital. The others were apprehensive of it as well, but not to the same degree.

Out of the group, Fluttershy admitted defeat first. “Shining? I think Dr. Tap might be right. What if Twilight really should go to the hospital?”

“Fluttershy, hold on,” Rainbow started, catching my mom, the doctor’s, attention. “This is a one and done thing. It’s not gonna happen to her again.”

“We.” Applejack shook her head. “RD, we don’t know that fer sure. Everythin’ is up in the air now. And we can’t all be helpin’ ta track down Aloe an’ Lotus as well as keep an eye out on Twilight. Not ta mention, Shining’s the only one of us that know how to handle it.”

“Not true. Fluttershy knows how to handle this kinda stuff. Right Fluttershy?” Rainbow pointed over to her, causing Fluttershy to quickly shake her head.

“N-Not for seizures, no. I don’t.”

Again, Mom stepped in. “Both Story and Fluttershy know first aid. I know because Fluttershy’s Mom and I signed them up. Handling seizures takes more.”

“She’s right.” Shining frowned. “I took a few courses after high school, but I’m not going to pretend I know everything. I don’t think my parents know enough either. They’re just trying to have Twilight get some rest and make sure she’s okay.”

“Well.” Fluttershy took a small breath and built up the nerve. “What does Twilight want to do? The hospital can’t help her if she doesn’t want them to. Isn’t that right?”

My mom gave a slow nod. I think there was more to it, but she left it at that.

“Twilight..." Shining looked guilty. “I’m not sure. I talked to her over the phone while most of you were in the hunting store, but she kept assuring me she’s fine. I think she’s trying to put on a brave face.”

Mom nodded understandingly. “From what you’ve explained, she sounds like a responsible girl. And, ultimately, Fluttershy is right. A person won’t get any help from a hospital if they themselves do not want help. But if you’re concerned, even a little, about her health, you know what I'm going to suggest.”

“...You think that we should take her to the hospital.”

Rather than nod along, Mom folded her hands together in front of her. “A seizure should always be taken seriously. Now, I am not about to give you any medical advice. Nor am I going to ask any questions about what happened with her. I am not in a position to give medical advice right now. What I can do, however, is possibly help with the delay.”

“You. You can?” He blinked.

“Yes. I know a neurologist that works there.” For emphasis, Mom took out her phone. “I can call and inform her that she should expect a patient who’s had a seizure. It’s no guarantee, but it may help your sister be seen right away. Although, that depends on whether or not she wants to be seen and if someone is willing to take her. But I assure you, the hospital is trained, and glad, to help with these situations.”

Hearing that, the girls started to relent. Rainbow was still apprehensive, but was in agreement with Fluttershy; let Twilight decide.

Applejack moved forward at this point. “Excuse me, err, Dr. Tap? If Twilight does go ta the hospital, are they gonna keep her overnight?”

Mom shook her head. “I couldn’t answer that. It depends on the severity of the seizure or her general condition.”

From behind me, I heard Sunset walk up. I was close enough to hear all of them without getting in the way. Sunset missed most of the conversation, but she already knew my mom was a doctor. Seeing her talk with Shining Armor had Sunset put the pieces together.

“Are they going to take her in?” Sunset asked.

“Depends on Twilight,” I told her. “Is that a problem?”

Sunset furrowed her brow for a second, but softened up. “No. I don’t think so. I was trying to suggest something else Twilight could do instead of reading, and she blanked out again. Then, I heard her dad checking in on her. He and Spike spent another minute trying to snap her out of it.”

I noticed how she was taking it all and felt like I had to say something. “I don’t know what you’re guilty about. It’s my monster.”

Sunset didn’t take to the idea kindly. She simply glared. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Taking credit for every terrible thing,” she told me. “Might sound weird coming from me, but there’s enough problems you’ve actually caused. I don’t want to hear you trying to cover it up with fake ones.”

“It’s not fake,” I spoke slowly. “Besides, I could say the same thing to you. You’re not exactly pure of fault either. All the self blame just makes it harder to pick apart your real issues.”

“Funny. I seem to recall telling you the real issues. Point-blank. You didn’t take it that well,” she jabbed.

“Maybe because the mad ramblings of a lunatic finally made me realize that I was being used.”

“Lunati—used?” Sunset’s glare deepend. “I didn’t use—” “Yes. You did.”

I frowned. “We’ve been over this. And I’m not doing it again. We help Twilight. And Rarity’s friends. Then the Principal, or ‘puh-rin-cess,’ since that’s what you keep calling her. And then we’re done. You and me never speak again, and all becomes right with the world. Both of them.”

Sunset scoffed before brushing past me to rejoin the others. “Works for me.”

“Great,” I mocked, following suit.

From the others, Mom was wrapping up a few more simple questions about what Twilight’s visit might be like. The tension was still there a little, but not as it was before. And when Sunset rejoined them, the others tried filling her in only for Sunset to admit that she already assumed.

While they did, Shining took a breath. “I think I’ll call ahead on my way back home and check with Twilight. I know you said that you’re probably not going to see her, but would I be able to speak with you afterwards to let you know whether to call your friend?”

“Of course!” Mom grinned, reaching for her purse. “Here, it might be easier if you call me rather than use Story or the girls as a go-between.” After a moment, Mom pulled out a business card. “Take one of these. I’ve had a few of them forever now, but the phone number’s still the same.”

“Wait.” Rarity moved forward and stared at the card in surprise. “A wooden business card? You have a wooden card?”

“Err, yes?” Mom blinked. “Like I said, I’ve had them forever. My husband got them for me as a gift, but I’ve just been sitting on them.”

“Rainbow Dash, do you have the other one?!” Rarity watched the jock among us pull out the one from the store and Rarity quickly compared the two. “No doubt about it. Cherry Wood made this one too! Story!”

Rarity whipped around to me as I finally rejoined the group. “How come you didn’t tell us your father bought these cards?!”

I held up my hands. “Woah, I had no idea! I didn’t even know my mom had business cards!”

“I mean, doctors use business cards as well. It’s not that weird,” Mom said with an awkward glance towards the side. “Besides, a wooden business card is kinda cool.”

“See?! I told you they were cool!” Rainbow told us. “That settles it, we’re so getting cards after this.”

Rarity, and the rest of us, ignored Dash for now. “Dr. Tap, do you think your husband knows the man who made those cards? Possibly where he may live? We’re almost certain that one of our missing friends are his granddaughter and that they may be trapped there!”

Mom quickly focused up. She dug in her purse for a second and pulled out a second card, also, wooden, and passed it to Shining. “Get going. Your sister shouldn’t wait on our account.”

“Right.” Shining tucked the card away and then looked to Sunset. “Will you be fine getting around with the others?”

Sunset smiled. “No problem. Drive like the wind.”

He smiled back. “That’s the plan. Good luck girls!”

At that Shining took off while Mom thought for a second. “I know that Game Plan mentioned how the guy who made these was working out of his house. That was years ago though.”

“You mean, he used to work out of his house?” Rarity glanced back at the wooden business card. “Then...Does he even have a workshop?"

“I mean, you said he lives in the woods,” Sunset reminded us. “Plenty of wood and no one to care about the noise. Is there any law against working out of your own home?”

“No, not at all,” Applejack told her. “Not fer farms or anythin’ else fer that matter. Long as ya tell city hall that ya wanna set up shop, yer square.”

Rarity didn’t take her eyes off the business card. “Than, that means the address on Cherry’s card. Is this his actual address?” She took out her phone, opened it to a map, and started typing.

Mom thought about it for a moment. “I mean, addresses are usually on cards. Maybe it’s weird to have your own, but if it’s your business address too...”

Rarity kept typing, with everyone watching her until, finally, her eyes lit up. “A-HAAA! This is it! The address leads right outside of town! It says it’s seventeen minutes away!”

“Alright! Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Rainbow was throwing her fists in the air while Pinkie was spinning around us in celebration. “Nothing’s gonna stop us from getting them outta there!”

“Do any of you have a car?” Mom asked them. “I don’t think all of you can fit in Story’s alone.”

“I do.” “So do Ah.” Rarity and AJ confirmed. “With three cars, we ain’t lackin’ on seats. We’ll caravan over no problem. Well, soon as Big Mac gets here.”

Applebloom started to pout. “Applejack, he’ll prob’ly be here any minute. Ah’ll be just fine on mah own until then. Ya don’t got anythin’ ta worry about.”

Except a creepy hunting store clerk, I thought to myself. It must’ve shown too, because Applebloom and my family picked up on all of our expressions pretty fast.

“If it helps,” Mom started. “I could watch her. I don’t have anything going on and I'm probably just going to take Button for take out on the way home." Mom glanced over to Button, who was leaned up against the wall playing his JoyBoy. Once the focus changed from picking him up, he was content to let us talk while he played his game. "Although, I understand if you’d rather watch her yourself. I don't want to intrude.”

Applejack's face lit up. “Ya kiddin'? Yer Story’s kin. That’s all the proof Ah need ta trust ya. Would that be alright with you, Applebloom?”

“Yeah, Ah guess so,” she said begrudgingly. “It’d still just be easier ta come along with ya. Ah promise Ah wouldn’t get in the way err nothin’.”

“We don’t think you would either,” Fluttershy assured her. “But, Big Mac’s already on his way here. We wouldn’t want him to come all this way just to have to turn around. And he’s worried too.”

From that, the girl gave in. “Fair enough. ”

Rainbow started moving out ahead of us. “Come on girls! We gotta get going.”

“I’ll ride with Applejack,” Pinkie shouted before she and the farmgirl took off.

“Here, Story, take this.” Rarity passed me Cherry Wood’s business card. “Applejack hardly uses her GPS. She’ll probably follow one of us. Best that we both know where we’re going.”

I nodded and opened my phone to start typing it in while she and Sunset hurried off to catch up with Rainbow Dash. That left my family, Applebloom, and Fluttershy with me.

“Fluttershy?” My mom looked at her. “Does Camera Shy know you were planning to be out this late?”

Fluttershy froze up. “Oh my! With everything that’s been going on, I completely forgot to call my parents. They must be getting worried.”

“I’ll let your mother know,” she told her. “In the meantime, could you make sure that someone from your group calls the police? If those girls have really been trapped for two days, they may need emergency care.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I can do that. Thank you again for all of your help Dr. Tap.”

“No problem. And Story?”

I finally got the address typed in and looked up. “Yes, Mom?”

“Once those girls are safe and found, I want you to head back home. Consider all this charity as an upfront payment for telling me what’s really going on. Okay?”

At that, I watched Button pause his game and look right at me. He might've been playing his game, but he knew how to split his focus when he wanted. He likely wanted to know too.

I bit my lip, but had no objections. “Alright, that’s fair. I’ll do that.”

“Good. Now hurry up. Go.”

Obeying, Fluttershy followed me off to where I parked. Once we got in, I rolled out and found Rarity, who pulled aside near the mall’s exit waiting for us. Then, despite leaving first, Applejack was the last to join us.

With everyone gathered up, we peeled out of the parking lot and drove off with the city lights and other cars being the only light sources around us. Once we got past the busier roads, Rarity started pulling ahead and I and Applejack did our best to follow behind as we drove out of the city.

The whole way there, Fluttershy messaged the others to let them know that someone needed to call the police. Since Rarity was busy driving and most of the others had only second-hand knowledge of it all, that left Fluttershy to do it since we still had Cherry Wood’s business card with all the details.

Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out too well. After we left the city limits to the west, where Fluttershy’s call dropped. She was only part way into telling the police why she was calling before the call dropped and we had no choice but to follow the others down the road until we arrived.

Author's Note

So...Remember last chapter how I was going to try and get the next chapter out on time? Despite getting distracted on a video game? Well...I finished the game. yay.

I have the brain of a child. That's my bad.

In all seriousness, apologies for being late on another chapter. I've been wanting to do better and now that I finished the game, I think the distraction's behind me.

In better news, I have a bonus content Google Docs folder up and running! This chapter was ready yesterday, but I wanted this to be set up too.

I've also changed the main description of the story to have this link instead of 10-ish links. None of them are required, of course. Just there in case anyone's interested. I just figured if I have these things, I might as well share 'em.

One more thing: I know it's been some time and some chapters since a D&D session in the story. For those waiting for that, it won't be long now. I plan to have a long span of D&D chapters to make up for the long span of non-D&D chapters.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know any criticisms you guys might have. Especially on details I may get wrong about general stuff. Shoutout to raven618 for correcting me on a detail from last chapter. Thanks dude. And, with no more distractions, I'm gunning for a new chapter in two weeks. For real this time!

Cheers,
-Zeke

(42) Chaotic Good

Rainbow Dash's POV
Outside Canterlot City
Monday, 6:45 PM

The road spanned on forever into darkness, with only the headlights shining down the path ahead of us. Trees fenced us in on either side, with the occasional gas station or semi-lit neighborhood road splitting off into another direction, but Rarity kept barreling forward. And with every minute down that road, the neighborhoods and gas stations became more spread out until it was nothing but occasional backroads.

Sunset was in the back seat, sitting back with her eyes forward and focused on nothing. She, like us, was locked in this tense quiet that no one bothered breaking. It only got cut in by Rarity’s phone updating us on where to go next. The only time Rarity slowed down was when it said there was a speed trap.

Behind us, Applejack’s truck and Story’s car tried to match our speed. We definitely had a lead on them after we were out of city limits, but we could still see their headlights in the distance. And none of them called to tell us to slow down. We figured they could follow us just fine.

Like when she drove us to Lotus’s house, Rarity cut the time it would take down by a few minutes. You’d never know it from hanging out with her, but Rarity was the fastest driver in our group. Maybe even in the school at this point. Even with everything probably running around in her mind about her friends, she didn’t look angry or manic or anything. Just hard focused on getting there as soon as possible.

Then, when we hit the thirteen-minute mark of our seventeen-minute drive, Rarity’s phone finally said the magical words we were all waiting for.

“In one mile, your destination will be on your right.”

At that moment, all of us sprung into action despite never planning what we would do the whole way there.

Sunset put one hand on the button of her seatbelt and the other on the door handle, with her eyes glued to the side of the road for any signs of a path. I white-knuckled the passenger seat handle I had been holding onto and rolled down the window to stick my head out for a better look. Rarity, for the first time this whole drive, began slowing down for good and put her car’s brights on to give us an edge.

Then, Rarity used the hands-free device on the car. It started to give out a prompt which Rarity cut off with another button press. The beep replied and she spoke.

“Call Applejack,” Rarity enunciated to the car.

There was a pause. Kind of an uncomfortable one. And after maybe five seconds, the car responded. “Unable to connect. Please try again later.”

Rarity blinked, glancing at her phone for a moment as ‘Call Failed’ flashed on it. “That’s odd. Sunset?”

“Already on it.” From the back, I heard Sunset take out her phone and try for us.

In the meantime, I saw something reflecting off of Rarity’s light up ahead and grinned. “Rarity! There!”

The car lurched a little when Rarity slowed it down again. She threw on the turn signal for AJ and Story, who were finally beginning to catch up to us. Except, when Rarity got close enough to see more than just a reflection, our excitement cracked.

There was a small turn-off onto a worn-down dirt road that went about thirty feet before stopping at a huge metal gate. A gate that was closed off. Then, on either side of it, there was a chain link fence that curved off deeper into the woods.

“Is that it?” Rarity asked. Not really towards anyone. “I thought it was a business too. Why would there be a gate?”

From the backseat, Sunset hummed. “Call failed. There must not be any cell service out here.”

Rarity went ahead and drove onto the dirt road, now driving at a crawl with the gate in the headlights. “Maybe Aloe connected to Cherry Wood’s internet to post the video. That or maybe the connection’s better uphill.”

Finally, once we were nearly up against the gate, we saw something else. At eye level with Rarity’s window was a little keypad panel thing. It had five bulbs at the top that were all inactive, with four of the lights lined up in a row and the fifth above all of them. Below that was the keypad itself, and then at the bottom was a large button with a phone icon and a speaker beside it.

“It’s an electronic gate,” Rarity determined. “And by the look of it, you can either use a code or get someone to open it from the cabin.”

It wasn’t that Rarity expected it to work, we assumed it wouldn’t, but she lowered her window and pressed the call button. The top light started blinking red as a phone ringing sound echoed from the speaker. It had some static to it and we all just stared at it.

As we did, the others turned onto the road behind us. Seeing the closed gate, Applejack drove off to the edge of the path to keep out of the way and Story tried doing the same in the other direction. There was barely enough space for Rarity to back out if she had to.

But Rarity didn’t go that far. She threw the car in reverse and backed up enough so the cars were in this tight triangle pattern before parking her car. Right away, everybody left their respective cars and gathered in the center. Story and Pinkie used their phones to illuminate the space around us.

“Ah’m guessin’ that business card doesn’t have the gate code?”

Story started to pull out the card, but Rarity shook her head. “Afraid not. Just his address and phone.”

“Do you think we might still be able to call Cherry?” Pinkie suggested.

Sunset was about to reply, but Fluttershy spoke up first. “Actually, I don’t think we can call anybody. I was talking to the police, but the call dropped.”

Story finally got the business card out of his pocket and kept it in his hand. “Which also means that nobody knows where we are.”

“That might be a problem.” Rarity frowned.

“Ya think?” AJ crossed her arms.

“No, no. I mean, I never informed the police about what we found out about Cherry Wood’s house. The last thing we reported about was the video. Mrs. Fruity Aroma and a small search party are in the area, but they don’t know which house to check.”

“Huh. That’s odd.” Pinkie tapped on her chin. “You’d think that somebody would come by here. It’s right off the road.”

“Well, it might not be completely out of place.” Sunset glanced back at the gate. “We still can’t say for sure if we can go against destiny here. But if it’s a question mark for us, it’s likely a matter of fact for anybody else.”

“Like I said,” Story reminded her. “One way or another.”

“Hey, let’s not talk like that,” Applejack scolded them. “Maybe everybody missed this place. Maybe they stopped at the gate like we did. That don’t matter. What matters is proven this place is Cherry Wood’s an’ savin’ the girls. Alright?”

“Well, are we positive that this place belongs to Cherry Wood?” Rarity asked them. “This might be where the GPS got us, but in the woods like this who knows if it’s correct or not.”

“I dunno,” Pinkie told her. “That sign seems pretty convincing.”

All of us turned and followed Pinkie’s phone light to this large green and white sign that would probably have been easy to spot from the road had it not been dark out. Towards the bottom of the sign, there was a symbol of a small pond with fish swimming around and a cherry blossom tree hanging over the water. Then, above the image, was the name and slogan:

Cherry’s Woodwork
Reeling in Quality
Crafting with Care

“Wow. Good eye Pinkie.”

“Thanks!”

“Are we sure nobody stopped by here?” I asked. “Even if people don’t know this road, they’d probably find the sign.”

“I don’t see any tire tracks except for ours,” Fluttershy noted.

“Okay. In that case.” Applejack glanced over at the keypad. It stopped ringing after maybe half a minute. “How can we even check? If Cherry Wood’s on that huntin’ trip, then there ain’t a way ta go past this gate.”

“Well..." I looked around, busting my phone out to glance at the fence. The chain link looked like it went on forever and the top of it was lined with barbed wire. Definitely not a good idea to climb. And the wire above the gate meant jumping off a car would probably be a bad idea too.

Unless we didn’t climb the fence, I thought to myself. I then looked at what was on our side of the fence. The sign wasn’t, but there were plenty of trees with some low-hanging branches. Especially one that looked pretty climbable.

“There.” I grinned, pointing at the perfect tree. Everyone followed my finger and quickly realized my idea.

“No,” AJ stressed. “Rainbow, yer not seriously plannin’ on breakin’ inta this fella’s house, are ya?”

“I’m not gonna break into his house!” I shouted back. “Just jump the fence. Besides, if Aloe and Lotus came here with Lotus’s mom in her car, then that means all I gotta do is look for the car! If I don’t find it, then we’ll know it’s the wrong place! Problem solved!”

“Yer still breakin’ into the man’s property,” AJ told me. “He’s got a fence fer a reason. Ah mean—urgh. Story, please back me up here.”

“Wha—me?” Story blinked. “Well...O-Okay, yeah, she’s right, Rainbow Dash. We can’t just break into someone’s property. Besides, any of us going in alone doesn’t sound like a good idea to begin with.”

“Well, we can’t just sit out here!”

“And we won’t,” Applejack told us. “Look, we gotta let the folks in charge of Aloe an’ Lotus’s case know what’s goin’ on. And the only way we’re doin’ that is by goin’ back towards the city ‘til we get service back.”

“She’s got a point.” And again, Story agreed. Then he looked at Sunset “Even if you wanna say that destiny’s gonna get in the way, there are still people out there looking in all the wrong places. They at least deserve to know they can stop driving around on dark, thin roads.”

Sunset took a second before nodding. “That, I agree with. Now, we don’t need everyone driving back, but I still don’t want any of us going out alone. Can someone tag along with Applejack?”

“How’s come?” I questioned. “The Nothic’s not a problem anymore. Twilight said she hasn’t seen it since and Story hasn’t had any headaches either.”

The others focused back on Story. “You haven’t...right?” Rarity asked him.

He shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I haven’t seen any visions either. Fluttershy, nothing else happened, yeah?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not that I saw, no. You seemed fine.”

“Better safe than sorry.” Sunset looked from me to Fluttershy. “Do you think you could go with Applejack? If your call dropped on the way, it might be better if you called again in case they’re worried about you.”

Fluttershy smiled. “I can do that.”

Applejack moved for her truck. “In that case, hop in Sugarcube. Ah might not drive like Rarity, but it shouldn’t take long ta get in range.” Once they loaded up, AJ shut her door and cranked the window down before looking back to Story. “Keep an eye on RD and Rarity, would ya? The last thing we need is fer the police ta show up while they're hoppin’ the man’s fence.”

“Uh, right. Sure.” Story glanced over at the two of us as Fluttershy got in and AJ started up the truck. “Question though, why am I suddenly the moral compass here?”

“Well, in the past, Applejack’s the moral compass followed by myself,” Rarity told him. “But, I’ll be the first to admit my judgement may be a tad clouded tonight.”

“Exactly,” Applejack confirmed. “Be right back. And Ah better see y’all still here when Ah do.”

I sighed. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll be here.”

On that, Applejack tossed the truck in reverse, backed out of the dirt road, and crossed over to the other side of the road as her truck vanished into the dark.

Once she was out of sight, Rarity gave me a look. “If you would, darling?”

“On it.”

“W-Wait, what?” Story went wide eyed as I walked up to the best looking tree. “Already?! Did you just wait until she—Rarity, you just said you were the backup compass!”

“I did, yes,” Rarity told him. “And I’m penning my resignation as of now. Congrats on the job.”

“You—I—but...Y-You can’t just do that!”

“Sure she can! She’s not the moral compass anymore,” Pinkie reminded him as I got about halfway towards a low sturdy branch that reached most of the way over the tree.

“Relax Story,” I called out to him. “All I gotta do is jog up the path, look for Cherry Blossom’s car, and run right back. In and out, three minutes tops.”

He tried to think up some sort of argument that would get me out of the tree but after a little bit of stammering, he held up his arms and backed up. “I want it on record that I do not like any of this.”

“Noted,” Sunset deadpanned. Then she looked over to Rarity and Pinkie. “Can one of you tag along with her? I’m on board with getting answers, but I don't want any of us going off alone. Nothic or no Nothic. And I’m not exactly the best climber.”

“Well, I can’t either,” Rarity declined. “It’s my and Story’s cars out here and if somebody does happen to show up, we should be here.”

From the tree branch, I watched Pinkie run up to the base of it and scamper up in half the time it took for me to get up here. And when she did reach my branch, she didn’t stop. Instead, she leapfrogged over me, found a vine and then cleared her throat.

“Story?” Pinkie called out. “Glemerr’s attack. Take two!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Story muttered to himself. “I’m not doing it!”

“Aw, come on!” Pinkie giggled. “It’ll be fuuun~”

“You cannot and will not make me!”

“Hmmm..." Pinkie watched him and considered her next words with a playful grin. “Hey Rainbow Dash? Do you read movie blogs?”

“Oh, come on!” Story shouted dramatically. “How is it that the second Applejack leaves, all of you become a bunch of chaotic gremlins?!”

“Welcome to the Sonic Rainbooms,” Rarity joked.

“Pleeeease, Story!” Pinkie begged with a huge grin on her face and a flutter of her eyes.

“...” Story sighed, head hanging low as he kicked himself. Then, he gave in. He held his arms up, with his left arm horizontal and his right arm on the end of it pointed up.

“glemerr’s attack...take two...action…” His voice lacked any emotion as he let his right hand drop down and clapped his left elbow. Kinda like one of those black-and-white movie things.

Pinkie’s grin grew twice its size and she sucked up a huge thing of air and leapt off the branch.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOAHHHAHHHOOOOOOO~!"

She sailed into the dark to where the headlights from Rarity’s car weren’t looking. Just pure darkness. Pinkie’s voice kept on for another second before we heard a landing and tumble before nothing.

“...Pinkie?” Story looked over. Then tried shining his phone over. “Pinkie? Pinkie, say something.”

“Wooooo~! Wow, what a rush!” Pinkie shouted before she pulled her phone back out and shined the light back towards him. “Now I get why it was so fun for Glemerr! Rainbow Dash, you have to try that!”

“Yeah?” I asked, spotting the vine swaying back in my direction. “Alright! Give me a sec.”

“Okay, Rainbow, don’t,” Rarity told me with a little force behind it. “You’re going in for the well-being of Lotus and the others, not to practice ridiculous stunts.”

“Aw, come on,” I argued back. “Pinkie got to do it!”

“Rainbow,” Story warned. “Listen to Moral Compass #4.”

“Number Four?”

“Yes, four. As Compass #2, I’m demoting you,” Story told her. “Fluttershy’s the new #3.”

I rolled my eyes and shimmied as far forward as I could on the branch without it getting too thin. It still put me well past the fence and after a small hop and a rough three-point landing, which I nailed, I was on the other side.

Pinkie walked over, giving me enough light to find my bearings before I brought my phone back out. With both of us ready, we jogged with Rarity’s headlights showing us the start of the path.

“Do you think this is what the road to the hunting lodge is like?”

“I mean, maybe?” I shrugged. “I think the lodge is supposed to be on top of a hill and Thorn ran up and down a dirt road to get to it. It was kind of hard to understand with all the garbling though.”

“Gargling,” Pinkie corrected.

“Gargle, garble, whatever. I couldn’t understand it.” I hopped up and over a tree root and held my flashlight at it so Pinkie could see it coming before we kept jogging. “Hey, real quick. There’s something I wanted to ask.”

“Oh? Hit me!”

“Sunset keeps saying that it’s destiny or whatever that we can’t help Aloe and Lotus.” When I said that, Pinkie let her smile fall for a second. “You weren’t there, but back at the hunting store? Sunset looked ready to throw in the towel the whole time. You’re pretty good at guessing why people are hiding things. What do you think’s up?”

“Hmmmm..." Pinkie scrunched up her face, tapping at her chin in thought. Then she tripped over a root. But rather than splat, Pinkie fell into a roll, somehow stuck a landing, and kept running without any momentum lost. “...I dunno. I’ve been kinda wondering the same thing. At first, I thought she was upset that the games got all canceled when Story ran away and we started fighting. But I don’t think that’s it anymore.”

“You don’t? But, she and Story are butting heads every time one of them talks.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think that’s why she’s being all doomy or gloomy about what the magic’s doing,” Pinkie told me. “It feels like it’s something else.”

I hummed, then narrowly ducked under a branch that neither of our phone’s lights revealed. “You think she might be worried about whatever might happen to Principal Celestia?”

Pinkie frowned. “I’m not sure. I mean, if it was Principal Celestia, then why wouldn’t Sunset tell us about it? Everybody’s worried about what might happen to her. And even still, she would never give up on helping Principal Celestia. That sounds completely cuckoo for Sunset!”

“Yeah, you’re right about that.” I focused my eyes forward and kept my phone light steady. “Even before everything with the Fall Formal, Sunset never had an attitude with Principal Celestia. Not even behind her back.”

Back when she ‘ruled the school,’ she’d be above the other students, sure. Even the other Twilight figured that out in record time. But more than that, the teachers kept their distance from Sunset too. She always had the best grades and no one dared report her for anything.

But at the same time, whenever she was out of earshot of staff, Sunset would nag whenever they got on her bad side too. She wouldn’t do anything about it, but she’d have complaints. Gripes for all of them except the principal.

That’s when I realized something. With everyone distracted from the police, then Sunset and Story being depressed, and now Aloe and Lotus winding up missing, we completely forgot to check on her.

“Hey, Pinkie? By any chance, did Sunset try asking around about Principal Celestia at school?”

“Mmm, no? Come to think of it, none of us stopped by her office. We were too distracted to—Oh, look, a car!”

Pinkie’s light shined forward as the hill flattened out into a large area. The space ahead was clear of any trees. Even with the sun down, the moonlight kept the place illuminated. Enough for us to see a sizable log cabin, a barn off to the side, and then an out-of-place car parked in front of the cabin.

The barn was closed up and probably half the size of Applejack’s barn back on her farm. It was wooden too, and had some bigger pieces of lumber and chopped-up logs resting out front. Definitely what you’d expect a woodworker’s workshop to look like.

Then, the car in the center looked pretty clean for being out in the middle of the woods. It was a maroon color and only the tires had mud on them. Not only that but there were stickers along the bumper. One of them reading ‘The Blossoming Spa.’ The same name as the spa Cherry Blossom owned and where Aloe and Lotus worked.

Finally, there was the cabin. None of the lights were on, making it appear as this abandoned husk of wood out in the forest that loomed over the clearing. It was wrapped up in the shadows with the moon casting the cabin’s shadow from behind in a way that Pinkie and I were standing on the shadow’s roof. Finally, flanking the porch steps that led to the front entrance’s double doors which were left wide open. More noticeable than that, however, were the two wooden bear sculptures carved out of wide logs and standing on their hind legs.

During the day, they probably looked pretty cool. But when our phones cast their shadows against the front doors that were hanging open, the coolness factor tanked and was now replaced with this unwelcoming feeling. It was like the bears were unhinging the house’s jaw to eat us.

“Huh,” Pinkie sounded out after a second. “You know, seeing this, I think I’m ready for Howling Hunter. There is no way it could be creepier than seeing this in person.”

I gave Pinkie Pie a look before steeling myself. “We gotta go in there.”

“Heh. That’s exactly what the first victim would say! I didn’t know you liked horror movies too, Dashie!”

“I’m serious.” I glared at her. “That’s their car. And nobody would leave their doors open like that. We gotta see what’s up.”

“I know we do, but we can’t go without telling the others,” Pinkie reminded me. “The one rule with horror movies is that you never ever split up. And I think that’s also supposed the same with D&D. When movies and games agree with each other, you know they’re onto something!”

“Pinkie Pie.” I held onto her shoulder for a second. “This isn’t a game. And this isn’t a movie. This is—” “A fanfiction?” “Real. People that we know are in trouble and we just found a house that’s been left wide open probably since Saturday! Our friends downhill are fine. We don’t know about the ones inside. We gotta check.”

Pinkie bit her lip, looking between the house and the trail back down the hill. Neither of us wanted the other to go alone in either direction, so we were stuck with whoever made the first move.

Pinkie looked at her phone screen and then tried holding it up to look for some service. I frowned. “What makes you think we’re gonna get service clear out here? And even if we did, Rarity and the others definitely don’t have any down there.”

“Well, Aloe and Lotus sent out a video when they were at this cabin, yeah?” She asked me. “And Mr. Cherry Wood runs a business. That means there’s gotta be some kinda phone service up here. Maybe...Closer?”

Pinkie walked past me, walking right up to one of the bear sculptures and even going as far as to stand up on the edge of the log’s base of it to hold up her phone as high as she could. And, after waiting a couple of seconds, she let out this excited gasp.

“I have a bar! Way to go, phone!”

I let myself smile at that and walked over after her as she started typing away. “That’s great and all, but who are you gonna send it to? Sunset and Rarity still won’t get it.”

“Maybe not them, but AJ and Fluttershy will!”

“AJ and—” my face lit up. “They’re heading out until they get service again. Pinkie, that’s genius!”

“Yep! Although, Applejack did tell us not to come up here. She’s probably gonna be angry when she sees the message. And...send.” She finished typing and climbed up onto the bear’s head where she balanced herself and held her phone up as high as it would go before the little message sent sound went off.

“Awesome! Now when she gets back to the others, she can let them know for us. Ready to check it out?”

“Ready!” Pinkie hopped off the bear and landed beside me at the base of the stairs. From there, we readied our phones and moved inside the house.

Rarity's POV
Outside the Gate
A Few Minutes Later, 7:08 PM

The three of us left at the gate and waited for any sign of Rainbow or Pinkie to return. I leaned up against my car, holding my phone above my head to see if I could get even a twinge of service. Story went quiet after a bit of complaint and was now pacing between his car and the road. Then Sunset, who sat on the trunk of my car, had her read resting on her hands solemnly. Once Story went quiet, Sunset and I got to experience another bout of silence as the minutes dragged on.

However, when three minutes became five, the silence turned dreadful. I started to shine a light into the woods. Sunset would occasionally peek over her shoulder to look. And Story would change his pacing route to pass by us and glance over the fence himself.

Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Where are they?!”

“Outside a log cabin in the middle of the woods,” Story answered with sass and as though prepared for the question. “You know, where they shouldn’t have gone in the first place?”

I sighed. “Alright. Perhaps sending some of us in might have been a poor decision.”

“Oh, ya think?”

“Enough,” Sunset half-growled with her head pressed against her fist. “If we don’t hear from them by the time Applejack and Fluttershy get back, we all go in after them.”

Story groaned, but nodded. “Yeah. Not like we have a choice now. Dang it, if we just waited for the police or something—”

“No,” Sunset cut him off. “If they are in the cabin up there, then the police won’t be able to come here. They’re destined not to be saved. I’ll give you this, you made one good point. Their health shouldn’t be in the air. But the sooner you understand how magic works from people who have been around it more, the sooner you’ll understand that things are more complicated than your kid game.”

I rested my nose in my hand. “Darling, please not now.” However, Story took her words as a challenge.

He stopped pacing and glared at her. “You know, you could at least try to pretend like you think this could work instead of dragging everyone down to your level.”

Sunset finally looked up at him. I couldn’t see her expression, but Story had to hold firm against it. “I am trying. I’m not doing a very good job at it, but I’m trying. Which is more than I can say about you complaining and pacing around, making us anxious the whole time. I wish you’d just stay quiet.”

Story rolled his eyes. “Y’know, for somebody who says they come from such a magical place, you sure have a pretty depressing outlook on things.”

Sunset slowly started to slide off my car. “You don’t get to talk to me about that.”

Oh, not on my watch. I stormed forward and stood firm between the both of them before Sunset or Story could say or do anything that they’d make me regret responding to and stared at them both as the red brake lights of my car barely illuminated my presence.

“You two are done talking to each other for the day,” I told them. “I don’t want to hear either of you so much as respond to one another. It has devolved into baseless arguments and slander every time. Like children, we have put up with your needless prattle and I have had enough of it!”

Sunset let out this hummed chuckle. “Works for me.”

“Same.” Story threw his hands up. “I hate dealing with her.”

“No, you don’t,” I blurted out and glared at him. Then at Sunset. “Neither of you do! It’s like you two cannot help it. It’s like both of you are determined to prove that you can, and will, one-up the other on sadness! You two fought. The lengths of it all aside, friends fight all the time.”

“We’re not friends,” they shouted at me in perfect unison.

“Whatever the case,” I said pointedly. “You two want the same thing. I don’t even understand how you two can argue so much when you want the same thing! Story? You don’t know how the magic works. Your outside perspective has been helpful, do not get me wrong. But you don’t. Leave it to Sunset. She is the expert. We know you’re trying to make up for Sunday, but do not force it.”

He opened his mouth to answer, but when he saw the look I gave him, he backed down. He gave me a nod, muttered sorry, and walked over to stare out at the road.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Sunset breathed.

“And you.” Sunset flinched. “Sunset, we’ve known you longer. We know when you’re hiding things from us and today has been nothing but that. And you have certainly been in a rut since your spat with Story and you refuse to tell us why. We are here for you. Talk to us. But please do not get upset when no one can tell what you’re thinking and you close yourself off from us.”

Just like Story, Sunset looked like she wanted to respond, but my gaze made that look faded. She slinked back towards my car, mousily climbing back up on the trunk and letting her legs dangle off the side.

And like that, the silence returned. And while it was probably more tense for the both of them, the animosity was at last gone for the time being.

Another job on the list, I thought to myself sadly. They need to talk it out whenever nothing is going on. Preferably in a sound-proof room.

I considered the options and began to file them away for later before the three of us heard static from the gate’s keypad.

*krrrrrrckkk* —unset? Rarity? You guys there? *krrrrrrckkk*

All three of us looked around at each other before looking back at the gate. “Pinkie Pie?” Sunset called out. She was the closest to the gate. “Rainbow Dash?”

*krcckckck* Sunset? Rarity? Story? Yooohooo~! Can ya read us? Over!

Sunset looked between me and Story again before hopping off my car once more and looking around before her eyes settled on the panel set up beside the gate. “The light at the top. It’s green.”

I shared another look with Story before walking up. “There’s a call button towards the bottom. Press it.”

Sunset did exactly that, and we all watched the light go from blinking green to blinking red. “Uh, hello? Pinkie, Rainbow? Is that you?”

The light blinked two more times before it turned green again. This time, no longer blinking.

Sunset? You can hear us?!

“Uh, yeah? We all can. How did you find the other end of this thing?”

Krrrrrckk! We found this fancy walkie-talkie inside the cabin. Over! Krrrrrckk!

Story glared at the panel. “So you did break into his house!”

No, we didn’t! The front doors were hanging open when we got up here. And guess what? We found their car!

Over! Krrrrrckk!

“Was it a maroon color?” I asked.

And had a sticker of the spa. It was definitely hers!

Over! Krrrrrckk!

“And what about them?” Sunset asked. “Any sign of them? Or a basement or something that they would be in?”

Yeah, about that. We’re gonna need some help. Is Applejack back yet? We were able to send a text to her and she said she and Fluttershy made it far enough to get service again.

“You were able to text her?” Sunset blinked.

“There must be service up near the top of the hill,” I realized. “Story, could you go look? With it so dark, I don’t want them driving past us.”

“On it.” Story backed up and took a short jog for the side of the road to keep an eye out.

“What’s the problem in there?” Sunset asked her. “And what kind of help?”

Krrrrrckk! We’re looking at a big metal door that probably goes to another basement. Me and Dashie are trying our best, but it just won't budge! We’re gonna need some help. Over! Krrrrrckk!

“Big metal door? Another basement?” I repeated. I looked back towards Story. “Story, they say there’s a big metal door. Does that sound similar to Mirna and the twin's condition?”

“⏚⊑⎅☍, ⍙☍⎅⍙ ⟟⌰⍙⎐!” He shouted back, incomprehensibly.

“Gargled, darling,” I tossed back.

“Are you seri—urghh!” He thought about it for a second before holding up both arms like a ref announcing a goal.

Sunset blinked. “Uhh...Didn’t quite catch—” “Story says yes,” I told Rainbow immediately. “That’s on par with the game.”

Sunset gave me a look. “That’s what that meant?”

“Do you not watch football, Sunset?” I asked her.

“Only the soccer kind,” Sunset admitted.

You watch football, Rarity?

I smirked. “You say that as though it would be a taboo for me.”

I mean...

“My father adores football and I like to watch with him,” I explained quickly. “Never mind that for now. If the door’s stuck, that has to be where they are!”

That’s what we thought too! Here, give me a second. One of these buttons has to open the door.

After a brief pause, and one or two unsightly sounds from the panel, there was finally a loud buzz followed by the gate chugging open.

“Oh! Rainbow, it’s opening! Keep hitting that button every few seconds so it stays that way.” I whipped around to the others. “Sunset, get in. Story! Come on, the door’s open!”

“What?!” Story turned and looked incredulous. “Rarity, we can’t all just trespass on the man’s property!”

“Story, I understand this is a morally gray area, but you saw them yourself! They are starving down there. If you don’t want to come in, I won’t force you. It would still help to flag down AJ and Fluttershy. But we’re going in.”

At that, I rushed to the driver’s door right as Sunset slid into the passenger’s seat. Not even bothering with a seatbelt, I threw it in drive and got us at least past the gate before it began to close, stop, and then open again. Probably from Rainbow hitting the button.

In the rearview, I saw Story shuffle in place for a moment frantically before finally caving in. He took out his phone, propped it against a tree with the light facing the road, and then rushed for his own car. Then he drove forward before the gate could close again.

Still wants to help. I rammed my seatbelt into the slot and drove up the path for a minute until I spotted the log cabin. The lights were on and the front doors were wide open.

Then, off to the side, I spotted Cherry Blossom’s car. I did not doubt that it was hers. It was the same car I had seen parked in front of the spa every day when she was there. No one else drives it and there’s no way she would drive it clear up here unless she had a very good reason.

I parked my car right beside hers and stepped out just as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie ran out to meet us. Story wasn’t far behind and parked off to the side as well.

When Rainbow reached us, she looked anxious. Ready to turn and sprint right back in at a moment’s notice. “Rarity, we need as many of us as we can get on this door! Pretty sure it’s stuck or something.”

I glanced over at Cherry Blossom’s car. I could tell that, inside the center console, was her phone. The keys weren’t in the ignition and I saw no sign of a purse. Cherry likely brought them inside.

When Story got out, I smirked. “Thank you.”

He groaned tiredly. “On record? Hate this. Reality? Don’t mention it.”

I chuckled and went back to Rainbow. “Lead the way.”

And she did. Sprinting back into the cabin, we followed behind and found the inside lit up like a beacon. No doubt the result of Pinkie and Rainbow Dash searching for signs of the others.

Along the way, we passed by the dining room where I saw it; the fish. I stopped for a second, nearing making Story and Sunset collide with me as I glanced around. The furniture and walls were exactly as they seemed in the video. And in the direction that the video wasn’t facing was a familiar purse and keys set on a countertop. It belonged to Cherry Blossom.

“Rarity, come on!” Rainbow shouted back to me as the others shimmied around me. I followed after and watched Rainbow turn the corner and slow down before hopping down a set of steps that descended.

“Wait, the basement’s unlocked?” Story asked before he started down as well. He was slower going, which allowed me to catch up and look down a flight of steps into a room with an exposed house frame and insulation fluff. There was a massive collection of random odds and ends as well.

Must be a junk room of sorts, I decided. But before either myself or Sunset could start down next, we heard a loud jingle from the next room. It was just seven or so notes that played like a long doorbell before they then played in reverse order. Like a swaying rhythm.

“What on earth is that?” I asked.

“Oh! I think that’s the gate bell,” Pinkie’s voice shouted from within the basement. “Maybe it’s Applejack and Fluttershy!”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Story said with a sigh of relief as he reached the stairs. “The Moral Compasses are back.”

“You say that, but you're trespassing with us now too, right?” Rainbow asked him. “No one told you to come inside.”

“...I'm going back up.” I watched him start to turn around.

“Too late. Come here, you.” Rainbow grabbed his arm and pulled him further in, much to his annoyance. “Sunset! Rarity! Can one of you buzz them in?!”

We looked at one another. “Sunset, would you mind?”

“Okay,” she said after a second, moving to the next room to track it down while I jogged down the steps.

Getting a look at the room in full, the rest of the space looked just as if not more cluttered. Toolboxes, scraps of wood, pieces of old or broken furniture, and many many boxes filled the space. There were what I would consider pathways that spread like veins across the entire basement. And along those veins were pockets of darkness where the lights couldn’t reach. The towers of junk blocked any of the fluorescent bulbs from doing their job efficiently.

However, one pathway was much wider than the others and it was what all the others stemmed from. It went forward, took a sharp right at a couple of lounge chairs skinned of their fabric, and then straight against the wall where the most daunting thing of the entire basement stood in defiance.

A bunker door. A bunker door loomed before us like a silent golem, making us reassess what kind of tone this basement gave off. It was crafted with thick, weathered steel that was a stark contrast to all the trinkets and furniture all almost entirely crafted out of wood.

Rust streaked across it along the edges while its rivets holding it together had spoiled in a unique color to make them stand out against the gray sheen of the door itself. The hinges also stood firm between the door and frame and were in such strong condition you would think the door could outlive the entire cabin and then some.

Out of the entire monstrosity, one thing looked the most for wear; the handle. It was this giant metallic latch that, according to the skid marks scarred against the door proper, was supposed to rotate to its side and turn outward before pulling the door open.

Rainbow had let go of Story at this point, leaving him to stare at it with his mouth agape while he took in the alien object in front of him. I was still at the turn of the basement’s path, just as unnerved. Meanwhile, Pinkie was trying to use a broken chair leg as leverage to pry the latch away from the door. We could all hear the leg cracking and breaking from the latch’s refusal to give.

Rainbow took the moment to pick up and move away some more junk that was on either side. She was creating more space for multiple people to pull on the door.

“Well, you guys gonna just stand there?” Rainbow asked after she tossed another box to a new pile. “Come on! This has to be where they are!”

“Right. Yes, you’re. You’re absolutely right.” I took a breath and carefully walked down the path closer to the door. But getting closer only made me notice that it was slightly taller and wider than your usual door. No doubt heavier as a result.

I closed in on the door, accidentally bumping into Story the second he came to his senses. Or, so I thought. In actuality, he flinched and focused on me and the others. It was as if a sudden clarity had hit him.

I turned to him just as the chair leg Pinkie was using finally snapped. She let out a yelp and sailed off into a pile of old newspapers. Thankfully, Pinkie bounced right back up, pulling off a few papers before glancing down at the picture. “Grand opening of the Golden Oaks Library! These papers are old.”

“Pinkie, focus,” Rainbow told her. “Help me find a crowbar or something.”

“Good idea!”

Story and I shuffled around the others and stayed by the door while I tried to figure out what could get it to open. “Was it another vision? Like back at the mall?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It wasn’t of the girls though. It’s the door this time.”

I frowned. “I don’t suppose the game’s equal would help us figure out how to get it open, would it?”

Story only cocked his head to the side. “That’s just it. The door that this one’s tied to ⌰⎐⍾'⍙ ⎐⍙⌖⎎⋏. It isn’t even ⍙⎍⎅⌇⌇⊑☌ ⍀⎍ ⍜⍀⎎⋏⊑☌. ⌰⍙'⎐ ⋔⌖⎐⍙ ⎅ ☌⍀⍀⎍.” I gave him a tired look which he returned with one of his own. “Gargled?”

“Gargled.”

“Okay, let me try that again.” Story cleared his throat. “This door shouldn't have anything stopping it from being opened. Not from the game. It’s just a big, heavy, bunker door.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not gonna stop us.” Rainbow returned to us, not with a crowbar like she hoped, but with a large red wrench. “We’re getting them outta there.”

“I hope they’re the only people we’re getting outta there,” Story replied hauntingly.

I frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He gave me a pained look. “Gargle, gargle, gargle.”

“Right.” I felt my anxiety peak for a second. “Well, let’s hurry up. The sooner we get them out, the sooner we can get away from it.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow moved past us and jammed the wrench between the latch and door. Then, she got on one side of it. “Now which one of you are helping first? I don’t think we can all pull on this thing.”

“Oh! Oh! This’ll help!” Right as Rainbow Dash was about to jam the wrench between the door and latch, Pinkie bounded back with some rope. “If we use this with it, all of us can pull.”

Story considered the idea. “If we tie it to the wrench, won’t that just knock the wrench out of place?”

“Not if we tie it to the latch,” Pinkie countered. Then, she traded out with us and, as quite possibly the most focused I’ve ever seen her, made quick work tying the rope off. And when she pulled away, the rope looked like a permanent fixture.

Rainbow grinned. “Nice! Guess all those balloons were good practice.”

“Nah. This is from tying sails to the yardarms,” Pinkie corrected, confusing us all for a moment, before she moved back and grabbed the end of the rope. “Now let’s get this tug a’ war moving people!”

Story and I grabbed the rope while Rainbow wrapped her hands tight around the wrench. “Alright, everyone,” Rainbow told us. “Three! Two. One...PULL!”

All four of us leaned back, finding purchase on the cement of the basement floor, and started to pull. At first, we didn’t put our full strength or bodies into it. Maybe we all thought that our strengths combined would make the latch give and yank open. We were worried that we’d go flying into the debris around us.

Well, that certainly didn’t happen. Instead, we quickly devolved into what Pinkie called from the very beginning; a tug-of-war game. Story and Pinkie had become almost vertical with how much they were trying to put their backs into it. And because I was holding the rope too, I was slowly sliding to the ground along with them. But still, I kept my fingers tangled along the rope fibers.

At the front, Rainbow Dash planted her foot against the bunker and was trying as hard as she could. She was the loudest among us all too, only matched in volume by the wrench screeching against steel until it finally found purchase to start doing some real work.

It felt like an eternity and the whole time, my boots were sliding more and more against the floor. I was starting to think that the floor might have been coated with sawdust, so I righted my footing and kept pulling with the others.

After about fifteen or so seconds, and two more calls to PULL, there was a give. At the same time, we heard this deep glunk! sound from the door’s latch, all of us flew back only an inch before the rope yanked back in recoil. My shoulders screamed at me, but I didn’t have time to register that as Rainbow lost her balance, the wrench flew off behind her, and she was sent flying straight into me. We both splattered along the ground.

Pinkie and Story weren’t safe from harm either. Both of them lost their grip from further back on the rope and while Pinkie sailed down the path behind us, Story’s footing went bad and he flung down and slammed the back of his head against the cement floor.

After the literal and metaphorical dust settled around us, Rainbow pulled herself off me and made her first priority the rest of us. “You guys okay?”

“That depends...! Am I bleeding...?!” Story’s voice was high-pitched and he was rolling side-to-side in misery. He wouldn’t move his hands away from the back of his head when he finally tried, and failed, to sit up.

Rainbow sailed across to his side in a moment and got behind him to check his injury. After a few seconds, and shifting his hair a bit, she sucked in air with her lip between her teeth. “Oh, my gosh! O-Okay! It-It’s not that bad—” “Your first reaction was ‘Oh my gosh!’” “Yeah! Yeah, I said that! But, I just—! I just didn’t expect you to actually be bleeding! Uhh! You might need a bandage!”

“I think I saw some next to the rope over here!” Pinkie stood up with Rainbow’s red wrench halfway submerged in the part of her hair beside her head. “Lemme get it!”

“No, do not,” I shouted at her. “We shouldn’t trust anything from this basement! Check upstairs!”

“N-No—! I. I think I-I can manage.” Story muttered, trying to stand up only for myself to walk over and sit him back down.

“Not. Happening.” I held him in place. “Story, you’ve done enough. Rainbow Dash, I’ve got him.”

“Ya sure?” “Of course. Pinkie? Find that first aid kit. Get Sunset to help you.”

“You betcha!” Pinkie rushed back up the stairs while Rainbow checked on the door.

“There’s one in my car!” Story tried to shout after her, but it was strained.

Story pulled back his hands and...yes. He was bleeding. Both of us gasped at the sight of his palm and he went right back to holding the back of his head. “Okay. Yeah. Maybe I’m done for.”

“Not that kind of done,” I said after a deep breath. Then I glanced around for something to help him. Definitely can’t use a filthy bandage. Which only leaves...Right then.

I pulled down my sleeve as far as it would go and, with a sigh, shook my head. “Hopefully this is big enough.”

“What?” He blinked. Then, he saw what I was about to do. “Wait, you don’t have to—”

The sound of fabric ripping cut him off. It took a few tugs, and resorting to using my teeth to hold one side of the fabric. However, once I had a hole in it, the remaining work wasn’t a struggle. And the other sleeve was even easier than the first.

“You. You actually ripped your sleeves off.” He watched, bewildered as I made quick work of fashioning the fabric into a bandage around his head. One to wrap around tightly and the other to press against his wound. “Why would you do that?”

“What do you mean why?” I asked him with a smile. “Between a silly sleeve or my friend’s well-being, it’s not exactly a hard call. Besides.” I stood up and helped him to his feet. Red’s not the right color for you.”

“I...I’ll take your word for it,” he tried to joke while putting pressure on the makeshift bandage.

“Rarity! Story! I think we...loosened it!”

We turned to see Rainbow Dash putting all her weight into the latch. We heard the creaking of the handle along with her groans until, finally there was a resounding klung that proved Rainbow Dash right.

She almost went flying again, but barely caught herself on one of her feet before almost falling right back into the door. We all took a second to gaze at the thing before Rainbow Dash again pulled. But this time, the hinges were groaning instead of us.

I joined her, grabbing whatever part of the door I could and pulling more and more until the door was far enough open until the light from the basement peered in further.

When it was open all the way, we saw a plain hallway that traveled a bit further before coming to two doors facing each other. We stared at the open one, leaning against the door to keep it open. We were panting and haggard from the work and it seemed that the door was weighted for closing.

And then, as if waiting for us on the other side, someone poked their head out to look at us. Their head was closer to the ground, at about knee height or so. The light barely reached them and they didn’t look completely aware, but there she was.

Lotus. Lotus was looking at us. Lotus was right there.

“Lotus?” I called out, my lungs empty of all air.

“...rar...rarity...?” Her voice was scratchy and frail. But it was hers.

“Lotus.” I let go of the door and moved in, leaving Rainbow Dash and now Story to keep their weight on it. I reached for my phone and, after getting the light turned on, shined it straight at the ground. I didn’t want to blind her. But even with the reflection of light, I saw her chapped lips, dirty hair, and sunken, unfocused eyes as she looked behind her.

“mom. aloe...they’re here,” she called out to them. I could hear sounds in the room behind her. Sounds of splashing.

“Lotus!” I ran in, practically sliding to her side before Rainbow Dash moved in as well.

“Woah-woah-woah-woah, woooah!” Story struggled to hold the bunker door open, having to stomp his foot against the frame to practically act as a wedge for it. Once Rainbow thought he had it, she ran up beside me.

“Come on,” Rainbow Dash told her before holding out a hand. “We’re here to get you out. We got you.” Then, she looked at me. “We got them.”

We got them, I repeated. A tired but relieved smile formed on my face as I looked at the others. Cherry Blossom was unconscious, likely sleeping. Aloe was awake, smiling at me best she could.

They all looked terrible. They were covered in grime and dust, both their hair and their clothes, and they were shivering. It was only when I noticed that when I noticed how cold it was.

“Rainbow Dash, we need to get them some blankets,” I told her as she finally got Lotus onto her feet. I moved in and moved my phone light across the room. The place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. What’s worse, the floor had a massive puddle in the center of the space. The girls were sitting on a couple of threadbare linens and towels, but they were soaking wet.

But the worst of it was the freezer in the corner of the room. It had water dripping against the side of it and things had been moved out of it and set on the ground beside it. Things that smelled like fish gone bad.

“Story. Get it open.” Rainbow told him when she finally got Lotus to the exit.

“Trying...Not. The strongest. Person.” After about five or so seconds of struggling, Story exhaled. “Uh...Rainbow Dash? It really wants to close.”

“Push harder!” Rainbow told him. Terrified of the thought of more of us stuck in here, I ran back to the doorway and saw Story trying to flip around and push the door open with a better grip. But instead, I realized the door was pinning him to the frame.

“Hold on, I’m coming.” I ran forward, but before I could reach the door, the thing flew open from the other side.

Standing on the other end was everybody else. Sunset, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and most importantly Applejack as she dragged the door open enough for Story and myself to help push it along with her.

“Girls. Ah told y’all ta—Oh.” Applejack was about to scold us, but upon seeing both Lotus hanging off of Rainbow, and then Story’s blood on both him and us, as well as printed on the door, the anger fell right out of her.

“The others need help,” I started to tell them, but everyone already obeyed. Fluttershy pulled Story away from the door to bring him back upstairs, Applejack and Pinkie acted as a proper wedge to keep the door open, and Sunset rushed in to take Lotus from Rainbow Dash so that she could get the poor thing upstairs. That left Rainbow able to help me collect Aloe and Cherry.

But Lotus didn’t make it up the stairs.

The moment, the first step Lotus took out of the bunker, something was wrong. She was conscious. Capable of moving her feet and at least a little responsive, she was far from her best but she was at least conscious.

And then when Lotus was out of the bunker, she wasn’t. Instead, she slumped down and nearly pulled Pinkie off her feet like a sack of flour. Sunset did her best to stay standing and dragged her until there was a wide enough space to set her down as we all looked on in absolute terror.

Fluttershy hurried over and put her first-aid training to use. She checked for a pulse, and for breathing, doing everything she could to check on Lotus’s condition while the rest of us just stared in shock.

After a few more seconds disguising themselves as hours, Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief that made the rest of us copy her. None of us knew what had happened, but she at least confirmed that Lotus was very much alive. Just not awake.

Ultimately, Fluttershy and Sunset got Lotus upstairs. It was warmer, and dryer, and Pinkie found Story’s first aid kit after all. At the same time, Rainbow and Pinkie helped me get back inside the bunker to help Cherry and Aloe.

Regarding Cherry Blossom, she was unconscious. She looked to be in the worst condition of them all. But after we realized that we couldn’t carry her like this, we made a trade.

Story, who stayed down in the basement amidst the panic, and Pinkie worked to keep the door open while Applejack and Rainbow quickly got Cherry Blossom out of the bunker. Once they were out, I picked up Aloe who was barely awake enough to keep her legs under her to help me escort her.

On the way, she started to speak to me. “rarity. how’d...you know?”

“Your video,” I told her. “You posted a video, remember? We saw it and followed the clues.”

“oh yeah...fish,” she muttered. “lo. lotus fo...her phone..."

“She did. You didn’t,” I told her. Then I got to the doorway and stopped. Story and Sunset could keep the door open a little longer, but I saw them straining a bit. Still, I stopped.

Something’s not right, I thought. The way Lotus fell. Why did she pass out?

I looked at Aloe. Her eyes were adjusting to the light. “Aloe? Are you still with me?”

“Mmhmm.” She nodded a little with that too.

“Do me a favor, will you?” I asked her. “Keep talking. Just. Just please keep talking. And don’t fall asleep. Okay?”

She nodded. “O...okay. erm...so, lotus’s grandpa. he...he went on. on a trip..." She tried to keep going for me.

From what I saw in dramas and just general knowledge about people in critical health, you were supposed to keep them talking. That was half the reason why I asked. But my morbid curiosity had me curious. And one way or the other, she was leaving this bunker.

And when she sounded like she was going strong with a sentence, I stepped forward.

“miss blosso...she said she. she was going up to feed the ca—” Once again, it happened.

The instant we passed the threshold, Aloe stopped talking. Her body went limp in my arms and the weight of her made me land on my knees badly on the cement. Still, I did my best to keep her from falling herself.

Story and Pinkie lunged at us, scoping us and pulling us far enough away from the bunker door before—

BOOOOOOM-klunk!

The door slammed itself shut and the latch, while once pulled open, snapped back against the door just as we had found it. I had no idea how Aloe and the others got that door opened, or why they all went in together. I suppose it didn’t.

Story tried to kneel beside me, but the adrenaline that kept him moving was wearing off. It took everything to try holding Aloe’s wrist for a pulse. After a few attempts, I followed his example and held it as much the same way as him.

........................bu-bump........................bu-bump........................bu-bump........................

It was faint. Very faint, but there. And when I took a sigh, Story let himself sit against a wooden bookshelf while Pinkie just slid to the ground with a large exhale. Like a balloon losing air.

She was alive. Lotus Blossom was alive. Cherry Blossom had to be alive. They were safe. We saved them. Another night in there and who knew if we could.

“We. We,” Story stumbled. “We-We need. Ambulance...Probably hypothermia...think.”

Pinkie slowly climbed back up onto her feet; the usual energy from earlier gone from her before she nodded along. "I can use my phone again. I'll have Applejack come down to help you guys too. Be right back!“

Neither of us had a problem with it and we watched her take off down the basement's lane and the second she was out of sight we heard her clamber up the stairs like a dog. Story began lulling to the side as he lost consciousness and Aloe was already unconscious on the floor. That left me as the only one still awake. I was left alone down here. Just me and my now bleeding knees.

Author's Note

Woo! Made it on time! *glances at clock* Well, barely on time. Although not because of laziness, completely!

I went to a Comic-Con the same day this is going up. Tara Strong and a bunch of big voice actors were there. Overall, pretty fun! Got some cool autographs with some Mario Character Amiibos and got Master Chief to say an awesome voice line for my Tabletop group.

Not really any additional updates to add here. I plan on being back to a more confident chapter every two weeks from now on. And, like I mentioned before, I plan on jumping back into the D&D-centric chapters soon. Likely within a chapter or two.

As usual, let me know what you guys thought of the chapter with a comment! I know that there are always things I could do to be better with my writing or things I might have tripped up on that could be fixed up to make the story better in the long run.

All that said, I hope to see you guys next time!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(43) Dungeon Master Prep

Story Spinner's POV
Canterlot City Hospital
Past Midnight

The last thing I remember clearly was in the basement of that cabin. I saw one of the girls, Lotus I think, pass out after leaving the bunker. Then, sometime after, Aloe was carried out and the same thing happened. I think I tried going to help, but it didn’t work. I had to sit down and...That’s when things got blurry.

I woke up briefly on this puke-green couch with Fluttershy wrapping my head with actual bandages. She was talking to me, but I couldn’t recall any of it. I went dark again only for a bright flashlight to shine in my eyes. It hurt and I realized there was someone tall there. And the girls weren’t nearby.

I was put on a plastic table. I was brought outside with two other tall people. That was the last thing I could think back on. From there, it was nothing but moments that all became smeared together.

Hours later, I woke up in the hospital. My mom was set up in the corner of the room, completely distressed. She had been watching over for me to wake up. Then, once she was sure I was conscious enough to stay awake, she explained it to me.

The girls called an ambulance. At first, it was for Lotus and the others, who weren’t regaining consciousness. But after the emergency responders checked on me, it was decided I had to go as well.

The only reason Mom knew was because Fluttershy called her. She wanted to make sure I wasn’t left alone in a hospital that night. She also told Mom that they were likely going to be at the cabin for a couple hours with the police.

What that meant, I had no idea. Fluttershy didn’t explain much beyond that so my Mom couldn’t tell me. And since it was past midnight when I woke up, I decided it’d be better to wait for tomorrow to ask. It wasn’t like I could do much.

Something else Mom knew about though was Twilight. Shining and his family brought Twilight in after all. She was being kept overnight three rooms away. Something about similar equipment and tests performed on us or something. It was hard to stay interested in the medical babble after the first minute.

However, I did find out one thing. Neither of us was getting discharged in time for school tomorrow. They wanted me to stay for at least twenty-four hours and even if Twilight was discharged, I assumed her family wouldn’t launch her straight from hospital to school. Probably for the best after what that Nothic did to her.

Since I was being kept for twenty-four hours, that meant I wasn’t getting out of here in time for the D&D Club either. This was a problem. Tomorrow was Tuesday; one of the times we were supposed to play in the first place. And already, we’ve put off playing this game because of my stupidity.

What’s gonna happen with the principal? I thought to myself.

The only ones who knew what was happening to her right now were myself and Sunset. Well, and Ms. Cheerilee and Vice Principal Luna too, I guess. But if Sunset was right about fate going on as planned, that meant Ms. Cheerilee and the vice principal weren’t about to tell anybody else.

But that doesn’t matter, right? I furrowed my brow in the dark hospital room. Mom was passed out in the chair in the corner, leaving me alone with the beeping machines beside me. We did it. We changed fate. Aloe and Lotus are safe now, aren’t they?

Aren’t they?

They didn’t wake up. They’re in the hospital. They might not be starving or freezing anymore, but they didn’t look good. That, I remembered.

You’re not that naive, I told myself. Just because someone’s in the hospital, it doesn’t mean they’re safe. What if they’re still in trouble? What if this is another cell for them? Like the cell in the game?

‘Story? You don’t know how the magic works. Your outside perspective has been helpful, do not get me wrong. But you don’t.’

Her words echoed in my mind. Rarity was right. I don’t know. I know even less than them. Sunset’s supposed to know how this stuff works. She’s supposed to be the one who can figure it out.

‘You just made up a character in the middle of the game? That was after we told you how serious this game had become, and you did it anyway?!’

Insane as she came off, it sounds like she’s been there for a ton of other magic stuff. All the girls had. All those rumors from the school, Applejack’s weird music magic, how easily they all get used to it? Even Big Mac seemed pretty calm when it came up and he couldn’t even see it.

All I had was visions. A bunch of magic holograms. They said they’ve dealt with sirens and other things before. They’ve fought monsters. And even after the Nothic threat, they kept doing everything they could to help people.

The Nothic, I realized. They thought a Nothic could have come after them at any moment. Sunset kept telling everyone not to go alone. Did she expect a Nothic might be right around the corner?

I sat back in my bed and stared at the wall. They were ready to take on a Nothic to save those girls. Whether they know what a Nothic is or not, it sounds insane.

...I wouldn’t do that.

That made me realize something else.

‘No, not splinters. But a heads up when you’re about to run like a coward would be nice.’

When Sunset told me that to me, it sounded like an insult. What if she was serious? As in ‘Tell us if you might run so we can deal with it.’ I told them I wasn’t going to run anymore. I meant about being overwhelmed. Not fighting monsters!

I would run, I told myself. I would panic and run. I wouldn’t even try convincing the others. I would just leave them all behind like some heartless...

Like a heartless coward.

For the next half hour, I lay in that bed and didn’t say anything. I didn’t even move. I started playing out all of these ways that I would either run away or make their lives harder. I wasn’t smart like Rarity or Twilight. Not strong like Applejack or Rainbow. Not even as caring as Fluttershy or Pinkie. The best I could do was maybe talk my way out of a fight. Not much point in that when you’re fighting monsters or opening giant heavy doors.

‘You're the magic experts, don't ask me.’

‘Do I have to be the DM? You're the ones with magic, can't one of you do it?’

‘I’m done.’

‘Please, just leave me alone. I don’t want to be near any of you. Go. Away.’

Everything magic-related, I kept hiding from. I’m still hiding from it. Even when everything’s getting screwed up by my own game. I slowly wrapped my arms around myself. By my own fault.

It’s all stuck in my stupid head and I don’t even know how any of it works. I can’t do anything. I’m...useless.

‘Story? You don’t know how the magic works. Your outside perspective has been helpful, do not get me wrong. But you don’t.’

I don’t. I don’t know how the magic works. I looked over at Mom. Still asleep. Then I looked at the small hallway that led to my room’s entrance. I couldn’t see the door, but I assumed it was cracked. There was still some noise from outside. The machines around me were louder.

Finally, I looked at my phone. It was within arm’s reach and on the screen I saw the time. 2:07 AM. The last time I looked, it was something before 12:30 AM. Except for the few hours I fell unconscious, I hadn’t slept since Saturday night.

I don’t know how magic works. And I’m gonna end up getting in their way if I keep trying to follow along like this. I’m less than useless like that. I’m in the way.

I put my phone on the bed beside me and laid back. I was slow about it. I didn’t want the sutures in the back of my head to sting me. Once I was settled, I folded my hands over my chest and closed my eyes.

I don’t want to be in the way. I don’t want to be useless. I wanna be useful. But I don’t know magic. I don’t know how any of it works.

Maybe I can work on that?

I breathed, felt my body relax, and, as quietly as I could, muttered the words.

“...Let’s start a story.”

Yernal Onyxdagger’s POV
Following the Attack on Phandalin
Edge of Phandalin

“Please, just give up!” She pleaded with Greggs and Hunser. “”None of us want to kill you! We want you to leave this town alone! We never started any of this with you!”

It was one of the mages that had come to town. Glasstaff wanted them dead. Stalwart promised it would be done. We were supposed to carry it out. Like every other time.

So many of us were dead. This girl, her friend bleeding on the ground, and all the others with them did it. I heard the war in the Sleeping Giant behind me. I was building a cold sweat and the crossbow along with the bolt it was loaded with was rattling in my hands.

“Yernal, where is she?!” Greggs demanded. He and Hunser were both humans. They couldn’t see the girl in the darkness. She shouldn’t have been able to see either, but somehow she could.

She dodged one of their swipes that got a little too close. “And why aren’t ya shootin’ man?!”

“A-Ah. Ah..." I stared down at my crossbow. The girl wasn’t fast. And she wasn’t far away. It was an easy shot. I nailed harder ones plenty of times. I even hit her friend from horseback with nothing but her faint magic’s light.

But the crossbow felt heavier this time around. She saved me. She stopped Stalwart from putting a bolt in my head. She didn’t have to. It’d be easier for them if she didn’t. And even though I was shooting after them and their horse, it was tougher now that she was begging.

“Yernal?”

The woman focused on me next. Her tone was soft and non-threatening. Despite that, my instincts found the strength to make me lift and train my crossbow on her. I was just as easy a target for her with her flames.

“Your leader. Is a necromancer.” She watched me tense at the words. I already knew that. It freaked me out the first time I saw it. The walking skeletons. The crawling skulls. The others laughed when I ran out of the room.

“We’ve already sent word to Agix,” she went on. “He will be caught. They’ll be here in a matter of days. If you stand down, they might only arrest you for extortion. It won’t be a death sentence then. But if you keep siding with him? They will judge you as an accomplice to necromancy. That is immediate execution. Please!”

“Yernal!” Hunser’s voice had me flinching. “Shoot. Her.”

“You don’t have to do this,” she kept telling me. “Please, Yernal. We don’t need any more death tonight. Just stand down.”

The others started berating and mocking her while feeling around with their swords. The girl silently stepped aside each attempt, folded her hands, and pleaded that I do anything other than take the shot. The whole time, my crossbow was on her.

I don’t wanna do this. I don’t, but...they’re gonna kill me. If I don’t, they’re gonna...I’m sorry...I’ll make it a clean shot.

“VAREÉN!”

The humans all spun around, blindly except for the girl’s case, to watch as this hulking orc woman made a straight charge for the mage’s friend. Out of instinct, I aimed my crossbow at her, but I was too slow. With a stiff shoulder, she sent me plummeting to the ground. One of my teeth began rattling around my mouth.

“Glemerr!” The mage shouted in relief.

The orc shouted in return as I jumped for my crossbow and got up to one knee, spitting out my loose tooth.

That’s it, I thought blindly. If I kill the orc, maybe the guys will put in a word for me. Maybe Stalwart will give me another chance! I can do that!

“Yernal!” But again, the mage screamed at me. I flinched, my conscience forcing me to listen. “Don’t do this!”

From the scream, Greggs narrowed down where she was. He lunged, his sword whirling in a wide arc as Hunser rushed for the orc. That one was easier to listen for.

Then, I saw her do it again. The mage lit her hand on fire, ducked past Greggs, and threw it straight at Hunser. The orc before herself.

“Bwaaaah! BWAHHHH!” It wasn’t only his back. His entire torso illuminated the field around us. Maybe Greggs could’ve used that light to finally catch the mage, but he was too distracted watching his friend get incinerated. If that wasn’t bad enough, the wet sound of Hunser falling on his sword and impaling himself with it made all of us wad up in pain.

“Thanks,” was all the orc had to say as she kept working on her friend’s wounds. The scorched man, feet away from her, didn’t faze her.

The mage let out a shaky breath and stood at her full height. She looked remorseful. Like she regretted doing it. But then, she backed up and assessed the human in front of her.

I exhaled, spat out some blood that built in my mouth, and dropped the crossbow. If I shoot either of them, the other would finish me off. I...I’m not doing it. I’m not dying here.

I pulled myself back up to my feet, turned around, and broke into a run.

“I just want you to know,” I heard the mage tell Greggs. Whatever she said next, I was too far to hear it. I didn’t want to hear it. I simply kept running. As fast as my stumpy legs allowed.

I passed a couple of the others’ bodies before returning to the sight of the ambush. A collection of holes and corpses with tossed rocks and dirt all over the place. I was lucky at the time. I was towards the back of the group. Far enough that the Cortássian’s magic couldn’t reach. But even then, catching a rock to the cheek and having someone’s corpse slump against my leg hollowed out my courage as much as Stalwart’s crossbow leveled at my head.

“No escape, devilkissed!”

I slid to a halt, this time with the scream erupting out of the elf. It was craggy and dripping with venom. I was forced to turn and watch.

All sounds of fighting at the tavern had halted. So too did the violin music that echoed out. Maybe that already happened, but the elf’s scream is what made me realize it. However, the quiet coupled well with the demonic purple glow still spilling out of the tavern.

Stalwart was still alive. He looked beat to shit and desperate, but alive. He found himself back outside the bar and likely had to stomp over every Redbrand’s corpse to do it. And right behind him was every other outsider. None of them were dead. They looked ready to prove me wrong with so much as a light breeze, but there they were.

Not only that, all the fear and command Stalwart held over the rest of us no longer existed. All his weight was on a single leg and his tail, while once always above the ground like a cat, was now dragging in the dirt and limp. He was fighting against the Cortássian’s vines that worked to drag him back face-to-face with the elf.

Stalwart was screaming, roaring as he pulled his arms free from the vines. From what I remembered, her vines were covered in thorns. Sure, Stalwart had armor but so many of them had to be cutting into him. Especially as he writhed and yanked.

“NO!” He declared. “I REFUSE!” With whatever angle he could, he cut through the last one or two pieces of vine that kept his sword bound and turned it in his hand. Then, with his other, he grabbed the Cortássian’s shoulder.

I couldn’t see it myself, but it was pretty obvious by everyone’s expressions what he managed to do. A second later, the elf hit the ground and her vines went slack, releasing Stalwart save for a vine around his neck.

“This is what you deserve,” he screeched, spitting on her body. “Filthy Cortássian!”

The Dwarf and gnome tried to act, but Stalwart slammed his blade into the elf’s body further. He was in a craze. Ready to stab her as many times as he could.

As he did, the vines convulsed. They tightened around Stalwart’s neck and strained his voice while he kept thrashing. One of them nearly wrapped across his wrist, but Stalwart caught it with his off-hand.

“GET AWAY!” The Dwarf stormed, planting one foot into the earth beside her friend and swinging with all the force she could. Stalwart lost his shield at some point and his sword was stuck in the elf. He had nothing to defend himself with.

Instead, I watched her hammer slam into his ribcage. His whole body flew back. All except for his head, still wrapped up. The vine became a noose, snapping Stalwart’s neck with enough force for me to hear the bones from over here. Although, aside from a chill running down my spine, I felt...relieved.

A part of me was thankful. The scariest man in the entire lodge was lifeless in the dirt. The outsiders didn’t bother to check if he was dead. They didn’t care. They were swarming their Cortássian friend who had a sword in her stomach.

They didn’t want this. I held my face, only now realizing I was crying. They didn’t want to kill any of us. We brought an army and they told US to surrender. Their ambush was a precaution.

Let’s make him think she’s dead. He wouldn’t know better. He’s hysterical.

I backed up further. There were no lights on me and I was far enough away that none of their darkvision would spot me. The only one who knew I got away was the mage.

...She knows I got away, I realized. They know I’m going back to the lodge. They won’t bother waiting for the guards. Stalwart made it personal. I gotta—I gotta get outta here! They’re coming for all of us!

I watched the orc from before sprinting at top speed back into the Sleeping Giant’s purple light. She hurried to the Cortássian’s aid. She, the Dwarf, and the gnome were all crowding over her, tending to a dead woman.

I didn’t keep watching. Before any of them somehow found me, I turned tail and sprinted up the path with a new purpose. I had to get out of here. I didn’t care about the Redbrands. This whole group was done for. Even if Glasstaff was still alive, what did it matter? The goblinoids outnumbered us now. If the outsiders, or Glasstaff, or that one-eyed freak didn’t kill us first, they would. We were the weakest now.

The whole way up the path, I never slowed down. I had been up and down the path plenty of times. I had never run it this late in the day though. Every shadow or branch I ducked past had me throwing my head to the side or over my shoulder to make sure there wasn’t anything following me.

No one can leave the lodge. Which means I can’t let him scare them off. How do I do it?

Finally, heaving and stumbling up the last distance, the massive structure came into view. The lodge was a large, rectangular building, with massive double doors facing in the direction of the town below.

I hefted up my knees, forcing myself up the cobblesteps before finally arriving at the landing where I could let myself tumble inside.

Oh right. They have a snare.

My boot slid against the stone, nudging something that was somewhat solid, yet still dragged with me for a second. But when I went to look dow— “YAAAAAAAAAARRGGGHH!”

My body went weightless as my whole leg was dragged into the air by a thick rope clamped around my boot with the grip of a bear. My fingers skimmed the stonework, but that was on the way as, when the snare had finished its work, I was left three feet up off the ground.

I watched Yernal struggle and twist for a minute while all his crossbow bolts and small baubles fell off of him and hit the ground beneath. Kind of like a bully in a cartoon shaking the nerd’s lunch money out of his pockets.

There’s Redbrands inside. Definitely in the front room. They’d hear him screaming and come out.

Twenty or so seconds later, the doors ahead of me were pushed open and three Redbrands had their weapons ready to stab at whatever triggered the snare. The one in the center, a woman named, I think, Rannie had a sword in one hand and a lantern in the other.

It took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust. Being humans, they all relied on that lantern. And when they saw me, Rannie scoffed. “Ya gotta be kiddin’ me. Yernal? How do you set off the fuckin’ trap? You’re the one who resets it!”

“Ah know, ah know, jus’ get me down! Quick!” I watched one of the others take the lantern and move towards the tree. “We might not got a lot a’ time!”

Rannie blinked. “Time? Why, what happened?” Before I could answer, I saw her try to piece it together. “Wait. Do we got runners?! How many of ‘em skipped town before Stalwart an’ y’all got down there?!”

“Nah, not runners. Wor—Woaaargghh!” I went weightless for a moment before landing hard jaw-first on the landing. Thankfully, I didn’t land on any of my bolts the wrong way. Another tooth might have gotten loose, but other than that I was fine.

“Worse?” Rannie guessed my word. “Worse how?”

“Th-They’re. They’re dead! All of ‘em! Stalwart, Rynelle, Tristen, an' Glaif. The only one left standing when I got away was Greggs, an’ that mage didnae look too keen keepin’ him alive! They’re all gone!”

“Stalwart?” One of the others asked, incredulous. I didn’t know his name. There were plenty of folk I didn’t know here. “...Nah. No, that’s not possible. That demon skin’s too strong to die. I don’t care how strong that orc looked, not even she could match him.”

“It weren’t the orc,” I said, voice cracking. “It was the Dwarven lass. Cracked her ‘ammer midway through his chest. His neck snapped! Ah ‘eard it myself! Swear ta Hephaestus, Ah did!”

I scuttled up to my feet, grabbing a few of my effects I was more keen to hold onto. “We gotta tell the boss. They know ‘bout the skeletons! They sent word ta Agix! Magic words ta Agix! Said the Platinum Guard will know come mornin’! It ain’t safe no more!”

Story Spinner’s POV
Outside the Redbrands’ Hideout

“Wait, that won’t work,” I muttered to myself. “If they tell Glasstaff, he’d cut his losses and run. No telling who a necromancer’s tied to in Canterlot City. No, they need to be caught before they do real damage.” I watched the world rewind itself a few seconds and then forced it to play again.

Yernal scuttled up to his feet, taking a moment to tuck his crossbow bolts and effects in their rightful place. “Stalwart took out the Cortássian ‘fore he died! They’ll want blood long before we need ta worry ‘bout the Platinum Guard! We gotta start shorin’ up every defense we—”

⍙☍⌰⎐ ⌿⎅⋏⊑⎐ ⍾⍀ ⎐⊑⍾⎐⊑. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ⌰⎐ ⎅ ⎎⍀⋉⎅⎍☌. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ⌰⎐ ⌰⍾ ⍾⍀ ⌇⍀⎐⌰⍙⌰⍀⍾ ⍙⍀ ⟒⊑⎎⍀⌿⊑ ⎅ ⍜⊑⎅☌⊑⎍. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ☌⍀⊑⎐ ⍾⍀⍙ ⎎⎅⎍⊑ ⎅⟒⍀⌖⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐ ⌇⍜⎅⎎⊑. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ☌⍀⊑⎐ ⍾⍀⍙ ⎎⎅⎍⊑ ⎅⟒⍀⌖⍙ ⍙☍⊑ ⎍⊑☌⟒⎍⎅⍾☌⎐. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ⋉⎅⍾⍙⎐ ⍙⍀ ⟟⍜⊑⊑. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ⌰⎐ ⎐⎎⎅⎍⊑☌ ⟟⍀⎍ ☍⌰⎐ ⍜⌰⟟⊑. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ⋏⍾⍀⋉⎐ ⍙☍⊑⏚ ⎎⎅⍾⍾⍀⍙ ⟟⌰⟊☍⍙ ⍙☍⊑ ⍀⌖⍙⎐⌰☌⊑⎍⎐. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ⋉⍀⌖⍜☌ ⍾⍀⍙ ⎐⎅⏚ ⍙☍⊑⎐⊑ ⍙☍⌰⍾⟊⎐ ⍙⍀ ⍙☍⊑⎐⊑ ⌇⊑⍀⌇⍜⊑. ⟊⍜⎅⎐⎐⍙⎅⟟⟟ ⋉⍀⌖⍜☌ ⍾⊑⊬⊑⎍ ⍜⌰⎐⍙⊑⍾ ⍙⍀ ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟. ⍙☍⊑ ⟒⌖⟊⟒⊑⎅⎍⎐ ⋉⍀⌖⍜☌ ⍾⍀⍙ ⍜⌰⎐⍙⊑⍾ ⍙⍀ ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⋉⎅⎍⟟ ⌰⎐ ⎅ ⍾⊑⋉ ⎅☌☌⌰⍙⌰⍀⍾ ⍙⍀ ⍙☍⊑ ⎍⊑☌⟒⎍⎅⍾☌⎐. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ☌⍀⊑⎐ ⍾⍀⍙ ⋉⍀⎍⋏. ⎐⍀⌿⊑⍙☍⌰⍾⟊ ⊑⍜⎐⊑ ⌿⌖⎐⍙ ☍⎅⌇⌇⊑⍾. ⍙☍⌰⎐ ⌰⎐ ⍾⍀⍙ ☍⍀⋉ ⊑⊬⊑⍾⍙⎐ ⋉⍀⌖⍜☌ ⌇⍜⎅⏚ ⍀⌖⍙.

⍾⍀⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐. ⍾⍀⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐. ⍾⍀⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐. ⍾⍀⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐. ⍾⍀⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐. ⍾⍀⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐. ⍾⍀⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐.

I clutched my head, falling to my knees as every word replayed itself over and over again in my mind. Every reason. Every plot hole and factor that went into the motivation I’ve built up for this Dwarf so far both from Sunday now pounded in my head.

It made me scream. Crying out in absolute agony while the words built up in my head. Pressuring my brain until it felt like my skull was either stretching or cracking against the force. It hurt. It hurt SO MUCH.

And only when those last two words repeated like a stuttering movie did the pressure diminish. Two words. “⍾⍀⍙ ⍙☍⌰⎐.”

O...Okay then, I told myself. Not this. Got it. I need to do something else.

I waited until the words finished pounding against me and the pain faded before standing back up on my own two feet. The scene with Yernal and the Redbrands was suspended in time. It had reset to right before Yernal stood up once more.

It doesn’t want me to contradict what I have, I interpreted. I guess this is what Sunset meant by ‘has to make sense.’ It needs to work. Make it make sense, Story.

I focused back on Yernal and the others a third time and thought it out. Yernal thinks they’re screwed and wants to flee. If Glasstaff hears his account, Glasstaff would flee as well. He might even sacrifice the Redbrands or Bugbears to do it. In-fighting. Death not caused by the party. Death in real life.

“I can’t let Yernal be the one to tell Glasstaff,” I said to myself. “I need a better messenger. Someone more...Oh. Right.”

I remembered what happened last session and felt like an idiot. I even remember writing a note to myself Sunday night. I didn’t want all the magic nonsense to distract me from what was likely going to happen after.

After taking a couple of seconds recalling what I planned in the first place, I restarted the scene.

Yernal scuttled up to his feet, grabbing a few of his effects he held dear to himself. “Look! Ah dunno ‘bout all a’ you, but Ah’m gettin’ outta this town! They’re comin’ for us! Stalwart took out the Cortássian ‘fore they finished him off. And they seemed pretty tight-knit. This ain’t about some do-gooders anymore! He made it personal!”

“You did not just say that,” Rannie sneered at him. At the same time, the others turned to aim their swords at his throat. “You know that’s not a choice. We all know what Glasstaff does. There’s no lying on that. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not sharing a cell with a batshit necromancer.”

“Woah, woah, hey now. L-Let’s take a breath for a moment,” he backpedaled, keeping track of the three of them as they surrounded him. “Why would Ah tell a soul?! Ah tell anyone that Ah know a necromancer, a-a-an’ Ah’m rattlin’ on myself! An’ Ah don’t want a cell as much as the lotta ya! But take stock of our blessin’s fer a moment!”

One of the others grunted behind him, tightening the grip on his sword. “What blessings?! We live in a rundown elf house! And we’re hunting for scraps of food every day!”

“An’ we don’t have ta anymore,” I told him. “Who’s left ta stop us?! Anbera’s outta the picture, Stalwart’s dead, Glasstaff stays cooped up ‘less someone bothers ‘em, and our numbers got cleaved in half in a single night! What stops us from ditchin’ Glasstaff and leavin’ without anybody the wiser?!”

“I can think of somebody.”

All four of them went still. From the forest, passing by me without a single leaf rustling against them, was another figure. Its appearance didn’t startle me. Instead, what threw me off was Applejack’s voice speaking out.

All of them turned in our direction, shining the lantern, and aiming their swords, to see who it was. Even Yernal took a second to pull his out. And when they spotted Platick stepping into the light, they were simply confused.

None of them had seen Platick before. None of the Redbrands knew about Platick. He was a bland-looking human among a group of peculiar individuals. The rumors skipped him entirely.

Although, what made it even weirder was how Platick looked. He was coated in blood and blue ichor, stained across him, his clothes, and his once boring cloak. He wore no armor, and clutched a fat brass dagger in one hand, lazily hanging at his side like a drunkard holding a bottle. However, in his other hand was a set of crystal blue glasses that Platick was holding out in front of him. The Redbrands seemed to recognize them and immediately lowered their weapons.

“You.” Rannie put her sword away. “What happened to you?”

“None of your business,” Platick told them. “If I’m going to talk to anyone, it’ll be your boss.”

Then, he stared at Yernal. “And you. You should be dead with the others.”

“There. The-There was nothin’ Ah coulda done,” Yernal lied. “They killed everyone. They killed Stalwart! Ah had ta get outta there! Ah was lucky Ah got outta there! Stalwart killed the Cortá—”

“I heard you the first time,” Platick cut him off. “And that wasn’t any Cortássian. Any of you hear about The Thorn Wielder?”

After some short deliberation, I had all four of them shake their heads. Yernal was a clueless Dwarf and the other three were short-lived humans that didn't care about Cortás. None of them would have.

“Right. Forget it.” Platick rolled his eyes. “Take me to Glasstaff. If he’s asleep, wake him. He needs to know what we’re dealing with. And while we’re at it.” Platick pointed his dagger at Yernal. “Grab ‘em.”

“What?” Yernal tried to back up, but Rannie and the other Redbrands obeyed Platick. They grabbed at his arms, locking him in place despite his best attempts otherwise. “W-Wait, hang on! Th-This ain’t fair! Ah. Ah-Ah gotta speak ta Glasstaff too! Yeah, that’s it! Ah gotta tell ‘em what Ah know ‘bout them, outsiders!”

“I don’t think you do.” Platick walked up, now turning the dagger towards Yernal’s direction. “I guarantee that you have nothing I don’t already.”

“No, no, seriously!” Yernal kept trying. “Ah saw the mage woman up close! Ah saw what kinda spells she did! Ah could probably help Glasstaff figure out what spell the mage ca—”

“The mage,” Platick cut him off again. “Is named Stostine Swordhand; a nobleman’s daughter and a naturally gifted sorceress. And she mostly relies on Fire Bolts. A standard of hers, from what I can tell.”

“You.” Yernal went quiet for a moment. “You know the mage’s name?”

“I know all their names,” he told the Dwarf. “I know how they fight, why they’re here, and what they want. What they actually want. Which means all you are is a problem.”

Platick looked to the others. “Stuff him somewhere. But keep him alive. I’ll deal with him later.”

They obeyed, grabbing Yernal’s arms and dragging him against the stonework until he was past the threshold of the lodge. The entire way he started kicking and screaming, drawing the attention of the other dozen or so Redbrands that had now gathered in the main room of the lodge among all the commotion.

Halfway across the room, Yernal wrenched himself free and stood with the last of his dignity against Platick. “Please, just let me leave! They’re coming fer us! Ah know it! We’re all dead if we stay here! Ah don’t wanna die, man! And neither do any of you! Ah know it!”

Platick scoffed. “You should be hoping they come. Far as I care, their bleeding hearts are your only chance of living past the week.”

Yernal looked around at all the other Redbrands. None of them seemed interested in taking his side. All of them knew how threatening Stalwart was, but that still didn’t dissuade them. Instead, it had the opposite effect. Whether out of pride or desire to prove themselves, they didn’t seem interested in letting the outsiders win.

Yernal saw this across each of their faces. The sneers towards him or the desire to prove these mages and try hard mercenaries wrong was obvious to each of them. And from every face Yernal saw, it dawned on him who he had surrounded himself with.

“Yer all mad,” he muttered in Dwarven. “Nothin’ but lunatics, the lot.”

Rannie stepped forward and again grabbed Yernal’s arm. Yernal didn’t resist, but he kept shouting. “All their mages are still alive! It took half of us ta take one of ‘em down!”

But they didn’t care. Instead, one of the Redbrands let out a laugh. “So what?! No way the rest of ‘em ain’t without their licks!”

“We don’t let magic freaks live!” Another roared.

“We’ll be ready for ‘em!” “I’d like ta see that orc throw ‘ands when we chop ‘em off!” “They won’t get away with killing Rynelle!” “There were two elves, yeah?! Ah’ll see them both bleedin’ before Ah start runnin’!” “Strong adventurers like them gotta have coin, aye?” “It woulda gone a lot different had I went with ‘em down there!”

The lodge fell into an uproar. Greed, wrath, pride, and any mix of the three sins sent every bandit into a frenzy. Yernal kept calling out and begging to let him go, but he was cut out as Platick stepped up onto a table to earn the crowd’s attention.

“What they managed was luck and surprise,” Platick told them. “Those outsiders set up traps and waited for Stalwart to show up. He didn’t know what magic he was up against. They were sorely unprepared. And it was luck they pulled anything off!”

I took the time to walk inside as Platick talked up the crowd. Every compliment he gave the bandits or insult he threw at Stalwart and their failed allies rallied them more. And in the midst of all of it, I let myself look across the lodge itself.

It didn’t care what they said. It was all noise at this point. Run of the mill ‘rally the troops’ tropes and cliches.

Not my best work, I suppose, I told myself. Then again, the girls are never gonna see this. And I’m not about to write a speech for imaginary grunts.

I looked past the crowd and towards the stairwell where Yernal was being dragged down. He was going to be brought to the basement, through a set of brass doors, and into a cell. The cell and heavy doors that were reflected with Aloe and Lotus at that bunker.

The same setup, I realized. I’m throwing someone else into another terrible circumstance. But now, I’m doing it on purpose.

I closed my eyes, focused, and opened them only to find myself in the jail room of the Redbrands’ Hideout. By this point, I had been following Yernal from the ambush fight back in Phandalin. I did this a few times now.

The three Redbrands that dragged him here were taking a ring of keys off a hook in the wall. Yernal had given up struggling at this point. On the way down, they removed his red cloak. He knew what would happen to him if he tried running out of here without it.

“You shoulda kept your mouth shut, Yernal,” Rannie told him, unlocking and opening the creaky cell door. Inside of it was one other prisoner. A woman wearing a ratty, gray tunic was chained to the wall by an iron cuff around her neck. She looked up while the Redbrands tossed the traitor onto the filthy floor inside and slammed the cell door.

Yernal didn’t bother standing back up. He simply rolled over and looked at them. “You gotta believe me! They’re comin’. Stalwart kicked the nest with ‘em. Anyone who stays here’s a dead man!”

One of the other Redbrands chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. We believe you. We’re just not dumb enough to say it out loud.”

“Yeah. That was where you fucked up,” Rannie told him. “If you kept your mouth shut, you could’ve probably skipped town. There might be some crazies upstairs, but enough of us still got our heads.”

I crossed my arms as I watched this. I’m not telling them to think or say any of this. If the people they’re connected to in real life are even half this messed up, I’d rather they get caught or dealt with by the party.

Yernal stood up and wrapped his hands around the bars. “Then take me with you! Please! I want to live. I don’t deserve this!”

“Not happening,” Rannie told him. “Everyone here knows you’re a coward. The cutthroats and the amateur mage hunters up there would cut down anyone who so much as plays nice with you. You signed your own death.”

They walked out and left him to rot, taking the lantern with them. To the four human prisoners, they were once again left blind. To Yernal, he was stuck in monochrome.

The game plans on letting some Redbrands run away, I thought as Yernal slumped to the ground. I mean, is that the worst thing? If they walk off, they’re no longer part of the game. They fade into the void. Or do they?

I had an entire world running around on autopilot every time the girls played. Tens of thousands of people lived in Leodaav, and that was low-balling it. And it’s not like everything’s business as usual every day for everyone else. Things would happen.

I decided that I didn’t know what the best play was here. I wasn’t going to figure it out the first time running through here. And it felt like I had been in here for a couple hours now. I had been testing things out and running through events. Most of it was spent watching events play out like this.

I felt like a director. Like these were my actors and I was writing the script in real time. The girls would be my audience and the results in the real world would be the reviews. How my messed-up performance would be accepted.

It was weird. On one hand, I knew firsthand now what this was doing to people. The dangers they were falling in because of what I did. But this looked like the best I could do for now. We had to keep playing and that meant I had to prepare.

Still, a part of me felt a little excited. An entire world, built as I envisioned. I could tell whatever stories I wanted to. I could probably put together whatever scenarios I wanted, enjoy a giant blockbuster movie, and then scrap the idea the moment it reached the end. Like it never happened.

I already did too. Yernal wasn’t the first person I worked on. He was the fourth, actually. Another actor in my play. I just used him to set up the Redbrands for the next game.

Just used him...an actor. Huh. I put my hand to my head. Let’s not get too carried away. He still reflects somebody in real life.

I took a breath, closed my eyes, and reappeared back in Phandalin outside the Sleeping Giant. The girls’ characters were all right where we left them; scattered across the field. They were the only things I couldn’t manipulate. They and the space around them were stuck in time.

“I think that’s more than enough for now,” I said, glancing over the characters. “Although.” I felt around the back of my head. There was no scar. No bandages. No pain. Whatever pain or injuries I had in the real world didn’t follow me here. Same with the medicines the hospital gave me.

I sighed. “I hope it doesn’t hit me all at once. Otherwise, it’s gonna suck coming back and forth from here.”

I closed my eyes and focused one more time. I wasn’t sure if it would work this way, but I started picturing the hospital. Then, myself lying in the padded bed and the annoying beeping machines. I pictured Mom passed out in the chair in the corner and the touch of the blankets catching on my skin every time I moved.

It took a little longer than a second. After what felt like ten or so seconds and trying out some mantras and the like, I finally got it to work.

I opened my eyes. My real eyes. And I was back in the hospital. The pain throbbed against my skull and the medicine made my body feel a whole lot more numb. Like I was afraid of, all the pain and misery crashed against me.

“All at once! All at once! Argh, it’s all at once!”

I twisted in pain, trying not to move my head and pull on the stitches from underneath the bandages. And after maybe four minutes of it, I finally got to a point where the pain became manageable.

When I could relax, I noticed the window of my room. The morning light poured against the blinds. I went into my world sometime around 1 AM. After checking my phone, it was now 7:48 AM. However long I was in there, was however long passed in real life.

Mom was out of the room at this point. Probably to check on Button. He wasn’t left at home alone or anything. Fluttershy’s family offered to let him crash there for the night. Mom thought it’d be better than having him sleep in an uncomfortable chair in the hospital on a school night.

So, the room was to myself for now. Probably for the best, I didn’t want anyone worrying about me writhing in pain. Besides, I didn’t feel all too alone. Especially with the collection of gifts that were left for me.

Set up on a small table across from the bed was a vase of flowers with a small plushie of a bear holding a D20. It wasn’t only a bear though. It looked like someone had replaced the bear’s head with an owl’s, complete with tiny plastic eyes and a goofy hooked beak.

Then, beside the flower vase were three small cases of mystery D&D minis. A whole care package set up with the words ‘Get well soon’ on a card set up in front of it all.

As if all that wasn’t enough, on the tray table beside me was one last thing. An envelope with a pink wax seal keeping it closed. On the front of the card was ‘Get Well Soon!’ written in this fantastical calligraphy.

I smiled. She got better at it. When did Pinkie have the time for this?

I reached over and carefully snapped the wax off without breaking it to find a letter that looked pretty close to legit parchment inside. And like the outside, it too was written in this fantasy penmanship.

Hey Story!

We all wanted to say thank you for helping out with Aloe and Lotus yesterday. We wanted to come check on you last night, but it was pretty late when we left to go home ourselves. And we wanted to give you a care package!

We understand if, after everything you had to go through, you wanted to step back for a little while and rest. Yesterday was tough on all of us. But more than anything, don’t give up on what you like doing just because of what’s going on. Give it some time and we’ll have all of this mess out of your game!

P.S. If that mean Nothic gets any ideas, we got you an owlbear! His name’s Hootrawr! Pinkie was trying to fantasy-ify a get-well-soon gift and now we all know what they are.

P.S.S We will NEVER fight an owlbear! Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie have all decided that if you put one in front of us, we WILL make it our friend!

Get well soon!

-The Sonic Rainbooms

That same smile from before didn’t leave my face. All it did was get directed back at ‘Hootrawr’ over there. “Huh. I take it you’re our club’s new mascot then?”

It stared back at me, its plastic button eyes full of pride.

I clicked my tongue before carefully refolding the parchment and putting it back on the table. “Well then. Welcome to the team, Hootrawr. Your résumé has impressed us and we expect great things from you.”

Hootrawr said nothing, instead letting his actions do all the talking.

Just then, I heard a knock at my door. “Uh, Story? Are you awake? Can I come in?”

I know that voice. “Sure, come in.”

The door was out of sight from my hospital bed, but I still heard it. And, a couple seconds later, Twilight walked into view. She didn’t look her best at this point. She looked drained not out of lack of sleep but out of mental exhaustion. Although, given where we were, a lack of sleep might not be impossible either. She was in sweatpants and a regular shirt; clothes more meant for comfort than an ‘upstanding student’ like usual.

Twilight’s eyes quickly fell on the flowers and Hootrawr on my table. It made her smile a little. “Looks like Pinkie got you a care package too.”

“And incredibly personalized. You?”

She smiled. “Some books that I’ve mentioned off-hand and all the flowers are made out of paper. I’m still trying to understand when she has time for all of this.”

I chuckled. “Same thought. I think I've passed the whole ‘this can’t be possible’ idea at this point. It’s just impressive at this point.”

She nodded. “It’s definitely impressive, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

I stared at her for a few seconds as both myself and Hootrawr were at a loss for how she could think that. “...You have a talking dog.”

Twilight looked over her shoulder for a second, then went back and closed the door. “Okay, point taken. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to take anything unexplainable for granted. Especially with how everything’s turned out lately.”

I took a second to think back over the last couple days. “Yeah. It feels like none of us have a good handle on this.” Twilight didn’t have anything to add to that. “Say, um. You were the newest person before me, right? How much are you used to it all?”

She opened her mouth to answer but closed it for a few seconds. “Not too much, honestly. The girls are all terrific friends and they’ve told me about what they know. And having Spike nearby has made adjusting to magic all the easier. But I’m not going to pretend I know any more than they do.”

Twilight watched me react for a few seconds before she looked guilty. “Sorry if that wasn’t what you were looking for.”

“No, it’s not that.” I shook my head. “I know I shouldn’t expect the full story. Especially after what I did. But even after you all came clean to me about the magic, it felt like I was still at arm’s length, you know? Like I still wasn’t worth trusting at the time.”

Twilight walked past my bed and sat down in the open chair. “I think, in a way, I’m to blame for that.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” I told her. “I haven’t exactly been easy to work with on any of this.”

“No, I mean, I think I’m the reason that. Th-That..." Twilight trailed off, suddenly lost in thought.

“Twilight?” I sat up. Twilight was tearing up all of a sudden. Oh crap, it’s happening. “Twilight. Twilight!”

“H-Huh?” Twilight’s eyes refocused and, with tears streaming out of her eyes, she clutched and shook her head. It took her a few seconds, but eventually Twilight snapped herself out of it. “Urgh! It keeps...arrggghhhh...I-I’m good. I. I’m okay now. Thank you.”

“Y-Yeah,” I said, definitely not believing her. “Maybe we should change the subject.”

“No.” Twilight patted the sides of her face a few times and wiped the rest of the tears away. “No, it’s getting easier. I think. Sunset said you mentioned how reliving the memory makes the reaction weaker. I practiced with Mr. Prism’s math te—t-test. His. Math. Test,” she forced, fighting through the daze. “It’s mostly worked. That was one of the other reasons I wanted to talk to you. If it’s alright, would you mind listening to me walk through a few things?”

I shrugged. “Not at all. Besides, I’m stuck here too. We’ll probably get discharged in the afternoon, if at all, today.”

“I really hope so. There’s too much going on for us to stay here.” Twilight sat up in her chair and took a couple of breaths. “So. Erm. I know that you’re still getting used to all the magic from your game. But something that’s making me blank out is from when I first found the magic. Do you really not mind letting me talk through it?”

I watched her for a second. Through the bags in her eyes and the sluggish attention, she had this guilt hanging over her. Whatever the memory was, it was making her cry. My first instinct told me that reliving this was going to be hard for her.

But that wasn’t it. She looked guilty towards me. Twilight never did anything wrong before. There was no reason to be upset. And, over the last few days, I had been forced to commit multiple crimes, put dead center of high-school drama, and forced to endure magical nonsense from a nerd game.

“Twilight,” I said with a smile. “I genuinely do not think anything you say will be a problem. I’ll listen to whatever you want to talk through.”

She appreciated that and thanked me. And after a few breaths and blanking out as she collected her thoughts, Twilight wiped away the tears and began.

She started with the odd readings she was getting from the girls’ magic. How she tracked down the source of it to Canterlot High and her former principal, Principal Cinch, blackmailing her into entering a contest for a referral to some extracurricular thing. Then, meeting and somehow sapping the girls of their magic.

Throughout all of it, I couldn’t help but ask questions. And Twilight blanked out a couple of times answering but still did her best. But then, she describes these rifts. Portals from another world by the sound of it. And I stayed quiet from there on out.

She told me about the vines bursting out of the ground. Magic splitting between this world and another. Sapping more magic with her little makeup mirror disc. And then more stuff going haywire. Up until what Twilight described as ‘Midnight Sparkle.’

That’s where the most blanking out happened. The doctors came in at one point, seeing Twilight in tears and asking if everything was okay. We couldn’t tell them the truth obviously, and Twilight was still trying to come to her senses, so I covered for her until she was okay to keep going.

Once Twilight had gone through it enough times, she managed to fight off the Nothic problem and explain how the girls helped snap her out of it. How they saved a bunch of other students from falling into rifts that she created and how they made her feel welcome.

And then, there was one other thing she let slip. The other Twilight. One that ran out of a rift that was supposed to be there. One from another world and was royalty.

Royalty. Another world. Another Twilight. And where there's another Twilight...

“Story?” Twilight blinked, watching as I stared down at my bed blankly. “Um. Are you alright? I know it was a lot to go over. And you likely have other questions.”

I took a slow breath. I did. I had a lot more questions. Ones that Sunset made me promise never to ask. So instead, I held my face in my hand. “N-No,” I lied. “No, not really questions. More like...it’s a lot. Like you said. It’s...yeah.”

Twilight gave me this sympathetic smile. I felt like I was going to be sick.

Author's Note

You know...I think I need a way to put out updates whenever something comes up on releasing chapters on time.

That aside, this chapter felt a little more relaxed to focus on. At first, I wasn't sure what to write for Twilight telling Story about her experience, mostly because it was details that already exist in the movies. Retelling it here feels uneccessary at this point. It's just important to know that Story knows what Twilight does. Which is everything but the pony part of it.

Although, I guess Story knows that part as well.

Next chapter will have them getting back to the game. And then D&D chapters for a while. The Main Seven vs The Redbrands and beyond.

Please let me know what you thought of the chapter with the comments! Anything I can do to improve on or things that stood out as good are always appreciated! Plus, I just like hearing from you all.

Until next chapter! Hopefully in 2 weeks...
Cheers,
-Zeke

(44) A Live Audience

Sunset Shimmer’s POV
Canterlot High, Outdoor Lunch Area
Wednesday, 12:20 PM

Over the last few weeks, all of us had been using the outdoor cafeteria area. The weather was that perfect spring temperature and had a light breeze helping to keep the clear sky’s sun from bearing down on us. Last week was the only time it ever rained on us. It was the worst time for it, but since then if it ever got even remotely cloudy we ate indoors.

The cafeteria entrance was only a short walk away and we could see through the large picture windows at the rest of our lunch period. We weren’t usually the only ones outside anymore, but the tables were spaced out enough where we had our privacy.

And today, that privacy was handier than ever. Most of the school’s rumors were now completely focused on us. Mostly because of one of the most unfathomable things that anyone could have ever thought of happening. Twilight missed a day of school. Queue the gasps.

Even though she was relatively new to Canterlot High, her love of academics was well known. That, coupled with the couple of Crystal Prep students that also transferred here at the same time, and people understood how shocking it was for her to miss a single day. Everyone assumed that even sickness wouldn’t stop her. And they would be right. When we checked on her yesterday, it seemed like the doctors were the only ones stopping her.

When she came back this morning and she was distant for most of her classes, it only added to the mystery. Add to the fact that our group was usually the center of weird rumors—which were normally true, but that was still secret from most of the transfer students –and everyone was hounding Twilight for what was going on.

Pinkie and Rarity’s conditions also didn’t help matters. Both yesterday and today, Rarity had been wearing designer jeans to hide the bandages and braces on her knees. But it couldn’t hide the extra effort she had to put in getting out of her seat from each class. Pinkie had the opposite problem. She could move and act like she always did, but her bandages were scattered in places she couldn’t hide. She looked like she had been in a scrap.

Then, there was the fact that every one of the seven of us were dead tired yesterday. We were forced to stay at that hunter’s house late Monday night. Late past midnight. We were each spoken to the police individually at the scene and since none of us had a plan for how to avoid talking about magic, but explaining ourselves, the police nearly arrested us for not having our stories straight.

It was only because of the Detective that Applejack called in advance, Detective Soarin, that we were let go. He didn’t know the full explanation either, but he knew that Rarity had helped since school ended. And, at the end of the day, we were right. None of us could explain why, but we were.

In the end, we were allowed to go home. We were probably being watched and investigated nonstop now, but we were free. But now our mental and physical exhaustion only added to the rumors.

Finally, to cap it all off, was Story. By this point, people thought he was connected to us in some way. And he had an obvious, massive bandage wrapped around his head that at least pulled the focus away from Twilight. It drew so much attention, in fact, the teachers let him wear a beanie to school. Even Mr. Doodle let him get away with it. And when they saw Rainbow and the others helping him move from class to class today, the rumor mills considered him a permanent addition to our group by lunch.

In fact, he and Rainbow Dash were the ones we were waiting on. Rainbow insisted on helping Story move through the cafeteria crowd while I and Applejack kept near Twilight and Fluttershy with Pinkie and Rarity. People wanted to be polite and help them out or give their sympathies, but there was the occasional person using that excuse. Those ones wanted to figure out the rumors.

Aloe, Lotus, and Ms. Cherry Blossom were still in the hospital. And since Monday night, they were still comatose. News of their disappearance, and subsequent rescue, was kept a secret to everyone but the ones who knew it in the first place. But the amount of time they were comatose started alarming the doctors.

Second to that, the police were trying to determine whether we should be charged for breaking and entering, and vandalism. All of us, but Twilight, were at risk of being officially charged. It all revolved around their safety.

While all of this went through my head, I glanced at my bag beside me. Twilight insisted on bringing Spike with her today. More so out of emotional support than anything else. However, none of us wanted her blanking out and losing her balance with him inside. I offered to let him ride with me for today.

It’s more exercise than I thought. I watched as Spike hopped out of my bag and walked beside Twilight’s leg before curling up for a nap. Apparently, riding around in my backpack was ‘bumpy’ for him. He couldn’t sleep like he was used to with Twilight. I don’t know how she carries him around all day. The balance and upper body strength to keep him and your books is an all-day workout.

As I rolled and popped my shoulders for the seventh time out here, Twilight set her spoon down and rubbed her head for a few seconds. She was fighting off another migraine. This was becoming normal for her by now and we had seen her suffering like this all morning.

“Uh, Twi?” Applejack spoke softly. She was set up beside her. “Are ya certain it was a good idea ta come in today? No one would fault ya fer takin’ one more day ta yerself.”

“Mm-mmm.” Twilight hummed as she shook her head. She stopped after two turns, clutching her head harder. “No. I’m fine. It’s getting easier. Besides, I need to get over whatever that Nothic did to my memories before ma...math class.”

None of us were happy hearing that. It was like watching a boxer force themselves up to their feet for the tenth time.

“You know~,” Pinkie sang with a smile. “Mr. Prism was worried when he didn’t see you in class yesterday. I’m pretty sure he’d let you take a make-up test on Friday. Once all the Nothic stuff is gone?”

Twilight paused, considering the idea. “Do you think that would be alright? It feels like that would be an unfair advantage.”

“Twilight,” I started. “If there’s anyone who was gonna ace that math test with or without help, it’d be you. I don’t think anybody’s going to think you passed because you had an extra couple of days.”

Twilight let herself smile for a second. “Thanks girls. I’ll...think about it.”

At about that time, the doors to the cafeteria opened and Rainbow Dash held onto her lunch tray with one hand while keeping the door open with the other. She waited long enough for Story to step through before taking Story’s lunch tray and carrying it for him.

And here he comes. I prepared myself before noticing a short look from Rarity as she took a bit of mac n’ cheese. I know, I know. I won’t.

When we all went to the hospital to check on Twilight and Aloe and the others, they checked in on Story too. I didn’t go with. Although, while we were alone, Twilight admitted to me what she told him.

“I can still carry my own tray.” Story Spinner trailed behind Rainbow Dash sheepishly. “But I appreciate it. Thank you.”

“Eh. It’s no biggie,” she told him, setting it down. He was settled between Twilight and Rainbow and far enough from my side of the table to keep the peace. “And if you or Twi need us to help you guys with anything, just shout.”

“But maybe not too loud if you’re close to Mr. Doodle’s classroom,” Pinkie warned them. “He’s been a little upset this week.”

“More than usual?” Rainbow asked with a smirk.

“I was in his class earlier,” Fluttershy admitted. “He seemed a little upset that the teachers forgot his birthday.”

“An who wou’ bwame him?!” Pinkie shouted as a few crumbs of cupcake fell out of her mouth. “You should have seen the look on his face when I wished him happy birthday! His smile lasted a whole four seconds! Four!”

“Is he really that cranky all the time?” Story asked. A small pile of yeses was tossed back by the others. “Geez. I thought I kept asking dumb questions or something.”

“Nah, he prefers it when folk ask.” Applejack took a swig of her drink. “Saves him from bein’ angrier when the class gets dead quiet. And Ah guarantee ya, everybody’s happier than toads in a rain barrel when someone keeps it goin’.”

“You wanna know what he’s like when no one says anything?” Rainbow offered.

For the next ten or so minutes, everyone jumped from topic to topic. There was no magic or game-related nonsense involved. Everybody just let themselves act like it was a regular day. And for the first time, Twilight looked at ease for more than a moment.

Unfortunately, we would spot her staring off absently a couple times. But it only took a second before she corrected herself. One of us would ask if she was alright or apologize for bringing something up. But Twilight would apologize in return. It was a big leap from how she sounded over the phone on Monday. Or seemed from yesterday when she was discharged from the hospital. Whatever that Nothic did to her was mostly gone. But the trouble lingered on her.

I noticed Story with his own issue. He tried to be active in whatever the conversation was about, but Applejack and I could tell he was forcing it. He pretended to be upbeat when he really wasn’t. And, for once, I didn’t blame him. The last few days had broken me down and I didn’t have the energy to be angry anymore. Just sad.

I caught him glancing at me every so often during lunch. Those were the times his mask cracked the most. Like just seeing me had him on the verge of panicking. It was obvious what the reason was behind it.

You’re terrified of me. Aren’t you? It was that same feeling I had from Canterlot High following the Fall Formal. Fear. With the other students, it was mixed in with anger and rage for what I did. But it didn’t look like he was angry anymore. There was only fear. I think that’s what made me run out of hate the most.

About halfway through lunch, I watched him poking his food when the focus wasn’t on him. His tray was mostly untouched. And when he took another glance at me over the corner of his eye, only for me to stare back and force him to panic again, he finally took a deep breath and put down his spoon.

“Alright,” he said breathlessly, earning the attention of a few of the others. “So...I have a confession to make.”

Oh? I started drinking my milk to hide my expression. Is he going to admit it?

“What about?” Rarity asked.

“So...I used magic a few times yesterday.”

What?!

“Mha—?!” I turned and spat my drink onto the ground behind me, nearly spraying my bag that lay beside me with the force of a firehose. Suddenly, all that anger from Monday came whirling back. “Are you insane?!”

“I know! I know, I really shouldn’t have done that.” Story admitted, looking at anyone but me as everyone stared at him. “But. I-I was lying there, for hours, in that hospital bed and I realized that we needed to play the game anyways! Which meant I would need to be ready and I...I-I just tried it.”

Rarity and Applejack turned to watch me nearly spike my milk back onto my tray. My teeth were grinding, and I looked ready to go off into a rampage.

“And I know it was dumb! I know I shouldn’t have done it. I get that. I’m sorry, okay?! And I’m—sorry,” he said, finding my eyes and then quickly his feet. “And I didn’t know what I would expect. And...I didn’t expect it to be so easy.”

I heard him out, ready to tear into him and let him have it. All the way up until he said that. “It. You...Easy?” I blinked. “It was. It was easy?”

“Yeah.” He took a second to focus and nodded. “It was...It was simple. Like, I would think about what I wanted to do and the magic just...did it.” He held up his hands in this waving motion. “I expected there to be this whole complex trick behind it. Or I thought I’d fall in over my head. Maybe get stuck in a coma and have to force myself out of it, but it...no. I just said the words and then suddenly I willed my world to do...anything.”

The girls and I looked across one another. Then, slowly, their looks fell to me or Twilight. The two people who fell into that ‘will to do anything’ kind of attitude.

“And...How about now?” Applejack asked cautiously. “Ya still feel like you can do anythin’?”

“Well.” He let out a breath and felt the wrappings on his head. Then, he glided his fingers across the grain of the picnic table before weakly looking up at AJ. “I feel like my bandages are a little too tight. And, that if I look up any more, my stitches will scream at me,” he joked. “No. Not out here, at least.”

“No interest in, suppose,” Twilight started, nearly going distant for a moment. “Hoarding the magic for yourself?”

“Or wanting to take control everybody in real life?” I questioned pointedly. That made Story glace at me with suddenly turn white as a sheet. Okay, guess Twilight didn’t tell him THAT part. Whoops.

“Y-You..." He mumbled for a second and shook his head violently, only to flinch and clutch the back of it. “Owww. Ow-ow-ow-ow-owwww..." He took a couple of seconds while we looked on with worry. After he moved his hand to check for blood, and of course there wasn’t any, he tried to calm himself down.

“No.” He answered, faking what calm sounded like. “No, I don’t want to...do anything. I mean, maybe it’s kinda fun watching my world come to life with a blink of my eyes. And, not being in pain or having stitches in my head is also nice.” He sat up after that. “But, no. No evil-ness. I don’t think so, at least.”

I let myself breathe upon hearing that. If he’s not going mad, then there’s at least no threat of another Midnight Sparkle scenario. For now, at least. “You know what I’m going to say next.”

“That I can’t do it again,” he said. Correct, I thought. “But—” “No! Story, no buts. You can’t—”

“I don’t really have a choice,” he cut me off matter-of-factly. “If we’re going to fix all the problems this magic’s doing, I need to prepare for the game. And I can try keeping everything to just paper, but there’s no way of knowing how things carry over. Not to mention, the magic catches me whenever I accidentally break continuity. Which I sort of need if I’m gonna keep all this nonsense in line.”

I calmed myself down. I promised Rarity I wouldn’t bring everything into arguments. Plus, I wasn’t blind. I saw what my screaming was doing to him. I just focused on collecting myself before I shouted again.

“I have a question.” Twilight sat up. “You said you used the words to go in and prepare. Were you in Sky-Space? Or somewhere else?”

“All over,” he told her. “Sky-Space. In and outside Phandalin. And I’m assuming it’s not a spoiler at this point, so, I was at the lodge too.” He glanced around. Seeing no reactions, he smiled. “Cool. That wasn’t garbled.”

“Does that mean you saw Ravathyra and the others?” Rainbow asked. “Did they see you?”

“And, more than that,” Twilight steeled herself. “Did you see it in there?”

He tensed up. “Yes, no, then yes. And...It wasn’t good.”

“The Nothic?” Fluttershy asked, shrinking back. “Was it scary?”

“The Nothic,” Story started with a shaking breath. “Was dead. Killed by your characters while we were away from the game.”

The rest of us let that sink in. We already assumed it had gotten to Twilight through our characters. And I figured out from seeing Stostine in Sky-Space that our characters moved around when we weren’t playing. But to finally hear it all be confirmed made us feel unnerved.

“How are they doing now?” Rainbow Dash asked, leaning forward so Story could see her in his peripheral. “How bad did that freak get to them?”

“And what about Vareén?” Twilight asked cautiously. “If the Nothic used her to get to me, is she...how is she?”

“They’re all fine. Now, at least,” Story revealed. “But...it killed most of them.”

We all had our own reactions. Rarity cupped her mouth. Rainbow and Pinkie let their jaws hang open. Fluttershy simply lost the color in her face and Applejack shielded hers from view entirely with her hat.

Twilight was the only one that seemed prepared for the answer, but nonetheless she seemed to scrunch back. “And was Vareén okay? What was she like?”

Story took a few seconds to calm himself down. “...Ravathyra, Stostine, and Vareén were the only survivors. That time around.”

“That time?” I asked. Story looked to Applejack, who pulled back her hat in time to catch his gaze.

“AJ, you remember each of those headaches I had?”

“The four of ‘em, yeah,” she replied, her voice a little hushed.

“The way Stostine and Ravathyra talked. It was like death didn’t faze them. Not like it should’ve. The others were all..." He paused, looking around. He had our attention, but he saw Fluttershy, and even Pinkie at this point, beginning to shut down.

“...I found the others in Sky-Space,” Story said, switching gears. “They were all up there just lounging. Don’t ask me for details, but I knew that they had died. Even so, they had no injuries. It was like they were reset.”

“So, th-they were okay?” Fluttershy meeked out.

“Yeah.” Story smiled. “They were okay. Thorn Wielder was meditating up there. She seemed relaxed.”

“Story.” Twilight held his arm for a second, staring at him intently. “Vareén. Please. How was she?”

Story and her fell into a staring match. Each time Twilight asked, it got more pressing. He was avoiding the question. And now that she was staring him down, he wouldn’t get away ignoring it.

“...” Story glanced at the rest of us. Even me, although he regretted it on his end. None of us said anything back. Either out of curiosity for ourselves or care for Twilight. And when Story looked back and saw Twilight still staring, pleadingly, he started to relent.

“Give me a second.” Story took his arm back and reached for his backpack, pulling out a wristwatch. “Okay. A little less than thirty minutes for lunch.”

“What’s the watch for?” Rainbow blinked. “You have a phone, ya know.”

“You can’t wear a phone.” Story started putting it on his left arm. “And you only bring what you wear, apparently.”

“To Sky-Space?” I sat back. Come to think of it, he’s right. We’d hold onto pencils or papers whenever going to Sky-Space, but we’d only be there with our clothes. “How’d you figure this out?”

“Like I said,” he started, tapping some buttons on the side. “I’ve been there a few times. I wanted to, erm. S-See what I could get away with?” He curdled at his own words and my gaze even as he only stared at his watch. “I know, yeah, that sounds so bad phrased like that.”

“It’s...fine,” I pulled back. “Still, you can’t be reckless when it comes to magic like this.”

Story opened his mouth to retort but sighed and nodded. “I know. Trust me, I’m not excited to keep screwing around with it. And, when this is over and everything’s fixed, I fully intend on staying far away. But, until then—"

He looked over to Twilight. “We can do something we have done before. Sky-Space. I don’t think I can answer everything for you before lunch is over. And if we want any chance of playing after school today, it might be worth putting any kinda worries to bed now. So, would you rather check before or after we eat our food?’

“Wait, today?” Pinkie blinked. “But today’s Wednesday! Shouldn’t you be playing with Gilda, and Big Mac, and your other group?”

“I already dealt with that,” he revealed. “One picture of me in a hospital bed, and they completely understood that the game was cancelled.”

“That explains why Gilda called me yesterday.” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself.

“I was actually going to ask about that,” I admitted. “We already lost yesterday. If you and Twilight are feeling up to it, we’re starting to fall into a deadline. We need to start playing more often. Whatever may happen to Principal Celestia, we need to get to that part of the game.”

“About that.” Rarity sat up. “I arrived at the office this morning to ask about Principal Celestia. According to the front office, she has been out since Friday. What’s more, Vice Principal Luna has apparently been drowning in work this week. Any problems the students have are being brought to the guidance counselor’s attention.”

Story and I locked eyes. Wrong, we both determined. Whether the front office staff knew the truth or not, they weren’t telling anyone. And Vice Principal Luna wasn’t seeing anybody either. The work was likely an excuse.

Maybe it’s for the best that the rumors stay on us, I figured. If everyone was focused on us, maybe we could save Principal Celestia before anyone realizes what’s going on.

“I’m clear to run it today. But for now.” Story changed the subject, looking back towards Twilight. “What do you say? You wanna check in on her?”

Twilight didn’t spend time considering the idea. She held out her hand. “Yes. I need to see if she’s okay. And if not, I want to try and help where I can. In any way I can.”

Story nodded, glancing at her hand. “You know, we don’t have to actually...You know what? Sure.” He took Twilight’s hand. She probably did so out of concern. Twilight had only been there once. And now she was gonna be there alone.

“Okay, I have an alarm on my watch,” Story told us. “It flashes the screen when it’s done. We’ll try and be out soon after.”

“Do ya need us ta back up?” Applejack asked, ready to stand. “Every time we’ve gone ta Sky-Space, it drags everyone nearby.”

“I think I figured that part out.” He told us. “It was like that time with Rainbow Dash and Gilda. If I only focus on a specific character, only their player comes in. Maybe your characters get dragged to Sky-Space, but you should all be fine. Like Sunset and Fluttershy were back on Friday. So, as long as I focus on ‘the person I’m holding onto,’” he half-joked, using Twilight’s hand as emphasis. “I think we’ll be fine.”

I crossed my arms. “And you’re sure about this?”

“Not entirely,” he stuttered, his bravado failing at me. “But, even if it does, we know how to get out! It’ll work out...maybe?”

My mouth formed a non-existent line. It’s really hard not to call him out on how reckless this is.

Twilight gave me a brave face. “We’ll be okay. I promise. And I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong.”

I let myself focus on my friend’s words rather than Story’s shaking and returned a smile of my own. “Right. I know you will.”

“Thank you.” Then, Twilight turned to Story and nodded. Story shifted his tray to the side and Twilight followed the example before he took a slow breath and closed his eyes.

“Alright then. Let’s start a story.”

Within seconds, the two slowly fell against the table, sound asleep. However, as we all watched for a few seconds in silence, we started to notice the sound of heavy snoring.

“Heh. Guess they really are asleep.” AJ chuckled. “Fella’s snoring like a chainsaw in a pine forest.”

“Uh, Applejack?” Rainbow leaned down a little. She was right beside the two of them and Story’s face was facing towards her. “That’s not him.”

“Are you sure?” Rarity blinked. “Because Pinkie and I see Twilight, and she’s not snoring.”

“Not unless she secretly practices ventriloquism in her sleep,” Pinkie added.

Wait, so, who’s snoring? The only ones in the group are us seven girls and Story. So, if not us then— Every alarm bell went off in my mind. Oh no! NO! You’ve gotta be kidding!

I stood up from my seat, casting a wide look around the other students around us. Who? Who got dragged in?!

Only one or two students spotted me staring down everyone in the vicinity. Maybe I was too paranoid, but I had to be sure. But, when it looked like no one else was passed out, I focused on the sound itself.

It’s right beside us. But if not us, then...wait. I glanced down at my bag. It was still empty, and Spike was still missing from it. “Oh. Huh.”

“Who is it?” AJ glanced around herself, but when I walked around the table and knelt beside Twilight, everyone else watched as they saw me pick up the deepest sleeping dog of the hour.

He was laid up against Twilight’s leg the entire time. We didn’t hear him snoring until now, probably because he was still awake. He just wanted to be beside her. And now, even picking him up and giving him a little shake didn’t work. He was in Sky-Space.

“Good news, I guess. It’s someone in the group.” I gently set him down on the bench beside Twilight.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Fluttershy asked. “He won’t get hurt while he’s in there, will he?”

“He’ll be fine,” Rainbow told her. “I dunno about outside of Sky-Space, but while you’re in there, nothing can hurt you. If I had to guess, those two are probably trying to calm Spike down from screaming.”

“Yeah, Ah’d wager that’s about right.” Applejack glanced around. The one or two people who caught my gaze when I looked around were now watching in curiosity at Twilight and Story. “Should we really be havin’ these two sleep like this?”

“I don’t think we have a choice in the matter,” Rarity told her. “The best we can do is be here for them when they come back.”

And so, we waited. It got a little awkward just ignoring our friend and Story passed out on the table, but as the minutes stretched from five to ten, we eventually found enough small talk to distract ourselves.

Up until Rarity’s phone buzzed. Like her life depended on it, she dug it out of her pocket and opened it up, only to look disappointed immediately.

“Everything okay?” Pinkie asked her.

“I suppose so,” Rarity said disheartedly while typing a message on her phone. “I keep hoping it’s a message about Aloe or Lotus waking up. And when it isn’t, I feel terrible that I’m getting upset at whoever’s reaching me.”

“I think the magic’s trying to course correct what happened,” I told them. “None of them have woken up yet. We know it’s the magic, but the only thing I can think of is that fate needs them to be trapped like they are in the game.”

“So, the magic’s trapping them asleep?” Rainbow Dash frowned. “I thought it had to be believable or something.”

“Normally,” I told them. “But we defied it. At this point, I don’t know what’s supposed to happen. But if we try defying fate again, it might push back harder than just putting people to sleep.”

“We do it by the book,” Applejack translated. “Ah think we can manage that. Now that they ain’t in danger in some floodin’ bunker, we can go about it the right way.”

I nodded. “You’re right. I won’t deny it, saving them was the right call. And.” I glanced at Story’s sleeping body. Then Rainbow Dash. “You and Story were right. We needed to act. I realize that now.”

“Of course we were!” She smiled back at me. “Look, however fate or whatever wants to punch back, we can handle it. And we won’t leave anybody behind! That goes for us or anyone this magic messes with.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Pinkie said, holding up her milk carton. “And the next order of business is charging into that lodge and saving that family those mean ol’ Redflans took.”

A few of the others held up their cartons or soda cans in reply, with myself doing the same after some hesitation. “Speaking of, is everyone’s schedules clear for playing after school?”

“Ah’m clear,” Applejack told me. “Ah evened out takin’ Monday off by workin’ double yesterday. Ah just gotta get AB ta drive back with Mac.”

Rainbow groaned softly. “I’ll need to call outta practice today, but it’ll be worth it to see that Nothic freak and the rest of those thugs get dealt with.”

“I always have time for games,” Pinkie cheered. “Especially games that help save the world!” Meanwhile, Fluttershy nodded along at me.

However, when we looked at Rarity, she started looking a little concerned at her phone. “I am too, of course. Although, there’s a snag.”

“Do you have to work after class today?” Fluttershy asked her.

“No, not that.” Rarity shook her head. “After hearing about my knees, the Boutique’s owner is letting me take it easy for the rest of the week. They just want me to work on a few design ideas. So, I’m available. Although so is Sweetie Belle now.”

“Sweetie Belle? What do you mean?”

“Well, I just got a message from my mom,” Rarity turned the phone to show us. “Apparently, Sweetie’s Choir rehearsal was cancelled. And our mom has a business meeting this afternoon. I need to drive her home.”

“She’s in Choir practice?” Pinkie asked, smiling wide. “Good for her! She’s a great singer!”

“Ah mean, that ain’t too much of a problem?” Applejack asked. “Big Mac sat in on our game over the weekend. He said it was a regular game in his eyes. Won’t it be the same here too?”

“That’s a good point,” I told her. “Story’s recklessness aside, this is something we’re prepared for. Plus, Sweetie Belle already knows about magic firsthand. If we play the game like it’s normal, which we already have to do, everything should work out fine.”

“Urgh.” Rainbow Dash held her face in her hands. “I just realized. That means she’ll hear me using my accent.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Pinkie curled her head to the left. “Your accent is so fun to hear!”

“What’s wrong with it is that she’s gonna tell Scootaloo about it! Then everybody that Scootaloo talks to is gonna find out I have an accent! Then the school!”

Applejack snickered, ignoring Rainbow’s glare. “If that’s the biggest worry we got, Ah think this’ll go fine.”

Just then, Story’s watch screen started flashing blue and green. After listening close enough, we could hear the faint buzz coming from it. It was shaking his arm.

“Do you think it works inside of Sky-Space?” Fluttershy asked.

“If not, Twilight’s gonna kill him for making her late to math class,” Rainbow teased.

We waited for a few seconds, watching the two of them until Fluttershy started to lean forward. “Um. Is. Is Twilight okay?”

At once, every one of us leaned forward or moved around the table to get a look at her. Tears were streaming down her face and, very softly, she was taking in short breaths. Twilight was crying. Beside her on the bench, Spike was reacting too. He was fidgeting in his sleep as his snoring turned to light whining. Then, when Rainbow walked back around to her spot, she saw Story’s face. Not as much as Twilight, but he had tears too.

“She’s not in trouble, is she?” Fluttershy asked, not taking her eyes away from our friend.

“N-No,” I told them, recognizing the symptoms. “I think she’s fine. Just upset, is all.”

It took another minute or two before all three of them reacted. Simultaneously, they jerked awake, with their shoulders tensing and their heads flinching slightly. Spike altogether rolled onto his legs and shook his head with the jingle of his collar working like a small bell to let us know they were back.

“Oh, finally!” Spike shouted in joy. “Grass! Floor! Sweet, beautiful floor!” He jumped off the bench and just let himself roll around on the floor.

“Ah.” Story lightly clutched his stitches. “Ah-ah-ah-ahhh. Every time.”

“Hey y’all,” AJ greeted worriedly. “Welcome back. Erm, how’d it go?”

Twilight let out this shaking breath, wiping her eyes with her wrist before she realized she was crying. “Was...Was I crying out here too?”

A few of us hummed in response, with Fluttershy speaking up. “How do you feel? Is Vareén alright?”

Twilight went to answer, but held her breath, electing instead to finish wiping her eyes. “She...She didn’t look good. Story said he was able to put our characters back to normal, so she’s not injured. But it invaded her mind. Worse than mine, I think.”

“She looked really scary,” Spike called out from beside the table. “⎐☍⊑ ⍜⍀⍀⋏⊑☌ ⎅⍜⍜ ⟊⍀⍀⌇⏚ ⎅⍾☌ ⍙☍⊑⍾ ⟊⍀⍙ ⎅⍜⍜ ⟊⎍⎅⏚!”

“Spike, we didn’t get any of that,” Rainbow said plainly. “If we’re not supposed to know, it gets all krrrrrrrrrckkk on us.”

Spike sat up and looked like a light went off in his head. “So that’s why I couldn’t understand what Story and Twilight were talking about.”

“We were talking about Vareén’s story while we were in there,” Story translated. “We only had so long, but it at least gave us enough time for something.”

Twilight nodded with a sad smile forming on her lips. “Yeah. Maybe it won’t be as helpful as we want it to be, but when we finished, Vareén looked a little better.”

“I think it’ll help,” Story told her. “And, in other news. I think that Nothic is getting restless.”

“What do you mean?” Rarity frowned. “Restless how? I thought you said our characters killed it.”

Story shook his head. “Your characters were either heavily injured or dead. The only way to put them back to normal was by resetting things. Which meant the Nothic was reset too. I have it stuck, but it's trying to get out every second it’s in there.”

“It wants to get us again,” I realized.

Rarity gave him a determined look. “You had better make sure it doesn’t get out. Or reach Vareén and the others again.”

“That’s the plan,” he told her. “Thankfully, it’s not getting out.”

“And you’re sure about that?” I frowned. “It’s actually stuck?”

For the first time since arriving at this table, Story looked confident. “Do you know one of the easiest mistakes a DM can make? It’s stonewalling.”

“Stonewalling?” Fluttershy blinked.

“Or. Maybe not stone exactly." Story opened his milk carton. “Wood works just as well. You’ll see.”

3rd Person POV
R⊑☌br⎅nd ☍un⍙ing L⍀☌ge

Underneath the elven structure in the woods was a fissure. A massive gash in the earth that ran across an open cavern, splitting the lodge’s basement in half. A chilled air made the dark chamber seem a complete contrast to the summer’s heat outside while the stench of rotting flesh compounded the temperature to make it feel like the cavern was a failing freezer of meat.

“No…NO!”

On the southern end of the chamber was a tunnel leading out into the forest at the bottom of the hill. Just yesterday, a bugbear rushed out to strike down a child who had discovered this tunnel only for the goblinoid to be killed by an elven druid.

That tunnel was now blocked by a makeshift wooden palisade, held shut by two bugbears and Platick behind them who held out a bullseye lantern to assess the work.

“NOOOOO!”

The bugbears and Platick, however, remained unmoving. Frozen in time as was the majority of the world. The bugbears were being commanded by the human to ensure that the barricade was as close to sealed as possible. They knew that Thorn Wielder could turn into anything between rodents or beasts of burden, and so they had to ensure that there wasn’t any way for a squirrel or rabbit to shimmy through a hole and emerge as a caster bent on destruction.

“NOT AGAAAAIIIIIIIIN!”

There was only one source of sound from within the lifeless chamber. The talons of a lithe monstrosity clattered against the fissure’s walls, emerging out the top of it with his massive green eye staring at the wooden wall in fury.

It tore down this wall numerous times now. And each time, the Nothic was reset in its fissure, the wall was remade. Sometimes, it was remade stronger. Instead of driftwood, it was hardwood. The number of nails and where they were put in improved. The integrity became more capable. Each improvement was a new way to trap the Nothic in its repetitive, hungry hell. This time, the bugbears were the newest addition. Before, it was Redbrands.

The Nothic raged, rushing at the barricade, ripping and tearing however it could. In the earlier attempts, it tried to rot the wood with his gaze. Wood was just a plant’s form of flesh, after all. Except, like the frozen beings, the wood was immune to its gaze.

But claws worked. And after an endless onslaught, time unimportant to the Nothic’s rage, it finally made a dent. Sadly, it had taken its toll. The Nothic’s claws were chipped and bleeding from the splinters and surface he struck against, and his lungs screamed for him to rest.

Not that it mattered. This wasn’t the only palisade. It was only the first. Another ten feet beyond this palisade was another. Wood, nails, bugbears, and the damnable human that killed him that first and only time. And then another. And another and another and another and another and another, spanning a full hundred feet for simply an attempt at freedom.

The first couple of times, the Nothic got close. Two, maybe three barriers away from the forest. And then whatever mad god lorded over this fake reality undid it all. Threw the Nothic back in its hole and made it do it all. Over. Again. Ad infinitum.

The Nothic shrieked, turning and swiping its claw right at Platick’s face. It did nothing. In fact, it did the reverse. One of the Nothic’s talons snapped right off his claw, sailing into the darkness of the cavern. Platick’s face was unmarred.

“LEt Me oUT!” The Nothic shrieked to the sky. “LET! ME! OUT! i WiLl BE FreE! YOUR FalsE WORlD iS frail! i wiLl eScAPE, TwILiGhT! hEAR mE, I WiLL!”

Rarity’s POV
Ms. Cheerilee’s Classroom
Wednesday, 2:43 PM

It had been a half hour since school had let out and I was made to watch as everyone else set up the tables and chairs for our club. Because of my knees, the rest of the girls didn’t want me dragging or picking up chairs or tables. I was left absently spinning Ms. Cheerilee’s chair from one side to another.

Story and Rainbow were the ones missing again. I wasn’t sure where Rainbow Dash was, but Story had to make a small trip outside of school. Although, my suspicions told me it was my fault where both were.

I had told Sweetie Belle to find us in Ms. Cheerilee’s room after school for the D&D Club. As per Sunset’s request, I didn’t explain that there was a magic problem, but that didn’t change much. Sweetie Belle ended up telling Applebloom who in turn wanted to sit in on the game as well.

Despite being at the mall the other day, Applebloom didn’t seem too suspicious. She simply wanted to see what this new club Applejack was a part of. And where there’s two Crusaders, the third is never far behind.

My guess was Rainbow Dash was out talking with Scootaloo. She was likely trying to convince Scootaloo not to come in the nicest way possible. But, Scootaloo took the bus home normally. If she was here, that meant she now skipped it for this club. But unless one of us drove her home, she was now here until the game was over.

Meanwhile, Story Spinner was on his way to pick up his little brother. It was already worked out with the school from his family that Story was going to pick up Button Mash. He was originally going to drop him off with Fluttershy’s family and then double back here, but when he learned about our budding audience, he told us this would give us more time.

Sunset was less than thrilled to hear about the small cast building up. For just Sweetie Belle, we could handle one extra person. But when her friends, plus Story’s brother, and then Ms. Cheerilee for good measure, it was slowly becoming a concern.

“Ya know Applebloom,” Applejack started after sliding one table against the other. “If yer gonna be watchin’, ya can’t be causin’ a ruckus. Which means ya can’t be chatterin’ the whole time.”

“Ah know, Ah know,” Applebloom droned from one of the student desks. She had her homework unpacked and was taking the chance to do away with it. “We won’t get in the way. Still, Ah didn’t expect ya ta be so serious about this. Ah know Big Mac’s all in on it, but you? Ah thought you’d hate playin’ a thief.”

“Ah ain’t—err.” Applejack cleared her throat. “Ah mean, Platick ain’t a thief. He’s uhh...A merc.”

“Isn’t that what all of your characters are?” Ms. Cheerilee asked from behind her desk. Previously, she tended to her work in the front office after class. Up until 3:23 PM, according to Story. But due to her broken arm, she settled for staying in her classroom the whole time. “I thought you were all mercenaries.”

“Not mercenaries. Adventurers,” Pinkie corrected with a sweep of her arm. She oversaw the chairs along with Fluttershy. “And we’re about to stop a bunch of bad guys from bullying a whole town of nice people!”

Just then, the door opened, with a less than enthused Rainbow Dash followed soon after by a grinning Scootaloo. “Woohoo! Slacking off in school!”

Called it, I celebrated with a smirk.

“Is that right?” Ms. Cheerilee asked, crossing her good arm over her bad. She watched Scootaloo flinch at the sight of her. “Scootaloo, I don’t think I need to remind you that you’re still behind on some of my assignments.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, well...heheheh..." Scootaloo’s excitement died as she found a desk beside Applebloom and Sweetie, who were trying not to laugh at their friend’s misfortune. “Don’t worry Ms. Cheerilee. I’ll have it done.”

“In five years,” Applebloom stage-whispered to Sweetie Belle, who giggled along.

“Har har, laugh it up.” Scootaloo let her backpack fall to the floor and fell into her chair. “How was math class? Silver Spoon give you any trouble?”

“No, not really.” Applebloom closed her math book for the moment. “Ah ended up tryin’ ta play the bigger person. Gave her one a’ the calculators we got fer the farm’s tax stuff yesterday.”

“Wait, what?” Applejack looked over. “Applebloom, that was awfully nice of ya.”

“Yeah, well. Ah figured it was the right thang ta do. She tried actin’ high n’ mighty about it, but she still took it. Ah think she appreciates it more than she lets on.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed, smiling down at his sister while he sat on top of the desk beside her. Since she wouldn’t take a ride home, Big Mac was sticking around too.

“So, how’s the game work anyways?” Sweetie asked me. “I tried looking it up after school, but it had so many rules.”

“You don’t need to know all of them yourself,” I told her. “Not at first. That’s where the Dungeon Master comes in.”

“But aren’t you trying to beat him?” Scootaloo asked, pulling out her textbook. “Why would he help you?”

“It’s not exactly an us-versus-him game,” Twilight told her as the door opened again. “The DM tells us what happens, and we react accordingly.”

“Uh oh. The players are plotting again.”

From the door, we watched as Story, along with his little brother, entered the room. Button seemed to be buried into his portable game and ignorant to anything going on around him while Story pulled a rolling chair in behind him.

“Oh, I’ve seen you before,” Sweetie said aloud. “I have theatre class right after you! You’re in Miss Zecora’s Theatre III, right?”

“That’s right! Nice to see another drama geek for a change,” he joked, chuckling to himself. It was another front he was putting on, but it wasn’t insincere. If anything, he was enjoying the brevity. “Welcome to D&D Club. I, uh...I didn’t expect to see a full-on audience.”

He looked over to Button. I didn’t see the two of them together too much on Monday, but seeing them standing together, and both with multicolored beanies, it was easier to see the resemblance. “Hey Button? You mind sitting with them?”

“Sure,” he muttered, walking in the direction Story lightly pushed him towards. Applebloom rolled her eyes at the boy’s laser focus on his game while Scootaloo seemed totally distracted.

“What’re ya playing?” She asked.

“Ballad of Glyphs.”

We watched Scootaloo lose all interest and groan while Sweetie’s gasp reached a new octave. Oh, not this hobby again.

“I LOVE Ballad of Glyphs!” Sweetie exploded. “Did you already beat it?!”

“Oh, definitely,” Button said, landing in the chair beside her. “I got it when it came out, but I’m trying to 100% it.”

“Neat! Wait.” Sweetie listened for any sign of music from the game. She, and the rest of us, heard nothing. “You’re going for the Mute Mode Achievement?”

Scootaloo gave her a bored look. “You don’t even have a Joy Boy, why do you know the achievement names?”

“It’s a good game!”

“It’s a boring game,” she corrected.

“Is not!” Sweetie, and Button, both turned to glare at her, objecting in unison. Scootaloo simply lifted her arms in mock surrender, but she and Applebloom were more entertained by the reaction than anything else.

“Welp. They're friends now,” Story told me, not bothering to hide his smirk.

“Mm-hmm.” I nodded back, watching as the others began to gather up at the table, preparing papers and miniatures alike.

“So, Ms. Cheerilee?” Story looked over to her as he set up his own swivel chair at his usual spot. “How long do you think we can play?”

“I spoke to my friend who’s been carpooling with me,” she told him. “She’s willing to pick me up at around 6PM. So, three hours.”

“Huh. Alright then.” Story started pulling out his notes. “So basically, the usual amount of time.”

“Does the game normally take that long?” Scootaloo sat back.

“It’s not just one game,” Fluttershy told her. “We play what we can and then keep playing the next time.”

“So, it’s like one of those never-ending games?”

“Not exactly,” Sunset spoke as though lost in thought. “We'll finish it. It just takes a lot of effort.”

Story nodded along. “That said, let’s not waste anymore time.”

“Absolutely,” Spike said, jumping up onto the table. “Now I finally get to see what this loo—Woah!”

“Waaah!” Button Mash screamed in surprise, nearly dropping his Joy Boy.

Twilight quickly pulled Spike back off the table and watched along with all of us as every set of eyes fell to Button Mash. The only one in the room who didn’t already know about the talking dog.

But Button’s scream wasn’t pointed at Spike. It was at his own propeller beanie pulled over his eyes by Scootaloo who acted faster than anyone else in the room.

“Hey! What’re you—NO!” Button screamed at his Joy Boy. “Why?! Why would you do that?! This boss had three phases! It’s a twenty-minute level! Now I gotta play it all over aga-hi-hi-hiiiiinn!” He was on the point of sobbing.

A little dramatic, don’t you think? I thought plainly.

Regardless, everyone took a sigh of relief. And as we did, Twilight bent down towards Spike and spoke slowly. “You can watch, but no talking. Please?”

“Sorry! I thought everyone here knew!”

“Hey, it’s okay!” Sweetie Belle tried to tell him. “You nearly had it! You can do it again, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s so hard! It’s the world seven boss.”

“That’s the Tempo Tyrant, right?”

“No, that’s world eight,” Button told her, his sobs dissipating to the distraction. “This one’s the Undead Crescendo Conqueror.”

I looked to Story. “Is it bad that I recognize those names from second-hand knowledge?”

“You’re asking the absolute wrong person,” he told me. “But professional opinion? I'm afraid your sister’s a gamer.”

“Oh. The tragedy.” My voice was drowning in so much sarcasm, a lifeguard couldn’t save it.

The two of us shared a laugh before Story sat down and clapped his hands together as loud as he could, bringing all attention of the classroom to himself. Teacher included. “Alright, I think we’re set.”

“What about the maps?” Fluttershy asked him. “Did you have enough time to make them since the hospital visit?”

“Eh, I’ll draw ‘em as we go. I can work fast enough. Besides, something tells me you’ll be able to work out the chicken scratch. You know.” He said that last part with a shrug. He didn’t seem sure of himself, but he was leaving the details up to the magic.

“As long as you know what you’re doing,” Sunset said warningly. We were starting to lean a little hard into the few things we had learned. But then again, we couldn’t afford to waste another day.

Glemerr’s POV
O⌖⍙sid⊑ ⍙he S⍜e⊑pi⍾⟊ G⌰an⍙

It was hard to tell how we were holding up since the Nothic fights. For a whole day, we tried to kill it before it could kill us multiple times. And that last time had to be the scariest one since we found out it knew our Players.

But in the end, it was just really tiring. It felt like taking laps around the worst turf of Alderstone, with your head on a swivel and your elbows up. But then, when we got sent back to Phandalin without all dying, we started to lose it.

The whole time, Ricven was cursing at the sky. At the world and Master alike, while Stostine just laid down beside Vareén’s unconscious body and waited. Rava, Platick, and I were the only ones trying to stay focused.

But when we finally realized the Nothic wasn’t coming, either because of the Master or the world just giving us a break, we all relaxed. In fact, I think we all did nothing but lie about being lazy. Or at least, tried to.

Then, an hour after that, we saw it. The woods leading to the hunting lodge had this...bubble around it. Without any warning, it spread out like a shockwave and even in the night we could tell there was this wave of magical power. It was like a sphere of pure blackness.

We thought it was rushing at us. And a few of us started running. Thorn almost chopped her vine off again just to try fleeing. But before she could, we realized it stopped. It made it to the edge of the forest, stopped, and then shrunk back in on itself.

But we were fine. The smartest among us realized it was focused on the hunting lodge. On the Nothic-beastie. The Master, or at least we assumed so, was resetting only it.

It would keep happening only on the forest. But every couple of times, we would watch a place in Phandalin have an orb of blackness pop up for a second. One was in the Griffonbound Vendors. Another was the Stonehill Inn kitchen. That time, we noticed there was something different. Fresh slabs of salted meat and fresh tea leaves to use in the tavern.

I considered it the Master’s way of sending an apology. And it was a delicious apology.

“So, how do ya guys start anyhow? Do ya, like, roll ta see who goes first?”

“Huh. Dat’s a new voice, I pointed out. I, Stostine, and Thorn were set up at one of the tables I brought outside the Sleeping Giant. We didn’t want to leave Thorn Wielder out here alone anymore, so we made this kinda picnic setup.

“I think I recognize it,” Platick told us. He, Rava, and Ricven were playing cards on the other table I set up. Ricven dragged out a chair for him to stand at height with the others. “It’s...Yeah. Yeah, my Player has a sister.”

It was also because of Platick that we set up probably a good ten lanterns. We wanted him to see while we were out here in the night air since time didn’t move.

“Nah, they only roll when they start fighting something,” another young voice told them. This one sounded scratchier, but still a girl’s voice.

“Oh! Now there’s a voice Ah think Ah know,” Rava blurted out, setting her cards down for a second. “That one’s, erm...Squirt, was it? That’s what Dash Lass calls ‘er, at least. That’s where she came up wit’ Itty Herbeck, Ah think.”

“Hey, be a little quieter! He’s getting to the end of phase one.”

It was a third voice. This one was definitely another little girl, but when we glanced around, no one said anything.

“Maybe that one’s just there,” Platick decided.

“Or belongs to Vareén, perhaps,” Stostine offered.

“No.”

Coming towards us from the Stonehill Inn was the last of our group. Vareén had her hood pulled much lower over her face than usual, to the point where she couldn’t see us either.

The whole time since the Nothic problem was solved, she didn’t say anything. Even when we woke her up after being thrown back to the start, she just put up her hood, took out an arrow, and waited. And when we were in the clear, she ignored us and walked off to her room without a word.

A few of us tried talking to her. She never answered. And earlier, when all of us were sent to the place in the sky, we were all thrown back to Phandalin but her a few seconds after we showed up.

We saw Gekio there again too. That Ooze monster still got her.

“Twilight doesn’t have a sister. Just a brother with a dum...with an acronym.”

“And so, the elf graces us with her presence at last,” Ricven cheered mockingly before throwing his cards away and clapping. “How nice ta see yer ‘amazin’ visage,’ Miss Vareén.”

Vareén said nothing else. Just crossed her arms and growled.

“Oh! I get it!” I thought out loud, punching my palm. “Ricven’s short! He can still see Vareén’s face!”

A few of the others chortled at that, Rava and Stostine especially while the gnome himself just stared at me with a look.

“Now that was uncalled for, Miss Glem!” He shouted back.

“Entirely,” Platick agreed. “We already know he’s short.” Earning more laughs from Rava and myself. I think I even saw Vareén try and shake off a giggle from under that hood.

“Shut up, you!” Ricven turned to him. “First, ya play tricks on these cards, then yer punchin’ me when I’m down! Back off!”

Platick rolled his eyes. “You realize I was losing almost as bad as you, right?”

“Also, it’s kicking. Not punching,” Vareén corrected. There she is.

“I’ll be punchin’ and kickin’, he don’t keep his gums closed!”

At that moment, the whole world quaked, catching us off guard. Some more than others. It was like before.

“Last time on Painting the Town Red,” the Master’s voice echoed, beginning his storytelling just as he did the last couple times.

“Game start,” Thorn Wielder announced, sitting with her legs crossed beside her vine.

“After clearing out the goblins and interrogating the self-proclaimed warlord—now war criminal—Klarg, you all set off for your original destination; Phandalin. Upon arriving, your group attracted plenty of eyes. Especially since you were the only adventurers to pass through in a while.”

“Hmm.” Stostine rolled a teacup in her hands. “I wonder. Were there Redbrands hiding among the crowd without capes, or do they have informants?”

“A little of both,” Platick told her. “Remember what I figured out?”

Stostine took in a breath. “Right. The shopkeep.”

“Don’t ya mean what yer Player figured out?” Rava snickered.

“It was almost the same time,” Platick argued, glancing away.

“Keep tellin’ yerself that,” Ricven mocked. “Ya know them girls won’t.”

I let out a loud Shhhhhh at them “Quiet. Dey’re gettin’ ta da part where we smashed ‘em apart!”

“—investigating the town,” the Master carried on. “The Redbrands started to pick a fight. You punched back, theoretically in everyone’s case but Glemerr’s—” “WOOOO! GO! TEAM! US!”

“At ease, Glem,” Rava told me with a grin.

“—and knocked down their numbers by maybe half? One bugbear from Thorn, and then over twenty Redbrands from the whole team. Not only that, but two of their captains were dispatched. Both by Ravathyra.”

“With help on the Tieflin’, but aye,” Rava admitted.

“The third one, however, wasn’t as simple,” the Master started to wrap up. “In a plan by Platick, he confronted the presumed third captain in her own home turf and singled her out so she couldn’t report to the other bandits on the group’s abilities. But Leanne was stronger than Platick anticipated.”

At that, we heard Platick’s Player sigh. “Ah know. Far as the whole plan went, it weren’t the strongest chain in the link.”

“Did she actually plan on winning that?” Platick scoffed. “The second that damn shifter shed its skin, it was obvious I lost.”

“But despite all the trials and close calls, you persevered,” the Master concluded. “Glemerr saved Vareén. Then Thorn. And upon finding Platick, Glem and Ricven found their care for the townsfolk rewarded as the Priestess of Tymora, Sister Garaele, had Platick in her arms. Both slumped against the store’s counter. Covered in one another’s blood, but alive nonetheless.”

“Right. That.” That one was Stostine’s Player, I was pretty sure. She didn’t sound thrilled.

“What’s got her so worried?” Ricven asked boredly. “We’re the only ones alive in here. What’s some fake priest matter?”

“Needless violence is needless all the same,” Stostine answered, folding her arms in her sleeves. Or, well, sleeve. One was still missing. “Although, you may have a point. This seems different. Almost personal, in a way.”

Things went quiet for a second. Like a full-on awkward kind of silence. Even if we couldn’t see or feel our Players, the way no one talked made it clear something was up between the Master and Stostine’s Player.

“Right. Well.” The Master cleared his throat. “On that note, I think that’s where we should begin. So then, everybody? Who’s ready to kill a Nothic?”

Saying that, it appeared. This crazy fog that only showed up in our eyes rather than around us started to pour in around us. Things started to get hard to focus on and the edge of my body started to lose feeling. Not as a numbness, but like I never had feeling to begin with.

“My kind of rally,” Vareén called out. “I better get a shot in.”

“Definitely,” Twilight replied at the perfect time. “No matter what, we take it down.”

“I’ll hold it down for ya,” Rava’s Player told her with her own voice.

“She speaks fer both of us, lass.” Rava nodded at Vareén. “Count on it.”

Vareén nodded back, the hood on her head loosening as she did.

“I can’t wait to see it,” the Master told them genuinely. “But. In order to get there...Let’s start a story.”

“LET’S DO DIS!” I roared, pumping my arms as high up as I could. Thorn did the same, raising her arms and scythe silently. And when Vareén slowly raised her fist, Stostine and Rava fell into it too. Which left only the fellas.

“Come on, guys!” I shouted, my voice getting quieter by the second. “You too!”

“Do it!” Vareén’s voice was hardly above a whisper, but we could see her yelling. It was more a command. She was probably realizing she was getting a little too ‘not edgy.’

Ricven pretended not to hear her and rolled his eyes. Platick, on the other hand, relented a little. The last thing we all saw was Platick raise up a single finger, twirling it above his head with way less excitement. But it was there all the same.

Then, fog. A blinding fog that put us in the back row while our Players took the reins.

Come on girls, I cheered them on. Plant that creepy lizard-cyclops in the dirt. We know ya can!

Author's Note

I've noticed something. Whenever I have to delay by a week, the chapter word count gets ~~more insane~~ longer. And the worst part is, I couldn't get this chapter up in time because of internet issues. I was still able to jump onto the site with my phone, but I was without internet on my computer for the whole last weekend.

That said, the next chapter's already near completed. I actually want to say it'll be up next this coming weekend, but who's to say at this point? So sorry!

Actually, while I'm writing this, I'm out of the country on a trip. I'm in a hotel typing this Author Note and realizing it's technically still Saturday on the west coast of the States. So...Still Saturday?

The plan is for a new chapter next weekend. However, I have a question for you guys: Since the chapters I'm releasing are starting to get this big regularly, would you prefer I try and release two smaller chapters back-to-back in cases like this? Or try and release chapters about half this length one week apart but have a (hopefully) more consistent schedule? I wanna try doing one or the other, but I can't decide. I figured I'd ask you since you're the ones reading.

That said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If there's anything you liked or felt could have done better, please let me know in the comments! I look forward to having the next one out on time for once.

Cheers,
-Zeke

(45) The Calm After the Storm

Glemerr’s POV
Phandalin, Griffonbound Vendors
Late Night, After Redbrand Battle

The store was destroyed in every direction. Shattered plates and lanterns, cards, and paper clutter the floor, stab and deep gashes from blades going across the floors, the furniture, and the walls. And coating it all was this blue blobby gunk and drying crimson blood. Some of it was even mixing into a weird crimson paste.

The worst of it was the front entrance, where I and Ricven were, and then at the base of the store counter. Where both of them lay slumped in a pile.

The whole way here, we were screaming Platick’s name, alerting half the town that ‘Hey! A man named Platick is in trouble!’ If anyone stepped out of their homes, we had no idea. Both of us were only looking towards the shop.

But when we looked in with only a knocked-over candle stand giving off some light while also ready to catch the floor on fire, one of the bodies looked up to greet us.

“He...He’s sleeping,” the bleeding priestess told us. Her voice was dim, and her eyes were distant. “I came to check on Leanne when...When it...I...sav...ed him...”

That was the last thing she told us before she fell against Platick’s chest. The amount of blood on her white blouse and his armor was staggering.

“Miss Glem!” Ricven jumped off my shoulder, ignoring the blood he splashed his shoes against. “I think I remember Leanne showin’ us a case a’ vials. I’ma check fer potions. You—”

I was already bounding forward. I grabbed the side of the table where there was a deep groove against the side and chucked it against the wall as I went. I leaped above the hole in the floor that smelt like vinegar and looked as though it were rotting away. I crashed through anything in my way power power sliding to a stop in front of both of them. I already had my healer's kit ready to go and had torn away the collection of red rags I was using as a mask. The fight was done. I don't need it now.

As I worked, I heard Ricven ransacking the next room over. The candlelight moved with him, so I was left working in the dark for a second. That wasn’t a problem. I had worked in the dark before. And this time, there weren’t any distractions. I wouldn’t screw up.

Thankfully, neither of them was critical in the first place. Sister Garaele said she saved him. I didn’t know much about magic but I knew some priests could heal. I figured that was what happened. Despite all his spilled blood, she and Platick were breathing steadily.

So, I focused on Garaele first. She wasn’t part of the fight. She was a victim. You always help a victim first. As far as I could tell she only had a single wound on her. A deeper stab wound to the stomach. That was what her clothes told me, at least. I saw no wounds where her skin was visible and her clothes were unharmed everywhere else.

“Sorry ‘bout this, Sistah,” I muttered. I got up and in one motion pushed away everything on the table. Even this giant fancy bottle of alcohol. It made me flinch hearing the thing shatter across the floor, but I couldn’t waste time. “But Ah gotta make sure yer safe.”

I scooped the priestess into my arms and gently laid her along the counter to examine her. I pulled her clothes back and took a moment to clean and assess the wound only to find nothing.

“Wha?” I paused, rechecking Garaele’s abdomen. And a third time. I cleaned off most of the drying blood, but even without anything to muddy up her skin, nothing was there. A picture of health.

“Uh, Ricven?” I called out loudly so that he could hear. “Eh, dumb question, but does an elf’s skin seal itself back up? It don't, righ’?”

“No, not us’ly,” he shouted back. “Why, what’s happenin’?”

“She ain’t injured,” I stepped back. “Her wound’s all sealed up!”

The sigh of relief that spread across the girls was almost comical. A few of them fell back in their chairs. Sunset and Applejack especially.

Meanwhile, Ms. Cheerilee watched with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t you think describing blood and gore is a little too graphic for a school club?”

Story glanced over at her with an equally blank expression. “You say that, but didn’t you review MacBeth a few months back? After the sub’s movie marathon, people brought up how you recommended the movie version after school.”

Ms. Cheerilee considered responding, noticed the small collection of students watching her, and thought better of it. “Carry on.” The teacher returned to her laptop and the students returned to their game. A stalemate.

After a second, and shattering of glass from the backroom, Ricven spoke casually. “Can’t say I’m too shocked. The lady’s a priest after all. She likely got stabbed, healed it in an instant, then moved ta Platick. Ya heal somethin’ fast an’ strong enough, it don’t scar.”

“Ah’m kinda impressed if Ah’m bein’ honest.” I redressed her blouse and moved to Platick. More stab wounds than I could count, and they were all over. The counter wasn’t long enough for both of them so I found a spot on the ground that didn’t have blood or blue gunk. “How we doin’ on dem potions, Ricven?”

“Unfortunately, no good,” he said before a smaller shatter of glass sounded out. A smaller one this time. “Ah know she had healin’ potions in here. I even see empty spaces where there were vials. Little vixen prolly made off with ‘em.”

What. I froze, fighting the fog while my body examined Platick. That ain’t right. The shop had them up until the Master started us off. Did he take them?

I let out a growl before unstrapping Platick’s armor and peeling it aside. “No helpin’ it. Ah’m gonna start wrappin’ ‘im up. Can ya check on da others?”

“Yeah. Ain’t much use here anyhow. Meet us at the tavern when yer done.”

Ricven passed by the front room, set the candle stand where the light helped me and rushed out. I had plenty of cuts and wounds on myself, and the pain was starting to slow me down, but I still had steam. I was trying to channel that as best I could, but I felt my limit coming up. I recognized a few too many rookie mistakes in my bandaging and cleaning.

Focus up, Glem, My mind scolded me as the fog pushed me back. This is nothing. Get him patched and bring him back to the others. They need you standing. Don’t let them down.

Once I got most of Platick’s arms and neck cleaned, I got his shirt off and checked his upper body. His torso had the worst of it. Small to medium slices and nicks, sure, but the worst was a deep puncture on his right pectoral. It, like Sister Garaele’s abdominal wound, would have been life-ending. There was no way to know for sure but, the amount of blood? The wound probably burst a blood vessel.

But the wound had been healed. The skin at least. I didn’t like it, but I had to check. So I brought the candlelight closer, lightly pressing on Platick’s chest. After a few taps, Platick started waking up.

“urghh...guh-glem?...what a...are you doing?”

I reared back, relieved Platick was awake. “Platick! Yer okay!”

I watched his face. It was twisting in pain as he tried to sit up. I just kept my hand on his chest and held him down. He was fighting to stay conscious. He didn’t need to move right now.. “Jus’ stay down fer now. Ya took some bad swipes. Yer gonna be fine, awrite? Try ta stay with me.”

“d-do I...have to?” He seized in pain when I worked on his worst wound. “i don’t. wanna rem...ber this.”

“Ah, get over it.” I rolled my eyes with a grin. “Ah’ve seen full orcs try actin’ tough when Ah wrap ‘em. An’ dey’re da ones who cry da loudest. Ya can pick yer clothes an’ yer pride, err you can pick me. And ya want me.”

Platick didn’t have anything to say. But, after a few seconds, he tried to lift his arm up. I said nothing in return, grabbed his wrist and lightly slammed it back to the floor. Then, he tried again.

I slammed it again. Harder. “Ya gonna try a third time?”

“ruh—ring.”

“...” I paused my work. “Ring?”

“Ring.” He tried louder. I thought so. “Rava’s ring. Where?”

“The ring ain’t da focus.”

“No.” He tried to sit up. I held his shoulder in place and stared at him. Not gonna happen.

He stared back at me. “Glemerr. Where is it?”

I kept the stare going. Probably for a good ten seconds. He and I both knew how this would go. I was above him and he had no strength. Even if he could manage a punch, I’d just let it fail, hold him down, and keep working.

“I-I heard it,” he told me. “It fell out w...fought her. I’m not go. Going back to Rava...without it. Find it.”

I kept staring, not letting any part of my face break at him. He was my patient. You don’t bend to a patient.

“...” But, I thought. This is as much for Rava as it is for him.

I glanced around. The whole room was a mess and finding a tiny Dwarven ring in all of it, while keeping Platick pinned, wasn’t working.

Platick tried craning his neck too. And when he turned it in a way where it nearly reopened one of the scarier stabs, I used my other hand to keep his head still. He complained, but I knew he could breathe fine. If it took a handprint on his face to keep him from spilling his blood, fine.

“...It’s not here,” I ultimately decided, returning to the bandages.

“Check again,” he commanded haggardly.

“It ain’t here,” I told him, carefully sitting him up to finish off the bandage on his torso. “Ah’m sorry Platick. Ah really am, but it ain’t.”

Platick stewed in silence. And once the bandages were finished, I helped him put his shirt back on only for him to insist he do it himself. Prideful oaf, I thought as I stood up and watched as he took a full minute trying to quietly fight through the pain before he finally got his shirt on. He went for his armor next, and I just pulled him to his feet. Ignoring his yelps of pain.

“You try dat and we’ll be ‘ear all night,” I told him.

“Whatever,” he muttered. “...Thanks.”

I snickered, happy to hear it regardless. “Yer welcome, buddy.” Then, my smile faded as I looked at Sister Garaele. “When’d she come by?”

“No idea,” he said distractingly as he looked for the ring himself. Every step was a mile for him. “Last thing I remembered was Lea—it stabbing me in the chest. Then I went dark.”

“She musta heard all da noise from de gang fight,” I decided. “It wasn’t a quiet plan. Still, it worked.”

“No one on our side died?” He asked.

“Nah. Close scare wit’ Thorn, but we’re all standin’. Thanks ta yer cool plan. Had most a’ da Scaredbrands freaking out at de start. Y’know.” I turned and gave him a smile. “Fer someone who don’t like workin’ wit’ folks, yer a pretty good leader.”

“Don’t,” he said. “I’m no one’s leader.”

“Ehhh. Ah’d say yer my leader. Ah’d follow ya.”

He shook his head slowly. “You pulled off one plan. One. And I’m shocked you all even did that. So stop saying we’re a team. We’re not.”

“Ah didn’t say we were dat time,” I told him. “Why? Is that what you think we are?”

Platick stood at full height, taking in as deep a breath as his tight bandages let him. And then, just as slowly, he exhaled.

“We aren’t a team,” he said again. “We aren’t.”

“...”

Pinkie looked at Applejack, who was trying her best to stay in character despite the two siblings watching and, likely plotting, to find the best way to tease her about being a sourpuss later.

“Hmmmmm...Oh! Am I allowed to make an Insight check on Platick?”

“Go for it.” Story smiled. Then, he looked at Applejack. “Meanwhile, Platick. This feels weird so weird to say to you, but if you’re lying—” “Ah know, Ah know, roll deception or persuasion.”

“Mah sister?” Applebloom let out a fake gasp. “Deceivin’ people?! Oh, AJ, how could ya?!” Behind her, Big Mac was chuckling.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Applejack muttered, rolling her dice as Pinkie did the same. Regardless of which she did, a ‘-2’ appeared beside the die to further mock her.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was getting more excited. “Nineteen total!”

The worst part was, had Applejack had any positive number, she might’ve beat that. “Sixteen.”

“Eeyup.” One last deep chuckle from her brother made AJ sink lower into her chair.

So, this is how Platick feels all the time, Applejack lamented. Eeyup. I hate it.

To his credit, Platick was probably used to saying that. He held it together well. But while I kept watching him reviewing that line in his head like a mantra, I started to grin. And he just frowned more.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he pleaded boredly.

“Say it,” I told him.

“No.”

“Say it~” I sang.

“No.”

“...” I thought about it for a second. “Platick. Why do you not want to be a team with us?”

“We’re not a—” “Ah know, Ah know. ‘We’re not a team.’ Ah got dat part. But why are you not a team with us? What’s wrong?”

“..." He tried to ignore me, looking around the store with as little movement as he could.

“Ah mean, look what yer doin’ righ’ now,” I pressed. “Yer ‘bout ready ta keel over, covered in yer own blood and mah bandages. But yer first move is ta find Rava’s ring. On top a’ that, Ah see dat look in yer eyes. You ain’t walkin’ away from dis fight. You wanna stay in.”

Platick stopped. He didn’t dare look at me again. “What makes you say that?”

“‘Cause dat look in yer eyes is da same as mine. Vengeance. Dem Redbrands are ruinin’ the nice folk here. And worse then dat, they hurt mah friends.”

“I’m not yer friend,” he said tiredly.

At that, I smiled. “Oh? Was Ah talkin’ about you? Ah more meant Thorn an’ Sistah Garaele over dere.” His head started slumping between his shoulders. “But if yer assumin’ yer on dat list too—”

“Shut up,” he muttered. “This isn’t about vengeance. That reason’s righteous. I just have to clean up a loose end before it gets too far. That’s it.”

“That,” I acknowledged. “And get Rava’s ring back ‘fore she finds out.”

“...Don’t tell her,” he said to me. “She doesn’t need to know.”

I smiled. “Yes sir, leader-sir.”

He sighed. “...Alright fine, whatever.” He took a few steps towards me before seizing in pain.

I rushed to catch him before he hit the floor. His breathing was tense and he was clutching at his side. I pulled his shirt up and saw my bandages getting a little more red. Even a few slow steps reopened one of his worst wounds. The pain might have put him into shock.

“Ah gotcha, Platick.” I picked him up in my arms and started to carry him out the door. “Sleep if ya want. Ah’ll make sure we find ya a bed.”

He tried to complain as his pride kicked in again. But he didn’t fight me. Whether that was because he was already passing out or didn’t want to bother didn’t matter. I brought him out of the store and back over to our friends.

Ravathyra Dagarkin’s POV
Outside the Sleeping Giant

“So, he’s alive? That’s such a relief.”

“No kiddin’.” Ricven sat down behind me. Over the last few minutes, he kept tabs on Thorn Wielder’s body while I brought Stostine and Vareén beside us. Stostine chose to stand. She was bent over the side of the porch with her hands planted firmly on the railing. Vareén was inside the Sleeping Giant on the bar counter. She was still unconscious and her skin was a bit clammy. But at least inside it was warm.

Thorn Wielder we couldn’t move far. She was well anchored into place thanks to her freaky vine burrowing into the ground. Based on the story Platick told us, Ricven assumed it was some sort of Druidic magic working to keep her alive.

As for me, I was constantly in motion. After helping Stostine and Vareén, I moved all the Redbrand bodies away from Thorn Wielder’s body. Especially the Tiefling’s. Then, once they were in a pile, I moved the bodies from inside the Sleeping Giant into the pile as well. I didn’t want any of them near our friends.

Some of the Redbrands were still alive. A few from the initial Thunderwaves Thorn had cast had broken limbs and they were too injured to fight or move. Others were from Glemerr, who had only knocked out her enemies.

Hopefully we can fit ‘em all in that jail, I thought worriedly while planting the head of my hammer into the ground and standing straight in the direction of the Redbrand corpses. Then, I bowed my head.

“To the Mother of the Mountains,” I spoke softly, in Dwarven. “To the Overseer of the Earth and the One to whom I pledge my hammer as mine true.” I raised my hammer a foot off the ground and then drove it into the dirt before going on. “I beseech thine attention and grace. Please see that the—

“Lady Rava, what’re ya doin’?” Ricven asked, cutting off my focus. “I know ya ain’t prayin’ fer their passage, right? They wanted us dead!”

“Ricven. Shush.” Stostine did it for me. “Never interrupt the final rites of the dead. Their judgment is out of our hands now.”

I heard Ricven sigh. “Very well, I’ll be nice. Go on, Lady Rava.”

I felt my brow twitch. You’re lucky I have to keep my mind clear of emotion, Ricven. I took a few seconds to make sure I was and restarted my prayer.

“—Please see that these souls are well departed from their shells so that their remains may thrive upon thine earth rather than taint it. That the lands that shall consume them be not carved by their sins but painted with their virtues.” Again, I raised my hammer and slammed it against the earth.

The purpose was to prepare the earth for their arrival. The pounding of the hammer against the earth was akin to kneading bread before cooking it. To prepare the land for the bodies’ inclusion when they are ultimately buried and returned to the earth.

There were two prayers for this. Technically four, I suppose. One was for the innocent or the virtuous. That was the prayer I used for the horses when Thorn asked. Then, there was a prayer for an enemy of either Ulaa or her followers.

The third and fourth were less unique prayers to the others and more of an optional second half of the prayer that made it more official in either circumstance. It included a Ceremony spell and would ensure their bodies could not be raised with Necromancy. Maybe that was the better option, given the undead and the confirmed necromancer in the area. But I wasn’t being generous to these folks.

I was, after all, using the second prayer. They’d have to simply rely on us seeing our job through.

“And as their souls proceed unto the next plane, judged for their transgressions,” I closed out my prayers. “May their mortal shells be protected by the shadows of thine mountains and the envelopment of our earth. It is this safety I pray for. Theirs. And ours.”

I raised my hammer, slamming it down twice in rapid succession, lifting my head and looking over the corpses. “…Awrite, Ricven. Ya may speak now.”

“Thank ya kindly.” I could almost imagine the roll of eyes that accompanied that. “So, now that their rites are taken care of, is it too late ta ask that we collect their effects?”

As I turned around, I heard Stostine scoff. “You have no tact.”

“Oh please.” Ricven rolled his eyes. “It ain’t like I’d benefit from any of it. It’s all too big fer me and sellin’ it ain’t exactly a choice with the shopkeeper’s one of ‘em. That in mind, this stuff should go ta the townsfolk. If these fools weren’t demonstration enough, the people’ll need ta have somethin’ ta defend themselves with.”

Stostine looked ready to say something, but I stepped forward. “Ta be fair, lass, Ah agree with ‘em. This town’s a strong community a’ miners. And its Townmaster’s spineless. There’s a big chance that once these Flakebrands are dealt with, another bunch a’ crooks will come ‘round.”

Up until this point, Rainbow Dash had kept her words to a minimum. Even the prayer that Ravathyra did was more just Rainbow telling Story that her character prayed for them. She figured it was something Rava would do.

So, when Rava defended Ricven’s actions, that was the first time Rainbow Dash fell into the accent. And once she said her peace, she remembered who all was here and let her gaze drift over towards Scootaloo.

Oh no. Rainbow cringed, waiting for the kid who admired her so much to start mocking her.

Instead, Scootaloo’s face lit up in a mix of surprise and awe. “Wooooah! Rainbow Dash, what was that?!”

“Uh. I-It, erm.” Rainbow, still unaware of the squirt’s face, tried finding the words. “It was just, uh. I-It—It’s just some stu—” “That was so cool!” “...Yeah?”

“Absolutely!” The desk, and her homework, were the only things keeping Scootaloo from launching out of her seat. “You sounded like a whole different person! I never knew you could do that!”

“Well, I mean, there’s...I mean, of course. There’s plenty of cool stuff I’m good at!” Rainbow flipped the script, leaning back in her chair without a care. “Half my family’s Scottish, y’know? But, I try not to stack awesome on awesome. It just wouldn’t be fair to anyone.”

“Yeah. That’s it exactly,” Applejack commented, still using Platick’s voice.

A few of the others giggled along, with Rainbow ignoring them. At this point, the tension was wearing away just enough to pretend like this was still a game. For everyone except Sunset and Twilight.

For Twilight, she couldn’t hear what was being said in-game. The magic made it garbled since Vareén wasn’t aware of what was going on. On top of that, she was distracted by her own thoughts. But for Sunset, she could hear them. But she was too worried about how everything connected to reality.

The money, sure, she figured. That won’t have a bad effect. And the armor too, I guess. No one can hurt somebody by wearing armor. But we can’t let the townsfolk fight anybody. It must be us.

“Perhaps you have a point,” Stostine relented. “Very well. We remove the armor and weapons. But we only turn them in to be safeguarded. Our whole intention was keeping people safe, not setting them up to fight.” When neither of us argued with her, she relaxed a little. “As for money, it should be given to the inn and tavern for repairs.”

“Are ya sure that’s where the money should go?” Ricven pressed. “Not all of it came from there. It likely came from all the extortion. But, since the Townmaster can’t be trusted, and we did these folk a solid—”

“Now stop righ’ there.” I frowned as I returned my hammer. “We ain’t keepin’ a coin a’ stolen money. Whoever we give it to, it belongs ta the town. If ya want a reward, make the Townmaster give ya one.”

“Mmm.” Ricven returned this bored look. “And, uh. Would the same apply ta that magic shield behind ya?”

What? I turned around, looking straight at the shield that tiefling used. While clearing out the bodies inside the tavern, we tossed the shield next to the pile. “That. That’s magic?”

“Pretty sure,” he told me. “I mean, look at it. Not a single scratch despite all the thorns an’ smacks you an’ Miss Thorn threw out. But I suppose it’s only right we get a proper opinion. Stostine?”

The mage glowered towards the gnome. “I take it back. You do have tact. Just for the wrong reasons.”

Ricven said nothing else. He just looked at her, and then at me. Then, he laid on his back and watched as Stostine was stuck holding the bag. “Alright, fine. Rava, let me check it and anything else they might have.”

Stostine, shakily, stepped away from the railing and found a nearby chair on the porch to sit in. Once she was relaxed, she held her hands out in front of her with her palms pointed upward. Ricven and I watched as wisps of magic began to emerge from her palms and fingertips before they solidified into threads of light that weaved into little symbols and circles.

“Ah, ritual cast,” Ricven noticed. “Guess it’ll take some time.”

“Yes,” Stostine told us. “And concentration. Make sure no one bothers me while I do this.”

We agreed and kept watch. According to Ricven, it would take us about ten or so minutes. And about five minutes in, people started to show up.

The first was Glemerr and Platick. Well, Glemerr carrying Platick. The poor girl was starting to trudge herself given her injuries, but otherwise seemed in pretty good spirits. Platick though looked about as bad as Ricven described. He had numerous bandages wrapped around him now and Glemerr wasted no time setting him down on the bar counter near Vareén.

“We’re gonna need ta find ‘em a place ta rest soon enough,” I told the others.

“I mean, Stonehill’s Inn is still open for us,” Ricven reminded us. “We can set ‘em up in there.”

Glemerr agreed. But rather than take them there right away, she wanted to check on Vareén’s condition. So for now, she stayed inside the tavern to wrap her wounds next and the calm of the night followed us for a few more minutes.

But before Stostine’s spell could finish, the townsfolk began to come out. Not all of them, mind you, just about ten or so. Most were miners with a few farmhands that had taken it upon themselves to gather make-shift clubs, picks, and a couple of torches so the humans among them could see. Only about three Dwarven miners seemed ready to fight. Everyone else in the group was cautious or terrified as they moved.

And when they saw us moving from a distance, they went still. To us, it was easy to spot them from a distance. Their light gave them away. To them, they saw multiple figures in front of the ambush site with many bodies on the ground and three figures standing.

One of the miners stepped forward, stepping out of the torchlight and probably halfway towards us. He was too far in the darkness for any of us to see him with our own Darkvision. “You there!” He called out. “Outsiders err Redbrands?!”

“One of us is castin’ magic in a chair,” Ricven shouted back. “Another’s a gnome with an amazin’ talent and bravado unlike any other! What d’ya thank?!”

I shook my head and stepped forward. “The Redbrands’re taken care of fer the momen’! It’s safe fer tonight!”

From our words, the group relaxed. In fact, a few of them cheered, alerting the other nearby houses. Over the next minute or two, maybe about thirty townsfolk spilled outside or began gathering to assess the damages.

Among them were a couple of familiar faces. One was Toblin Stonehill, the innkeeper. Another was one of the mine directors, Lanar Deepstone. The last recognizable face was this one lady who let out a gasp the second she saw the state of the Sleeping Giant tavern. She was the owner and the surly Dwarf that Ricven convinced to leave for the night.

“What have ya maniacs done?!” She shrieked in this shrill, unappealing tone. She was an aged Dwarven woman who looked like she might have fit in amongst the Redbrands in a former life. But that was a thousand gray hairs and fifty wrinkles ago. Now, she was this muscly grandma of a woman who had a gray bob hairstyle and a permanent scowl on her face.

“Me pub’s drownin’ in blood!” She kept on. “There’s bodies flailed about in ev’ry which direction, an’—Aw nah! Tell me that ain’t mah windows! AND mah furniture! Why are the tables shattered ta pieces?! An’ why’s the floorboards smashed through in the entrance?!”

She stormed forward, nearly crushing Thorn Wielder’s face in the process. I had to move forward and act as a wall for her to go around just so she wouldn’t bring harm to the lass. And around me she went, side-stepping me and marching straight for Ricven. The one who convinced her to leave her tavern in our care.

How he managed, I’ll never understand, I thought with a shake of my head.

“YOU!” She jerked a fat finger in his direction. “You said ya wouldnae let a single board come ta harm here! Now Ah’m seein’ the stark opposite! What board didnae come ta harm in there?!”

The shock and awe Scootaloo had towards Rainbow Dash quickly refocused, along with the other Crusaders, towards Story as he had his full ire pointed towards Rarity, who was woefully unprepared for the shrill old woman’s voice erupting from the young male teenager.

“Woah,” Applebloom remarked. She looked across the girls, who seemed only mildly surprised and then Big Mac, who was simply chuckling along at the scene. “Does he do that all the time?”

“Eeyup.”

“Wait.” Sweetie Belle blinked. “All of you sound like completely different people! Is that what this club is for? Would we get to learn cool voices if we joined?!”

All their eyes settled on Ms. Cheerilee who, like Story and Sunset, instantly started to realize the weight of ‘new club members.’

“E-Erm.” Ms. Cheerilee stumbled for a moment. She was the teacher in charge of the club, after all. She wasn’t allowed to deny entry or have the students deny entry to other students. Not unless the club hits a reasonable maximum. “Let’s, err. We can discuss this after the club. T-Tomorrow!”

It was delaying the inevitable. Still, the Crusaders were content with that and the players all tried ignoring that for now.

“L-Lady Kettlecropp,” Ricven started, curling up in her gaze. “Why, I am so, so sorry fer you ta find the state of yer tavern in such condition. Truly, we did our best ta keep carnage to a—”

“Don’t give me that shiivile, ya daft thistle trailer,” she barked with a Dwarven swear. “Somebody’s payin’ fer mah tavern, an’ Ah’m startin’ wit’ yer hide!”

“Well, now-now hold on, aheheh.” Ricven started looking around. “Uh, girls? Any a’ y’all wanna give me a hand explainin’ this?”

I debated whether to leave the man to his fate. He made a promise that he knew well and good we couldn’t keep in earnest. As for Glemerr, she already retired into the tavern to inspect Vareén’s wounds. She had a legitimate excuse.

Simultaneously, the floating symbols and magic Stostine was focusing on gave off this sudden flicker and audible crackle as her head snapped up. “Oh. Perfect timing. My ritual’s done.”

Stostine then dipped her hands into the floating ritual circle, letting the magic completely coat her hands before she brought them up and wiped the magic against the front of her face. Her eyes became wreathed in magical flame as she stood up. The townsfolk noticed this, as well as Ms. Kettlecopp, and everyone gave her a wide berth while she carried on. She didn’t want to mess with a mage who had fire pouring out of her eyes.

“Oh, Rava, look. The shield really is magic,” Stostine said, giving me the perfect out.

“Ah, interestin’,” I said in mock interest. “Lemme help ya get a closer look.”

“Oh, come on, ladies, I know it ain’t gonna take both of ya ta. Stare at. A shield...” Ricven’s focus fell back on Ms. Kettlecropp who was leering at him with every inch of her ire.

As she let Ricven have it, Stonehill and Director Deepstone approached us, with the director taking point. “Ah take it everythin’s taken care of then? It’s over?”

“No.” Stostine shook her head. “The majority of their force was wiped out, but it was not only Redbrands. We learned that there is a force of goblinoids working for them. And that they are all led by a necromancer.”

“Necroman—” Director Deepstone thought to himself for a second. “So, it was true? There dead really are wanderin’ about.”

“Perhaps,” I said, frowning. “’Parently, this particular necromancer only makes the bones a’ folk come back ta life. The ones yer prospectors were spottin’ don’t seem ta match.”

“Which means there might be two sources of necromancy,” Stonehill determined. His expression was horribly grim.

“The closer of which we plan to dispatch next,” Stostine assured him. “However, we are all heavily injured after tonight. We need to rest and recover our spells before we assault the lodge on the hill.”

“Say no more,” Stonehill told us. “If you need a place to rest, then I’ll keep the inn open. The taproom might need fixing, but the bedrooms are fine.”

“Aw, rub it in why don’tcha?!” Kettlecropp whipped around, making Stonehill flinch. “Yer place might be able ta run off rooms, but mah pub’s crumbled ta pieces!”

“Like that’s what’s gonna run ya outta town,” Deepstone returned fire, glaring at her. “Even before the Redbrands claimed yer pub fer their own, they walloped plenty a’ me boys right in yer pub! And it weren’t only mah miner either! Ye never kept mind of any a’ the folks here!”

“Don’t start turnin’ this on me!” Kettlecropp returned, now speaking purely in Dwarven. “What’cha expect me ta do against ‘em?! Tell ‘em off?! Brawl ‘em ‘til their teeth scatter the dirt?! Ah cannae fight like Ah used ta! ‘Specially when that feckless Townmaster refuses ta do anythin’!”

“How’s about bring back some of the money ta the common folk?!” Deepstone countered, again in Dwarven. “Ah know ya made good coin off ‘em! Booze was about the only thing they respected enough ta put in coin fer! Ya even started buyin’ up supplies ta fancy the place up!”

“Well excuse me fer runnin’ a business! Not like Ah’d expect a man whose whole life is makin’ honest Dwarves dig in the dirt for ‘em ta understand good business!”

“Watch it!” The Director started stomping forward. “Ah mine right beside mah men! Ask any of ‘em! An’ all tha’ ‘diggin’ in the dirt’ is what gives you an yer entitled ass a town ta peddle yer garbage swill in!”

“Oh, ya wanna draw me fury, boy?!” The Dwarven granny rolled up her sleeves. “’Cause Ah’ll clock yer jaw so bad, the silver miner will be sportin’ gold gum ta gum!”

At this point, Ricven took his chance to excuse himself from the blast radius of Kettlecropp’s rage. I was trying to find a way to intervene, but they were both too angry to hear me. And I wasn’t about to smack an elder or a mining director.

Luckily, I didn’t have to. Glemerr stormed out of the bar, down the steps, and brought her hands together into a powerful—

CLAP!

--boom of noise. From directly beside both their ears. Kettlecropp flinched back, rubbing at her eardrum. At the same time, Director Deepstone took the sound well but understood the message. It wasn’t a smack, but the noise sure sounded like it.

“Ah don’t know what yer sayin’ but Ah don’t care! Stop shoutin’!” Glemerr’s voice brought everything, even the smaller conversations around us, to a halt. “It! Is late. Ah’m tired. Rava, an’ Stostine, an’ Riven are tired! Three of our friends are unconscious. And Sistah Garaele is in da Griffonbound Vendors, also unconscious!”

Murmurs echoed across the crowd. Many of them were now fully worried about Sister Garaele. Others muttered apologies. A couple even broke away from the crowd to rush over to Griffonbound to tend to her or at least make sure she wasn’t alone.

“Dere’s still more Thugbrands,” Glemerr kept going. “An’ dey got gobbos and hairy bug-gobbos wanderin’ around. Now we’re gonna take care of ‘em, but we. Are. Tired.”

The crowd listened in, taking every word Glemerr said seriously. Many of them became worried at the sound of goblins and ‘hairy goblins,’ but they kept quiet. And when Glemerr finished saying her peace, she walked over to scoop up Platick before heading into the Sleeping Giant to collect Vareén as well.

As she did, Stostine cleared her throat and walked back up onto the steps of the porch. “Glemerr is right. Our group is incredibly exhausted, and we need a chance to recover. But rest assured, when we do, we will be tackling the rest of the problem in the morning. And not only that. I was able to utilize some magical paper to quickly inform the Platinum Guard of the Redbrand threat.

“Until then,” she went on. “We would ask that all of you return to your homes for the night. There is no more need for any more bloodshed. And if anyone insists on staying watch, please, please find us and let us handle it. Do not put yourselves at risk tonight. Please understand. We are doing this for everyone’s safety. Not for your sacrifice.”

Story glanced at his screen, watching multiple scenes play out because of Stostine’s speech. Some scenarios had the people agreeing while others had one or two individuals stepping up to show their willingness to play guard duty. Others even had townsfolk getting angry at Stostine commanding them to hide in their homes.

The DM took that as a sign. “Sunset? Persuasion check. And take advantage because Glemerr got them quiet for you.”

Sunset took a short breath. Right. Words aren’t enough here. But still, her hand glossed over her dice as she felt around for a D20 and scooped it up. Followed by a second one to juggle around. What she didn’t realize was that one of them was the ‘lucky’ die the group had kept passing around.

But after rolling and finding the ‘lucky die,’ now the familiar brass material heavily clunking on the table, the total came out to a very favorable number. Sunset was grateful for the number, but in that thankfulness, her mind lingered for a second. She reminisced on lessons of etiquette and public speaking made to prepare a teenager for a bureaucratic lifestyle.

The thoughts faded as soon as they appeared, although a few of those lessons stuck to the back of Sunset’s mind. “Twenty-three.”

The people of Phandalin listened in, more understanding of Stostine’s desperation than their drive for revenge on the criminals. They looked down at the collection of bodies off to the side; a gruesome reminder of just what we all went through tonight.

Then, they saw the wounds across us. The only ones who looked well off to still be standing were myself and Ricven, and even then, I had some near third-degree burns on me. Everyone else was either ready to fall over or had already done so.

“They’re right.” Stonehill turned towards the others. “Look. It’s the middle of the night. If any other Redbrands are coming, it’ll be by torchlight. They’ll see their fallen, and they’ll be idiots for trying anything else. We can watch the bodies, but let’s stay back.”

“Somebody get Eglath,” Glemerr told them as she reemerged from the pub with both Vareén and Platick in her arms. “After we get da ones dat’re still alive inta da cells, he can help keep watch.”

The town agreed to that and started to move. Stostine, Glemerr, and our fallen friends made their way to Stonehill Inn for the night to rest and recover while Ricven and I stayed behind. None of us could get Thorn Wielder detached from the ground, so I volunteered both of us to stay and camp out here for the night.

But Ricven wasn’t done getting bullied by Ms. Kettlecropp yet. She dragged him into the Sleeping Giant by the ear and after a few minutes, she went home and Ricven stayed inside for the rest of the night. He was on cleaning duty.

During all of this, the townsfolk escorted the still-breathing Redbrands to the cells below. The remaining bodies were stripped of supplies for the townsfolk and Leanne’s weapon shop was converted to a temporary armory. The only thing that wasn’t scooped up by the townsfolk was the magical shield that was now resting in my hands.

Like Ricven said, it was clean of any faults. No scuffs or damage anywhere. That is, save for the paint job on the front that I could tell came after the shield’s construction.

“Huh.” I used my gauntlet, scraping at the shield’s face to clear off more of it. There was a different design in the center of the shield that Stalwart had seemingly painted over with red paint. It made the brass shield look more like an archery target than anything else.

But once I had enough of it cleared off, it became pretty apparent what he covered. It was a Cortássian shield. There was Elvish written in a circle around the main symbol, which appeared to be a tree layered on top of the shield with a silvery-white metal that gleamed more beautifully than any other.

“Mithril,” I breathed. I took off my gauntlet for a moment and glided my fingers across it. The ridges in the mithril were inlaid in such a way that it felt like the bark of a tree.

For the next hour or two, I kept scrubbing. I went inside and found Ricven, already passed out in a chair with only the bigger rubble gathered up in a corner in terms of ‘cleaning.’ I chuckled, grabbed some water and rags, and went back outside to keep up the cleaning.

When I finished, my eyes felt heavy and I was having trouble holding back yawns. But it was done. All of the paint was gone and revealed to the world was the design of an ancient tree of mithril whose branches and roots spanned out in large fans. The leaves were made of silver and the roots of gold. And then, as I rotated the shield around in my hands, I noticed something else.

The tree flipped. When I looked at the shield from upside down, the silver leaves molded themselves into roots and the golden roots into branches. Now the leaves were gold and the roots silver. It was like the metal was one of those optical illusion pictures that changed images from different angles. But this wasn't an illusion, The metal physically morphed itself.

That tiefling hated Cortás so much that he went and hid the most beautiful shield from the world. I took a second to stare at the Tiefling’s body in frustration. What made you hate Cortássians this badly?

I didn’t let the thought blemish my mind, or this shield, anymore. I simply continued to admire the shield until sleep eventually took me.

Author's Note

Woo! On time! Maybe I shouldn't be so happy I have a chapter posted on a day I said I would, but here we are.

This originally had a couple of other scenes, but like I mentioned before I wanted to cut back on the word count. So, I'm going to save those scenes for either the cutting room floor or the next chapter over. I want to try keeping the word count of these chapters under 10k. That way I can keep up staying consistent with these chapters.

With that in mind, expect the next chapter to come in two weeks from now.

As always, please let me know what you think of the chapter. Any and all criticism is welcome or if there's something that doesn't make sense from the story you want to ask about, I'll do my best to answer. Assuming it isn't to be revealed in-story.

Thank you guys for reading and I'll see you next chapter!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(46) Character Races

Sunset Shimmer’s POV
Ms. Cheerilee’s Classroom
3:01 PM

“I think, if there’s nothing else,” Story told us after looking around for anyone to do or say anything else. “We can say that all of you guys are able to finish a long rest. Put your HP to full and get your spells ready. Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy? If you’re changing your spells, do it now.”

“Wait, both of you get to change them out?” Rarity blinked. “I thought only Fluttershy got to do it.”

“Uh-uh.” Rainbow grinned while Fluttershy got to work. “And all of mine are cool too! I can do cooler smites or other fancy stuff. I don’t get too many though.”

“How many do you have?” I asked.

“Uhhh.” Rainbow paused to count out what she set up. “I can pick three.”

Story paused his own work from behind his screen. “Three? No, it’s four.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash stared at her stuff for a few seconds. “Since when?”

“Since always?” Story blinked. “What’s your Charisma bonus?”

“Three.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “That’s the number of spells I get.”

“Three, plus half your level. So, four.” Story frowned. “You choose four spells each day.”

“Oh...Oh!” Rainbow Dash scooped up a pencil. “Awesome, I get another one of these!”

“Woohoo! Mini level-up!” Pinkie cheered. “Anyone else have something they haven’t gotten to use yet?”

Pinkie kept up the positivity, keeping everyone smiling in preparation for what was to come. For the most part, it worked. These few short scenes felt like those talks during lunch. Where things were simpler. And everyone was all the better for it.

But Twilight was having a little trouble as she kept to herself most of the time. Vareén was unconscious, meaning that most of what our characters talked about was garbled. But that wasn’t the issue. If it was, Fluttershy might have been in the same headspace.

Instead, Twilight was staring holes through the table. I couldn’t tell what was going through her mind, but she had been getting progressively more distracted since the game started. What made it worse was that when she caught one of the others looking, she put on a fake smile and dodged the attention with a few quick words.

“Hey, Twilight?” I spoke quietly, letting Pinkie’s boisterous words and Rarity and Fluttershy’s debate over spells for Thorn drown me out to the others.

“Hmm? Oh.” Twilight straightened up, putting on another fake smile. This time for me. “Sorry. Another Nothic thing. I’m okay now.”

“Ya sure?” My brow tightened. “Because you’re not spacing out like before. What’s up? Is confronting the Nothic making you nervous?”

Her fake smile didn’t last long after that. Since we were sitting beside each other, she turned to me fully and showed me her real expression. She was so miserable. “Possibly? I-It’s more about Vareén. It came after my memories through her, and I’m realizing that Vareén doesn’t have many memories. I gave her a happier one, but...it was so small. I didn’t have time to do what you and Applejack did. And, I keep thinking about how alone she must feel in there.”

I smiled at her. “Come on, she’s not alo—” but then I saw Twilight get more depressed. And it hit me. Vareén avoids everybody. That’s all she knows. Even if Ravathyra or Glemerr act exactly as they do when played, Vareén would avoid them.

Kind of reminds me of somebody.

“Do you want some help?”

She gave me a look. “How? Aren't we in the middle of the game? I can’t just expand on the memory now.”

“I don’t think you have to.” I winked. “Watch.”

I sat up. “Hey, DM?”

He glanced over, having helped explain a few of the druid spells for Fluttershy, and when he saw me, he winced a little. “Uh, yeah?”

You’ll be next, I decided. “Can I do something after we finish a long rest?”

Story quickly fell back in his role and nodded along. “The floor is yours. What would you like to do?”

I ignored any forming stage fright from the watchers around us and rolled up my jacket to start knocking on the table like a door. Then, as Stostine, I spoke. “Uh, Vareén? Vareén, are you awake? Stonehill is offering to make us breakfast. I wanted to make sure you had a chance to get something before Glemerr ate it all.”

“Onwy da bac’uun!” Pinkie shouted while keeping her knuckle between her teeth, bringing the others to chortle along.

Twilight looked back at me and I just kept smiling. “Your call,” I told her, breaking character for a second.

After a second or two, she smiled back and sat forward. She thought about the setup for a second and used Pinkie’s little bacon trick as an idea. Twilight picked up her backpack, sans Spike, and put it against her face.

“Go away.” It was Vareén’s voice. It sounded muffled. Like underneath a pillow.

“I-I could not quite hear that.” I rolled my eyes. “One second, I am coming in.”

“What?! Uh, no! No, no— and. I think Vareén would tumble out of her bed,” she narrated at Story. Earning a bunch of laughter from the others.

Story held up his arms and, convincingly, made the sound of a body tumbling around while mimicking the movement. We then heard Sweetie Belle trying to mimic the sound from the other side.

“An echo in here,” Story joked, earning a snicker.

“Sorry.”

“Stostine’s opening the door.”

“I think Vareén would’ve locked it.” Twilight smirked, knowing that wouldn’t work.

“Uh-huh. DM?” “Unfortunately, Vareén didn’t go to bed herself,” Story followed our lead. “Glemerr? Did you lock the door?”

“I don’t know how she'd do that,” Pinkie said in mock innocence. “How else would she leave the room?”

“The door opens just fine,” Story translated, giving me a smirk. He even forgot his fear for a second.

“What do I see?” I asked her.

Twilight smiled fully. She then imagined Vareén’s living space as she spoke. “Inside, you would find the arm of Vareén pulling down her blanket over herself from behind the bed. And, just hearing the door open, she would probably cry out in a panic—”

Stostine Swordhand’s POV
Stonehill Inn, Upstairs Bedroom

“Get out!” Vareén cried from behind the bed frame. “Get out! I don’t want you in here!”

I quickly rushed in, ignored her cries, and rounded the bed. She was wadded up on the floor with the blanket covering every inch of her body. Right away, I was looking on the bed for signs of blood or anything that might hint at her condition. And when I couldn’t see it, I looked down at the person at my feet.

“Vareén, are you okay?!”

“I will be once you get out!”

“Stostine!” Glemerr shouted out from downstairs. “Ah heard a bang! Is Vareén all good?!”

“Uh.” I glanced back at Vareén. “Well—”

“Tell her I’m fine!” Vareén said, now in a hushed whisper. “Tell her anything, just don’t let her in here! Don’t let anyone in!”

“...Yep!” I shouted back. “Everything’s good! It was me, I just. Dropped something.” I bit my lip. Not my best lie. “We will be down soon!”

“Okay! We’ll be waiting for ya downstairs! Hurry, err yer breakfast will be gone by, uh, Platick!...It’s convincin’! What, yer sayin’ ya don’t eat?”

I walked over and closed Vareén’s door, taking a moment to enjoy the silence. And then I heard cloth shifting behind me.

“You’re supposed to be on the other side.”

I turned around, seeing Vareén staring back at me. Her blanket hung off her like her cloak, complete with a hood. It kept me from seeing much of her. Just her face hidden by shadows.

“I still need to know you are okay,” I told her. “I was with you last night. Those were not injuries anyone walks away from.”

I watched Vareén’s shoulders slump from under her cloak. “Fine.”

She stood up at her full height and pulled the blanket out so I could see her in full. After Glemerr finished bandaging her wounds, she had put one of Vareén’s outfits on before putting her to bed. It was the first time I had seen her without armor. Her clothes were surprisingly cute.

A muted green tunic with a basic leaf design around the cuffs of the sleeves and her trousers were a thick, dark brown fabric that looked focused on comfort. It had this detailed flower design stitched along the left pant leg and looked like they could be secured to fit underneath armor. It also had these laces around the side which could be loosened to adjust the pant legs for whatever reason.

What stood out the most though was this leather belt she had around her waist. It was at an angle for no reason other than aesthetics and tucked into notches in multiple places were bear claws, tied with different colors of leather cords. The notches were to keep them from dangling, but it looked like the cords could let them dangle if Vareén so chose. I know Glemerr didn’t put that on her. The pants and belt were probably what she had last night.

“Wow. I never knew you dressed like that,” I remarked. “I would have expected something plain.”

“Gee. Thanks.” Vareén lowered her blanket back around her, hiding the clothes once more. “Now get out.”

“I-I didn’t mean that as an insult.” I held out my hands. “I mean, they look pretty, is all.”

Vareén said nothing, but a tinge of color showed up on her cheeks.

I took a moment to steel myself. “Before I leave. I have a question.”

“I don’t care.”

“You were...shot,” I told her. “Multiple times.”

“I know. I was there.”

The corner of my mouth pulled to the side. “I mean, in the chest. Twice. I was pretty sure they both hit vital organs.”

“Obviously not,” Vareén told me. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be talking to you. Probably your weird mood swings making you see things.”

I mean. I paused. That is always an option...But no. I’m sure of it. “I remember what I saw. You even said it was hard to breathe with one of them. You even removed them like they were bad splinters.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Vareén said. Her tone never changed. “They sucked. They were in the way of my shot, but not anywhere vital. You were hearing things. And it was dark.”

“Not dark enough.” I folded my arms, but the usual effect was gone. My torn sleeve was still in my backpack. I didn’t want to bother Sister Garaele when she was still resting, so it wasn’t repaired yet. “I know what I saw.”

Vareén closed her eyes and made a point to take in a breath, hold it, and then release. She stared at me. “Fine. Let’s play this game. How did you see anything? We both know you didn’t need that light.”

“The light was more to lure the Redbrands awa—” “Not that,” She cut off. “How can you see in the dark? Humans can’t.”

“I believe we have already gotten over this. Platick has asked me about this in front of everybody.”

“And you skirted the question. Like now.” Vareén crossed her arms. “Tell me something. Do you think I wanna talk about me? When you don’t even want to? Because I value my privacy as much as you value yours.”

“Is that a fact?”

“Confidently.”

The two of us just stood there, trying to convince the other to crack with our stares alone. By this point, I knew Vareén enough. Pressure didn't exist with her. It only existed for everyone around her.

Platick wanted to be the same way, but it didn’t work. He couldn’t stay quiet. If you annoy him, he will put his foot in his mouth. Maybe it was underhanded using a tactic like that. I fully admit that. But given what I thought I knew about the Fortunas, I had to know the kind of person he was. And it worked well. The knife at my throat didn’t draw too much blood.

But Vareén was different. She didn’t like talking. Hated it, in fact. If anyone probed her, Vareén shut down. She did a few times already. The only reason she was still talking was I had her backed into a corner. Which signaled to her that I trusted her enough not to kill me for doing so.

When prey has its back to the wall, it will do whatever it can, I thought. Probably another underhanded thing to think of, but I was right. Vareén was defensive. This might’ve been the first time I heard her pull the ‘no you’ card against me. And it went for the throat.

I didn’t dare look away from her eyes. I was wise enough to glance around her room before talking to her. Vareén rented it for herself and despite only sleeping here one night and recovering on another, it already promoted her person.

Her closet was left open and, judging by how the rest of the room was, that wasn’t Glemerr’s fault. She had more than one extra outfit, which from what I understood was uncommon for mercenaries. They were all the same setup too; a cloth shirt and looser leather pants that could be adjusted for use under armor.

She had a couple of arrows propped up against her bed in a way to make it easy to grab them. Her bow and sword would likely be the same but Glemerr was the one who returned them after tending to Vareén’s injuries.

Everything else though, was somehow both untidy and sparse. Dresser drawers were left ajar and the desk had some sort of hunting trap disassembled and cluttering the space. Surrounding that were the decorations of the room that were noticeably messed with. As if Vareén casually pulled aside picture frames and checked behind furniture for signs of, I don’t know, life?

All of it spelled out a very paranoid woman who kept what she needed to live on standby.

“Well?” Vareén narrowed her eyes. By now, maybe half a minute passed of neither of us breaking eye contact. “If that’s all, out. You saved my life and that’s the only reason I’m not forcing you.”

I nodded to myself. “That’s just it. You saved my life as well. Even when you could have run away.” I turned around and stepped in front of the door. “Your privacy is as important.” I turned the deadbolt. “Just as much as mine.”

Behind me, I heard Vareén breathing. It was...shaky. It was hard to tell, but I was certain of it.

I spun around. “I want to build on that. Because I get the feeling that what you are going through is very similar to me.” I walked towards the chair that was set up in the corner of the room.

“Somehow, I severely doubt that,” Vareén told me. Still, her voice was now wavering. Something that made me confused as I sat down.

“I don’t think so,” I pressed. “I keep what I am close to my chest. And aside from possibly three other people, no one knows what I am. Because you, and Platick I suppose, are right in your suspicion. I’m not human.”

Vareén slowly stepped back, leaning herself against the bedpost furthest from me. Her eyes never left me. “Okay. Fine. I’ll bite. What do you want out of this?”

“In a word? A friend.” I gave her a sad smile. I saw her start to roll her eyes and I sighed. “Yes. I know how that sounds. But it’s the truth. You’re the first person who seems a lot like me and I just want to find someone I can talk to about these things.”

“I am nothing like you, Stostine,” she told me. “Not in the slightest.”

“But you are,” I told her. “I’m not human, and I have a very strong feeling that you’re not an elf.”

“And your weird delusion that I was shot in the chest is your only proof of that?”

“Well that and the fact that you’re the only elf I’ve ever heard of that sleeps,” I told her, motioning to the bed she was sleeping on.

“I was unconscious from the pain. Not asleep.”

“And all the times during camp?” I frowned. “You climbed up a tree and slept on a branch, but I’m starting to think that wasn’t to avoid us.”

“It was to keep an eye over the entire camp,” she excused. I didn’t buy it and we both knew it.

“Look.” I focused my thoughts for a second. “You saved my life. You could have run away. And when you learned that that family was kidnapped, you didn’t run then either. You have a good heart. And your head’s in the right place. Despite whatever this front is you keep up. Whatever you are, I won’t turn and run. And I won’t betray my own words.”

Slowly, Vareén crossed her arms. “You really think that? Do you really think you can actually go through on that promise? Sometimes there’s a new level of terrible that people never expect until they see it.”

I folded my hands together on my knee. “Let me ask you this then. Vareén. Are you an undead?”

“What?” She scoffed. “No. If I were, do you think I’d take my chances near Rava? Or even the cleric in town?”

I merely smiled. “Then it’s fine. Whatever you are, I know that you are a good person. I have nothing to be afraid of.” I took the chance to take out my severed sleeve from under my robe. Sister Garaele hadn’t woken up yet and I wasn’t about to wake her up just to fix my clothes.

Vareén then watched as I tossed the sleeve, and the arcane focus connected to it, onto her bed. It was now closer to her than it was to me. “If you want, I can go first.”

I watched her size me up further. My crossbow was still downstairs. And she could easily overpower me with her nearby sword if I drew a dagger. Not that I was good with it in the first place.

“Alright, fine.” Vareén nodded. “You first. But I’ll decide if it’s enough. If it isn’t then all you’re getting from me is knowing I’m not an elf. Deal?”

I nodded back. “Deal.”

I took a second to prepare myself, putting all my thoughts together as They rested their hands on the back of my chair. ‘Are you certain of this, child?’ Tabbrius asked me. Vareén made no reaction to their arrival or voice. ‘Many would take full advantage of what you are.’

I took a deep breath, smiling and nodding once towards Vareén. It was meant for them.

‘Very well.’ I felt their presence back up, but still there. ‘Whatever may come, be ready. You did lock yourself in here with this one.’

“I know,” I said aloud, earning a much more tense stare from Vareén.

“Know what?” She asked. “Who are you talking to?”

“My friend,” I told her. “Only I can hear them.”

Vareén looked like she wanted to take that chance to control the conversation, but I carried on.

“Now then. Hello Vareén,” I said, unbothered as I looked up at her. “Allow me to introduce myself in earnest. My name is Stostine Swordhand. I was born as a brown-haired, green-eyed, sickly human girl with whom every doctor my parents sought gave me months to live. And each time their deadline came and went, they were not only shocked but had the gall to tell my parents— sometimes right in front of me —about how I was a scourge to the history of medicine.”

Vareén furrowed her brow, obviously confused as she looked at my hair and then carefully at my eyes which failed to match any of what I said.

“One day,” I carried on regardless. “I went to Heaven. A form of it, at least.” I watched her then start to lean back. Now considering me insane. “And I was told that my pain and suffering would end. And it did. I couldn’t walk three feet away from my bed without collapsing. Now? I can run. I can climb. Or even better, I can be impaled by a javelin or pinned to a wall by a sword to the stomach. Or take numerous debilitating arrows to the torso and be just fine the next morning. You know. Like right now.”

I then stood up, twisting my upper body to the left and right with my arms held up perpendicular to me. Some light stretching. Suddenly, my claims started to hold a little more water to the non-elf.

“Oh. And like you said. Yes. I can see in the dark.” I closed my eyes, and focused as I sat back down. Then I reopened them. Watching as Vareén now floundered back until she bumped into one of her open closet doors. My eyes, and several ‘cracks’ along my face, glowed with a divine blue light.

With Townmaster Wester, I used Prestidigitation to make it look much more obvious and brighter. Normally, the light from it was as weak as a dying candle. It also got exhausting to hold for long periods. Like tensing your face and holding it like that.

But it did its job. Vareén’s breath got caught in her throat and she started taking this conversation very seriously. “Wha—What are you?”

“I am told that there are a few names for people like me. Celestial. Planar being. Angelkin.”

‘An Empyrean, technically,’ Tabs voice chimed in.

“Yes, Empyrean as well,” I agreed, ignoring the blink from Vareén. “Although, that always seems too presumptuous. People envision Empyrean Lords when using that word, and that is too much.”

‘A mortal’s interpretation doesn’t hide that it is the most correct.’

I shook my head, chuckling. “No. In my case, I think I most prefer—”

“Aasimar,” Vareén breathed. “One of divinity.”

“Well, not exactly.” I brought my hands to my face and rubbed at it until the divine cracks settled down. My eyes settled back to their gold irises. “This is where it starts getting difficult. And where the secrecy part comes in. I wasn’t born of divinity. Remember? Sickly human girl?”

Vareén took in a breath as though she were going to object, but failed. Instead, I waited and watched as she took a step towards me. “That’s...Is that possible?”

“It is not documented,” I told her. “Anywhere, in fact. The birth of aasimars has been, though. It seems that often their birth is typically considered a boon. And while they are never worshiped, people act very differently around them due to their proximity to heaven. A lot of odd myths spring up around them.”

“Y-Yeah. Those I’ve heard of.” Vareén then slowly sat on the edge of her bed, never looking away. “A lock of their hair cures illness. Their touch dispels blindness. Their saliva counters poison.”

I smirked. “That last one’s new to me. My favorite one is how every aasimar has a halo, whether present or not. Some just hide, somehow. And the light from it grants good fortune. But despite all the old wives’ tales, all of them are fake. I was in a fortunate enough position where the politicians and merchants my father introduced me to were never that desperate. At least, not in that way.”

I watched Vareén’s eyebrow twitch for a moment. “So then, your father knew? That you weren’t born an aasimar?”

“Correct. And he understood that it required secrecy. He just went on telling everybody that I was born an aasimar. And then, somewhere along the line, I met a true aasimar. And when they heard about how I was made, not born, the terror on his face was palpable.”

“I think I understand why,” she told me. “People try taking hair and spit from aasimars because they’re desperate for cures. If they found out that someone can become an aasimar, you’d have a whole new brand of desperation.”

I frowned. “Which is why I try hiding that I’m an aasimar to begin with. Thankfully, a lot of the obvious signs aren’t there with me. If someone knew an aasimar personally or was well-versed in them, they would probably figure me out. Like Ricven.”

“Ricven? He knows?”

“He spotted the clues. I think it’s more that he knows magic so well that he can tell not all of my power stems from it. But it’s not concrete and even then, he wouldn’t know the full truth. Unlike you.”

Vareén sat back, propping herself up with her hands. “Unlike me.”

“S-So..." I tapped my fingers together for a moment. “Is it enough? For our deal, I mean?”

Vareén took in a deep breath and held it. Then, she started to nod. “Y-Yeah. It’s enough. More than I was hoping, which...puts things in perspective.”

I didn’t push her for her turn. Instead, I watched as Vareén flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling for a moment. “I. I’ve never met an aasimar before. My parents talked about them when I was a kid. I grew up on all of those old myths about them for a month or two before they finally threw me out.”

This time, I sat back. “Threw you out? What for?”

She sighed, slowly sitting back up to face me. “Because, a lot like you, I was born a human too. Both my parents were humans. I’ve never been anything Elvish. And like you figured out, I’m not an elf now either. I...Am a shapeshifter. Changeling, specifically.”

“A Changeling?” Sunset questioned. She then looked to Story. “And, erm. Would Stostine know anything about them?”

When Sunset revealed Stostine as an aasimar, Twilight wanted to ask what she knew about aasimars. And Story quickly ran down some bullet list facts. Something that helped Twilight understand and help remind Sunset simultaneously.

This time around, Sunset had a different outlook. She knew what a changeling meant to her, but not from the game. And seeing how Twilight played Vareén and how she kept the secret close, things started to piece together.

“Really?” She sat back. “Th-That’s what they’re called?”

Story nodded. “Yep. And, for a brief explanation about what Stostine would know...”

Story went over a small summary of facts that cemented the idea that this world’s changelings were not too far off. It was uncanny how similar they were in ways. They were the boogeymen of Story’s fictional kingdom. The causes of a witch hunt between Leodaav’s citizens. The perfect species to perform subterfuge.

The only difference was, in Equestria, Changelings had their own brand of magic that allowed them to change form. In Story’s world, Changelings didn’t use magic to change shape. They just did. It came as naturally as someone folding their arms.

Sunset couldn’t tell which was freakier. The thought of a Changeling not needing magic. Or the amount of things Story made up that happened to be correct.

“You’re a Changeling,” Stostine repeated. “Huh.”

“Yeah. Huh.” Vareén rubbed at her arm. “Little interesting point of fact. Just like with your problem, changeling’s aren’t changelings the second their born. We become changelings. Typically a few years before puberty. And it’s not gradual. You just wake up and suddenly you’re a changeling.”

“And...You said your parents..." I instantly regretted asking, but Vareén shook her head.

“It wasn’t right away. I remember waking up to Mom screaming. I looked down and suddenly my skin was peeling off like an onion. And I looked..."

Rather than describe it, Vareén slowly began to stand up and let the blanket fall onto the bed. I leaned as far back as my chair would allow. Then, after Vareén did some light breathing, she looked at me.

“Promise not to scream? Or panic?” Her voice wasn’t as stern anymore. Just defeated.

I realized how I must have looked at that moment and took in a large breath and held it. It made the cracks of light reappear on my face, but I left them be. It was a reminder at the very least, that I wasn’t normal either.

She took some solace in that and stood with her back completely straight and her arms hanging on either side of her. Then, slowly, I watched her shift.

Like splotches, her skin tone bleached away into a soft light gray color and her hair, usually jet black, inverted to a snow white, and the locks scattered out like a small sea urchin before settling downwards once more.

Her body and face changed next. The bandages tightened against her frame and her muscles slithered like slugs underneath her skin into a more broad-shouldered, somewhat taller build. Their ears rounded out, losing most definition, and became little more than half-oval discs and their eyes turned into milky, off-white pools with pitch-black skin around the sockets.

I just kept myself focused on my senses and did my best not to make any sudden reactions. During the process, I noticed Vareén staring back. Checking to see if I had made any sudden moves. I never did. And she continued.

Not that there was much else. I listened while the bone structure of Vareén cracked and popped in a nonstop chorus. It sounded like it was a wave, starting from their skull and traveling down across their ribs and limbs.

Eventually, the changes came to a complete stop and what was left was...vacant, in a word. It was like inspecting the living drawings of a child. There was only just enough to tell that there was a face. They lacked all detail.

I kept staring. I was in absolute awe of what I had just witnessed. Meanwhile, Vareén's posture showed how uncomfortable they were with my stare.

“...Well?”

Their voice was different too. Deeper, somewhat grainy, and lacking the accent Vareén had. Or, that they used to have. The inflections were the same and the tone and emotion as well, but it was wholly someone else’s.

“This is what I am,” they told me. “You wanted to know. Here you go.”

“You’re...” I blinked, slowly standing from my chair. Vareén took a step back and held up a hand. It had no fingernails.

“Don’t,” They commanded. “Don’t come near me. I don’t trust you that much.”

“I-I won’t. Sorry.” I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “It’s just. You’re...Y-You’re—”

“It’s weird. Right?” They looked down at themselves. “I haven’t looked at myself for, I think, a few months now. It gets uncomfortable after a while. If I stay as something for too long, it’s like wearing the same outfit day in and day out. You get used to the feeling, but you can only go so long without having to ‘wash your clothes.’ You know?”

I blinked. “And...You said that this is what your parents saw?”

They nodded. “Yeah. I was born in a town called Luxarmig Peak. A lot of churches to different gods. Maybe it’s expected or maybe it isn’t, but people there all know their myths and legends. Changelings are just another thing on the list. So my parents knew what I was. They spent the next few months going from wives’ tale to legend trying to find something to reverse my curse. And when they realized nothing was working and they couldn’t hide me from our neighbors forever they just...gave up.”

My jaw started to pull apart from the rest of me, sliding closer to the floor. “You’re kidding me. What did they just— did they leave their daughter out on the street?”

“I wasn’t their daughter.” They shook their head. “I wasn’t anything to them at that point. Just a monster they couldn’t be seen with. My parents both followed Sune. My father was a devoted acolyte. How could followers of a Goddess of Beauty show their face when their child is a hated shapeshifter?”

I frowned. “One of the tenets of Sune is that beauty is more than skin deep. If they were truly her followers, they wouldn’t be so vain.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that argument,” Vareén told me. “But that changes nothing. For shapeshifters, the only god for us is the Traveler.”

I turned and walked over to the dresser, fighting every urge not to kick it as I stewed in my anger. I knew about shapeshifters. Everyone knew about them. They were despised across all of Leodaav. But that wasn’t from anything recent. That was seeded deep. To go as far as to throw your own daughter out for something wholly out of their control is despicable.

“How long have you been on your own like this?” I looked back at them. Their body was in the process of morphing back into Vareén. This time it was all at once instead of pieces.

“I wasn’t always alone,” Vareén admitted. “Shortly after they threw me out, I fell into line with these hunters. And when the truth came out, most of them accepted me. Emphasis on most. Since then, it’s been about three years.”

I felt a little better hearing that, but not enough when I realized the implication. “One of them turned on you and the other hunters. Didn’t they?”

“Sold us out,” Vareén confirmed, broiling me all over again. “I was to be killed on sight and the other hunters, if they turned themselves in, would probably be executed anyway. We all chose to run. The one you see here.” Vareén pushed back her hair so I could see her entire face. “Was my mentor, Vareén. She accepted me more than anyone else. Had me saying I was her twin. It worked pretty well since she kept to herself anyway.”

“Until it didn’t,” I said hollowly.

“Until it didn’t.”

After a few seconds, I made up my mind. “I will never say a word,” I told her. “I swear to you I will not. I have nothing against shapeshifters. And even if I did, I would have nothing against you. However I can help or whatever you need, do not hesitate. All I ask is if I can expect the same from you.”

Vareén started to secure her pant legs as she considered the offer. “I...I’ll think about it. I didn’t come here to find a friend. I came here to even out a favor for Sildar. That was it.”

“Does he know too?”

Vareén opened her mouth to reply, stopping short for a second.

At that, Twilight looked over to Story. They came up with a basic ‘Sildar knows Vareén’ idea as a way to explain why Vareén took the job in the first place. But never anything beyond that.

“Uh..." So, Twilight was left debating the idea for a second. Story suggested that Sildar asked Vareén, so she didn’t know Sildar. “I. I think..."

Story noticed the problem and, sticking to what he knew, picked up his pencil and a notepad. Then he slowly raised it above his screen until Twilight could see it.

Quickly, Twilight got the memo and nodded. “Okay then.”

She turned back to Sunset, who was now watching Story just as much as Twilight. “Sildar knew about me. When the group first found out, he left and joined up with a guild. He never outed me, but that was a personal favor for Vareén. Who he thinks I am. The favor he’s cashing in is from not outing me.”

From behind them, Ms. Cheerilee was watching with renewed interest. She might not have been able to see the magic or make sense of it, but apparently, Sildar was supposed to be connected to her somehow.

Makes me wonder if I’d do the same, the teacher thought. I would not put a child in danger. Never. But would I ask a friend for help for staying quiet?

A large part of her said no, but Cheerilee ultimately wasn’t sure. It did give her enough pause to stop working at her desk and simply listen along to her students playing their game.

However, before Twilight and Sunset could go into detail about Sildar’s story, Rainbow sat up.

“Hey Story? Is it cool if I do something here?”

Story glanced at the other two. He realized that what Rainbow said must’ve been garbled. No way would they be talking along about changelings otherwise.

“Uh, sure? What do you wanna do?”

“This group sounds pretty much like a second family,” I told her. Vareén was starting to get more comfortable the more the topic stayed on them. “How many of them were there?”

“Hunters came and went regularly,” Vareén admitted. “Aside from my mentor and me, only about three other people were permanent. The first were these dragonborn twins—”

Knock-knock-knock!

“Stostine? Vareén? Are ye awrite in there? You’ve been stuffed back upstairs fer nearly ten minutes now.”

Vareén looked at me, suddenly terrified as she scanned the room for her cloak. When I pointed it out to her, they nearly dove for it while I turned back to the door. “Yes, we are fine. I was taking the time to personally thank Vareén for last night. She did a lot for me.”

“I’m aware,” she added boredly. “And you still aren’t leaving me alone.”

“Vareén, go a bit easy on the lass,” Rava lightly prodded from behind the door. “Last night was a lot fer us all. And we’re suitin’ up ta do it again. Mind if Ah come in?”

Again, Vareén looked terrified. It felt ironic to say that Vareén felt like a whole new person now, but she did. And I was starting to wonder if this is what she felt like whenever nobody was watching.

I bit my lip. “Um. One second. Let me get the door.” Instead of doing that, I cast Mage Hand instead to fiddle with the lock and walked straight over to Vareén. “It’ll be alright. She won’t find out.”

“I. I...Am I good?” Vareén started patting her face. She was checking for the shape of her face or to see if any hair was missing. When she started counting her fingernails, I held her hands and helped her relax.

“Don’t worry! You look normal to me,” I whispered to her before approaching the door. My Mage Hand was tapping against the deadbolt the whole time. “Hold on. Lock’s stuck. Almost...Aha.”

When Mage Hand finally flipped the deadbolt open, I arrived just in time to open the door and saw Rava standing there with a smile on her face. “Sorry about that. I think Mr. Stonehill may need to bring these locks to the blacksmith.”

“Not a worry, lass,” Rava grinned. “Breakfast is almost gone though. Glemerr couldn’t help herself. Toblin n’ Elsa went all out with helpin’ us get ready fer the day. Meanwhile, Ricven just got back from that bitter granny at the Sleepin’ Giant. Apparently, Thorn’ll be waitin’ for us inside a’ there.”

“Inside?” I blinked. “So then, Thorn Wielder’s not anchored to the ground anymore?”

“Anchored?” Vareén blinked. After a quick explanation from myself and Rava, she was caught up. “Maybe she’s part plant.”

“Ah dinnae ken.” Rava shrugged with a chuckle. “But when Ah woke up, the space around her had freshly grown grass and some tiny daisies sproutin’ up. More druid stuff, Ah suppose. She was already gone by then too.”

I blinked. “Okay. Well, I am glad to hear Thorn Wielder is okay. But what is she doing at the Sleeping Giant instead of here with us?”

“Well...Ricven said that was best left seen with our own eyes. Come on. We’ll grab breaky on the way out.” And with that, Rava started down the stairs.

I looked back to Vareén. She looked mostly back to her usual self now. “Well. What do you say?”

Vareén huffed. “Let me grab my stuff.”

I left Vareén be for the moment and came back downstairs. True to what Rava said, most of the breakfast was cleared out and most of the plates were around Glemerr’s section of the table. Elsa had brought out a couple of other plates, but I could tell this was probably the last round of food. After we gave half of the money from those Redbrands to the inn and tavern, they were much more willing to give us a buffet’s worth of food for the day.

“I still can’t believe y’all couldn’t save me some a’ the nicer helpin’s,” Ricven told us. He looked drained of energy and still had a rag tied around his hair from cleaning the Sleeping Giant. “And I am about certain I told y’all how much I love hashbrowns. Meanwhile, most a’ them ‘browns are hangin’ off Miss Glemerr’s tusks.”

“Mah bad,” Glemerr admitted before letting out a small belch. “In mah defense dough, dey are really good!”

“That don’t make me feel any better,” Ricven tossed out. “Lady Elsa? Ya got any coffee back there at least?”

“We do. I was about to finish a new pot for Platick, actually. Should be enough for both.” After Elsa set down the last couple of plates, she retreated to the kitchen.

“The more sugah the better, thank you!” Ricven shouted after her. When he turned around, he saw Glemerr reaching for the flapjacks. “Eh-eh-ehh! No! Enough a’ that! Miss Glem, you keep eatin’ we’re gonna be rollin’ you up that hill.”

“But it’s so good dough!”

“Then save some fer me!”

I glanced over to Platick, who was sitting there with his plates mostly empty already. Elsa wasn’t exaggerating. Platick cleaned up an entire pot of coffee himself. “How are you holding up?”

He spared a glance at me for a second and grumbled. “Sore. Bandaged. And I want this to be over with. You?”

I took a breath and shook my head. “Physically, I am fine. Mentally, I am preparing for a necromancer and a Nothic.”

“Don’t forget the remaining Lamebrands,” Platick told me. “They’ll be turtling now if they haven’t run already. All but one captain is dealt with and their real leader rarely does anything.”

“Eh, leave da Redglands ta me,” Glemerr told us. “Fightin’ off gangs is somethin’ Ah’m used to. With some added backup from Platick and Thorn? It’ll take us three—no. Two minutes tops.”

“Dial back the bravado,” Platick told her. “We’re not splitting up this time. They can have any number of traps and tricks waiting. And past the Fakebrands, it’s either undead, a fissure demon, or bugbears.”

“It’s still indoors,” I warned him. “If we all crowd up the front, we might not have the space to fight effectively.”

“She’s got ya there, Platick,” Ricven agreed. “You weren’t there, but when those fools rushed the Sleepin’ Giant, it became a mosh pit. If it wasn’t for the ‘funnel’ at that doorway, as you call it, things woulda gotten too tight.”

Platick took in the words and folded his hands together under his chin. “...Fair point. Okay, let me think of something.”

At about that time, we heard boots coming down the stairs. The others all craned their heads to watch as Vareén came down with her hood now pulled all the way back over her face. Her bandages and wounds were hidden under her cloak and her signature bow was ready to be pulled out when she needed.

“And the latest to rise reveals herself,” Ricven welcomed. “Why don’tcha pull up a chair? There’s still some food that Glemerr hasn’t caught yet.”

“I don’t need much.” Vareén walked over, picked up two flapjacks, and then looked around. “Coffee would be nice though.”

“Coming!” From the kitchen, Elsa quickly stepped back out. She had a pot in one hand and a couple of mugs in the other. “Sorry about that. Took me a second to find the sugar.” She set both mugs down, making sure to check before sliding over Ricven’s. “Three lumps in the mug. Just tell me when I’ve poured enough.”

She started pouring, but Ricven chuckled. “Appreciate the courtesy, Lady Elsa, but no need. I got space fer a whole human’s mug. Fill it up.”

“Same.” Vareén told her. And when Elsa did, she took the coffee, folded one of her flapjacks, and proceeded to dunk it into the mug before eating it. When she saw the myriad reactions from us, she simply raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“That’s honestly genius,” Rava remarked.

“Geniously weird,” Ricven countered. Platick, meanwhile, held up his mug to get yet another refill from Elsa before reaching for a flapjack himself. “Platick, come on now!”

“What? I like coffee.”

“I think too much,” I told him, earning a curt stare. “How many cups is that?”

“Sixth now,” Elsa told me. “Platick, dear? Maybe listen to your friends?”

“Ya hear that Platick?” Rava smiled and rolled her eyes as she went after only the second cup of coffee. Which nearly emptied Elsa out of her pot. Then she grabbed the last flapjack. “We look like friends!”

Platick said nothing. Just dunked his flapjack back into his coffee and took another bite while the rest of us enjoyed a few more minutes of calm to ourselves. But soon enough, we had to pack it up and head out into the village.

A few of us took a glance up at the trail that cut into the forest. There were a few of the townsfolk standing by as they wore the defeated Redbrand’s armor. They also each had a shortsword and crossbow, both from Leanne’s shop.

So far, the Redbrands hadn’t retaliated, but that wouldn’t stay the same If we didn’t assault them today, that might mean they would take the chance to come back down here. Even if it was just to scout or surrender, who knows how the armed villagers would respond.

We need to act soon, I thought. I looked over the others and we quickly decided to split up for the last loose ends. Rava grabbed Thorn for us while Platick and I spoke with Sister Garaele. At the same time, Vareén and Glemerr went to check on the Griffonbound Vendors for some last-minute supplies. And then finally, Ricven checked in on the captured Redbrands and Townmaster.

This assault was probably going to be tougher than the ambush. And we couldn’t afford to take several days doing it. The sooner we took down that necromancer, the sooner we could focus on finding this ‘Dark Pit Keep.’ And finding Gund—

And finding Principal Celestia, Sunset thought to herself. The party figured out the last couple of things needed before rushing for the lodge. They didn’t have as much time today. Ms. Cheerilee had to shut it down at 6 PM when she left.

Sunset checked her phone. 3:13 PM. Less than three hours. Fights from this game took the longest amount of time. Even a fight that lasted three full rounds could take half an hour with this many of them.

It’ll be close, Sunset thought to herself. And while Story had Twilight and Pinkie go first, she quickly sent him a text message. He had his phone silenced, but she still saw Story glance down for a second and tap his screen.

Are you sure we can fight the nothic at this pace? And save Aloe and Lotus?

Story kept describing the scene to them, but as he did, he gave Sunset a small thumb’s up. Whether not to cut himself off or because of garbling, it didn’t matter. Sunset understood it and nodded along. Both of them, and everyone else at the table, were committed to seeing the girls safe and the demon dead.

Author's Note

My bad on that everybody, I was a day off. Although, I do have a reason!

Without further ado, I am proud to finally present, Vareén's Full Character Sheet! It's been a long time coming, probably too long, but the last of the party's sheet is now un-garbled. I already have it in the shared document folder on Google Drive, but the link above is directly to the character sheet.

But that's not all! I have one other link. Also a long time coming, if anyone's interest, I also have a world map! It's the map of my own homebrew world and I've been sitting on it for a while, unsure how to keep improving on it. But it's now at a spot where I'm comfortable to keep it.

For any map buffs out there, please let me know what you think. The other kingdoms have a solid color over the 'texture' of the landscapes, but that's to direct focus toward Leodaav as I keep working on it.

Handouts aside, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm taking next week off, so the next chapter will be here in two weeks. On Saturday is the goal.

Please let me know what you think and any criticisms you have are always appreciated! Until next chapter everybody.

Cheers,
-Zeke

(47) A Flurry of Blows

Platick Fortuna’s POV
Sister Garaele’s House
An Hour and a Half Ago

“Mind giving us a few minutes to ask her a few questions?”

“Mmm. I don’t know,” Piper hummed. Last night, one of the villagers, a midwife named Piper, stayed overnight to watch Sister Garaele. With the priestess recovering, Piper was the closest thing to a nurse.

“Piper,” Sister Garaele spoke softly. “As I‘ve told you before, I’m fine. I appreciate the concern from you and everybody else, but my wound is healed. It doesn’t even hurt. I think I can handle giving our visitors a few words in private.”

Piper sighed. “Alright, fine. I’ll give you some space. But that wound is still tender! And who knows if it healed everything inside. Take it easy, okay?”

At that, Piper left me and Stostine with the priestess alone. And once we heard the front door close soon after, Sister Garaele gave us a guilty look. “Sorry. She wasn’t accusing you or anything. She’s just worried.”

“It’s fine.” I nodded. “But we don’t have that much time. We just wanted to see if you remembered much from last night. I don’t even remember you stepping inside.”

At that, the priestess frowned. “Well, that’s actually something I wanted to ask about.” Sister Garaele reached out and took Stostine’s robes and severed sleeve. She was happy to mend them as she spoke. “Leanne's shop is in view of my house, you see. But, I saw you go inside with Leanne but never come out. When the thunderclaps rang out, I was worried something had happened for you not to join your friends.”

“You went to check?” Stostine asked. “We gave out curfew notices to the whole town saying—” “I know. I know. It was stupid,” she cut in. “But, given everything, it’s just that...I-I thought that—well. There’s been this...odd feeling. Y’know?”

“About Leanne,” I filled in. Sister Garaele’s focus on the Mending spell waned.

“Yes,” she hummed. “Things have been weird with her for a few months now. Ever since those Redbrands went in to buy out her crossbows, I’d ask about it and she’d be upset. Supportive, even, like always. But only when people came to her. I thought she blamed herself for selling those thugs weapons, but then she barely showed any sympathy when the other townsfolk were extorted. She started to close herself off.”

It reduced interaction to a minimum, I realized. “Sister. Was Leanne close with you? Your best friend, or something?”

“Or something?” Stostine gave me a neutral look while folding her arms across her sleeveless tunic. I rolled my eyes and ignored her.

“She was the first person who accepted me when I moved here,” Sister Garaele told us as her Mending spell started to flicker back to life. We watched Stostine’s sleeve fuse itself back to the robe proper. “That was about four years ago now. Since then, we’ve never left each other’s side. Which made it all the odder when she instantly latched onto you.”

“Is he not Leanne’s type?” Stostine tried to joke, making me glare.

“Oh no. He definitely is,” Sister Garaele admitted, making me tense up. Why do I feel like this is only to mess with me? “But Leanne’s not that brazen. Especially after just one day. That coupled with the attack made me nervous enough to check on her and then...well..."

Sister Garaele fiddled with Stostine’s robe for a moment. She examined the robe and tugged on the sleeve. It was fixed, but she was spending too long checking it.

“You suspected her.” I regained my focus and watched her. “Sister Garaele, you were stabbed last night when you went to the Griffonbound Vendors. But none of the villagers seem upset at Leanne. We didn’t talk to them. Did you?”

Sister Garaele didn’t say anything at first. Instead, she reached over to a bedside table drawer and pulled out a small sewing kit. “I told them a Redbrand stabbed me.”

“And what actually happened?”

“...It was Leanne.” The priestess’s eyes went empty as she said that. “Her face, her hand, her emergency knife. I know what I saw, but...there’s no way. She didn’t even hesitate. One stab and then she ran.”

I looked over to Stostine. By now, I told the group about the doppelganger. But we all agreed not to tell the townsfolk until we killed it. Maybe not even then. Otherwise, it would incite a panic.

“But.” Sister Garaele’s brow furrowed. “That can’t have been right. There’s no way. Leanne wouldn’t do that to me. She would never. Right?” She looked up at Stostine. Then at me. “I’m her friend! She wouldn’t try to hurt me. She wouldn’t! It doesn’t make sense!”

Stostine bit her lip. We all agreed, and she knew that a rumor would spread like a plague in a town this small. So, she looked at me.

I looked right back. Then at Sister Garaele. They were both deferring to me. “...No. No, she didn’t.” Sister Garaele didn’t seem too shocked. More just desperate for a reason. “That wasn’t Leanne that stabbed you.”

Sister Garaele stared at me. “How? I know what I saw. I know Leanne’s face and I didn’t lose that much blood. So then, what did I see?”

“An imposter,” I told her. “An imposter that made a fool out of me. Now, maybe this won't make you feel any better. It’ll probably make you feel worse. But that hasn’t been Leanne for a while now. The real Leanne’s been missing. What you saw was a shapeshifter.”

“Platick,” Stostine stared at me. “I am on board with telling her it was not Leanne, but not everything. We had an agreement. You are the one who asked us to—” “Asked all of you. Not myself,” I corrected her. Stostine took my words and stewed on them quietly.

“A shapeshifter?” Sister Garaele paused. “...Since when? Are. Is it with the Redbrands?”

I closed my eyes, tasting the words I was about to say. I hated them. I made peace with how much Stostine, and even more so Glemerr, were going to mock me for this. Then I stared Sister Garaele down.

“I’m going to find that out,” I told her. “And when I have your answer, I’ll tell you. But until then, no telling anyone what’s going on. We don’t want them to drag Leanne’s name into the mud on a misunderstanding. Trust me. No one deserves to be judged on lies and false truths.”

The priestess considered it for a moment before understanding dawned in her eyes. Whether it was about me or doppelgangers, it didn’t matter. She was on board. “I understand. I can keep a secret.”

“Good.” I stood up, catching an amused look from Stostine. “Quiet you.” I looked back to the priestess. “In the meantime, only let that midwife back in here. That thing has no reason to come after you, but don’t take any more stupid chances. We should be back in a few hours.”

“Wait.” Sister Garaele passed back Stostine’s robes, which she instantly began putting back on overtop her clothes. “You’re going now? What about all those wounds you took? Some of those were fatal.”

“And you fixed that. So thanks,” I told her. “It still aches and I’m pretty sure the bandages will be fun targets for those maniacs. But I’ll manage.”

“Not to mention, Glemerr and Rava will be with us,” Stostine reassured her. “They will keep us safe. I promise.”

“Still." Garaele reached for her nightstand again, replacing her sewing kit with this large gold medallion. “If you’re all going up there, I won’t stop you. But, if you want, I think there might be something I can do for you, Platick. If you’re up for it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So long as you stay here. But, alright. What did you have in mind?”

Forest Trail, Towards Hunting Lodge
Present

I ended up agreeing to Sister Garaele’s offer. It took a little over an hour for her to set things up, but afterward, I was left with that medallion of Tymora as a ‘good luck charm’ for whatever we dealt with. Not long after, I found the others waiting for me at the base of the hill to start marching up to the hunting lodge.

Whatever that priestess did, I didn’t have a full understanding of it. I barely understood arcane magic so divine magic was even more miraculous to me. Especially when it had no visible effects. What I did understand was that Sister Garaele gave me this sentimental trinket and told me that she wanted me to keep it for her.

It felt like Rava’s ring all over again. Or the rapier. Another valuable item with even more sentimental worth stuck to it. All that did was make me fixated on where it was on my person. I tried keeping it in a pocket or my pack, but that just made me paranoid that it would fall out like Rava’s ring did. At least when I kept it in my hand I had an eye on it. But now it was the only thing I was staring at for whatever reason.

“Whenever good fortune can aid in my trials,” I muttered to myself. It was the part of Sister Garaele’s prayer that was most stuck in my head.

“Oi, Platick,” Ricven called out, snapping me out of my gaze. “Ya gonna keep starin’ at that thang the whole time, or are you gonna clue us in on what the plan is?”

“Plan?” I looked up and saw it wasn’t just him. Most of the others were staring back at me. The only ones who weren’t were Vareén, who was taking point and ducking from tree to tree, and Thorn Wielder. Who was, at present, an auburn wolf following Vareén’s shadow.

“Uh, yeah?” Ricven rolled his eyes. “Yer the one who kept sayin’ we needed ta follow yer plans if we were gonna have a chance. So maybe now’s a good time ta fill us in?”

“He’s gotta point,” Glemerr told me, turning around herself. “Ah’m all fer thrashin’ a gang at dere hidey-hole, but Ah’m up fer any plan ya got ta make it better.”

I stared back at Glemerr. When none of the other’s attention was on her, she gave me this cheeky grin. Right. The whole leader thing.

I glanced back down at the medallion, turning it over in my hand before forcing myself to put it somewhere I wouldn’t accidentally lose it. “Alright, fine. However, it more depends on how much you trust that one Redbrand on their layout, Ricven.”

“Aw please.” Ricven chuckled. “After how much that fool told us yesterday, he was more than happy ta spill whatever else we wanted. Didn’t even need ta charm ‘em this time. Just promise that we’d keep him safe from his cellmates.”

Reasonable request, I thought. “In that case, listen up,” I told them. Vareén kept a lookout ten feet ahead while everybody’s focus stayed on me. “With what Thorn Wielder saw in the forest yesterday, and what the bandit confirmed, there’s two entrances to the basement. The lodge itself and a back entrance. They’ll likely be guarding both. So while their forces are split, we’ll focus on the lodge entrance entirely.”

“Would that not be more expected?” Stostine asked with a frown. “It is their main entrance.”

“It’s one of only two options,” I reminded her. “And Riven’s bandit says the bugbears and goblins sleep downstairs. If the human bandits are split, then that means the tunnel entrance will be tougher. Especially since it’ll be a chokepoint for them. If they catch us there, it might end up as a reverse of the bar fight.”

Stostine still didn’t agree. “And the same cannot be said for the lodge’s front doors?”

“Which would you prefer? A tightly packed tunnel where the only options are forward or backward? Or a door where we can step to the side if they have a firing squad?”

“He’s gotta point, lass,” Rava told her. “One a’ the reasons Cragen’s so well defended is because of location. Hard ta march a massive force when ya gotta fit them massive armies in wee tunnels maintained by Dwarves.”

“Alright, I concede.” Stostine tucked her arms into her newly fixed sleeves and looked forward. “Either way, this is still going to be difficult. And we cannot stop halfway. If we do, the necromancer may take that chance to escape when he sees the carnage. If he has not already.”

“If he did, the Redflakes would have skipped town too,” Vareén chipped in. “Which would be a little difficult for an entire town on watch to miss.” Thorn nodded along in agreement.

“We prepare for the worst,” I told them. “Expect something short of twenty bandits and maybe five or so bugbears and a pack of goblins. Then the fissure demon, the necromancer, and his pets.”

“So about fifty combatants,” Ricven counted out. “Well. Least we had a good breakfast ‘fore we kick the robin’s nest.”

“Hornet,” Vareén corrected.

“Now that’s the dumbest animal ya coulda used. Hornets ain’t even red.” Ricven didn’t even bother to look Vareén in the eye as he stood by his idiocy. A shame. I would’ve loved to see his reaction as Vareén aimed an arrow at his face with this look of death on her.

I sighed, shook my head at her, and she begrudgingly obeyed. “Look. What we do isn’t going to be as detailed as the ambush. We just need to take everything in steps. And step one is taking the lodge proper and holding it.”

“So den...Operation Door Kickah?” Glemerr offered, giving me and the others this toothy grin. While the others were giving Glemerr eye rolls or sad smiles and shakes of their head, I started to cross my arms.

“As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I was thinking.”

A few of the others paused, with Vareén being the one to call me out on it. “Not literally, right? There’s no way you actually mean to say we’re kicking dow—”

3rd Person POV
The Redbrand Lodge
Five Minutes Later

The large wooden doors, or at least one of them, were kicked open as wide as they would go.

“BOOM!” A loud, thundering voice shouted from behind a tight mask of red cloth. From behind it, the glaring visage of a half-orc woman looked across the great hall. Originally Thorn, still as a wolf, was going to help push open the front entrance since the group assumed that it would have been barricaded or at the very least heavy.

Instead, Glemerr felt little to no resistance. And when Platick and Rava saw that, they noticed that the other door they stacked up on was pushed open without issue.

“OPERATION DOOR KICKAHHHHHH!” Glemerr’s war cry carried throughout as she and the others wasted no time taking full advantage of their element of surprise and rushed in with weapons drawn.

“Alright. Time for the first one of the day.” Story wheeled his chair back, reaching for one of the multiple rolled-up maps behind him. This one being a bit smaller than the others. “Girls? Initiative.”

Story picked up the map while everybody quickly started to roll. Across everybody, there was a building tension that didn’t subside even when Story admitted that there were not nearly as many Redbrands as they thought there’d be.

Even for the small audience watching the girls’ game, they could feel it too. Ms. Cheerilee, whereas she only paid half attention to the game before, was now mostly interested in seeing how a ‘fight’ in this game was supposed to go.

The Crusaders were equally interested. Scootaloo bounced her knees, having forgotten all about the homework she needed to catch up on. Applebloom, in contrast, had already finished hers. And, after hearing her sister going as far as to think up a plan for fighting off bandits, she had stopped poking fun at the polar opposite character and was instead curious to see this ‘plan’ pay off. As for Sweetie, Button had paused his game by this point and had nothing else to distract her from what was going on.

Big Mac and Button were more or less invested but for different reasons. They had both heard what combat sounded like from Story before. Albeit not in the same way. So, they were interested to hear how this one was going to play out.

After a collection of clattering dice, each of the mundane dice now color-coded to each of the girls thanks to the magic, there were mostly happy faces.

“There we go.” “Yes!” AJ and Dash respectively were among the most excited. However, in the opposite direction, Sunset looked a little disgruntled while Fluttershy seemed downright ashamed from behind her hair.

“Good sounds,” Story remarked, gesturing for the others to move a few of the dice that got close to the center before flicking his vinyl out flat like he was unrolling a carpet. And the second it made contact with the tables, the little markings across the vinyl emitted life.

There was a small space around the front doors that was entirely outside with a thin dirt path leading up to the cobblestone stoop that encircled the front doors. The magic turned Story’s scribbles into what seemed like real dirt, grass, and even shrubbery. Even the circles with simple ‘Xs started to form the bases of trees that faded out the higher they got from the map proper.

The reason there was so much space was because there were two guards stationed outside the entrance on the lookout for exactly this reason. But because of the trees and bushes, Platick and Thorn were able to sneak close enough to put them down while Vareén cleaned up with an arrow at whichever guard would’ve had the strength to raise an alarm.

So, instead of putting out minis for their bodies, the magic created the fallen guards on the map as well. They looked like poor renders from an old video game— more red splotches from the blood and capes —but the girls understood the purpose.

“Okay. Anyone roll higher than twenty?” Story asked as the magic started to reveal the details of the lodge’s hall.

“Twenty-two,” Aj told him.

“And Twenty-one,” Rainbow matched with a huge grin on her face. “Finally, Rava doesn’t go last.”

The front doors of the map, Story already prepped to be wide open to the interior, and the magic obeyed. Starting from there and moving inward, the vinyl gave way to a wooden flooring with some amount of stains already coated across it. No doubt from the lack of care by the bandits.

“Way to go strike team,” Story complimented. “Next. Fifteen to twenty?”

“Oh! Why, that would be moi,” Rarity said with mock surprise. “Eighteen.”

The lodge’s great hall expanded to a pretty open space, separated mostly by the horseshoe-shaped pattern of massive tables set up in the center on its own raised, rectangular space. The platform was two steps above the rest of the room with heavy wooden columns set up against each corner and a long fire pit fit in the center of the tables.

What’s more, the columns were not perfectly spaced apart and they seemed to meld into the platform beneath it. The table legs and even most of the chairs were also attached to the floor in the same way. They were in disrepair as well and a few chairs and one of the tables had been entirely replaced. No doubt from the Redbrands or other destructive monsters desecrating this once pristine, Cortassian structure.

“Okay. Ten to fifteen?” Story asked, only now remembering to roll a dice for the Redbrands as most of the others’ hands all shot up.

“Fourteen.” “Thirteen~!” “Ten.” From Twilight, Pinkie, and Sunset respectively. But when all eyes fell on Fluttershy, who was shrinking further behind her hair, this look of concern quickly fell across everybody.

Scattered around the central platform were more tables and chairs that didn’t match the ruined design of the lodge. All of them were tables and chairs brought in from elsewhere; likely Phandalin itself. And like the Cortássian floors and tables, they were covered with stains and nicks. One of them even had a dagger driven into the tabletop with a couple of cards and some long-dried blood.

Then, there were four doorways all closer to the front entrance. Three of them were closed, but one of them lacked a door altogether. It was on the left side, closest to the party. Platick and Rava’s side, specifically.

“Well.” Story wrote down their numbers. And then figured out the Redbrands. “I mean, the Redbrands rolled pretty bad, honestly. So, I mean, Fluttershy, you might still beat—Oh." Story’s attempt to cheer her up when he saw the die Fluttershy likely rolled for Thorn Wielder.

And the big fat one sitting at the top.

Story hummed at the sight and wrote down Fluttershy’s total. The initiative bonuses weren’t hard to memorize for him.

“Well, thankfully.” After Story finished writing the last number, the Redbrand tendrils he and the girls’ were used to by now stretched out from behind his screen. Except this time, they weren’t swirling around and looming over the girls. Instead, they were quivering and struggling to look intimidating in the slightest.

“Thanks to you guys taking out the lookouts stealthily.” Story then moved all the miniatures into place. The party’s minis were all stacked up at the entrance as the girls told him. And then the Redbrands the party spotted.

One next to the doorless frame. Two more were seated at the central tables. Then another two seated at other tables further in.

“You get a surprise round,” he finished, picking up a clipboard and standing fully from his chair. “This being the first time you’re dealing with a surprise round, every one of you will get to take a turn. Thorn Wielder included,” he said to Fluttershy directly, making her slowly look relieved.

“Meanwhile.” Story then made a sweeping motion, gesturing to the map, and tendrils, as he did. “The Redbrands get nothing. Not even a reaction. Which means, basically, you all get two turns in a row.”

“Two whole turns without them acting?” Sunset crossed her arms, uncertain of the sudden free turn helping them out.. “Really? That seems…sort of easy. Is that really how it goes?”

“And yet, here we are.” Story pretended to flick a piece of lint off his screen, actually flicking his finger through the tendrils hanging over it. In response, the tendril twitched as though frustrated with his action but remained weakened. “Applejack? Or rather, Platick? Action.”

Upon seeing the party throw open the doors, the Redbrands were left scrambling to act. The only one who seemed to know what their first move was going to be was unfortunately the one closest to the party.

“Oh shit!” The man yelped, just about tripping over his red cloak as he tried passing through the open door frame.

“Rava!” “Right!”

The armored paladin took off in a sprint, somehow getting in front of the man as she crushed his shoulder into the wall with her hammer and stopped him in place altogether. The only word he could manage was an obscenity as he tried to draw his sword to return the favor. Only, by the time his fingers felt the hilt, a dagger found its way between his ribs and into a lung.

Combined, Platick and Ravathyra anchored him to the wall, flattening him against it as Vareén rushed in next and slid to a stop, turning only for an instant to fire an arrow through the man’s tongue and out the back of his open mouth before he could cry out for help.

While he struggled with his last moments of life, Rava turned away to shiver from the sight only to find her gaze staring into the room the man was posted outside. “There it is. The stairs! Thorn, in here!”

Thorn Wielder bounded in at the same time that Glemerr did, with both of them splitting paths the moment they breached the barrier. Thorn leaped into the smaller room, sliding to a stop at the top of a set of stairs that descended into the earth below and remained there. Her canine maw still dripped from blood from the lookout and she kept those crimson teeth bared to greet the first Redbrand or bugbear foolish enough to backup their allies topside.

As for Glemerr, her approach was no less terrifying to her foe. There was only one Redbrand seated at the center tables and she hardly managed to get out of her Cortássian chair before—

“NAT TWENTY!” Pinkie cheered, somehow leaping high enough out of her seat to tuck in her legs and now be standing on it as the others all brightened up.

“Very nice,” Story complimented with a huge grin. “And, because you’re a half-orc—” “I get three dice to roll now!”

“Three?” Applejack blinked as she and Twilight, the ones on either side of Pinkie, fed the girl their triangle-shaped dice so that Pinkie had enough to roll. “Yer big hits do that much?”

“Well, ‘big hits,’” Rainbow repeated with air quotes. “It’s still just the four-sided ones.”

“Hey. Dice are dice,” Story told them. “What are we looking at for damage, Pinks?”

Glemerr cleared the space between the entrance and fell into a tumble across the table, somersaulting across it before driving a heavy heel into the jaw of the woman. Glemerr could feel the molars crack and possibly break away from the gums before the jaw altogether became dislocated from the rest of her face. Added insult to injury, the Redbrand was thrown by the force of the kick into and nearly through the back of the chair she had just gotten out of.

Despite all of that, however, the woman was still alive. Not conscious in the slightest, mind you, but alive as she lay passed out in the chair bleeding from the face.

As the others all started to assess their new targets, Ricven strolled into the entrance of the hall without a care in the world as he prepared his violin.

“Y’know, Miss.” Ricven looked over his shoulder towards Stostine, who had taken cover behind the door frame outside. “I think I expected a mightier welcomin’ party. Gotta say this is almost disappointin’. Wouldn’t ya agree?”

Stostine, after seeing Glemerr and Vareén’s assaults, had her face looking a little green as her eyes flickered the faintest hint of mustard yellow. But for now, she was still in one piece as she glared back at the gnome.

“Could you please focus, Sir. I would rather not take a necromancy raid lightly.”

“Come now,” Ricven told her, keeping this jovial smirk on his face as he prepared his violin for his next performance. “Ya expect me ta take these clowns seriously? I mean, look at that one.”

Ricven snapped his gaze to the one Redbrand in the center of the hall. Without Glemerr in his face, the human was free to climb out of his seat and turn his attention to the gnome whose voice had suddenly become more audible to him and him alone.

“If he weren’t an absolute moron, he’da ran the moment he heard our victory last night.” Ricven watched the man clutch at his head, groaning in agony for a moment before a bolt of flames charred his torso. Once the flames dissipated, the man was breathing out screams of pain.

“For once.” Platick gave a small grunt as he yanked his dagger free of the dead man’s slumping chest and lined it up to throw at the burnt man ahead. “I agree with Stostine. Let’s keep the joy to a minimum here.”

But before he could launch the knife, Rava caught the man’s wrist. “Wait!”

“What’re you—” Platick wrenched his hand free. “There is no waiting here!”

“Slow the bloodshed,” Rava told him quickly. “They ain’t even pulled their weapons!”

“Are you seri—” Platick had nearly gone into a tirade on the daft Dwarf’s sensibilities, only to decide it was quicker to not. So instead, he turned the dagger around in his hand and flung it anyway.

“Ah jus—” Rava’s scream was pointless though. She simply watched as my knife struck the side of the man’s head. The butt of it, that is. But even that was enough to knock the man out as he tumbled over his chair. “Oh. Didnae know ya could do that.”

Platick didn’t answer, instead rushing over and jumping up on the central tables on the opposite side of the horseshoe from where Glemerr was. Platick left his tossed dagger on the floor as he did, simply drawing a new dagger out onto his free hand while he kept his shortsword in the others.

“Yeah. It’s a talent,” Platick muttered, his attention drawn towards a table that was out of sight from the entryway. “We got two more over here. Counting three in total.”

“And one more on the right,” Vareén carried on, drawing an arrow towards one Redbrand that watched as Glemerr kipped up onto her feet on the table, further towering above him.

Rava looked back towards the wolf at the stairwell. “Thorn, ya awrite in there?” The Dwarf simply got a quick woof from the wolf, which Rava took as a good sign and hurried to put herself between Platick and the three Redbrands nearest him.

By now, all Redbrands had managed to stand up and had their weapons either drawn or ready to be drawn, but they didn’t move. As Stostine walked inside, heading straight for the small fire alight in the middle of the chamber to pluck the fire into her palm, the Redbrands were slowly losing interest in throwing their lives away.

“Look,” Stostine spoke curtly. “If you all surrender, you will get to walk out of this building with your lives. You will not walk free. But at the very least you can say you did not protect a necromancer from justice.”

“Oh yeah?” One of the bandits, a half-elf with her face coated in freckles, sneered. “And what good is there in those words? Do you think that’ll make our sentence any smaller? Who’s to say you won’t chop us into bits and use us for your own spells?!”

“Do you not hear yer own stupid?!” Ricven shouted from the entrance, not daring to step in further. “We ain’t the necromancer here! Yer protectin’ a man who’s got literal skeletons in his closet!”

“Closet!” Vareén shouted back, only to pause and blink. “Wait. You got that right for once.”

“Hardly,” Ricven scoffed with an eye roll. “His skeletons are in a basement, not a closet. Point still stands. What do you gain outta helpin’ the worst magic possible?”

“‘Cause at least Glasstaff don’t hide his intentions behind all de flowers an’ lies,” another Redbrand, this one a gruff-looking human man, spat in return. “Meanwhile, you got a gnome that skirts his magic ‘hind fancy lights and a mage who pretends she’s human.”

Slowly Stostine took a step back, a deep chill running down her back as her breath caught in her throat. “What?”

“Oh yeah. We know all ‘bout you lot,” the gruff man kept going. “Alder’s gutter trash. A Dirty Fortuna. The disappointin' noble Dwarf. Country bumpkin gnome. Even the reanimated Cortássian. Yeah. Didn’t think we’d find out. Did’ya?”

“Now how in the Nine Hells..." Ricven petered out, growing just as silent as the others.

The whole room fell silent, with the Redbrands starting to grin as though they had won something with that knowledge.

Story Spinner’s POV
Ms. Cheerilee’s Classroom
3:23 PM

The concerning part wasn’t that the Redbrands knew all of that. I mean, of course, they did. I made it that way. It was an idea I had been tinkering with since before I learned about magic. Whether or not the doppelganger was found out, they were going to report the information to the gang and the thugs would let it slip the moment it was out there.

It was going to be where I started messing with them. And I was hoping that if I pulled it off right, the few of them who hadn’t worked on their backstories would be more interested in doing that.

But now that I knew better, that kind of idea was out the window. Sure, the doppelganger told the bandits, but that wasn’t going to change much. And unless it was necessary, I didn’t think forcing the girls to each make full-on backstories was a good use of time.

No, that wasn’t what concerned me. What concerned me was that I didn’t say any of that.

The gruff Redbrand just dumping most of their secrets wasn’t me. My mouth didn’t move. I didn’t make a sound. Instead, I just heard two voices speaking for themselves as the girls reacted to them like everything was fine.

Completely confused, I reached up and touched my mouth. I didn’t lose it, did I? I know I didn’t say any of that.

“You think we care?” Applejack spat at me with Platick’s tone. The others were all still unnerved, but AJ wasn’t. Maybe because she was used to everyone finding out about Platick anyway. “This is the only mercy we’ll give you. Drop your weapons. Slow. Then step away. Do that, and you’ll live to gloat about your rumor mill.”

“Heh. That’s yer idea of a mercy? I dunno. What do you guys think?”

“I think we start by gutting the orc. See if her guts smell as bad as the rumors say. Alderstone’s muck is supposed to fucking reek worse than the Under Cove.”

“Nah. I say we chop up the gnome. Gnomes is supposed ta have big families yeah? We severe the limbs and send ‘em ta each family member.”

“Whatever we do, keep their heads intact. Especially the Dwarf and mage girl. Glasstaff’ll probably give a bonus to whoever gives him a head touched by the Divine.”

“Uh. What’s happening?” Applebloom blinked. “How’s come y’all are jus’ sittin’ there all quiet?”

“Fine by me. Long as I get the Fortuna’s platinum piece.”

“Not if I filet his neck first!”

“This is what ya get for gettin’ cocky!”

“Hold the caster down for me.”

“Um. Story? Girls?” Ms. Cheerilee called out to us.

The voices kept going, their jeering and shouts getting more violent and unhinged as they seemed to talk themselves into an uproar. Some of the girls, namely Rarity and Rainbow, were getting frustrated with me for thinking I was saying all of it in front of their sisters.

Rarity tried to cut in. “As their saying th—”

“If we mount the Fortuna’s head above the mantle, maybe Phandalin’ll call us heroes. Worth a try!”

Rarity growled at me. “I said, as they keep talking, Ricven’s going to start a few notes on his violin.”

“Hey, if we keep the mage alive, her dear dad’s a mayor! We might be able to ransom her.”

“Take her fingers ‘fore we do! I ain’t lettin’ her pull nothin’.”

I clutched my mouth again. That was my voice, but I didn’t say that!

I stared at Sunset and Twilight, shaking my head with a look of bewilderment. Trying to get the point across that I wasn’t the one talking. But they didn’t react to that. Whatever illusion magic was going on, it wasn’t letting them see or hear what I was doing. They seemed to think I was running the game just as normal. It was only when everyone around us started to get confused that the girls started to get more unnerved.

“Uh, Story?” Eventually, my brother spoke up. His presence and concern made me all the more worried. “Is everything okay? You’ve been quiet for, like, a minute.”

“Quiet?” Sunset frowned. “What do you mean? He’s—”

But she was cut off. Instead, the remaining four tendrils sprung to life. And then, so too did six more tendrils that appeared out of absolutely nowhere, because that was not supposed to happen!

What?! I watched as the tendrils shook around and snapped at the girls. Two at Pinkie, two at Applejack, four at Rainbow Dash, and then two reaching for Fluttershy so fast that she let out a shriek and nearly fell out of her chair. Every one of those tendrils stopped millimeters from hitting any of them, but the effect was done.

A few of the girls were asking and checking if Fluttershy was alright. She and Applejack were sitting the closest to me, so it was doubly concerning as the tendrils had to nearly float over them to reach some of the others.

I didn’t do that! What did that?! I started pulling apart my notes, trying to figure out what was going on while simultaneously watching my side of the screen as the scene at the lodge played out. Redbrands leaped out of the rooms, all suddenly armed and ready to fight to the death. There were even two of them coming up from the basement to attack Thorn from the stairway.

It wasn’t as if these Redbrands were made up on the spot. They were instead changed from how they were acting. In truth, I had Redbrands in those side rooms, but they weren’t set up in their armor or weapons. Two of them were sleeping. One was preparing lunch! Some of the grunts in the main room weren’t even supposed to have their armor on. The Redbrands were taking shifts throughout the night since they weren’t sure if the outsiders were coming or not.

I kept scrambling around my stuff until I finally found it; my playbook for how I set up the combat. I didn’t have it down to a science. Just shorthand notes on how the bandits were set up and then how they’d act if they were overwhelmed. And the notes were pages I subconsciously wrote when I went into my world. Just like the girls with their character sheets.

But upon seeing them, I watched my notes actively changing in front of me. Still all in my handwriting, but now rewritten. And what was there was more difficult. Like what I would probably do if I were playing with a group of veterans.

It’s making it harder. Or at least trying. I put my notes down and assessed the battlefield. I mean, it’s not impossible. And it didn’t ADD Redbrands to the lodge. Just made them more competent. It’s still following what I laid out. This...This is still MY world it’s screwing with.

“Al...Al-Alright girls,” I said stiffly, summoning some false bravado. Something that Applejack and Sunset realized instantly. We had no choice but to roll with it. Even if their younger sisters knew about magic, they didn’t know about this magic. We couldn’t stop the game to convince them to leave now. Not when their characters were all in the same building as the Nothic. If we stepped away, that thing might charge them from the stairs.

The Nothic...Oh boy.

I cleared my throat. Later. That’s for later. Focus on now. “So. You had your turns,” I told them. “Now. It’s theirs.”

Their turn. Controlled by me. Meaning my turn. I might have to follow the magic’s rules, but it looks like the same goes in reverse. I can do this.

3rd Person POV
Hunting Lodge, Great Hall

A cluster of savage barks rang out from the stairwell behind the party, followed by a high-pitched yelp in pain that pulled everyone else’s attention away from the Redbrands for just a moment. That moment to which the Redbrands fully abused.

The half-elf curled her lip inward, letting out a sharp whistle that echoed across the lodge. At once, two doors flew open with four more Redbrands rushing out. Three on Rava’s side and one on Glemerr’s.

The lodge became a madhouse as everybody started swinging at once. From the stairs, where it started, Thorn snarled at one Redbrand who was just a few steps beneath her while the other one clambered up the railing to the side and got behind her, slicing at her rear thigh.

Ricven was the only one watching this and, with his violin’s music summoning small motes of light and sound, he soured one note and flung a mote into the head of Thorn’s assailant.

The Redbrand reared back, briefly looking back at Ricven while Thorn moved to the one still on the steps. Sinking her teeth into his ankle, Thorn yanked and knocked the man onto his back and down the stairs on a chorus of clanking metal and leather.

As for the rest of the room, the screaming outpaced the clashes of swords and hammers. Arrows and bolts from the Redbrands’ crossbows and Vareén littered the airspace for a moment, with a massive globule of fire joining in a moment later.

“No mercy ta the outsiders!” A Redbrand cried as their sword made it an inch or two past Rava’s flesh.

“Same in return!” Platick cried, putting more weight on the leg that didn’t get shot just in time to parry a Redbrand’s sword that threatened to take his other.

Rava brought up her shield, catching a second sword in time to thrust her hammer to the ribcage of the third Redbrand, who abandoned her charge and lept back in time to avoid getting crushed. The fourth Redbrand on her, however, found where the chainmail didn’t defend and slashed their sword against Rava’s skin, earning her more blood to match their cloaks.

“Miss Stostine!” Ricven shouted over his music while also minding his musical motes to follow along. “The wolf needs some backup!”

“On it!” Stostine drove her hand into the fire once more, not showing any sign of pain from the heat, and stole more of its fire while running back to Ricven. At the same time, Glemerr was dealing with two Redbrands herself. The one that burst out from the kitchen and the other that Vareén had her arrow trained on prior.

Both of them were hit by the onslaught, so Glemerr had plenty of time to ready herself. Taking a plate from the table beneath her, the half-orc shattered it against the first Redbrand’s sword, redirecting it into the second to let the two blades tangle up against each other.

As they did, Glem looked behind her. Two goons on Platick and four on Rava. The fire was between her and Rava, so it was harder to reach her. And she had no sight on Thorn, but the mages were helping her.

“Glem! You good?” Vareén shouted back.

Glemerr said nothing, just raised a thumb high as she stared the two Redbrands down. They were side by side and both looked like the wind was taken out of them. One good smack to either would send them to the floor.

I gotta get to the others. They need backup! I can’t waste my time with my back turned and focused on these two!

Frustrated, Glem hopped back to the opposite edge of the massive lodge table from the Redbrands and then a step to the side. But before the Redbrands could run around, Glemerr let out a guttural scream that startled the both of them.

And then she—

Pinkie threw her arms into the air and whooped, “NATURAL TWENTY AGAIN!”

“You’re kidding!” “WOO! Go Pinkie!” “Oh, that helps. That helps so much!”

Story, watching the girls all go from confident to concerned, to confident again, lit up as he stared down at his combat notes one more time. When it didn't bother trying to make the combat tougher again, he gave his notes a cocky grin.

Yeah, you can’t fight luck, can you? Dumb magic.

Story stood back up but, thinking better of it, held out his hand toward Pinkie. “I think, in this instance; Pinkie? Your minimum cleans out the first grunt. Describe how Glemerr does it.”

Pinkie, already rolling her three dice again, then rolled another D20. “Well, I wanna hit both of ‘em. Twelve to hit?”

“Twelve barely does it,” Story told her with a toothy grin. “And again, minimum damage drops him. How do you take out both Redbrands at once?”

With another whoop from Rainbow Dash, Pinkie stood up too and held out her hands as though to 'feel' the scene. “Okay. So, Glemerr gonna charge off the table at the first one with this flying kick to the face! Like wham! But! Before they fall down, Glemerr’s going to push off of them and then kick the second one in the face! Wa-pahh! Like she’s wall-running across both of them! Then! She leaps back onto the table, tucks into a roll, and starts sprinting around the tables in a lap towards Platick!”

“Much appreciated,” Applejack told her as Platick.

“And easily done!” Story nodded. And as he began to speak, the DM Screen from the girls’ side came to life visualizing Glemerr’s feat. “You kick off the first one right as she flies backward from the impact before the second one, you just break his nose altogether and send him flying too. To cover the gap between them and the table, you kick off the chair that’s thankfully anchored into the ground which gives you the kind of thrust you need to make it back. You then take that lap, rounding the tables like a track before spotting the crossbowman who was in the middle of reloading another bolt for Platick. Only for him to hear—”

“AH’M COMIN’ PLATIIIIICK!” Pinkie started fake sprinting in place while facing Story. She even went as far as to pump her arms while the classroom started laughing along with her.

Story quickly took that as his queue to method act the man, pretending to load an imaginary crossbow as he kept looking up at Glemerr. Wholly unaware that the DM Screen was mimicking his motions as both he and the Redbrand on the screen got more terrified at the hulking half-orc charging him.

“Wai—No! No! Shi—Wait! Ergh! Almost—you—Ah! NOO! AHH!”

The Redbrand’s cries were ignored. The thundering pounds of Glemerr stampeding across the tables and sent plates, mugs, and silverware clattering all over until she finally dove off the tables into a haymaker against the unprepared Redbrand.

Before the crack! of the man’s skull against her knuckle joints sounded out, Platick deftly ducked away from the distraction. He dodged around the Redbrand that came at him with a sword and forced his injured leg to follow behind as he jumped down and landed beside Rava as she finally managed to send a Redbrand to the floor with a gut slam of her hammer.

“Watch out!” Platick swung his shortsword at one Redbrand, cutting into their neck and killing them as their blade came inches away from Rava’s neck. Then, with his other hand, he flicked another dagger into a second Redbrand’s calf to draw their attention.

“Why thank ye kindly,” Rava grinned, even amongst the madness. Then, sailing over her head was an arrow that caught the injured Redbrand’s temple, sending him against the wall with a thud. “An’ thank ya too, Vareén!”

“‘Ow we handlin’ dem stairs?!” Glemerr shouted as she squared off against the Redbrand that had originally gone for Platick with a sword while Rava and Platick forced the paladin’s last attacker to go on the defensive.

“I’d say pretty handled,” Ricven returned as Stostine launched her Fire Bolt right as the man that toppled down the stairs finally came back into view. He only managed to spot the two casters for a moment before his face was wreathed in flames. He flailed about for a moment, forgetting that he was still on a staircase before he was sent down once more. This time not getting back up.

“Urrrgh! I’m not dying to a mutt!” The second man from the stairs. Shook his head violently, watching as Thorn’s visage split into three forms of itself. In anger, the man tried cleaving through all of them. But as Ricven’s violin note kept pounding in his brain, even that became impossible to manage. Thorn ducked below the blade and Ricven gave out a single cackle as he kept into his song.

“Oh, but dyin’ to a dog’s all you deserve,” Ricven told him. “Could think a’ no better death fer a brain-dead, dog-hearted wastrel.”

The man felt something in him break as froth choked up from his mouth and one of his eyes started to roll back in his head. The last thing the man managed to spot out of his good eye was the three overlapping wolves lunging for his jugular.

Back in the great hall, Platick and Rava were taking turns trying to swipe at their last attacker. Platick would try tagging their shoulder, with Rava covering his retreat when the half-elf tried jabbing their sword into his lungs. Then, Platick would roll around Rava like a pillar and come back at the bandit with a sword of his own only to fall into a stalemate as their blades cut against each other.

With Glemerr, it was a smoother fight. This Redbrand was still fresh to the fight and was now fully prepared for Glemerr, but she was better. She took it a little more carefully, side-stepping his sword swings and then returning jabs and kicks of her own only for the man to dodge or threaten her hands in return.

Vareén and Rava tried to cut in where they could, but it only added to the dying mayhem as Rava either became a target or swung wide enough that both the Redbrand and Platick had to dive away.

As for Vareén, Glemerr never gave her a clear shot. She did that on purpose. When Vareén finally found a straight shot through the man’s heart, Glemerr pivoted to put herself in the way.

“What’re you doing?!” Vareén demanded. “Glemerr!”

“Dis is mah fight!” Glem shouted back. “If ya wanna help, no killin’ dis one!”

“Aw, keepin’ ta a’ code, are ya?” The Redbrand jeered. “Cute. Ya think yer good deeds pay back what yer kin did all over Alder?”

Glemerr growled while her heavy uppercut went wide, earning a near cut across her abdomen. “You leave dem outta this!”

But the Redbrand only grinned. “Touch a nerve, did Ah?”

“Glem, move!” By now, Stostine had reentered the main room, summoning another blast of flame to strike the man. “These people are demented! There’s no reasoning with them.”

“She’s gotta point,” he kept mocking. “Ya can’t keep stickin’ ta yer code forevah. After all.” He took his sword in both hands and tried to slash Glemerr with a massive horizontal swipe. But she hopped back, keeping her hands up to get back at him. “Ya don’t wanna end up like Mord, do ya?”

The half-orc’s mask did well to hide her face, but the change in posture gave her away still. “Wh-What? How'd you—”

“Enough.” Stostine eyes, as well as her flames, soured into a deep blue before she held up her hand, letting the flame shoot out of her palm like a gunshot. The bandit saw it coming and tried to hold up his sword to block the blast.

But it was useless. The fire instead was caught in Glemerr’s palm, incinerating her hand for a brief moment as the half-orc grunted from the heat. The Redbrand, bewildered by the show of mercy, wasn’t ready as Glemerr, hand still coated in blue fire, backhanded the man.

He was sent sliding against the floor, his head pounding against one of the tables that was brought into the lodge. The sword fell from his grasp at one point and while he tried to look for it, all he saw was Glemerr looming over him.

One of her eyes stared out at him from the tatters of his allies’ cloaks wrapped across her face. It was an onyx black that seemed to pull light into it. The other eye, in contrast, looked as though it were a small beacon shining down on the man like a spotlight.

“You don’t know what yer sayin’, punk,” Glemerr murmured at him as she focused on dying blue embers on her hand. Before they expired, the blue desaturated in color and condensed itself until it was an orb of blackness that clung to Glemerr’s hand.

Behind her, Platick caught the other Redbrand’s blade between his dagger and shortsword, hiking all the metal high above the woman’s head so that Rava had a clear shot to drive her hammer into their chest. The slam knocked the Redbrand onto her knees, coughing and heaving until Platick knocked her out with the butt of his dagger.

With her taken care of, everyone save for Thorn and Ricven was free to watch as Glemerr put her foot on top of the Redbrand’s knee. And then crushed.

“Who was it?” Glemerr’s voice rumbled low. “Who told you about Mord?”

“Fuck you!” He shouted back, wrenching his leg back and forth as he tried to resist. “All of you! I hope that crazy necromancer takes yer bones and has ‘em burn down whatever holes you crawled out o—Oooh! Ah! Arghgghhghhh!”

He stopped talking when Glemerr’s hand, still within the darkness, grabbed the man’s throat and picked him up. Then, as he screamed in this hollow, distorted breath, she brought him just above her head and then forced his body through the battered table behind him.

The table shattered beneath the force and Glemerr spiked him back to the floor, backing up as she and the others watched the man twitch and gasp for breath before finally, he passed out. Alive, unconscious, but certainly scared as the darkness around Glemerr slowly faded away.

Author's Note

And the first of many combats to come end in victory!

For these next couple of chapters, as the party goes through the dungeon, I need a bit more time to go through the encounters. Since I'm juggling seven character sheets and all the monsters at once, drawing out the maps, and documenting the rolls and damages as I go, it takes a long time for these.

So much so, that I ended up having to rush writing the actual chapter itself. Most of what you see here was officially written these last two days. The rest of the time was either real-life shenanigans or simulating the combats for this and what's ahead. I didn't get to edit this as much as I had hoped.

It'll going to be another two weeks before the next chapter. I want to give myself time to clean up these combats a little better. Which means, for here more than ever, please let me know what you think! Any criticisms on what I can do better or what worked for combats really does help to improve them in the future!

That said, I will see you guys for the next chapter!

Cheers,
-Zeke

(48) Mind The Mind Reader

Ravathyra Dagarkin’s POV
Hunting Lodge Entry Hall

Glemerr stood over the last Redbrand, fists trembling in fury. Her shoulders were hiked up and she was turned away from us, making it impossible to tell her feelings. Not that it mattered. We were too focused on the dark energy pulsing off of her hands.

Slowly, I approached her. Platick and I were the closest ones to her, but we were cut a few times. And the pain only seemed to become more obvious the closer I got to Glemerr.

“Uh, Glem?” I spoke softly. Her body heaved with each breath like an angry dog and she made no response to hearing me. “Y’awrite there?”

“...” Glemerr glanced down at her hand. Then back at the man. His throat looked somewhat dried up. Skin flaked off him, and he breathed unevenly from beneath the shattered table. “...How’d he know?”

“...Know?” I blinked.

“He knew.” Glemerr stepped back from him and then looked back at her hand. She let go of the tension in her arm and upon opening her hand the lightless space around it dispelled. “He knew ‘bout Mord.”

“They knew a lot more than that,” Platick told her. Behind me, he took out the small coin he had tied around his neck. “They knew about my platinum piece.”

“They know where I’m from,” Ricven muttered darkly. “I ain’t even tell any a’ y’all about that.”

“Touched by the divine..." Stostine folded her arms into her sleeves. “That shouldn’t...that’s concerning.”

“Concerning?” Vareén stared at the nearest Redbrand body. By the look on her face, she was checking to see if it was dead. “More than that. Why do a bunch of thugs know us?”

“The doppelganger,” Platick reminded her. “I don’t get it entirely, but they read my mind. They probably read all of our minds when we met them.”

“And none of us noticed?” I looked around. “They can jus’ do tha’? Not even the magic folk can feel it?”

“Story?” Rarity looked at him. “Would Ricven know? Like with the Nothic?”

“Yeah, or any of us?” Rainbow asked. “Why did they know all of that?”

“All a’ what?” From the back of the room, Applebloom, the other Crusaders, and Button all looked on in total confusion. “Ah don’ get it. Did them bad guys say somethin’ in all that?”

“What are you talking about?” Rarity blinked. “Everything that they said to our characters. Which, speaking of, Story. Did you have to—”

“Leave it up to your imagination?” Story cut in, making Rarity pause. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t want to say it all out loud with your sisters here.”

“Out loud?” Sunset furrowed her brow. “But, didn’t you?”

“I don’t think so?” Ms. Cheerilee said in just as much confusion as the girls. “Not that we could hear, anyway.”

“Yeah. Besides, our last game was over the weekend. Only Big Mac and Gilda were there for that. Not your sisters.” Story turned back towards the younger ones. “The bandits know the character’s secrets. Assume if I say the bandits are insulting or jeering at them, that’s what the girls are talking about.”

“So, then, you're all pretending?” Sweetie Belle leaned her head to the side. “Why not just say what the bandits are saying out loud?”

Story slowly turned to look at Ms. Cheerilee. And once the Crusaders couldn’t see his face, he winked at her. “I dunno. Teacher? Do I have permission to go all out on insults?”

Ms. Cheerilee stared back, as did the girls at the table. For different reasons, they started to figure out what Story was getting at. So, Ms. Cheerilee played along.

She shook her head. “This is still a school club. Describing violence is one thing. You can go without the language.”

“None of you hear it,” Twilight muttered, making Sunset and the others slowly reassess what they thought they saw and heard from Story.

“It’s because we’re kids, isn’t it?” Scootaloo pouted. “We can handle it!”

“Ah’d rather y’all not,” Applejack told them, partly relieved to know they were oblivious. “We’re fightin’ a buncha crooks. We don’t need that much realism.”

“Story?” Pinkie leaned forward, attention still fully on the game. “Can we make those checks? Why do they know about Mord?”

“Right.” Story nodded. “What all of you know is that shapeshifters are largely hated across Leodaav. Centuries ago in this kingdom, there was a witch hunt for them. That is, until everybody started accusing or attacking their enemies and neighbors out of selfish reasons or paranoia. Due to this, shapeshifter hunts were outlawed. Even screaming ‘shapeshifter’ in a public area is the equivalent of a public disturbance and can result in jail time.

“Somewhat common knowledge to everyone born and raised in Leodaav, meaning not Ravathyra or Thorn Wielder,” Story went on. The magic then began masking what he said to those respective players. “Is that shapeshifters are incredibly skilled at disguising as and behaving like somebody else. Thus why everyone started accusing people like crazy. One myth goes that shapeshifters are capable of reading the minds of their victims. Obviously from Platick’s encounter, that myth holds water. However, if you want to know more, then for all Leodaavians roll me either Arcana or History checks. Whichever you would think your character would better use.”

All the girls who had the option did so, calling out which one they were using before the dice clattered. But for Pinkie, she looked over to AJ. “Can I use the lucky one?”

“Huh? Uh, sure.” Applejack passed it over. She had the die in her hand already, almost rolling it by instinct. Pinkie let the die turn into a bubblegum pink rubber die and let it bounce in front of her as the sound of dice clattered from the others.

As they all rolled, Story looked at Vareén and rolled his jaw a bit. I wonder. Will it cover this? “Vareén?”

Only Twilight glanced up. No one else seemed to notice. “Advantage.”

Twilight quietly nodded and plucked a second die to roll. Either no one spotted it or the magic hid her sleight.

After everyone had their rolls, Twilight’s failed to flash. She knew by now she wasn’t going to get anything, even given Vareén’s background. For Sunset, Rarity, and Applejack, on the other hand, theirs flickered in success.

But for Pinkie, she reacted differently. Unlike herself, in fact. Her hands curled into fists and her brow furrowed into a tense stare at the die as very few moments of life flashed through her mind. Thoughts of the grown-ups around her warning her what shapeshifters were. The kinds of stories they’d tell the orphans to keep them from sneaking out at night.

Pinkie recognized those grown-ups. Those orcs. Most of them were dead now. That just made her more infuriated. So much so that Fluttershy was trying to gently console her out of concern.

“Fifteen.” “Sixteen,” Applejack and then Rarity called out. They felt like they were somewhat close to failing that.

Sunset, on the other hand, was confident in her roll. “Twenty-one.”

Story nodded, getting up from his seat to go around to them for their private answers. After Rarity, he stopped short beside Sunset. Awkward.

Sunset grimaced as well but stared down by the rest of the group, the two proceeded to whisper at one another and Story moved on.

“It’s not magic,” Platick clarified. “Doppelganger’s have this...ability. It lets them hear the surface thoughts of whoever they’re dealing with.”

“But they can’t dig further than that,” Ricven continued. “Meanin’, if ya don’t think about it, they can’t find out. So any secrets ya got buried deep are fine. Jus’ don’t think about ‘em.”

“Well now that yer sayin’ it aloud,” I murmured, trying to force my mind from cataloging every secret I have. “Though. Good ta know.”

“There is one other fact in this regard.” Stostine approached the central tables and sat down in one of the chairs, calming herself. “They often keep their long-term victims alive.”

“What?” Vareén gave her an odd look. “How does someone like you know that?”

Stostine took a slow breath as the rest of us turned our attention over. “I saw one once. In a hearing.”

“A hearing?” Platick frowned. “What’s a shapeshifter’s hearing look like? They’re kill-on-sight monsters.”

“Not in every case.” Stostine shook her head. “Due to their history, some doppelgangers work in groups. In one case, one such group tried taking over a traveling caravan. My father was invited to attend the hearing. It was customary since the city it occurred in was only a day or so travel from our home. He brought me along.”

“Was it found not guilty?” Ricven joked with a snicker. “What difference does a hearin’ do?”

“It decides whether to deliver a swift death.” Stostine stared the gnome down. He stopped talking. “The goal of the court was to make them reveal what happened to the original victims. Those in attendance who were not part of the case were kept more than sixty feet away. To not have their minds read.”

I walked over beside her chair. “Were the victims found?”

“Some of them.” Stostine nodded. “They had been held for months, separated from one another, and tortured emotionally until they recalled whatever memories the doppelganger’s wanted. Like dogs. In a report I read, when the guards came to rescue them, none of the survivors believed it. They thought it was another ruse. Even when they reunited family members, they refused to look at one another. One even attacked their husband out of fury and had to be contained.”

Vareén grimaced. Ricven shook his head and Platick held the bridge of his nose in contempt. Every one of us reacted to Stostine’s words with nothing but disgust. The only one who didn’t have a choice to react was Thorn since she was dragging the Redbrand bodies out of the stairwell and into the main room. But even then, she stayed solemn.

More than any of us, Glemerr walked back over to the first group of Redbrands she had dealt with. Two of them were still unconscious from the head trauma, but one was shifting around, trying to drag herself away.

“Glem, what’re ya doin’?” but my words didn’t matter. Instead, I walked over as Glemerr picked up the woman, who let out this weak yelp in fear.

“Why?” Glemerr pulled the bandit real close. Close enough that there was no choice but for her to hear Glem’s words. “Why are you doin’ this? Any of you?! A necromancer. A demon. A shapeshifter? Why are you sidin’ with a buncha freaks?!”

The lady struggled in vain against Glemerr’s hand. Glem wasn’t crushing her windpipe or anything, but she had her fingers wrapped well around the woman’s collarbone. Poised to throw her if needed.

“Glem, settle down now,” I warned her, trying to move her attention away from the woman. “They’re battered. No sense breakin’ ‘em anymore. Take a breath, lass.”

“Nah.” Glemerr shook her head. Her voice stayed very low. “Dese losers ain’t a gang. Dey’re hurtin’ good people! And sidin’ wit’ all de bad ones! Ah wanna know why?! What makes dem think dat they’re in the righ’ fer any a this?!”

I watched Glem’s grip tighten more, making the woman flinch and claw at her for some relief. Half-orcs were generally stronger than humans. More durable too. If Glem wasn’t careful, she might end up breaking the girl’s bones.

“It. It wasn’t my first choice,” the girl stammered painfully. “It’s not like I...I came here fer this! It was either work or die! I swear! Puh-please lemme go!”

“Fear ain’t enough at this rate,” Ricven shouted from across the room. “The hideout’s in the woods. Yer kind got drunk on the standard down at the Sleepin’ Giant plenty. You really think we’re gonna believe you were under constant watch that whole time?”

“A-At first, yes!” She shouted back. “That’s ho-ow-ow-ow-oouarghh—!” She clawed again at Glemerr’s hand as her grip started to tense further.

“Glem, that’s enough!” I reached out, grabbing Glemerr’s wrist. It was a boulder compared to the size of my own, but it made Glemerr come back to us and she dropped the girl.

She fell right on her back and clutched at her shoulder. From the earlier injuries and now this, she was never going anywhere soon. Despite that, I picked her up and walked her over to one of the chairs.

“Can I use my Lay Hands on her?” Rainbow asked Story. “I don’t have to use ‘em all, right?”

“Wait, Rainbow Dash.” Sunset looked at her. “If we do that, she’ll be able to move again. We can’t let any—”

“Do you really think she’s gonna be a threat at one point?” Rainbow challenged her. “Besides, I got ten of ‘em. That is how Lay Hands works, right Story?”

Story nodded. “It is.” Besides, I don’t think the game will argue against me saying she full-on surrenders.

As if to check, Story looked around the screen and notes ahead of him. Rather than wink away, an empty spot on his notepad began to fill itself in. All about the new NPC.

I’ll take that as a yes. He looked back up. “It’s your call, Ravathyra. What do you want to do?”

Sunset stared between the two of them, but let it be. She was outvoted.

“Here. Lemme help.” I removed my gauntlet and softly reached out for her shoulder. The woman tried to pull back instantly but flinched and yelped in pain again. “No, no. Ah ain’t gonna hurt ya. Swear it. No point in it, anyhow.”

Slowly, the woman accepted my action. And when my hand met her wound, I focused only a little power forward. The warming red light spread across her flesh, repairing it and going inward to help ease the bone and bruising. All the other injuries remained, but at least her collar was right as rain.

“You...W-Why?” She blinked.

“Yeah. Why, exactly?” Ricven asked behind me.

“We’re here ta stop the true villains. We donnae need any more extreme than tha’,” I said to both of them. “Yer not gonna get off with a warnin’. You’ll still pay fer yer crimes. But torture ain’t necessary. And neither is rage.”

That last part I said to Glemerr, who recoiled slightly. The mask was unnerving to look at, but one look at the eyes within told me she was calming down.

“I...But, we.” The woman struggled to keep her tongue in her gob.

“Would ya rather we be nasty?” I told her with a small smile. “‘Cause ya’ve seen that we’re very capable of it.”

“N-No! No, nice is good. Nice works.” I saw her eyes trail past me to Glemerr and then one of the others behind me for a moment. Judging by the burnt clothes she was sporting, likely she was scared of Stostine. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” I stood up and nodded. “But my friend here did make a good point. Why not run when ya had the chance?”

“It’s..." The girl sighed. “When they first bring you in, they convince you that if you run away, they’ll drag you back. And they show you by pointing at that bastard’s experiments. All the skulls. Some of them were people that made a run for it. Most are people that tried fighting us.”

“The ‘spider skulls,’ right?” Platick called out. “The Redpans locked up in the town jail called them that.”

“That’s what most of us call them,” she admitted. “We don’t know how it works, but Glasstaff takes people’s skulls and turns them into these weird...spiders. It’s like their teeth turn into legs or something. It’s...Every time I look at them, I just move my tongue over my teeth. Some of the folks who have been in longer said they watched him make a spider skull with a living person’s head before.”

“Did he really though?” Stostine asked plainly. “Creating an undead from a still living target is...very powerful magic.”

“No idea.” She shook her head. “The story’s not exactly straight with ‘em all, but the imagery alone made me not want to test it. Same with some of the others.”

Vareén started walking over. “Are all of the thugs up here like you? Just scared?”

“N-No.” She shook her head. “Maybe like a fifth? The rest either joined up either because they hated casters or came in because of Stalwart. Most of the people like me usually try running. And then...Spider skulled.”

“Lovely.” Ricven looked at the rest. “Well. Sure don’t sound anythang like regular skeletons. Hope nobody’s disappointed.”

“Not especially.” Platick stretched his leg a bit, trying to get over the wound. Then he also joined us over beside the lass. “Look. We have three goals here. Your boss, the fissure demon, and the prisoners. If you want to stay up here without us knocking you out for good measure, tell us what to expect down there.”

“Well..." The girl slowly sat up in her chair, only to stop when Platick got closer. “...Wait. You’re...You.”

“Brilliant deduction,” Platick told her with an eye roll.

“No. I mean.” She glanced at me and subtly slid in such a way that she put herself between me and Platick. “You came here.”

Platick narrowed his eyes. “Explain.”

“L-Last night.” She looked around at us. “You were here last night, covered in blood and wounds. You’re the one who told us all of your secrets.”

“You?” Glemerr looked up at Platick. “What does she mean you?”

“She means the shapeshifter.” Platick stomped forward, making the girl lean back.

“Platick,” I said in a warning tone.

“I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Ah know. But the way yer cloddin’ up to her like that’s got her worried. Whatever that doppelganger did as you clearly left an impression.”

“Doppelgan..." The lass trailed off, getting this look in her eyes. “...Oh.”

“Really?” Vareén glared at her. “We keep mentioning doppelgangers and shapeshifters and you only catch on now?”

“I didn’t know that was the shapeshifter!” She defended. “I thought the shapeshifter was something else from the Field Baron, not us!”

“Field Baron?” Vareén, and the rest of us, perked up. “Talk about that more. Who is he? Why does he want outsiders kept away? Why’s he hiring all of you?”

I looked back at her. “Anything ya know is a great help ta us, lass.”

She nodded. “Well, for one, I’ve never met him. Nobody has. Not even Glasstaff. Whoever he is, all his orders come by messengers. Plain-looking people. Humans. Glasstaff tells us that they identify themselves with gems.”

“Gems?” Stostine fiddled with her sleeve for a second and revealed a small purple-ish gem. About the size of the end of my thumb. “Like this?”

The woman shook her head. “No. Bigger. Palm-sized, about. And usually blue.” Stostine started to return the gem as the woman went on. “The letter gets taken straight to Glasstaff. Then they either wait to go back to the Field Baron with another letter or leave immediately. Depends on what their boss has to say, I guess.”

“The one that had my face.” Platick gestured to himself. “Did they have a gem?”

“No.” The woman shook her head. “He had a pair of gem glasses. Looked kinda stupid, but the older Redbrands said that was how they noticed the third captain.”

“The glasses.” Platick rubbed his face. “I forgot about those dumb things.”

“What about ‘em?”

“The doppelganger used them on me,” he admitted. “They’re some sorta magic. Almost made me agree with her.”

“Heh.” Ricven shook his head with a ghostly smirk. “Sounds like some a’ my magic.”

“Well if that doppelganger’s one of Glasstaff’s captains, that means this Field Baron’s been working with Glasstaff awhile,” Vareén determined. “Maybe from the beginning.”

“Anything else?” Platick asked her.

“Well.” The woman thought for a moment. “The Field Baron also sent the bugbears and goblins. Had them patrol around the town to make sure no adventurers were camping outside. They’re another reason why a lot of us don’t try to run away.”

“Do you have a clear number of ‘em? Yer buddy Ulrich didn’t exactly have a strict range.”

She shook her head after a few seconds of thinking. “Not really. Maybe about five or six bugbears and something over ten goblins? They don’t all stay here, though. Only like half the bugbears and a couple of goblins.”

“The rest keep a perimeter,” Vareén figured. And Thorn let out a bark before nodding towards Vareén. “Right. You saw that firsthand.”

Then, Glemerr finally spoke up. She still sounded frustrated, but not nearly as angry as before. “Are dere more downstairs?”

The woman took a short breath and again tried putting me between Glem and herself. Only then did she nod. “Yeah. The doppelganger guy had them set up a blockade to the back entrance. They expected you guys to come in through there.”

“Ya hear that Platick?” Ricven smiled. “Good thinkin’ chagrin’ up here.”

“Yeah. Guess the doppelganger didn’t have me completely figured out.” Platick glanced over towards the room with the stairs. “If we wanna keep this advantage though, we should probably move. No doubt they’ll have someone check up here or run up to grab something sooner or later.”

“Which means we keep marchin’.” Glemerr started to walk. “Let’s finish ‘em up.”

“Wait.” Stostine stood up from her chair. “What about Platick and Rava? You two took some bad cuts.”

“Not ta mention Thorn,” I added before looking to the wolf. “Ah see the blood on ya, lass.”

Thorn shook her head at me and barked a little.

Vareén blinked a couple of times. “Uh, what?”

“Somethin’ tells me she can’t elaborate without sheddin’ the fur,” Ricven told us. “If she says she’s right as snow, then I don’t see why we doubt her on it.”

“As rain.” Vareén rolled her eyes.

“What do ya say Platick?” I looked at him. “How ya feelin’?”

“Like I got stabbed in the leg,” he said neutrally. “But I can still move. Faster than a skeleton, I think. If we run into one or more bugbears though, I don’t think I can say the same. You?”

“Hmm.” I did some light stretching, instantly feeling some of the wounds punishing me for it. “Mighta taken a few a’ the cuts meant fer you. We got a potion sittin’ anywhere?”

“Lemme take a look atcha, Lady Rava.” Ricven strolled over, causing the others to wait a second. “Where’s the worst of it?”

“Mostly me arms.” I unstrapped one of the plates around my biceps and pulled it away, watching with everyone else as a small puddle of blood that was pooling within poured out. “Oh. That ain’t good.”

“Not at all. Here, hold it out. This should be able ta right ya.” I obeyed and watched as Ricven pulled out his violin once more and tuned a few of the chords.

“Are we gonna have ta wait a whole song?” Vareén crossed her arms.

“Fer this paper cut? Please.” Once it was in tune, Ricven pulled out his bow next and dragged his tongue against the bowstring. It left me somewhat disgusted, but when he brought the bow to his strings, the simple and light melody rang out of it.

With each strum, more and more light wafted from the instrument, forming an orb above him full of warming light. Once it was the size of a small watermelon, the orb floated down to my arm like a bubble, popped, and wrapped itself up like a bandage. When the light faded, so too did any evidence of the wound, blood and all.

“Oh. Oh, that feels heavenly.” I started twisting my arm left and right. At first lightly, and then more. “Thank ya Ricven. I think this’ll do just fine.”

“Happy ta help.”

“Platick?” Stostine looked over to him and his leg next. “I have a smaller form of healing, should you need it. I do not mind.”

Platick gave her a cautious look. “Save it. I’m good.” Then, he looked back towards the woman. “What are we doing with her?”

“Tie her up and throw her in a closet?” Ricven offered.

"That works," Vareén agreed.

“W-Woah, hold on.” She scuttled up, ready to try and leap out of her chair but the myriad of other wounds on her kept her from doing so. “I-I answered everything! I’ll answer more! Isn’t that worth something?!”

“Sure it is!” Ricven nodded with a toothy smile. “It’s worth being tied up in a closet and not killed. Helped us err not, yer still a crook in the woods. Ya tried takin’ our lives and aidin’ the bad guys. Ya ain’t gettin’ away with that on our watch.”

“But I...well...Alright, fine,” she surrendered.

“Hey.” I walked back to her side. “What’s yer name, lass?”

“Fulna.”

“Fulna, look at it this way. Even if ya stayed in here like we’d ask ya, which, let’s be real. We all know you’ll make a run fer it ta not get arrested.” Even Fulna nodded along at that. “So, we’re gonna tie ya up. However, if we just left ya in here and one a the other Badbrands marched in, they’d see you tied up and might figure out ya gave up.”

“You would not be the first one to do so,” Stostine jumped in. “Ulrich did and he’s in his own cell because the rest of them want him dead for it. Same with a Dwarf who spared my life and retreated up here.”

“Oh, Yernal?” Fulna glanced over. “Yeah. He came in last night. Right before your friend— err. The doppelganger showed up.”

Sunset’s eyes went wide. He went back to the lodge?! Story, what is wrong with you?! Why?!

“Is he alive?!” Sunset leaned forward, staring daggers at Story while her hands shook in anger.

At that, however, Story nodded, expecting her reaction. So, he continued speaking as Fulna. “Yeah. The doppelganger had some of the others drag him into the prison cells. They thought it was better if we dealt with him later. The guy was pretty certain you were all going to come up here after last night.”

“And that’s it? He wasn’t harmed?” Sunset asked again.

“Not that I could tell. I haven’t been down there to check, but he wasn’t trying to pull his weapon on them or anything. He was just shouting warnings at us. Which, I’m starting to think we should’ve listened to.”

“Sounds like your loss,” Platick told her. “Look. After we’re done, people like you and that Dwarf will get turned in with the rest of them. I have no doubt Rava will say something for you. But until then, the closet’s your best bet.”

“Right. Okay, I’m going.” Slowly, Fulna stood up and, with my help, I brought her over towards a storage room off to the side. Once I got her in, I had her present her hands and I got out some of my rope and cut off just enough to bind her hands to a nearby beam.

“Will you actually?” She asked me.

“Actually what?”

“Put in a word for me. Those others don’t exactly seem too thrilled about it. I still think that orc wants to kill me.”

“Truthfully? If she did, she would’ve done it the first time she clocked ya. She pulls her punches.”

Once her hands were secured, Fulna nursed her jaw. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

“I saw her take a spear from a bugbear and drive through his foot, bone an’ all, and pen ‘em to a rock floor. Trust me. She pulls her punches.”

I finished the ropes and left her just enough of a lead to let her reach the door. “Should ya hear anyone other than us, hold the door closed. Secure it with the rope if ya gotta. And stay safe? Aye?”

Fulna looked like she wanted to debate the idea, but gave in. “Got it.”

“Good. Be back soon. Promise.” I stepped out and closed the door. We didn’t brace it with a chair or anything. We didn’t want to clue anyone in that something was inside. “Awrite, friends. We clear ta go?”

“Some more than others.” Vareén jerked a thumb towards the stairway downstairs. “Glemerr’s already halfway down the steps.”

“And ya didnae stop her?!”

“She didn’t look like she wanted advice.”

I matched her bored gaze with one of my own for a moment before charging after the stairs. “Glem, wait fer me at least!”

From behind me, I heard Platick groan. “So much for stacking up as a group. Everyone follow them. Thorn? Help me bring in the guards from outside. We’ll go in after.”

Author's Note

A smaller chapter compared to the usual, especially given the break, but from here things will get a bit better in terms of release. And, easy to say, the next chapter will be up next Saturday!

Also, just as a heads-up, there's certainly gonna be some heavy moments in this dungeon. But just like a regular game, some moments ended up goofy from the dice rolls. It might end up back and forth on tone, so I'm trying to work on it.

One last thing before I sign off. Should anyone want to, here's a map of the Redbrand Hideout. It's stylized from the original, but it's the same layout. The party will enter from the bottom right of the map.

That's all from me this chapter. Let me know what you liked or didn't as it really does help me out! Thank you and for those of you with me in the US, I hope you had a Happy 4th!

Cheers,
-Zeke

(50) The Deadly Undead

Story Spinner’s POV
Ms. Cheerilee’s Classroom
4:12 PM

“Girls? Roll initiative.”

Seven pairs of hands reached for the dice ahead of them, quickly rolling them across the table’s surface in a combined clatter. Some dice skittered across the map while others danced around in front of them. As they started counting up their rolls, I turned my gaze to the game’s magic taking hold of the supplies in front of me.

The first was the map itself. I had already peeled away the paper hiding the crypt and placed the miniatures around. Drawn in marker were three massive sarcophagi against the walls near the center of the rectangular chamber. The magic took over while I erased and redrew the green boxes acting as the massive copper doors.

The stone mosaic on the floor gained the resolution of an old PlayStation game, with small bones and dried blood splatters adding emphasis on the chamber's gruesome history. The magic gave the sarcophagi and doors depth, clearly defining movement paths and potential cover.

The magic couldn’t form an entire room, only rising an inch or two off the map’s surface before evaporating. If the magic were stronger, it might craft a roof and hide the interior, but that wouldn’t make sense. The illusions helped them understand my scribbles, and hiding everything would defeat the purpose.

What it did reveal, however, were the loculi built into the walls and the doors on the opposite side of the chamber. We could distinguish the magic’s low-res stone walls and wooden doors easily.

Tough fight number one, I thought, observing as most of the girls stared back at me or discussed last-minute strategies. I was glad to hear them conserving abilities for later; it meant they were learning what to expect, despite this being only their second dungeon.

While they spoke, I quickly rolled initiative for the skeletons and spider skulls. Tendrils appeared for each, vying for the girls' attention. But unlike the Redbrands’ tendrils, these looked visibly different.

Typically, tendrils appeared as magic-colored snakes coiling and feinting toward the girls. Some were color-coded, such as the doppelganger’s or Stalwart's. These undead tendrils, however, were rigid and segmented, refusing to contract or stretch. A sickly green necrotic aura surrounded them, signaling necromancy.

Four of the seven tendrils had more detail. They were still segmented but had long, thin limbs branching off like a disturbed pine tree. Each limb, made up of two sections, flicked and clawed towards the girls sporadically. A few of them gagged or shrank back, clearly understanding the spider-like nature of these limbs.

“Alright then.” I reached for my pencil and readied my notes. Even if the magic take notes for me, I preferred doing it myself. And so, it let me. “Anyone above twenty?”

After a brief pause, Twilight raised her hand. “Twenty exactly.”

“‘Kay. Fifteen and up?” Sunset and Applejack spoke up next, and I added their names to the list.

“Fifteen to ten?”

“Eleven,” Rarity told me.

“Ten,” Rainbow nodded.

After recording it, I looked straight at the last two members of the group. “And for you two?”

“Six!” “Six,” Pinkie and Fluttershy said in unison, with only their tones making the word split apart.

I glanced at my roll for the skeletons. Six. With a hum, I was about to break the tie, but the game quickly did it for me. The notecard that handled the party’s statistics shifted its text, revealing everyone’s Dexterity Score.

Glemerr: 17 DEX

Thorn Wielder [Wolf]: 15 DEX

Skeleton: 14 DEX

Makes that easier, I thought, writing the three names in order. “Okay! Top of the round, Vareén! The moment Glemerr throws those doors open, you spot a corpse rising from the stone sarcophagus. It has a rusted shortsword in one hand and is draped in rotting leather scraps as it looks across at all of you.”

3rd Person’s POV
Underground Crypt

The skeleton emerged from its stony box, entirely devoid of muscle or flesh. Where joints should direct their bodies to move, a sinister green energy appeared, filling in the blanks with an unsettling glow.

This power flickered in and out, only existing when needed. Parts of the skeleton not in motion remained unnervingly rigid, like a mannequin held in place by screws.

As the entire body enveloped itself in green energy to clamber out of the box, a chorus of rattling bones echoed from the northern half of the chamber, hidden behind the copper doors. The sound grew louder with each passing moment.

Vareén, poised to attack from a distance, sucked in a sharp breath and shouted. “Pluvv!”

Instantly, veins beneath her skin surged to the surface, especially around her eyes and ears. The spell enhanced a human’s senses to a supernatural level, but with Vareén’s physiology, it went a step further. Her gaze locked onto the skeleton, analyzing its every weakness—chipped bones, worn cartilage, and patches of mold and rot. A clear vulnerability lay in its spine.

She released her arrow, watching as it buried itself into the skeleton’s ribcage. Vertebrae exploded away, nearly severing the undead in two. But as it smashed against the sarcophagus, necrotic magic solidified into makeshift vertebrae, keeping it together. The magic was already strained to its limit.

“Platick!” Rava readied her shield. “What’s the plan?”

Platick, eyeing the approaching skeleton, drew his shortsword and knife. “They’re mindless. No tactics. Rush ‘em.”

“Right! Ah’m wit’ ya!” Glemerr steadied herself, and Thorn let out a loud bark.

As the three charged forward, Stostine hesitated. “Wait! Isn’t the hall a choke point?!”

Rava pulled back to protect the mage, while Ricven bumped into Stostine from behind, expecting her to run. Straightening his collar, he glared up at her. “Look behind us, girl! We’re trapped in front of a giant hole! This ain’t a choke point, it’s a dead end! If they come ta us, we’ll be walled!”

“Cornered,” Vareén corrected, readying another arrow. If they were staying here, so would she.

Platick’s team quickly cleared the crypt’s space. On either side, small stone shelves held countless bones, most starting to animate. Hundreds of skulls, in various states of decay, glowed with necromancy. Fortunately, few seemed stable enough to act.

The skeleton in the hallway raised its sword, but Platick was faster. With a swift thrust, he drove his shortsword into the undead’s cranium. The necromantic energy tried to recover, but it overloaded and fizzled out. The bones scattered across the mosaic floor as Platick readied a dagger in his off-hand.

“Two more skeletons!” he called out. “And skulls on the ceiling! That isn’t a choke point! Get out of—”

Thorn barked frantically at the south wall. Without hesitation, Platick spun and threw his dagger. It struck stone, not bone. A skull stretched its legs like slingshot straps and lunged at a blinding speed.

Platick barely managed to block with his shortsword. The skull collided with less force than expected, like a toy ball. But instead of bouncing off, the spider’s limbs wrapped around his sword. Thorn watched as the skull skittered around the blade, mandibles dripping glowing ichor as it moved to pounce again.

Platick spun his sword, flinging the creature into the stonework at his feet. It corrected itself midair, poised to leap again. Thorn pounced first.

With a fierce growl, Thorn clamped her fangs around the skull, shaking it violently. The spider’s limbs flailed uselessly. Thorn spiked it into the floor and continued her onslaught, determined to crush the undead menace.

He said ceiling. Vareén glanced upwards where the hallway opened up into the crypt proper. Beside her, Stostine hesitated while Rava and Ricven were trying to convince her otherwise. Which unfortunately allowed the spider crawling above them to nearly go unnoticed.

“Eyes up!” Vareén ordered, leveling another arrow.

“Hu—Waghhhh!” Stostine’s shriek was followed by several weak bursts of magical fire aimed at the spider, but not the one Vareén was watching.

Instead, curling up and over the left door, was a second spider skull. The empty sockets glowed with a faint necrotic aura, almost invisible amidst Stostine’s unfocused flames.

“Yo, ugly,” Ricven spoke with a magical reverb, attempting to strike the undead’s essence. The spiders didn’t care. Instead, one of them readied itself and dove.

“And, for reasons you’re not aware of,” Story told Sunset as he picked up two dice. “It has advantage.”

Rarity, seated next to Sunset, glanced at her character sheet and tensed up. “You only have an eleven?”

“I have a Shield spell,” Sunset defended, her tone wavering. Her eyes were fixed on the tendril rearing up to strike at her. “As long as it doesn’t roll too high, I should be able to deflect it.”

Story rolled, and the group watched his face coil up in regret. “Yeah, um. It rolled too high. Eighteen?”

Sunset felt her stomach drop. “Yeah. Yeah, that hi—” She was cut off.

The tendril lashed out and stayed, clinging to her face. The thistle legs faded partway into her skin, muffling her speech into gibberish even she couldn’t understand.

The illusion obscured Sunset’s vision, making it impossible to see anything except her character sheet and dice.

“Hnn! Wuh ish fsssh?!” Sunset shook her head, clawing at the intangible force while her friends looked on in horror.

Story, noticing the worried glances from his brother and the Crusaders, spoke quickly. “Like you all learned last session,” he lied. “The spider skulls latch onto faces when they attack somebody.”

The excuse placated the onlookers, but the players were still concerned.

“Officially, Stostine?” Story addressed Sunset, who tried to look in his direction. “The spider lunges from atop the door, colliding with your face. You feel its fuzzy appendages puncture your flesh as its skull blocks your vision of everything around you. But that’s not all.”

Story picked up a few dice and made a note. “Instantly, you feel its legs wriggling inside your face, wrapping around the nerves in your cheeks and jaw, forcing your mouth open as if to invite it in.”

“WHUUH?!” Sunset froze.

On the screen from Story’s side, he watched the true horror Stostine was experiencing. Once he felt well enough to speak, Story kept his tone grim. “You stand there, mouth widened, as it forces its upper jaw and mandibles down your throat. It will now use Kiss of Undeath.

Story glanced down at the screen, watching the horror Stostine was now in. Once his stomach settled, he went on. “As if not already terrifying, it forces its upper jaw and mandibles into and down your throat. It is going to use Kiss of Undeath.”

“Kiss?” Rarity squirmed, growing pale. “That is not a kiss! That is abhorrent!”

“Please stop. Please stop talking about the spider!” Sweetie Belle covered her ears, while Button and Applebloom seemed too invested in the body horror.

“Do ya think the fuzzy stuff on the end’s supposed ta help find the nerves?” AJ asked my brother.

“Mmm, I dunno.” Button shook his head. “I think it’s to make it harder to rip the spider out of your face.”

Scootaloo blinked. “What, like, it’s all tangled up in the skin?”

Applebloom snapped her fingers. “Oh! Like a fishhook!”

Button nodded. “Yeah, fishhook spider!”

“No! No fishhook spider, that sounds terrible!” Sweetie shrieked, clutching her face, while, Big Mac tried to settle his shivers.

“Girls, Button, enough a’ that,” Applejack scolded them. Then she refocused on me. “Story, Ah know Ah’ll hate askin’ this. But what is Kiss of Undeath?”

“To save on narration.” Story crouched to try meeting Sunset’s eyes. “Sunset? Make a CON Save as the spider injects poison down your throat.”

The girls reacted with disgust. Sunset looked at her dice in terror, realizing how terrible this was. Mostly for the girl who was getting ‘kissed’ by a skull and its spider teeth.

The illusion couldn’t recreate poison, so Sunset counted her blessings as she found one die and rolled. The illusion let her see the total—natural twenty.

Sunset, with a muffled tone, tried to say it aloud. The table couldn’t understand her, they all saw the bright glow of her roll.

Story still didn’t seem relieved. He instead bit his lip and dreaded his next words. “Okay...You shake off the poison. Now, roll for her influence.”

“Hmm?!” Sunset sat up, trying to wave the illusion aside to glare at her DM. “Whuh uu ou mmea’ imfuuensh?!”

“Stostine just got hit by a skull, had her face injected with spikes, her jaw forced open, a skull jammed in, and then had poison shoved down her throat.” Story’s tone was neutral, though still disgusted. “That is more than enough to have her snap, and you know it.”

Sunset tried muffling another argument, but when even she couldn’t understand what came out of her mouth, she resigned to her fate and rolled a D6.

After staring in disappointment, she held up three fingers.

“Green,” Story told her with a sigh.

Of course it is, Sunset thought to herself. Couldn’t be pink or blue, could it?

She knew she had to go along with it. With the game preventing them from spilling secrets, she hoped the girls could play around it.

Their ‘choke point’ quickly filled with the sounds of Stostine’s muffled screams. She flailed and whipped her head in every direction, her words garbled and her hands sputtering between regular flames and green ones.

Those in the hallway tried calling out for her to be careful or calm down as they prepared for the next spider. But with the chaos, not even the spider could find another target to effectively catch. Everyone was too busy dodging errant flames or pulling Stostine away from the pit behind them.

Finally, Rava chose to put her friend first. She lowered her guard from the second spider, trying to line up her hammer with the spider’s skull and not Stostine’s.

“Stostine! Stostine! Hold still, lass, Ah cannae help ya if yer jumpin’ like a beetle!” Stostine, still hearing her, tried to keep her flailing contained, allowing Rava to aim. “Oh, okay! It’s in yer ski—Ah mean, hold on! Ah got it!”

She reared back her hammer like a pool cue, giving the spider its best opportunity. Similar to the first, it launched itself off the ceiling, legs aimed to pierce Rava’s face.

“Pluvv-rhet!”

An arrow intercepted the spider mid-flight. The force cracked open its carapace and redirected the creature just shy of Rava’s head. It skidded across the floor, a chunk of the skull missing to reveal a sickly green necromantic bubble within.

Simultaneously, Rava thrust her hammer into the first spider skull. The jab snapped several legs and peeled the spider sideways like an opened can. Its legs slithered beneath Stostine’s cheeks and jaw, but her face was free.

Stostine spat out a large globule of discolored ooze that clung to the spider’s remaining teeth. As droplets hung from her lips, her eyes and hands were fully compromised by green fire. She grabbed the skull that tried to force itself back onto her face.

“Now you’ll get it!” she shouted, letting the flames burrow into the skull, making its legs flail even more. As the bones began to cremate, they detached and leaped away.

“Oh! You think you're done?!” Stostine yelled. Her flames reignited, growing to the very size of the spider. “You don’t get to be DONE! I decide when you’re done! Get back here!”

Rather than throwing her hands forward, the fire snaked out, traveling towards the skull. The undead dodged, but the flames blocked Rava from entering the chamber.

Vareén lined up her shot to finish it off, but Stostine raised a hand towards her, the fire poised to burn her. “Pick anything else. This one’s mine.”

“Uh, Miss Stostine?” Ricven spoke up. “Ya can stop now. It’s dead-er!”

“I’ll stop when I want to!”

“Want to faster!” Platick shouted, standing behind Thorn. “There’s another one heading for you!”

“Then be useful and deal with it!” Stostine demanded over her flames.

“Do you not see us?!” Platick blocked the skeleton’s sword with his own, with Thorn trying to tear into the first spider while the second waited for its chance to pounce.

Glemerr grew infuriated. Everything in the chamber was ignoring her. Even when she tried covering Platick, the undead ran around her, refusing to strike at her.

“Oi!” Glemerr screamed, stomping at the spider and missing as it skittered aside. The skeleton, right beside her, swung at Platick without considering her a threat. “Fight me ya freaks!”

“Platick, where’s the other one?!” Vareén called, trying to see past the bright green flames enveloping the hall. One skull was a soot stain on the wall, but Stostine didn’t stop. Meanwhile, the other spider crawled beneath the flames, deciding its next target.

Platick pushed the skeleton off, which then instinctively ducked under Glemerr’s elbow. With the moment to reply, he looked to Vareén and then to her right, where the doors hid the rest of the chamber from view.

“It’s rounding the do—"

When the spider was removed from Stostine’s face, Sunset let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. The sound of her voice, free from the illusion, was a relief.

Unfortunately, there were more spiders.

“Platick,” Story called out, “the other spider skull’s coming at you. Advantage.”

“Holy Glem-aroni, all of them keep going for Platick!” Pinkie pointed out. “Why aren’t they going for me?!”

“You—” Story trailed off, shrugging awkwardly. “It’s a mystery.”

Applejack clicked her tongue and sat back, eyeing the tendril leering over her. She adjusted her hat. “Alright. Lemme have it.”

Story nodded, rolling the dice. Then he rolled again. “Seventeen?”

Applejack nodded, pulling her hat down over her face. “Just try keepin’ the detai—wmmh! Mkmm!”

“While trying to warn the others about more undead—” As Story spoke, the tendril tunneled through Applejack’s hat and wrapped around her face. Her friends couldn’t see her expression, but her wild head movements said it all. “The other skull leaps up onto Glemerr, dodging another stomp attempt, and springboards off her knee into Platick’s face.”

“Please don’t describe it again,” Sweetie Belle begged.

Story nodded. “Take four damage. And as it attaches to your face, prying your mouth open, it’s going to use Kiss of Undeath. Make a CON Save.”

Applejack patted the table, finding her die and dropping it with force. It bounced and flickered with light, and as AJ peeked from under her hat, she saw the result. Without a word, she buried her face again and raised a thumb.

Vareén cursed under her breath as Platick was tackled by the skull, stumbling back and nearly tripping over Thorn, who finished crushing her spider skull within her jaw.

Then, another undead, a full skeleton, rounded the corner. Its sword already raised.

“Stosti—gahh!” Rava stepped forward to shield Stostine, but the flames held her back.

Stostine sneered at everything around her as her flames whipped towards whatever moved. The remaining skull dodged all of it, and Rava narrowly avoided one cooking her arm. They were all acting on her own volition.

When the skeleton brought its sword down on Stostine, she couldn’t command her flames fast enough. Instead, she crossed her arms, turned away, and felt the rusty blade carve along her spine.

“Stostine!” “Platick!” Both names echoed as Stostine fell, and another skeleton drove its sword into Platick’s gut, the spider jamming itself down his throat.

Sunset watched helplessly as her character sheet and the table around it dimmed a lifeless gray. It was the second time she had seen it, and the realization of how bad the situation was for Stostine concerned her.

Story looked back at her. “Now, Sunset? This is your first time doing this, I think. I’m gonna need a Death Save from you.”

Sunset glanced at her dice. The lucky one was with Pinkie, but she didn’t want to rely on it. Not for something called a ‘Death Save.’ Instead, Sunset just picked whichever one hadn’t scorned her yet and rolled.

And then proceeded to be scorned by it. “Five.”

Then, she felt it. A numbing sensation crawled down her spine, mirroring Stostine’s injury. One that, internally, filled Sunset with more dread.

That’s not illusion magic.

Story, accustomed to this reaction, nodded solemnly. “That’s a fail. Mark it down.”

She didn’t have to. The darker gray of her character sheet did it for her.

Vareén spun around. “Rava! Ricven! Get her up—” She felt the veins in her head shift, her attention snapping to the skull she’d struck before.

Before it reached her, Vareén swung her bow like a club, smacking it into the wall. It tried to rise, rebounding towards Ricven, but missing too many legs to dodge Rava’s hammer, shattering it.

“Much obliged,” Ricven called, exhaling a bouncing hum. Vareén felt it, a calming resonance, almost losing focus on her Hunter’s Mark.

Before too long, the hum wove into a bubble of aura that, upon bursting along Stostine’s back, jolted her awake.

“Gaaahh!” She writhed before seeing the skeleton looming, green sockets glowing.

“Welcome back,” Vareén shouted. “You gonna be normal now?!”

“That...was close..." Stostine slowly rolled onto her knees. “That...thing thinks it can lay a finger...on a Child of Auntie?!”

That would be a no, Vareén surmised.

“It’s mine!” Stostine growled in a bestial fervor. “All mine! No one touches it but ME!“

“Stostine, get a grip, girl!” Rava shouted, but her words fell on deaf ears.

“Ah said fight me!” Glemerr swung wildly at the skeleton, her fist crashing into its shoulder plate. With how the skeleton tried to avoid her, the punch failed to do any damage. However, just the impact seemed to freeze in place for a moment.

“Ya see me now?” Glemerr’s threw her next punch with so much power that the entire skull snapped off the spine and exploded against the back wall. Yet the body remained unaffected.

Instead, the necrotic power began to coalesce where the head once was, solidifying into a brand-new skull that floated like a ghostly apparition. It no longer had glowing lights in its eye sockets. Even if it did, the glow would have been overwhelmed by all the light around it.

“Yeah, dat’s right.” Glemerr assessed the bones as they froze, seemingly caught off-guard by the brawler. “First it’s da rest a' you. Then it’s dat doppler.”

Every animated bone in the chamber, even the weaker experiments, froze at that moment. Then, as if responding to an unseen command, they all focused on Glemerr. Even the skull twisting around Platick’s face loosened its grip, rotating to stare at her, its eyes flaring with a malicious necrotic aura.

Vareén readied a new arrow, Stostine stood up to face her attacker, and Platick changed tactics. Dropping his shortsword, he drew two daggers, sinking them into the spider skull. With the newfound leverage, he pried the skull off his face, leaving cuts on his cheeks, and chucked it against the ground before pinning it under his boot.

Breathlessly, Platick scanned the scene. “What is...what’d you do?”

“Ah didn’t do nothin’,” Glem answered, ducking as the skeleton swung at her. The first strike missed, but the following attacks were relentless. When the fourth blow cut across her ribs, she cried out in pain.

Behind them, the skeleton that had cut down Stostine tried to rush at Glemerr. It took only two steps before Stostine’s green flames coiled around it, pulling it back.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Stostine demanded, tightening her fists along the flames as if reining in a wild horse.

Platick growled, pressing down harder on the skull beneath him. “Thorn! Back ‘em up!”

With a bark, Thorn rushed forward. But as she was about to pounce, Stostine’s flames lashed out again, freeing the skeleton. One flame smacked Thorn across the face, sending her tumbling. She barely got to her paws before the skeleton’s blade punctured her side.

“NO!” Vareén’s fury settled on Stostine. “What’re you doing?!”

Fluttershy shrunk back in her seat, eyes wide as she processed Story's words.

“Wh-What?” instinctively marking off her HP. “She...Sunset, what just happened?”

“No one takes this from me,” Sunset growled back at Twilight, her voice filled with an intensity that made Twilight recoil. Sunset's face, however, remained a mask of focused determination, thanks to the illusion.

To the others, it seemed like Sunset was method acting, fully immersed in her character. A far cry from how she was before. Going from ‘we need to take this seriously’ to a full-on method actor concerned them more than anything else.

But in reality, Sunset was conflicted. Shouting at her friends, especially given the last few days, was the furthest thing she wanted to do. She looked distraught playing this way. And only Story and those watching their game could tell.

“You hear me?! NOBODY!”

Fluttershy flinched at Sunset’s outburst. What is going on? Why would Stostine be angry at us? Why is Sunset angry?

She finished marking off her hit points and, without an idea of what else to do, tried to follow through on attacking the skeleton anyway. “Nine?”

Story shook his head. “Doesn’t connect. You try to bite the skeleton, but Stostine and her flames seem to block you. Not to protect the skeleton, you think, but to keep near only herself.”

“Child, what is wrong with you?!” Rarity demanded in Ricven’s tone, equally as confused as the rest. Sunset turned to respond but hesitated. She had to stay in character.

Fluttershy, still puzzled, turned to Story. “Do we know anything about this? Was it from the skull?”

Story pondered for a moment. Then, seeing the scenes with Thorn Wielder play out on his screen, he started considering a new idea. “It’s...interesting. Thorn Wielder, you might have a unique perspective on this. Make a Nature check.”

Perspective? Fluttershy blinked. The only thing that Thorn Wielder knew about was Cortás and Druid things. Was this a Druid thing?

She considered it for a second and then decided that this was just like last time with the bugbear. If she didn’t know what Thorn could do, maybe she could figure it out like back then. “Um. Pinkie Pie? Could I borrow the lucky die?”

Pinkie, this whole time, had been trying to fully commit herself to Glemerr’s fury the whole time. But she was still jumping back and forth between her usual happy self and a tense serious tone. Not aware that the die was helping her with the latter.

Nevertheless, her joy won out in that moment and she tossed it across the table. “Sure! Do that rollin’ thang!”

Fluttershy took the die, which transformed from pink rubber to a brown seed pod in her hand. Then, turning it around in her hand a little, she gave it a roll.

It landed, and amongst the spikes across the seed pod’s surface, Fluttershy quickly spotted the ‘19’ sitting at top and the ‘+3’ appearing on the table beside it. A welcome sight.

Not at all like the haunting figure of an old crone that was suddenly looming over Sunset’s being like a decaying ghost. Its frame dwarfed everybody in the room, its body at least twice the size of Big Mac’s.

The flesh of this creature was a dull, rotting purple-ish brown and its eyes, while still present, failed to fill its eye sockets. It was like the stalks of slugs floated in the center of them and remained staring down at Sunset from above.

The wiry silver hair spilling out from the back of its head was tied up in the yellowing bones of some small humanoid’s hip bone. Possibly a child’s. In fact, much of its body was adorned in similar macabre jewelry, with most of it composed of bones or dehydrated organs that were secured to her.

Her arms were so long, her hands lay flat on their backs to either side of her and the clothes it wore were made up of what could be nothing other than barely cured leather from dozens of small sources. Some of their skins still had tufts of hair that would have likely come from the tops of their heads.

Slowly, a single one of the being’s eyestalks curled from within its socket, staring down at little Fluttershy. And Fluttershy stared back, too horrified for her brain to process the ability to do anything else.

But Fluttershy felt it. Her breathing grew faster, each breath more shallow than the last. A cold sweat formed on her skin, her hands trembling uncontrollably. Her vision tunneled, darkening at the edges as the room seemed to close in around her.

Her heart pounded in her chest, each beat louder and more frantic, drowning out all other sounds. Her mind spiraled, a black hole of fear pulling her in.

Just as Fluttershy felt she was about to be swallowed by the panic, new thoughts pushed through, anchoring her to the present. The thoughts of Thorn Wielder pounded from the back of her head to act.

Plague.
Hag is plague.
Plague on Fey.
Plague on Nature.
Hunt plague.
Kill plague.
Kill!
KILL!
KILL

Those words kept echoing across Fluttershy’s mind. And like before with the bugbear, Fluttershy’s emotions became something unlike her own. Gone was her panic. Gone was any fear.

And Sunset, who was scared of what Stostine was going through, now had to watch as her quiet friend was snarling at her without warning.

“Stostine, we need you focused,” Vareén knocked an arrow towards the skeleton ahead of them, only for Stostine to stare back at her.

“Don’t you dare!” Stostine's eyes flared an even brighter green. “You’re gonna lower that bow. Otherwise WE won’t let you out alive!”

Vareén stared at her, a look of fury staining her eyes. The meaning behind those words didn’t miss her. But, with no other option, she obeyed and lowered her bow.

“Traitor!”

What?!

Vareén whipped back around towards the room itself, mortified that it was directed at her. Instead, all she could see was Platick finally stomping the last spider skull to bits and Glemerr squaring up against the other skeleton. The voice didn’t come from either of them. Instead, it was a new man’s voice.

Both of them turned to look further in the room, but before they could react, a crossbow bolt the size of a forearm embedded itself into the side of Platick’s chest. The force of it threw him up off of his feet, sailing away from Glemerr and falling on top of a couple of shards of bone.

Applejack didn’t have much of a chance for rest.

Once the tendril on her face was off, she pulled away her hat and shook the creeped-out feeling she had hearing her own muffled words. The idea of having a boney snake wrapped around her face and mouth had her more than a little freaked out.

But then, hearing Story describe the crossbow bolt and watching her character sheet go eerily colorless made her get concerned all over again.

Vareén’s heart sank for a moment when she realized what organ just got hit. “Ricven! Do you have another bubble?!”

“Yeah, ‘bout that! The lake’s runnin’ dry!”

“Well then help deal with the shooter!”

Vareén started running ahead, watching the skeleton ready itself to cut at her, only for Thorn to jump despite her numerous injuries. Thorn grabbed it by the femur and started tugging it back.

Once Vareén made it out into the room, she saw him. A larger man, dressed in sturdier armor than anything the Redbrands had seen before. What’s more, his crossbow looked much more menacing. And he nearly had it reloaded already.

“Pluvv-rhet!”

The veins in Vareén's head exposed themselves once more, and when they helped her lock in on a weak point, she wasted no time.

The man shouted in pain, nearly dropping his crossbow as my arrow drove itself right above his knee.

“Stostine?! You wanna kill the skeleton? Then do it!”

With a scream, she spread out her arms, green flames on either side of her coating the walls and copper doors. It took everything Thorn had to duck out of the way before Stostine drove her hands together in a clap, bringing the flames slamming on either side of the skeleton and incinerating the necromantic aura around it before the bones themselves started to chip and disintegrate at the edges.

When the bright green light subsided, the majority of the skeleton tumbled to the floor, bones rolling all over and giving Ricven the space he needed to run after Vareén. And upon doing so, he grinned.

“Finally, a living problem ta deal with!” He taunted. “Too bad he’s as brain-dead as the skeletons!”

The man raised his crossbow to Vareén in the hopes of returning fire. But at Ricven’s words, he faltered. Clutching his head with one hand, he abandoned the idea and started trying to make sense of the pain through his empty skull.

“What’s left?!” Rava shouted back from the hallway.

“Platick?” Story looked to AJ, who was getting a bout of deja vu from the graying paper. “Death Save.”

Applejack gulped and picked up a die, lightly throwing it in front of her to watch as it rolled on a nice number. “18.”

The color didn’t get darker or lighter. It was simply held off for now.

Glemerr grabbed the headless skeleton by the sword arm and then the waist. It swayed and shook to get its sword somewhere near her, but it was useless. What happened instead was Glemerr taking the corpse and launching it up into the ceiling. Upon impact, the necrotic magic dispersed for a moment, releasing a shower of bones that fell across most of the party.

When it was done, Glemerr turned and glared through her mask at the Redcramp massaging his head. “One.”

“Good.” Stostine stormed forward. “He’s mi—” But before she could emerge through the doors, she was stopped.

In front of her, covered in blood, stab wounds, and scorched fur, was Thorn Wielder. Despite the problem trying to level his crossbow at us, she had her back turned to it. Instead, she lowered her body and bared her fangs at Stostine.

“What the?” Stostine sneered at her. “Get out of my way.”

Thorn refused, barking and growling like a mad dog. She scratched her thorned leg across the stone tile, threatening the girl to take another step.

Fluttershy didn’t actually bark and growl at Sunset. It was simply described. However, the edge of Fluttershy’s upper lip was twitching to reveal a few of her teeth as she summoned a glare forward.

As for Sunset, however, her expression grew into a panic. The ‘influence’ that Story had her roll for was something that they had thought about before either of them learned that Stostine was actually alive.

It was just supposed to be little personality cues. Ways to make Stostine act in stress. Green, in this instance, being one of the worst circumstances.

“Fluttershy, please don’t do this,” Sunset tried to warn her.

Somewhere behind Fluttershy’s glare, she was worried. She knew that she was glaring and being angry towards her friend, but the thing that loomed behind her was still there. And the longer Fluttershy stared at it, the more she discovered another level of terror.

And whenever she started getting scared all over again, she picked up and rolled the magic die again. It was a crutch for her. Something to keep her from giving into her panic as the monster that was now smiling at her with its entire focus.

And when the die fell on the table, not rolling but simply landing like a stone, Thorn Wielder’s rage was there to give Fluttershy a method of safety she was quickly becoming dependent on.

But to Sunset, when she saw Fluttershy adamant in having Thorn Wielder stand in her way, she slowly drew up her hands towards her friend. “Stostine readies more fire.”

“I’m not about to let you get in my way, you dumb mutt.”

Thorn only snarled and barked in return.

Rava moved in, standing between the two of them. “What are you two doin’?! If ya hadnae noticed, Platick’s dyin’ in the corner!”

As though to further prove her point, the Redbrand stood tall, shaking his head once again as he looked between the only three people in the room: Vareén, Ricven, and Glemerr.

Originally, it looked like he was going to shoot Vareén, but Ricven’s words slammed his brain in so many directions, he struggled to keep up with what was going on. So instead, he went for his original target. The half-orc.

Glemerr saw him aiming for her and took off running for the man, hoping to use the momentum to slam him up against the back wall behind him. But she never made it that far.

Instead, the man hefted up the crossbow, gave his head one last shake, and fired. Even with Ricven’s magic ruining his conscntration, the man still hit his mark. Glemerr found the bolt several inches into her thigh and her dash came to an end.

She let out a cry and tumbled, falling to the floor with a massive bang. It took all her focus not to fall on top of the bolt and sink it deeper into her leg. But all the same, she didn’t look like she was in good condition anymore.

“So, good news,” Story told them. “It wasn’t a nat twenty. Bad news? Ten damage.”

Twilight and a few of the others glanced over towards Pinkie. She took a few bad hits in this fight. And aside from Rainbow Dash, ten damage was more than half of any of their character’s lives.

“How bad is it, darling?” Rarity asked her.

Pinkie nervously giggled. “Uh. Relentless Endurance bad?”

“S-Stay back!” The thug shouted at them, Ricven’s magic finally subsiding. “You’re not winnin’ this! You can either stay back! Or. Or you die. Your call!”

Given his record with the two people on the ground in the room, the two perfectly healthy opponents admitted it was a decent threat. Unfortunately it was undermined by the man himself hobbling behind cover with his bad leg.

“Interestin’ options,” Ricven mused boredly. “What do ya say, Miss Vareén?”

Vareén ignored him and looked back towards the copper doors. “We could use a hand back here! Any of you feel like doing anything?!”

“Workin’ on it! She’s up tae high doh” Rava returned, now looking purely towards Stostine. “Stost, what’re ya doin’? Yer actin’ like a rite dobber, an’ fer what? Come ta yer senses, lassie!”

“You’re gonna tell me that?!” Stostine stared back with a tightened stare. “She’s the one baring her teeth! If she just stayed out of my way, every undead and idiot would already be dead!”

Rava shook her head. “Ah couldnae care less about that! All that matters is seein’ all of us make it out the other side! Platick needs help an’ neither of us can help him alone! Not with you scarin’ us from the back row!”

Thorn let out another bout of barking, but that only made Rava turn around. “Thorn, please! Whatever beef ya got with her, it don’t need all the snarlin’!”

Stostine glowered at the two of them, watching as Rava’s attention was on Thorn. And from behind Rava, Thorn never dropped her guard. It was only after Rava turned her back on Stostine did Thorn finally look back at the Dwarf.

Doesn’t care about them dead? Stostine thought to herself. It’s their fault we’re all here in the first place! If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be bleeding. I wouldn’t have nearly died!

Thorn kept snarling, trying to side-step Rava, but the Dwarf wouldn’t let her. And when Thorn instead tried to juke her out of the way, Rava slammed her shield into the stone, inches away from Thorn’s paws.

“Enough!” Rava shouted at her. “Thorn Wielder! Stostine’s on our side! Whatever daffy she’s goin’ through, Ah know she don’t mean it! She’s our friend!”

Then, Rava whipped around to me. “You! Are our friend! An’ right now, one a’ yer friends is dyin’! Come on Stostine, Ah know ya care. Please, just snap out of it!”

Friend? Stostine nearly scoffed at the thought, but Rava started pointing behind her and at Platick. He was trying to force himself to breath, but it was obvious the crossbow bolt had ruined any chance of doing it correctly.

He doesn’t think I’m his friend, Stostine argued at herself. But still, it gave her pause. Rava was her friend. Glemerr was her friend. And Vareén was now too. And when she zeroed in on each of them, the green in her eyes faded.

Each of them are still keeping me safe, she thought. And once that thought entered her mind, the rest of her cynical thoughts faltered.

They’re helping me. I need to help them. I need to help— Stostine stared down at Platick, who was trying to crawl back towards the hallway towards them.

“Applejack? Another Death Save.”

Applejack took a breath of her own and rolled. But the number it stopped on made her catch her breath midway through. “F-Four.”

She glanced down at the side of her torso. Around where her right lung was, she watched a pool of gray grow and encompass the half of her body. Her character sheet going gray was old hat. This was new and it worried her.

And Sunset, hearing the result, looked back towards Story. “Story. Rava’s forgiving her. Forgiveness. That’s the one, right?!”

Story urgently checked with the magic around him. And when he saw no complaints, he seemed to melt in relief. With Sunset following immediately after.

At the same time, while Fluttershy rolled the lucky die for the umpenth time to force away her fright, she watched as the apparition turned, gave a displeased look at Rainbow, and then faded away.

Upon that, all semblance of Fluttershy’s shock and fear left with it. She nearly collapsed onto the table in front of her, but the group mistakenly confused her exhaustion for relief of the moment while Story described Stostine snapping out of her insanity.

Platick suddenly lurched, coughing up blood violently as he let himself fall to his back.

“Platick!”

Stostine tried to run out after him, but came inches away from catching a stray crossbow bolt to the temple when one missed Vareén, sailed past her, and shattered against the copper door.

Instead, Stostine flinched back and she, Rava, and Thorn turned to watch Vareén return fire, scaring the man back behind cover while she and Ricven moved clockwise to look into the chamber.

“It’s the prison,” Vareén announced. And in that moment, everyone save for Platick and Thorn perked up.

They’re right there, Ricven thought to himself, a sudden feeling of desperation dawning on him from seemingly nowhere. “The girls are inside! They gotta be! Everybody focus up!”

“Right.” Stostine looked back at Platick. He was trying to stay awake, but the blood he was hacking up was becoming an unsettling amount. We can’t let anyone else get shot.

I looked at Rava and spoke in Dwarven. “Give Ricven and Vareén cover! Keep the pressure on him!”

“Right!” “Got it!” Both Rava and Vareén replied in kind, with the former rushing up in front of the latter to help give her cover.

As the Dwarf went, Thorn stepped out from behind the door and abruptly stood herself up on her hindlegs before morphing back into that of a Cortássian elf. Her fur and blood melted away leaving Thorn Wielder devoid of any form of injury.

Thorn took a moment to look over her shoulder, locking eyes with Stostine with an unreadable expression before holding out her vines arm towards the jailroom door.

Finally, Glemerr slowly rose to her feet. She was breathing heavily and took a moment to snap the half of the majority of the bolt that was hanging out of her leg. The bolt tip she would have to remove later.

“Glemerr,” Stostine shouted, pulling her attention away from Thorn Wielder. “I need you to bring Platick to me! Quickly, please!”

Glemerr huffed, giving her a single firm nod before turning on her heel and rushing back for Platick. With her heavy footfalls, it was almost a guarantee that the Redbrand would hear what was happening. Not that it changed much.

Once Glemerr had Platick in her arms and started back to Stostine, the Redbrand leapt from cover once more. All he expected to see was Vareén and Ricven standing out in the open with the orc running away. Instead, what he saw was a thorned vine flying for his neck.

The man ducked low, narrowly missing the vine as Ricven didn’t bother making an insult. Instead, he put his fingers together and let out this sharp whistle that rang in the man’s head. But to no avail.

Seeing Rava protecting the other two, the man stood and fired out at Thorn as her vine retracted. It did little to take her down, but the bolt itself stil glanced across her vine arm, making her writhe in place with a scream.

Rava took this as her chance to try and close in on him, and all the man could do about it was chuck his crossbow at her in defiance. She brought up her shield, bashed the crossbow away and looked back at him with a look of disappointment.

The man didn’t care. Instead, he ran for other door on his side of the chamber. He slid in front of it, trying as hard as he could to throw it open and escape before any of them could reach him in time.

Vareén simply shook her head as she and Ricven walked towards the jailroom. Without even looking, she pulled the bowstring back, aimed her bow to the left and—

Twilight quickly picked up and tossed her die, too distracted with finding the damage die she needed to roll for damage. Too bad too, because it meant she couldn’t cheer at the same time as everyone else when her die came to a stop.

Because on the top of Twilight’s happily glowing die was a natural twenty.

“Does. Wait.” Twilight glanced around at her dice. “Does the Hunter’s Mark damage get doubled too?”

“It does,” Story told her with a thankful smile. “Vareén gets four dice to roll.”

“That beats Glemerr!” Pinkie cheered. “She’s only had three! This is gonna be a super strong shot!”

“It’s gotta be enough, yeah?” Applejack asked, rubbing at her face. “He can’t be lookin’ good after the last shot he took from Vareén.”

Twilight made quick work gathering up all the dice she needed. Two D8s and two D6s. Thanks to Shining sparing his dice, she had more than enough on her own.

She tossed them out in a cluster, watching them roll in different directions across the table. And as they came to a halt, Twilight making quick work of the math, she felt pretty confident in the total.

“Twenty damage.”

Applejack let out a whistle. “Yeah, that’s gotta do it.”

Story gave out a chuckle. “Uh-huh. Even if you didn’t whittle him down before, that would’ve done it.”

Without even looking, she pulled the bowstring back, aimed her bow to the left and let it thunk into the back of his head. The man was dead before he even touched the doorknob.

“His breathin’s gettin’ real low.” From behind the three, Glemerr’s voice shook. It gave Vareén and Rava pause, but Ricven kept going for the jailroom. “He...A-Ah don’ have a way ta bandage dis! If Ah rip out dat arrow, he’s—” “It’s fine!”

From back in the hallway, Stostine rolled up her sleeves. Glemerr had shifted Platick’s armor enough to reach the shirt that was under it and rip it away to reveal his chest. The bolt plugged up the wound, so there wasn’t much blood leaking out of him. However, the amount of blood he was choking on was a different story.

Stostine firmly planted her hands against his body, pushing on the wound in a way where more blood started to spill out from around the bolt. But the moment the crimson reached Stostine’s hands, her palms and the cracks across her body glowed with a soft divine light that matched her eyes.

“When I say so, remove the bolt,” Stostine told the half-orc. Glemerr tried to argue, but Stostine simply shook her head. “Trust me. I’ve been stabbed enough, I know how it works. He’ll be fine.”

“...ha...this..." Platick’s voice was weak, but still we heard his indignation.

“You’ll hate dying more,” Stostine assured him, her eyes continuously glowing down at him. “Glemerr, ready?”

“Y-Yeah...?” She took hold of the bolt. She seemed visibly unsure about this.

The rest of the group watched in concern as the woman who threatened several of them with magic was now pumping that same magic into Platick’s system.

“Lady Rava,” Ricven called out from the other room. “He’ll be fine. You need ta help me out in here. These folks ain’t lookin’ much better.”

Rava nodded after a second. “Ah’m comin’. Vareén, be a dear and help ‘em, would ya?”

“I—me?” Vareén watched the Dwarf go. “What do I do?”

Without much direction, Vareén simply walked over and watched with Thorn as Stostine gave Glemerr the signal to remove the bolt. Glem cringed, but decided to trust Stostine nonetheless.

She quickly yanked the bolt as cleanly as she could in one go. Platick seized in pain, but still Stostine pressed her palms against his body. And as the light faded from across Stostine’s body, cracks began to form across Platick’s before his breathing slowly became more even.

“Hey. Hey.” Lightly, Stostine tapped the side of Platick’s face. “Wake up, Platick. You’re going to be fine.”

Platick turned to his side, retching and hacking up blood both fresh and dry. “Y’know.” He hacked a few more times, with less blood coming out that time. “Urgghhh...You can only be stabbed so many times in the same lung before it gets old.”

“Really? What’s the magic number of lung stabs?” Vareén asked, crossing her arms.

Platick gave her a tired look and just shook his head. “Shut up.”

He tried picking himself up off the floor, but Glemerr ignored his complaints and helped him anyway. When he was on his feet, he looked around the space near us and noticed the large amount of burn marks across the walls and floor.

“So..." He gave me a look, and then saw the more intense look that Thorn was giving me and decided there was going to be an explanation without his input. “I saw the room the crossbowman came out of. It had a jail cell in it.”

“We know.” Vareén nodded. Then, she looked over towards the door. “Ricven? Rava? Are they stable?”

“Yeah, ‘bout that. We’re gonna need a hand,” Ricven called out. “We got four folks in here. All four of ‘em roughed up, and one looks like he regrets his life choices.”

“An’ we can’t find the keys!” Rava added. “There’s a hook on the wall, but it’s empty. We’ll need help pickin’ the locks.”

Platick took a slow breath, flinching at the strain of stretching and compressing his newly repaired lung. “Eeyup. Sounds like my turn. Glemerr? Little help?”

“‘Course. Come on.” Glemerr lifted up one of Platick’s arms, lowering herself under it to help him out. As they walked, Stostine tried to follow along, but the blade of Thorn’s scythe and Vareén’s tense glare gave her plenty of reason to stay put.

“No,” Thorn told her in Elvish. “You will stay here. We will talk.”

Author's Note

Where does the time go? Sorry for the day late post everybody! :twilightblush:

I don't really have too much of an excuse for this one. I had it ready, but I got distracted on yesterday with a few birthday things. Both mine, and my grandparents. (Their birthdays are side by side on days, so the family tries to make it a big thing). I ended up making a blog post thing last weekend explaining it, but since I have no experience with those and never did it with this story, I wasn't sure if anyone would spot it.

From now on, if there's no new chapter on a weekend when there's supposed to be, I'm gonna try and post something on one of those. I want to get better on trying to give updates when schedules don't work out.

Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I tried to go a little off-script in terms of turn order to make the fight more dynamic, so I'm wondering how well it worked out. Let me know what ya think!

Also, next chapter next Saturday! (he said, making a little spoiler blurb right after)

Hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(51) A Captive Audience

Ricven Lioncatch’s POV
Redbrands’ Hideout, Jailroom

While Platick got rushed back into the hallway for Stostine and Glemerr to tend to, I pulled away from the group and slipped into the room our most recent Deadbrand found himself fleeing.

Once inside, I saw there wasn’t just one cell, but two. The room itself was rectangular, with the door I entered through being on the long side. Despite that, the space was split into three sections by way of iron bars to the left and right of me. The bars looked relatively newer, but the doors that went along with them were different enough to stand out.

They must have converted the room into a jail once they tracked it down, I imagined.

Directly ahead of me in the dead center of the whole room was a single chair, now left empty, where the Redbrand likely was set up. Behind it, was a pile of torn apart, discarded clothes and worthless trinkets. Likely what the gang’s victims had on their person when they were brought in.

Above the pile was a small hook sunk into the wall. The kind of hook you’d expect to see a set of keys hanging from. It was very much empty and I had a feeling that the deadman in the other room wouldn’t have it on him. Why would he grab the key when we’re fighting him?

I turned my attention to the two cells on either side of me. The cell to my left had two people in it. The first was a Redbrand. A Dwarven one, specifically. The man was standing and staring back at me in disbelief. And when he heard the others outside, his shock was even more obvious.

Yernal, I recognized. That was the name Stostine overheard during the ambush last night. She said a Dwarf named Yernal refused to shoot her and ran away during the chaos. The fact he was in here and only slightly roughed up was what shocked me more.

“Wait, what?” Story murmured, glancing down at his screen. He wasn’t like that when I put him in there.

His eyes focused a bit longer on the visual, but Story continued on with describing the scene anyway. Only Rarity could hear him now while the others played out helping Platick.

I scoffed, my eyes narrowing at him. “Ya thought ya could run the field, huh?”

He tried to come up with a reply, but I already moved on to his cellmate. And instantly, it was somebody I recognized. Leanne.

The girl looked much worse here than I ever saw her back in Phandalin, and it wasn’t from her fight with Platick. She was set up against the wall, delirious as all heck. A heavy iron collar was clasped around her neck with the other end of it buried into the wall behind her. Any form of a merchant’s getup was replaced with an incredibly thin gray tunic that fell past her knees. It, like the rest of her, was covered in filth.

As if all that wasn’t enough, this Leanne was gaunt. Her body lacked muscle and her face was somewhat tight to her face. She wasn’t starving, per se, but she seemed without proper food or water. Sunlight too.

Giving the lady a cautious glance, I turned towards the other cell whereupon my body went still at the sight. Two more people, a mother, and a daughter, were in the same thin gray tunics and had the same iron collar chaining them to the wall. The daughter, a human teen by the look of it, looked only somewhat better than her mother. But even then, neither of them was in a much better condition than Leanne.

Of the two of them, the daughter was the one who looked u—

“Hold on a minute,” Rarity cut Story off. “Two? There’s...two of them in that cell? Not three?”

Story, who was now holding the side of his head in his hand as if his brain was about to pop out, was shaking his head. “I-I...This doesn’t make sense. They were there. I-I saw them in here. At the mall. At-At the...Earlier today. At lunch.”

All of that was gargled for Rarity, who was still trying to rationalize the part that she could understand, whereas Button and Applebloom perked up at the mention of the mall. They didn’t have a clue what Story was talking about here, but the expressions on Rarity and Story were making them and the rest of the onlookers concerned for them.

“...Ricven approaches the bars,” Rarity narrated. “A-And he tries to open the door.”

Story sighed, shaking his head. “He tries it and it clunks around in its frame. Locked.”

“Why?” Rarity asked, more towards herself than at Story. “They’re chained to the wall by the neck, what need is there for locking the door?”

The fashionista then looked across the others, considering her options before settling on Rainbow Dash. She cleared her throat loudly and gave a stage shout.

“Lady Rava?” I called out the door. I knew she’d hear me, I could hear all of them crowding around Platick. “He’ll be fine. You need ta help me out in here. These folks ain’t lookin’ much better.”

“Ah’m comin’,” Rava tossed back. “Vareén, be a dear and help ‘em, would ya?”

There was some back and forth after that, but the sound of Rava’s clanking armor approaching the room drowned the details out. And a second later, her head poked around the door. “How can Ah help?”

“Ya can start by forcin’ the door,” I told her, pulling the handle for emphasis. “They drained a’ all life in there. Worse still, one’s missin’.”

“What.” Rainbow’s stare buried into Story, who was frantically pouring over his constantly changing notes for an answer. When he found one that started formulating an explanation, he picked it up and read.

“I open the door,” Rainbow Dash told him.

Story paused, lowering his head for a moment. “Like I told Ricven, it’s locked.”

“No.” Rainbow picked up a fistful of dice. “I open. The door.”

Story gave her his full attention for a second. Then, he stared at the screen. “...It’ll be tough. Roll a Strength check.”

Rainbow obliged, only to stare at the number in contempt. “Twelve.”

Story closed his eyes and shook his head in slow motion.

Rava hurried forward, gripping the door that sealed off the mother and her child. “Lemme have a go at it.” She tugged, twisted, and nearly started slamming the thing to force the door open. The door and bars weren’t secured too well together, but even then, the thing didn’t want to budge.

“Gotta be a key,” I muttered, assessing the room one more time. The pile of clothes was underneath the key hook. But even then, they wouldn’t be that stupid. They just stuffed one of their own in here last night. And there’s two heavy-duty cells. The keys and their ring wouldn’t be hard to spot if it just fell off.

I discredited the clothes before looking at the chair, then the slumped-over dead man Vareén shot outside the room. No key on either. Not unless the man had them stuffed down his clothes for whatever reason.

If I were part of an idiotic, pathetic troupe of bargain bin adventurers too scared to walk into a forest but too paradoxical to think that skeletons were fine bunkmates, where would I hide a key?

“Ricven? Rava?” Vareén called out. “Are they stable?”

“We got four folks in here,” I shouted back, still scanning the room. “All four of ‘em roughed up, and one looks like he regrets his life choices.”

“Thanks,” the Dwarf grumbled.

“An’ we can’t find the keys!” Rava included, pulling out her hammer. “There’s a hook on the wall, but it’s empty. We’ll need help pickin’ the locks.”

“It...Th-The keys ain’t here.” Yernal stepped forward, gripping one of the bars.

“No kiddin’,” I spat back at him. “Well, if they ain’t here, where are they?”

“Well, there was this man,” Yernal started. “But he wasn’t one of the Redbrands. Ah’d never seen him before. He just strolled up and started givin’ out orders like he ran the place.”

At that point, Glemerr forced herself inside the room, pulling a half-conscious Platick in from under his arm. The two took a moment to glance around the room, and once the Dwarf laid eyes on Platick, his brow shot up higher than his hairline.

“Him! Him! He’s the one! Told the whole gang ‘bout your group! He’s the one that threw me in ‘ere! The one who took the key! It’s him!”

“Huh. Y’hear that Platick?” I gave the human a grin. “Between all the bandages Miss Glemerr wrapped ya in, you’ve been busy.”

“So I keep hearing,” he replied, looking between the two cells and settling on the one with two-thirds of a family. “Where’s the other one?”

“Not sure.” I turned back towards Yernal. “Hey, turncoat. If Platick did come by before, was he the one who took the other kid? Or was that one a yer Redfriend buddies?”

“You...what?” He leaned back for a second. “No, ye’re not hearin’ me! That’s the guy! He’s the one that fired up everyone into a frenzy! He said that he knew every—”

“Every secret we have? Nah. Dat wasn’t him.” Glemerr shook her head before walking Platick towards the mother’s cell first. “Dat was de doppler. It ran back ‘ere ‘fore we could punch it’s shifty face off.”

“And they read minds,” Platick added as he removed his thieves’ tools, aiming them for the mother and daughter’s lock. “That clear it up for you, or do you want even more convincing?”

“A ‘doppler’?” The Dwarf paused, looking back over the rest of us. “What’s a doppler?”

“d-duh...doppel...ganger,” the woman in Yernal’s cage started to become more aware of the situation as if the name of the monster shocked her awake. “Is...Is it back?”

“Not at all, missie,” Rava assured her softly. “There’s no doppelganger here. Not for now, at least. We’re gettin’ ya outta here.”

tink! “Ah! Shit, that hurts.” Platick pulled back his hand, his palm now turning bright red from the gash one of his now broken tools inflicted on him.

Applejack stared down at her die in contempt. Its lowest digit stared back up at her in an almost mocking sense.

Rarity sighed, getting more antsy with each moment. “Platick, what kinda thief are you?”

“Funny you ask. I’m not,” Applejack returned in Platick’s tone.

Rarity stared down at her character sheet again. She made quick work to mark off a use of something and then looked back at Story. “Alright, fine. I’ll only have one left after this, but...Ricven takes out his violin.”

“Don’t go breaking all yer tools,” I taunted him while correcting one of the strings. I was going to need a different tune for this next part. “There’s a full five locks ya gotta get through. Here. Follow the tempo.”

“Tempo?” Platick glanced back at me. “How’s music supposed to help me pick a lo—”

“There’s a man who seeks to find the answer~!
“In every town he stays, he plays freelancer~!
“With every lie they make, another truth he’ll take~
“Odds are you won’t live ta see the mornin’~”

“Platick’s secret life~! Platick’s secret life~!
“He’s taken away yer chances. Though they’ve taken away his name~!”

I let those same lyrics repeat with one of my motes as I had another one form underneath the strings of my violin. While it wasn’t as heavenly a sound as what my violin normally made, the ‘pwang’ fit the tune much better.

Platick rolled his eyes at me but loosened his shoulders and gave the lock another try. By the third twist, a satisfying click joined the symphony for a cool second and the door creaked open. All as the prisoners watched with hope in their eyes.

“It wasn’t the music,” he insisted before moving into the cell and towards the girls with the chains around their necks. The mother was closer, but she quickly ushered Platick to help her daughter first.

The man obliged, and after instructing the girl to sit still and lean her head to the side, he made even quicker work of the lock. When it was done, he and the girl tore the thing away from her neck, and she rolled her head around in relief.

Rava stepped into the cell, holding out a hand for the child. “Come on. We’re here ta get ya out. Yer safe now. Promise on me soul.”

The girl rubbed at her neck a bit more before weakly reaching out and taking Rava’s hand. With the Dwarf’s help, she worked to walk the child out of the room and into the chair in the center of the room.

Unbeknownst to the girls and Story, a ray of hope finally started to shine. Across the city, in one of many hospital rooms, a young girl began to pull her eyes open. Her body ached, her mind was fuzzy, and she had no idea where she was.

“M-Mom?...Aloe?”

The teen slowly tried to sit up. It took her time, maybe a minute or so, but she eventually realized that she wasn’t at her grandfather’s freezing basement anymore. Instead, she was in a hospital bed. A warm, comfortable, welcoming bed. Or at least, it was all of those things compared to the cold, hard, wet floor of the bunker she remembered being trapped in.

By the time she managed to prop herself up on her arms, she heard someone else’s voice among the beeps of the hospital machines and voices in the hallway. In the bed beside her, groaning weakly, was the child’s mother, Cherry Blossom.

“Mom...!” Lotus tried to pull herself out of bed, but the weak feeling across her body convinced her otherwise. “Mom, wake up. Wake up, please. We’re...We’re okay. We’re okay!”

“Ungghh...Lotus?” The older woman took a second to turn her head to the left. And when she saw her daughter’s face wrenched with worry, Cherry tried her best to give her a tired grin. “Hey there...How are you feeling?”

Neither of them would have any idea how they wound up here for now, or why they were suddenly waking up. But there they were. Awake and alive.

But Aloe, on the other hand, had not. She was in a separate room shared with nobody else. And, for the moment, she was thoroughly unconscious with no signs of waking up.

For the mother, it took a little more work. Platick tried being gentle while also shutting out my music, but the act of ignoring it had his work drag out.

“Platick, don’t fight the music,” I told him. “It’s there ta help, not hinder. And it won’t kill ya ta enjoy a tune.”

Once Platick got the lock, he and Rava worked together to help the woman out of the cell. “You sure? Then how come my headache’s getting worse than my breathing?”

I shook my head but kept up my song. “Just hurry and get the last two locks. Leanne’s in a worse spot.”

“Leanne?” Platick paused, standing at attention like a cat with a bell. I swayed along to my music, forcing the song to repeat for probably the fourth time now with new lyrics each time, and stepped aside so that he could get a clear look at her.

“You are alive,” he said, somewhat surprised by the concept.

“And she’ll look alive when we get ‘er out,” Rava told him. “Come on.”

Platick looked back at her. “Right.” He walked up to the other cell door, readying his tools. “Alright then. You.” He looked up at Yernal, who flinched. “Back up. No crowding the bars.”

“Y-Yeah. Whatever ya say, sure.” Yernal obeyed, and Platick got to work on the lock. It was unlocked in seconds and Rava took a moment to step in first, holding up her shield, not her hammer, towards him in defense.

“Not fer nothin’, friend,” Rava told him gently. “But with a doppelganger about, ya can’t be too sure. Matter a fact.” She began speaking in Dwarven to the man, to which he responded in kind. The only words I could catch between them were ‘Ravathyra’ and ‘Yernal.’ Their names.

As for Platick, he approached Leanne, pausing for a moment as he looked her over. Leanne did the same in return, with the two having this odd tension between them.

“You...the real one?” Leanne asked groggily.

“Eeyup,” he hummed. “And you?”

Leanne released this faint grin. “Would be a...pretty stupid doppelganger if...If I chained myself to a wall."

Applejack gave Story a studied look, paranoia from the former Leanne gripping her sense for a moment. “...Insight check.”

“Go for it.” Story nodded with a serious expression.

Applejack scooped up a die, blew into it and rolled. It wasn’t a natural twenty, but a regular one did just as well.

Another couple of seconds and another round of the song started, and the two suddenly seemed to be at ease with one another.

“Well. The doppelganger is an idiot,” Platick mocked.

“Touche...”

I let out a whistle. “Yo, sarcastic duo! Ya gonna get outta there err not? I’d rather not be playing the same song forever.”

“No one told you to keep playing,” Platick told me. But still, the man flicked out his tools, and Leanne lulled her head to the side so the lock was better exposed. But as Platick got to work, I saw him struggle. He would pull his tools taut, only to abandon the attempt when they were starting to bend a little too much.

So, to help him, I focused my magic into the strings of my violin. Whether Platick wanted to be thankful for it or not, I brought forward one of the musical motes floating around my head and brought it through the bars and towards Platick as he worked.

Except, when it got about halfway there, the mote started to bloat and roll in midair, losing its delicate shape as it struggled to keep from popping.

No, no, come on! Not like this!

I slowed the tempo of my music, trying to use the chords of my violin as a way to patch the mote back together long enough to reach Platick’s mind...

...Only for it to shatter in a massive spray of light and grinding sounds right behind his ears.

Platick flinched down, snapping both of the tools he had in Leanne’s lock cleanly in half as his arms fanned out towards either side of him.

I turned away, wrapping my arms around my violin as the shame of my performance made me now suddenly aware of how many people were here to see this. Simultaneously, Platick began to sit up only to see Leanne giving him a tired expression as one of the tool pieces cluttered out of her neck chain.

“My hero,” she said in a dull tone.

Eventually, I knew that I had to look up. When I did, I saw Platick’s dark gaze leering at me as he unceremoniously dropped the now-broken thieves’ tools on the floor. Then he tossed aside the rest of the set. Whatever tools that had broken, the set was now next to useless.

“Ricven?” he spoke with a steady growl.

I cleared my throat and gingerly returned my violin to my back. “Uh, eheheheh. My bad?”

His expression didn’t change. Instead, he extended his hand towards me. “The Mystery Keys. Give.”

“Huh. Oh! Right, we got Mystery Keys.” Patting down my bag, I tracked them down on my person and brought them out. The three clay-made keys lightly clacked against each other. Each time they did, the teeth on them shifted about.

“Uh. Best a’ luck?” I walked over to the bars and tossed them over. Platick snatched them out of the air and prepared one of them.

“I’ll leave that to Tymora,” he mumbled, turning back to Leanne. To her credit, she watched all of this and lulled her head to the side one more time. But she didn’t look nearly as hopeful this time.

Still, Platick tried the key. When it didn’t work, he tried the second. And then third. None of them worked, and when that was beyond obvious, Leanne weakly reached up and pulled Platick’s hand away from her neck. “It’s...Stop. They’re not helping.”

Platick groaned and took a few seconds to stand back up. He clutched his side, took a few studied breaths, and hooked the keys onto his belt. Then he looked over to Rava, who was still talking to the former Redbrand, but it sounded like it was wrapping up.

“What do you think? He clean?”

Rava looked back at him. “As much as Ah can figure, yeah. Man’s from Cragen. Been ta the Hydra Pits too.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Platick frowned.

“Well if he’s as clean as one a these fools can get, he can start talkin’.” I walked into the doorway of the cell and sized the man up. Rava was lowering her shield at this point, and Platick had a hand on one of the many daggers he still had around his person. But this unarmed, terrified Dwarf wasn’t gonna try anything on us.

“Ya said that the other Platick came in and swiped the key, yeah? What about the other girl? There were two of ‘em, yeah? Where’d she end up?”

From behind me, the mom and sister turned to look at us. I gave them a quick glance, but all they knew was that the girl was taken. Likely, not anything beyond that.

By Yernal’s expression, he knew exactly what happened to her. “They...They probably brought her ta Glasstaff.”

All of us— Platick and Rava, Glemerr, and myself —felt the breath leave our lungs.

“You...Glasstaff?” Rarity asked, her face pale, exceeded in shock only by Pinkie’s quickly deflating hair. “She was brought...to Glasstaff? The necromancer?”

“You did not just tell us that,” Applejack mumbled, slowly finding her rage. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.”

“Story?” Rainbow Dash, however, already found it. And the only reason she wasn’t screaming at him, or at the game, or whatever needed to be screamed at, was because of the Squirt behind her. “She. Better. Be okay.”

Story folded one hand over a fist, rested his elbows on the table, and stared straight through the notes and the table beneath him. He tracked down his initial notes of the captives a couple of minutes ago. And what he prepared was there. As well as more.

Unfortunately, he didn’t determine what happened to the captives from the start of the game forward. He knew what would ultimately happen to them as a whole after a couple of days, but he assumed that would be safe. The girls were storming them after a night’s rest.

That meant that the magic, ever ready to help fill in the blanks when he prepared hands-on, ‘helped’ fill in the remaining timeline. Which involved taking a random prisoner and making a new spider.

Glemerr moved forward. And with the rest of us too shocked to react, none of us stopped her from entering the cell and storming straight towards Yernal.

“Wanna run dat by me again?”

“Ah—hey, look.” Yernal backed up as far as he could go. When his back fell against the wall, he scrambled for a new direction.

There was none.

“Wait, please!” He looked to Rava, who was still terrified. “Please, Ah had nothin’ ta do wit’ that! Ah never helped ‘em wit’ any a’ that necro-stuff. Please, believe me, Ah’m sorry! Ah’m so, so sorry, Ah—ggggrrrrrk!”

Glemerr clamped her hand across his throat and pinned him to the wall before she dragged him upwards. The heels of his boots scraped the back wall, finding the tiniest pieces of purchase to keep from hanging by Glemerr’s grip.

“Ya say she’s wit’ Glasstaff?” Glemerr’s voice cut real deep. And like with upstairs, I watched one of her fists start to suck in all the color of the space around it. “With that freak?! Ya better not tell me he’s doin’ what Ah think he’s doin’.”

“Ah...Ah..." His voice leaked from the thin space left in his throat to escape. “Ah’m sorry. Ah’m so sorry! But! B-But, she might be alright! Ah think! Puh-Please...Please, don’t kill me!”

The hand Glemerr held him with slowly spread into more and more darkness as Yernal’s face contorted into absolute terror upon seeing Glemerr’s face from within her mask.

“Might be?” She parroted. “Keep talkin’. What ya mean ‘Might. Be?’”

Glemerr loosened her grip, letting the Dwarf absorb a burst of oxygen. But she didn’t release him. Yernal stayed stamped against the stone wall, now about to hang from his neck if not for those tiny footholds of his.

“Hours...She was taken...hours back,” Yernal panted. “Two...M-Maybe three? Not long.”

I glanced behind me at the family. The daughter was still in the chair, rubbing at her neck, and the mother settled for sitting on her knees beside her daughter. Now that they were out, the mom clung to her kid as if she would vanish if she let her go.

“Ladies?” I spoke to them with gentleness. The mother looked back at me. “Is this true? She was taken a few hours back?”

“Th-Three,” the mother returned with a tense look. “It was closer to three. They unclamped her and dragged her away. She was too weak to even fight them off. All of us were.”

The mother shifted her position. She still never let go of her daughter, and the daughter wrapped her own arms around her mother’s. She just wanted a closer look at us. “Please! Please, save her. I just want to get them far away from this awful place, please!”

“We will,” Platick told her. Not Glemerr, and not Rava. Platick. “You’ll all make it out of this.”

Then, he looked back to Yernal. “Why does the timing matter? What makes that safer for her?”

Yernal locked in on Platick, treating him as his only chance at survival. “Ritual! G-Glasstaff. His demonic rituals take ti—” His heel slipped, and he spent a second or two choking on Glemerr’s hand before he used his limbs to heft himself up just enough for air.

“Ti-Time...It ta-takes time!” He forced his jaw to let go of his words. “Five hours. Always. Five. And he needs ‘em alive.”

“Know a lot fer a’ man who don’t help with the ‘necro-stuff.’ Weird, ain’t it?”

“He puts on a show,” Yernal explained. “Demonstrates it. Almost monthly. Proud—proud guy.”He struggled more as Glemerr tightened her grip again.

“Hmm. What do ya think y’all?” I looked between Platick and Glem. I already had a guess what Rava’s answer was gonna be. “Think we should let him live? Err maybe save him the torment of the Gloomvault?”

“Live...!” His craggily voice cried. “Live, pl-please! Ah wanna live! Sssso bad!”

“Ricven, Glem, enough a’ that,” Rava warned with the tone of a den mother. “The folks in ‘ere have seen enough tragedy. Put him down.”

“Glemerr,” Platick spoke neutrally. “That’s enough.”

Glem looked back towards Platick. Whatever that darkness was around her hands, it spread to her face from within that rag covering too. One eye was a shadowy black, and the other shone like a bright spark.

I heard the mom and daughter gasp and shrink away behind me, while Rava and Platick now put their full attention on Glemerr. When she saw that, the darkness faded from her fist and face as she let go of Yernal. The Dwarf fell to the floor in a slump, groaning in pain.

“Sorry,” she grumbled. “Ah’m just really ticked off ‘bout all dis. Ah ain’t never dealt with some necromancer before, and hearin’ all dis gang talkin’ ‘bout it like it’s normal’s just...It’s all wrong. None a’ dis is righ’!”

“Yer right, Glem,” Rava told her. “It’s all gone daffy. An’ it ain’t gettin’ better. But we cannae lose our ‘eads. Stay focused.”

“Ah am focused,” Glemerr argued. “Ah know what we gotta do! Ah jus’ can’t stand lookin’ at all dis. Even da orcs back ‘ome didn’t play with dis bad magic. Fires an’ lightnin’ even, sure, but not skeletons! Not the dead! Even da gangs kept dead dead!”

“These ain’t Alderstone gangs, Miss Glem,” I told her. “And ya gotta stop comparin’ ‘em ta them gangs. This is a whole new catchin’ field. What you know ain’t gonna apply here.”

“He’s right,” Platick told her. “This is new to a lot of us. And we need to play this smart. Look at yourself. Look at me. We’re running off adrenaline.”

The half-orc lowered her head. “Ah know. An’ Stostine ain’t much bettah either. We gotta...yeah. Yeah, we gotta cool down. Take a breather.”

3rd Person POV
Ms. Cheerilee’s Classroom
4:47 PM

“A breather?” Rarity looked across the two of them, incredulous. Then, in an accent unlike her usual affair, “I ain’t not sure we got time, folks. That poor girl’s on a timer. One that’s runnin’ out soon. We gotta keep movin’.”

“I get that it sounds bad,” Applejack replied, her voice level and as clear of her usual accent as she could get it. “But if we use all our magic healing ourselves, you and the others will be out of anything that packs a punch. For the bugbears, for the nothic, and especially for the necromancer at the end.”

“Yernal said tha’ there’s two hours left, yeah?” Rainbow looked to Story. She wasn’t playing as Rava, but the Scottish accent still clung to her. When she heard it, she cleared her throat and focused. “Would Rava or Ricven know anything about the ritual thing?”

On Story’s end of the table, he was thoroughly distracted. Between looking through his notes for any other changes the game was ‘helping’ him with, he was burying his face in his hands. Buckets of grief were pouring over the boy as he couldn’t help but wonder what equated to a necromantic ritual on one of the girls in real life. And the answers he was coming up with simply scared him more.

“Hey! Story?” Rainbow didn’t let it go. She reached over and tapped on the top of the screen, making Story freeze up and then peek over one of his hands. “Like back at the other jail. I tried to roll about the skeletons, yeah? And I rolled bad. But I got to try for it, right?”

Story blinked a few times before slowly nodding. Sunset, Twi, and Fluttershy weren’t able to hear what was going on here since they were having their own conversation, but Rarity, AJ, and Pinkie could. And the question made them pause for a second.

“I mean, yes,” Story spoke faintly. “Necromancy stuff can fall under religion.”

“Awesome.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “In that case, can Rava roll a religion check here? But about the spider skulls? Or just the ritual thing for them?”

“Good idea,” Rarity told her. She then leaned forward as well. “And could I do the same with Ricven? Except with Arcana?”

Story stared back, his mind distracted from his emotions for a moment. Eventually, he glanced back at the screen, watching as scenes all about Ricven or Rava appeared. Dozens of scenarios about why they did or did not know about this kind of thing.

“I mean...Yeah. I guess it’s possible.” He nodded and looked back up at his friends. “Sure. Make your checks.”

The two girls quickly got to work, tracking down dice for a second. Rarity settled for one of her own dice, but Rainbow Dash wanted all the chance she had for this. So, she looked over towards the last person to have the lucky die.

“Hey, Fluttershy?” Rainbow leaned towards her next. The meek girl—although, perhaps not meek in that moment—whipped her head around to Rainbow Dash. “The good die. Can I borrow it?”

In that moment, Fluttershy gripped the die so hard her knuckles were whitening. Since she had used it, it never left her hand. “W-Why?”

“It’s for something important,” Dash excused. “Please?”

Fluttershy withdrew a little bit, giving a hesitant look between her friend and the thing that had helped keep her stable. She hadn’t needed to roll it in some time, so Thorn’s voice had long faded. However, simply holding it brought Fluttershy this...comfort. A comfort that she failed to understand.

“E-Erm...Well.” She gave one last look to the die. And then towards Rainbow’s outstretched hand and pressing expression. Both of these things were important to Fluttershy, but not equally. So after a few seconds, and Rainbow’s eyes blinking in slight confusion, Fluttershy relented. “Okay. Sure. Could I, uh, have it back after?”

“Yeah, sure thing. Thanks.” Rainbow took the die, tossing it around in her hand as the die shifted from a seed pod to a storm cloud.

“Sixteen for Arcana,” Rarity told Story. She had already finished adding by the time Rainbow seized the die.

“Sixteen..." Story paused for a second, looking down at the scenes before him. None of them looked substantial, just minor. “Ricven would never have seen any rituals regarding necromancy. Even the seedier folk of a city’s shadows have standards. Still, stories always pass by. And while these were more conjecture, you would find a pattern in them. One that speaks of necromantic rituals requiring living sacrifices rather than the dead. The conversion of life force rather than a trade.”

At this point, Rainbow started rolling. When the dice hit the ground and clattered to a favorable number, she felt her heart and excitement settle into a calm, attentive demeanor.

It was an odd feeling for Rainbow Dash. Unless a subject in lectures talked about something she expressly was interested in, like her hobbies, she tended to zone out pretty quickly. So the feeling she got felt foreign to her. It felt almost like what she imagined Twilight would feel with lectures.

Interest.

A sea of thoughts flowed into Rainbow’s mind, and she listened to each of them with a studied expression. The results of necromancy. What it does to a person’s mind. What it does to the life it corrupts, and what may need to be done to see it destroyed or prevented.

Hours. Days, possibly, of lectures ran on fast forward, giving Rainbow Dash glimpses of lectures, prayer, and a few sparse lessons on other matters. She couldn’t remember a majority of them or cling onto any details, but the gist of it was there for her. And it left her a want to prevent it at all costs.

She folded her hands on the space in front of her and nodded with a grim determination. “Eighteen.” To the others, Rainbow rolled the dice, blinked once or twice, and locked in.

Story again looked back at his screen, finding similar, if not the same, memories that swept by Rainbow Dash. “Towards you, Dagarkin, spider skulls are not a standard affair of undead. Not many are. Necromancy is not studied and recorded, except for well secured within Stone Tome Archives.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes for a second. “Guessin’ Ah’ve never been?” Her Scottish accent came back for a moment, but Rainbow didn’t seem to notice it.

“Few beyond the keepers of that Archive ever do,” Story told her. “However, the Carved Cathedral has enough history dealing with necromancers that they know how to teach holy warriors how to combat and prevent them. And specifically, with rituals using living sacrifices, the rituals are quite easy to prevent. Victims of these rituals must remain in as pristine a condition all the way through until the final stage.”

Hearing that, Rarity perked up. “When does this final stage happen? Towards the very end, yes?”

Story started to nod. “Ricven and Rava would both know stories of powerful necromancers and their rituals by word of mouth and lecture appropriately. In the event of these powerful mages, living subjects would be left with lingering necromancy even if they were saved. This Glasstaff, however, seems far from any powerful necromancer. Still dangerous. But not that dangerous.”

Rarity let out a breath of relief. Then, she worked with Rainbow to relay everything to the others with their characters. Once it was all done and the others shared her sentiment, Rarity seemed to settle down further. “So then there likely is time.”

“Ah’d think so,” Applejack nodded along, putting Platick’s voice aside for a second. “We got two hours, and Twi said that a short rest thing takes one hour at least, right? That should be enough time.”

“I always have it be one hour,” Story confirmed, nodding. In the back of his mind, he tried to assure himself that things were still okay. The magic is still helping to run a ‘game.’ This must be its way of helping me set up a short rest.

He swore to himself to deal with that kind of hiccup later. For now, he reveled in the respite they had.

“So, it decided?” Rainbow asked them. “Take a breather, then charge through the rest of this place?”

“And as quickly as possible,” Rarity added, checking her phone. “We have perhaps an hour left.”

“Sounds like a plan, Ric-van the man!” Pinkie tried to put a smile back on her face, but like her hair it had difficulty staying up.

“And everyone else in favor?” When everyone at the table, Sunset’s group included as they finished up their talk and rejoined the others earlier, were in agreement, Story sunk back in his seat and smiled.

“And you’re all able to do so,” he told them. “For all the abilities that say short rest, regain those back. And you each have up to two hit dice to get some HP back. Roll high.”

The girls quickly got to work, preparing their characters for what came next as fast as they were able to. As they rolled their dice and tallied their points, a shared sense of determination filled the room.

Story watched them all roll and throw out a few plans—discussing the best line-up, whether to start using their bigger spells or not. It was a relief to see them coming up with ideas and concerns that even veterans considered at times.

But still, a feeling of dread was hitting him. As they kept planning, Story was quickly trying to read up on whatever the game’s magic had prepared without his consent. The tension was building, and stakes were getting stricter. As far as a game like this was concerned, that was great. Given the real-world ramifications, Story didn’t share that thought.

I know where she is, Story told himself. And I know how much time she’s got. How much one of those girls have. Not sure if that makes it easier, but it’s not impossible.

He took a second to look over the rest of the threats within the dungeon. All of them at once were nearly impossible. But split up, the girls could manage.

Behind their table, Ms. Cheerilee glanced at the clock. It was nearly five. Her ride was supposed to be in around six o’clock. The school didn’t like students staying too long beyond that either. And on top of all of that, she figured that they would need to clean up the space for tomorrow morning.

Ms. Cheerilee checked her phone. There was no message from her friend yet. But if there was even a chance that they were going to be early, the least that she could do is prevent it.

She got to work typing away, hoping that her friend would see it before driving over. At the same time, the Crusaders and Button were watching the girls set up for the last part of the game.

“Hey, girls?” Applebloom looked between her two friends and pulled them closer for a small huddle. “Don’t ya think this has all been...sorta weird?”

“I mean, kinda?” Scootaloo nodded side-to-side. “But it’s still kinda cool to watch. Maybe they’re just really into this stuff.”

“Rainbow Dash into a board game?” Applebloom raised an eyebrow. “Ah dunno ‘bout that. And the way mah sister’s playin’? Ah ain’t ever thought Ah’d see her so willin’ ta play somebody with lockpicks n’ hidden’ knives.”

“It is a little weird,” Sweetie admitted. “Not to mention they act like the monsters are real. “But, it is all a game, I guess.”

“Ah guess,” Applebloom copied, her face still a mix of uncertainty. She recalled how Applejack and the others were acting back at the mall. “Well...Long as Ah ain’t alone in thinkin’ that.”

“I mean, I get where you’re coming from.” Scootaloo looked back at the table as Story started to play out one of the other characters. “Do you think there’s something, y’know, extra. Going on?”

“Maybe.” Applebloom frowned. “Apparently, Story knows ‘bout magic. Could be that this is one a them problems.”

“Ya think. Oh, that’d be wild.” Scootaloo thought about it for a second. Then a small grin formed on her face. “You think we’d get to fight off some skull spiders?”

“No,” Sweetie refused. “Please, no skull spiders. They sound so terrible.”

“Agreed.” AB nodded. “Wouldn’t wanna find them hidin’ under mah covers.”

Sweetie Belle gave her a tired look. “Why’d you have to say that? Now I gotta start checking my bed.”

“They’re not actually gonna start showing up.” Scootaloo snickered, but trailed off for a second. “...Right?”

“If they do, I’m making you take care of it.”

“Ya know what? Deal.” Scootaloo gave her friend a brave grin. “I could probably take on a skull spider.”

Her friends didn’t seem so convinced. Nevertheless, they let Scootaloo believe that theory and turned back as their older sisters and friends further cemented themselves in their game.

Author's Note

Well, I made a little spoiler blurb just in case last chapter and glad I did. I'm a little late again. Sorry.

My family came over for a birthday and over the last week I've been working on a few other things, tearing my attention away from the story. So, to try and refocus everything, I'm gonna take a small break.

The next chapter will still be out next weekend, but after that I'm going to take a small hiatus (2-3 weeks). I have the events of the dungeon mapped out, but the chapters aren't written. And for this story, I want to have a surplus in the background so I can keep the schedule going.

After the next chapter, keep an eye out for any kind of blog posts on this site if you're interested. I'm going to try and mark down there when the next chapter will officially be ready. It'll still be on a Saturday I try to post after the break though, so there's that.

That little schedule hiccup aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I always look forward to hearing what you guys think in comments, so please let me know! Any and all criticism welcome!

Thank you and cheers,
-Zeke

(52) A Short Rest

Stostine Swordhand’s POV
Redbrands’ Hideout, Underground Crypt

I took a step into the crypt proper, attempting to follow Glemerr as she helped walk Platick toward the cells Ricven had found. But that first step was the only one I managed before the back of Thorn’s scythe halted me.

The blade’s back was blunt, a fact I only realized as its cold steel grazed my skin. I backed away, startled, only to find both Thorn Wielder and Vareén staring at me with fierce, unyielding glares.

“No,” Thorn said to me in Elvish, her tone rivaling her gaze. “You will stay here. We will talk.”

“Talk?” I echoed, my eyes widening in response. I wasn’t a fool; I knew what this was about. But going over it now was a waste of ti— something that would take too long. The prison cells were in the next room—they were what mattered. Not this. “Thorn Wielder, I understand your concern,” I replied, also in Elvish. “But we do not have time for this. If you insist, I will explain later.”

I tried to step around her, but she adjusted swiftly, the sharp edge of her scythe hovering dangerously close to the back of my neck as she moved to block my path. I found myself trapped, both by her blade and the intensity of their stares.

“Talk,” she repeated, this time in Common. “Talk. Or die.”

Sunset leaned back, a chill running down her spine at the harshness in Fluttershy’s tone. In the past, Fluttershy spoke with a neutral voice. Even when she said Thorn Wielder seemed angry, like with the goblins, there was always a trace of timidity as if she were unsure if they were okay with it.

But now, none of that remained. Clutching the ‘lucky’ die in her hand, ignoring the thin spikes of its seed pod form, Fluttershy glowered at her friend, her voice laced with venom that Sunset wasn’t accustomed to.

“Fluttershy?” Sunset frowned, regaining her composure after a few seconds. The only other people at the table who could hear the two of them were Twilight and Story, the latter thoroughly distracted by whatever the others were dealing with.

“Are you alright?” Twilight leaned to the side, trying to catch Fluttershy’s expression.

“Plague,” Fluttershy growled, her face angled downward like a wolf ready to strike. “Smell plague. Hag. Hag on Stostine. Why?”

Hearing this, Spike scuttled out from under the table to see what had caught Twilight’s attention. But when he came into view and saw Fluttershy, his ears flattened against his head.

Through the whimpering, Spike was too concerned to stay silent. “W-What’s going on?”

His voice worried the Crusaders and Big Mac, who made sure that Button didn’t catch where it had come from. But at the same time, it made Fluttershy flinch back for a moment.

“Huh?” She blinked a few times, turning to look down at Spike, only to realize he was staring up at her with his tail tucked away, holding back more whimpers. “Oh. O-Oh, Spike. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just want Stostine—err, Sunset—to tell me about that hag I saw.”

“You saw?” Sunset’s frown deepened. “Fluttershy, what do you mean you saw it? How do you even know about it?”

“Not Flutter—me,” Fluttershy quickly corrected as she pointed at herself, her usual demeanor returning. Rather than explain directly, she spoke as Thorn Wielder, but more neutrally, much like before the undead fight.

“Sense hag,” Thorn Wielder told me, her voice low and accusatory. “When fire burn green. You were scent of hag. Evil. Plague.”

Vareén took one last look towards the jail. Presumably, none of the others were around, because she stepped closer, her glare focused solely on me. “So that’s what that was? A hag? That’s what made you go nuts?”

I clenched my teeth. I suppose, for now, I’ll have to leave the prisoners to Ricven and the others. “Yes. It is a...lingering symptom.”

“Symptom?” Vareén’s eyes narrowed, then widened in recognition. “Plague. Sickness.”

I nodded, then turned back to Thorn. “I apologize for worrying you both. Truly, I do. But understand that whatever I may act like in those moments, I do not mean what I may say or do.”

“Struck with fire,” Thorn reminded me, her voice sharp with the memory.

I winced. “I know. I am very sorry about that. I did not...I didn’t mean to...I will not do. It again..." But I couldn’t even force myself to meet her eyes as I made that hollow promise.

“You threatened to expose me.” Vareén stepped forward until she stood beside Thorn Wielder. Her voice sounded colder. “You swore you wouldn’t, and now you’re holding it over my head.”

My heart plummeted into my stomach, my face blanching with horror. I forgot I ever said that. It wasn’t important to me at the time—it was just a way to get her to do what I wanted. To keep her from taking what was mine, a voice glazed across the back of my mind.

I flinched, gripping my head at the sides and shaking until the whiplash drowned out the whispers.

“Hey, hey.” Vareén stepped forward again, her voice softer but still firm. “Focus. We’re talking.”

“I-I know. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry! I know I swore to you I wouldn’t. And I won’t. What I said was—” “Do you expect that to mean anything?”

I looked back at her as the desperation died in my throat. The two elves before me softened their expressions slightly, but their eyes still held more hostility than compassion. “First was the fight against the Redbrands last night when you mocked them. And just now when you snapped at us. How are we supposed to rely on you for anything when you act like that?”

“When hag appear,” Thorn added flatly.

“Wait. Appear?” I let the word register in my mind before I studied her. “What do you mean, ‘appear’?”

“Stostine change, hag arrives. Watching. From behind.” Thorn Wielder, with the hand not gripping her scythe—

—reached out and pointed just above Sunset’s head, right where the hag’s face had loomed before.

“Hag. There.” Fluttershy’s face tensed up, a cold sweat forming on her brow. She spoke with such conviction that Sunset actually turned around, half-expecting something sinister. But all she saw was Big Mac and the younger ones on the other side of the room. Sunset looked back at Fluttershy, still unnerved.

“You mean...Here?” Sunset’s voice dropped to a whisper. “In the classroom?”

Fluttershy nodded faintly. Then, her breathing hitched for a moment before she instinctively rolled the die again. As it struck the table, the fear that had gripped her moments before was abruptly squashed by a foreign will—a shift that made Spike’s body tense at the presence of her.

Twilight and Sunset exchanged a glance, missing Fluttershy’s sudden change in demeanor as they tried to process what she had just revealed.

“Hey, Fluttershy? The good die. Can I borrow it?”

The question didn’t come from Twilight or Sunset. It was Rainbow Dash.

Whatever was going on between her, Rarity, and Story, Rainbow Dash completely missed Fluttershy’s behavior. She seemed oblivious to how her usually meek friend wasn’t acting so meek at that moment.

Fluttershy blinked, her mind snapping back to reality as she registered Rainbow Dash’s request. “W-Why?”

“It’s for something important,” Rainbow Dash replied, nodding towards Story, who was speaking, though his words were gargled for Fluttershy and the others. “Please?”

Fluttershy hesitated, her hand still clenched tightly around the die. Her knuckles were white from the force. The seconds kept passing, with only Spike seemingly aware that there was something going on.

“E-Erm...Well.” Fluttershy stammered, her gaze shifting to Rainbow Dash’s outstretched hand. A small internal struggle played out on her face as she wrestled with an irrational reluctance to part with the die. But when she questioned herself on why she was hesitating, she found no clear answer.

Seeing Rainbow Dash’s growing confusion, Fluttershy relented. Whatever Rainbow was dealing with seemed more pressing than her own vague concerns. “Okay. Sure. Could I, uh, have it back after?”

“Yeah, sure thing. Thanks.” Rainbow took the die, tossing it lightly in her hand as Sunset tried to refocus on the more immediate concern.

“She was here? The hag?” I hid my mouth behind my hand as a million thoughts raced through my mind. A handful of them not being my own. But among them, I managed to force out a desperate plea as I reached out to Them.

Tabbrius? I thought outward. Are you there? Please be.

Silence. No answer. They were absent. It wasn’t unexpected, but it was still a bitter blow.

“She shouldn’t be.” I turned away from them, my face twisting with grief. “She hasn’t been here since...since...She shouldn’t be.”

“Stostine.” Vareén stepped closer, her hand catching my shoulder. Then, she switched to Dwarvish—a language we were fairly certain Thorn didn’t understand. “You said you were sickly before. Is this what you meant?”

I hesitated, then gave Vareén a brief nod before slowly turning to face them both. As I raised my hands in surrender, Thorn finally lowered her scythe and began to put it away.

“I have difficulty controlling myself in times of great stress,” I explained in Elvish so that Thorn could fully understand. “And when that stress takes hold, it spurs me to act on corrupted emotions—rage, cruelty, even joy. If you saw a hag, Thorn Wielder, then it is likely the same hag that causes it.”

Thorn closed her eyes, silently contemplating. Vareén, however, seemed to piece something together. “When Ricven helped you up, you called yourself a ‘Child of Auntie.’ What does that mean?”

“I...I don’t actually know,” I admitted, folding my hands at my waist. The phrase had haunted me since childhood. A leftover memory from those delusional days. It was like she made me want to say it, to embrace it. Like a mantra.

“Child of hag,” Thorn murmured, her eyes still closed.

“Erm, yes?” I glanced at her. “That...That sounds correct. She always made me say it, without me really understanding why.”

“A hag is a plague,” Thorn repeated in Elvish. “It corrupts Fey and Nature, uses them, spreads curses. It spreads with children.”

“Children?” Vareén crossed her arms, uncertain. “I mean, sure, plenty of hag myths involve children. But how would they ‘spread’ with them?”

Thorn opened her eyes back towards me. They were focused. No longer were they observing what was around her. Instead, her face showed someone acting on experience. “Hags birth hags. But they cannot create life. Only corrupt. Hag spreads with children. They remake children.”

Vareén turned to me, speaking in Common once more. “Please tell me you can decipher that.”

I attempted a weak smile. “Aren’t you the one who grew up surrounded by myths and folktales?”

She scoffed, hiding a smirk. “Just because I was raised by gullible zealots doesn’t mean I paid attention to their nonsense.”

Thorn’s voice cut back in, serious and searching. “This hag. Did you make a deal? Do her bidding? Were you born of her? Speak the truth.”

I straightened, considering her questions carefully. My memories of that time were fragmented, but clear enough to be haunting. After being brought to heaven, I was free of her voice for years. I had thought.

“I’ve never made a deal with a hag,” I said slowly. “Especially not her. And I don’t believe I was...born of her.”

Thorn eyes narrowed slightly. “No?”

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to speak the truth. “I...became something. Something monstrous. I tried to escape my home, but I was stopped. Before I could do whatever it was that hag wanted of me, I was caught. That’s when...”

“So you were stopped,” Vareén interjected, seizing on the detail. “Did they put you back to normal?”

I nodded, using her interruption as a reprieve. “Yes. I woke up the next day, back to normal. There was no sign of it. And for years, nothing came of it.”

Thorn Wielder nodded, but her gaze remained intense. “You avoided. Have you done her bidding?”

I shuddered at the memory. “There were times she spoke in my mind, convincing me to play malicious pranks on my family. And I did them. But I always regretted it afterward. This was only before I became that creature.”

Thorn’s stare grew more distant, her thoughts visibly churning as she sought answers she couldn’t find. Her silence carried on uncomfortably long, and I began to hug my arms around myself.

“Does...does that count?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Was that me doing her bidding? And if so, what does that mean?”

Thorn’s face tensed further as she struggled to make sense of it all. Her eyes darted around, searching for clarity, until she finally closed them, focusing inward. But even after several moments, she still had no answer. Finally, she shook her head.

“Unsure,” she admitted. “Bidding is...more. It’s bringing misfortune, destroying symbols, killing, torturing. But prank? What is prank?”

“She means joke,” Vareén interpreted. “I think she means the hag had her be mean toward her family.”

“Joke? Be mean?” Thorn’s brow furrowed deeper. She seemed to wrestle with the concept, trying to connect it to what she knew of hags. But in the end, she just shook her head. “Jokes are not misfortune. And mean? That is all?”

“All?” I repeated, giving her an incredulous look. “I made my own mother cry. My father couldn’t look me in the face for years. Do you have any idea what that’s like? I hated how I made them feel. And you’re asking me if that’s all?”

Thorn Wielder shook her head, frustrated. “Not intent. When is bidding? When is corruption? When is difference? I do not know.”

“Alright...Well then, what would it mean if it was her bidding?” I asked, my arms still tightly crossed.

“If bidding, too late. Stostine is plague,” Thorn Wielder said bluntly. “If not bidding, safe. Stostine is Stostine.”

I took a few stiff breaths, letting Thorn’s words sink in. Her scythe was put away, and neither of the girls looked as though they wanted to cut me down any longer. However, there was still no real trust in their eyes.

Thorn Wielder seemed distracted, likely sifting through memories, trying to recall something that might help her come to a decision. Occasionally, she would close her eyes or let them wander, but they always found their way back to me, gauging my every reaction.

Vareén’s gaze, on the other hand, never left me. She wasn’t distracted—her focus was entirely on me. Her thoughts were likely bouncing between my betrayal and the oath I had made.

“I will do better,” I said, bowing my head. “At the very least, let me work with you all until we reach Gundren. If I lose control again, then so be it. If it keeps you all safe, I would understand what would have to come next. But these bandits must be stopped. The necromancer must be caught. And the man who hired us must be saved. I want to help. Please, give me that chance.”

Vareén sighed, her resolve finally breaking. “Enough. I’m not about to put you down when you’re sane. Besides, you want to solve problems more than I do. Cutting you down would make me feel worse by comparison.”

Thorn pursed her lips. “Hag gone for now. No scent. Stostine’s scent not linger hag, Stostine not plague. No kill.” She then turned, heading towards the others. “Stay not hag, Stostine.”

“Must be her way of saying she won’t do it either,” Vareén remarked, glancing at me. “Leave it to the divine hag girl to find bleeding hearts.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “In the most curious spots. Including from a changeling huntress, hmm?”

She turned from me, pulling her hood lower. “Come on. Let’s check in with the others. Maybe they’ve gotten those prisoners free by now.”

I nodded, folding my arms into my sleeves and following her into the next room. Inside, we saw that Platick had already made quick work of most of the locks. In the center of the room was Mirna, an unfortunate widow from Phandalin, along with one of her daughters. From another cell emerged the real Leanne, still chained to the wall, much to her and Platick’s frustration, but alive.

Standing in the opposite corner of the room was one last person: Yernal.

“You.” I stepped forward as Glemerr and Platick debated whether or not to rest before assaulting the remainder of the hideout. “This is where you went.”

He settled himself, staring back in disbelief. “You...You’re alive. All of ya.” He took a moment to glance at Thorn Wielder. “Even the Cortássian?”

I smiled at him. “That might not have been the case if you had taken the shot. It was close for a moment there. You have my thanks.”

He stared back, his expression darkening with guilt. “Ya saved me first, ta be fair. ‘Fore everythin’ went ta shivile, ya kept Stalwart from offin’ me. That woulda kept ya alive too, ya know.”

“Perhaps,” I conceded. “But I was not lying. We truly were not looking for bloodshed. Watching you die would have been saddening.”

He slumped back against the wall. “Makes sense, Ah s’ppose. But now what? Ya already said the Platinum Guard knows ‘bout all the necromancy. Can’t imagine anyone that survives you lot gets ta walk free.”

“No, they likely won’t.” My face faltered. “A few of them have apparently cracked under the pressure, particularly towards my friend, the gnome. So, we will try to put in a word for them. For all that may be worth.”

“Even after what they did ta you all?” He raised an eyebrow. “You’d do that?” He watched me nod, then mulled over his options. “Yer much nicer than ya should be. When that doppelganger came in, he riled up the place somethin’ fierce. Had ‘em all mad, fakin’ revenge just fer a chance at cuttin’ ya down.”

“And most of them have already fallen,” I informed him. “And to those lucky enough to live, they will remain as such until the Platinum Guard arrives.”

He took a deep breath, building up his courage before looking back up at me. By now, one or two of the others were listening in on our conversation. He had to face them too, and their eyes bore down on him.

“And...same goes fer me, aye?”

I hummed, turning the thought over. “Well, everyone captured so far has refused to surrender. Even the ones who turned on their band.” I glanced over my shoulder. Vareén and Rava had joined me. “What do you two think? Should he receive the same punishment if he’s the only one that surrendered?”

“Pretty sure he took potshots at us last night,” Vareén reminded me. “It was either him or the other Dwarf that struck you in the back. I couldn’t tell.”

Yernal stiffened, but before he could speak, Rava stepped forward. “A thought before ya speak, Yernal. If yer about ta throw yer dead friend under the bus, that won’t bode well. Criminal or not, Ah won’t have anyone lyin’ about the dead. If yer gonna say it was him, ya better be tellin’ the truth.”

Yernal swallowed, nodding gravely at Rava’s words. “What yer elf friend said is right. Ah took shots at ya. Even after ya saved me. And, well, Ah did hit her. Couldn’t tell quite where, but Ah know Ah did. Still, it wasn’t me that shot ya in the back. That was Daern. Ah ain’t sure Ah coulda taken that shot after ya saved mah life.”

Rava folded her arms, her eyes narrowing as she weighed his words. Vareén’s gaze was equally sharp, her suspicion evident. Neither of them seemed ready to trust him yet.

Rainbow Dash glanced over at Twilight. “What do you think, Twi? He tellin’ the truth?”

Twilight gave her an awkward look. “I don’t know. I remember Vareén getting shot, and only the Dwarves were shooting, but I didn’t keep track of which one did it.”

Sunset turned to Story. “Would Stostine remember? Or do I need to roll an insight check?”

Story frowned thoughtfully. “If you can’t recall, then I probably can’t tell you. Still, all three of you can roll insight on him.”

The three girls took him up on the offer, with Twilight and Sunset grabbing their regular dice, while Rainbow kept using the lucky die.

However, ‘lucky’ wasn’t the right word here. As Rainbow and Twilight rolled, both dice landed on the same, terrible number: 1.

“Here. Take it back.” Rainbow Dash handed the die back to Fluttershy with a sad expression, and Fluttershy quietly held it under her palm.

Sunset, however, wasn’t betrayed by her die. “Twenty-two.”

Story nodded, not needing to check his notes. “Consider this roll more about recalling events. Rava wasn’t there, so she has no clue. And Vareén just admitted she couldn’t remember. But Stostine? She does.”

“Cannae say fer sure,” Rava admitted, shaking her head. “Ah wanna take yer word on it, but—”

“No,” I interjected. “He is telling the truth.”

They turned to me, and I met their gazes evenly. “Constantly, Yernal was berated and insulted by his fellow bandits. Even before the human bandits started, this Daern did the same. Yernal held back.”

“As she says. Honest,” Yernal added quickly. “Look, Ah got no weapons on me. Search me if ya need, they took ‘em when they threw me in ‘ere. Same with mah cloak.”

Vareén scoffed. “What, are those things supposed to be an initiation or something?”

Yernal shook his head. “No. It’s what Glasstaff had us wear. Told us that whoever wore ‘em, undead wouldnae try ta kill us. Most of us just wore ‘em either on jobs or downstairs. Stalwart n’ the mage-haters wanted ta make an emblem out a’ them. Make the town ‘understand what they meant’ err whatever.”

“The cloaks keep the undead away?” I mused, rubbing my chin. “Come to think of it, the undead didn’t seem to care about that other Redhead when he burst into the chamber with a crossbow.”

“Or Glem fer tha’ matter,” Rava added. “‘Least, not till she managed ta tag one of ‘em.”

“Wait.” Vareén spun around, focusing on Glemerr. She was busy wrapping up her and Platick’s wounds while Ricven soothed the two townsfolk’s worries. But Vareén’s attention was on something else: Glemerr’s mask.

“The red cloaks.” Vareén held the side of her head for a second. “Glemerr’s mask is made of shredded cloaks. The undead thinks that she’s on their side.”

“Well, up ‘till she clocked one,” Rava again pointed out.

“Sounds right,” Yernal confirmed. “The way they told me, Glasstaff has his undead ignore somebody wearin’ a red cloak. But if someone with a red cloak hits an undead, Glasstaff, err another cloaked person, the undead go nuts on ‘em.”

“The cloaks keep you safe.” I frowned. “Which means, if we want to keep the undead from immediately attacking us…”

“...No.” Vareén shook her head. “No, please, tell me we’re not.”

“Vareén.” I looked back at her seriously. “In that small room beside the cistern we saw, you said that there were some extra capes? How many?”

Vareén grimaced. “I almost don’t want to tell you...but three. And they’re all filthy.”

“Three from the closet,” I repeated, thinking aloud.. “One more on the man that shot Platick. Two from the ones Glemerr took out. And Glemerr’s mask. We won’t even need to go upstairs.”

“Do we really need to wear those things?” Vareén’s tone turned slightly whiny. “We already killed his undead. What difference would it make?”

“He’s got more,” Yernal piped up. “The folk who stand guard outside his office mentioned how he keeps a couple spiders in there too.”

“Thanks for that,” Vareén muttered sarcastically. “Now it’s a given we have to wear those dumb things.”

I gave her a small smile. “If it helps, Prestidigitation is only a cantrip. I can make sure that yours is cleaned.”

“It’s not just the dirt,” Vareén grumbled. “I just...like my cloak better.”

“Are ya serious?” Rava shot her a look. “Vareén, lassie, nobody’s gonna judge yer fashion sense in a dirty basement. It won’t kill ya ta go without yer hood fer an hour.”

Vareén’s side-eye lingered on Rava for a few seconds before switching back to me. “If I wear one and a spider still crawls down my throat? I’m ramming it down yours.”

I forced myself not to squirm, taking a deep breath. The memory of spider limbs crawling across my skin, reaching through my fucking face, sent a shiver down my spine, but I kept my voice steady. “...Okay. That’s fair. And if the worst happens, I’ll do everything I can to prevent it. Rava?”

The Dwarf blinked, refocusing on my words rather than my expression. “Erm, yeah?”

“You can jump that pit, right? Could you double back and grab those other cloaks?”

With a look of recognition, she nodded. “Aye. Ah can do tha’. Be back in a sec.”

Rava hurried off to retrieve the cloaks as the others agreed to rest for the moment. Glemerr, still intensely focused, worked to bandage everyone else’s wounds after finishing with Platick, who in turn began drilling Yernal for information about the hideout. Thorn and Vareén, untouched by the recent battle, took up positions as lookouts, their eyes scanning the crypt for any sign of more Redbrands.

When Rava returned, cloaks in hand, I used a simple wave of my fingers to clean them with magic, making the filthy garments presentable. As she passed them out, Rava also offered rations and water to Leanne and the other prisoners, who accepted the meal with grateful, albeit exhausted, smiles. It was likely the first decent meal they’d had in weeks.

Despite the dreary atmosphere, with the remains of the undead still scattered outside the chamber, Ricven began preparing his violin, a content grin spreading across his face.

Vareén glanced over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised. “Tell me you’re not about to play something down here.”

“Oh, hush, Miss Vareén.” Ricven waved her off with a flourish. “I’ve got a reason for this performance. Y’see, them ‘bubbles’ y’all love so much are nice an’ all, but I can only do ones like those so many times. But with a bit of time? I can create somethin’ grander. Somethin’ that the whole crowd can enjoy.”

“With healing properties?” Platick asked, his tone flat.

Ricven only pouted. “Yes, Platick. With healin’ properties. Do ya gotta rip all the whimsy out of it?”

“Right. Because whimsy is exactly what we need in a prison, surrounded by bones.”

“U-Um.” Narra, Mirna’s daughter, raised her hand tentatively. “I wouldn’t mind some music.”

Ricven’s face lit up, and he snapped his fingers. “A pure angel, this child!” He then shot a mock glare at Platick and Vareén. “Y’hear that, ya borin’ stumps? The kid wants a song. Now hush up and enjoy.”

With exhausted patience, Platick and Vareén rolled their eyes but fell silent as Ricven positioned his bowstring. He tapped it in the air, conjuring a soft, jovial piano melody that echoed through the chamber. As each note rang out, small orbs of light appeared, growing in size until they coalesced into the shapes of different instruments—drums, flutes, and even a harp.

Ricven swayed with the rhythm, conducting his ensemble of motes with practiced ease. The music swelled, summoning a harmonious blend of tones that filled the crypt with a warmth that contrasted sharply with the cold, lifeless surroundings. The melody reached a crescendo, then paused, leaving a pregnant silence in its wake.

“Ladies,” Ricven announced with a grandiose bow. “It is my pleasure ta perform fer you...and Platick and that ex-con Dwarf.” He waved dismissively at them, earning a chuckle from Narra. “A delightful Song...Of rest.”

The instruments resumed, guided by Ricven’s violin, with the notes dancing in the air with a joyful energy. As the music swirled around us, a gentle breeze seemed to emanate from Ricven and his magical motes, washing over our tired bodies. The sound seeped into our very skin, soothing aches and pains, mending wounds with a tender touch that felt almost otherworldly.

The healing wasn’t instantaneous, but it was thorough. With each passing moment, the pain dulled, replaced by a comforting warmth that spread through our limbs. Ricven’s lively tune gradually softened, transitioning into a calmer melody. The motes of light pulsed gently in time with the music, each beat delivering another wave of healing energy.

As the hour passed, the music continued to weave its spell, binding our injuries and lifting our spirits. The threat of danger still loomed not far away, but in that small, sacred space, we found a brief respite. The weariness that had weighed us down began to lift, replaced by a renewed sense of purpose.

When the final note hung in the air, fading into the silence of the crypt, we were left not only physically healed but emotionally fortified. The group exchanged glances, a silent understanding passing between us. Then, we picked ourselves up for what came next.

Platick Fortuna’s POV
Redbrands’ Hideout, Underground Crypt
1 Hour Later

The entire time Ricven played his violin, we were lucky. Not a single Redbrand found us. No close calls, no warnings from Thorn or Vareén, who kept vigilant watch by the door. It was a rare moment of peace in this cursed place—a chance to lick our wounds and regroup.

As we rested, Yernal proved more useful than I expected. He laid out the hideout’s layout as best as he could remember. I kept a close eye on him, but nothing he said set off any alarms. Either he was telling the truth, or his lies were wasted on being a grunt.

When we were ready to move out, Stostine turned to to the captives. “One last time. You all understand what to do, yes?”

“Keep the door closed and tied,” Mirna recited, gripping the rope in her hands. “And I’ll tie it to the bars on either side.”

“Good.” Stostine nodded. “And no matter what you hear, do not open that door unless you hear the song Ricven played.”

“Got it.” Mirna’s voice trembled slightly. “Please, please find Nilsa. Bring her back safe. Okay?”

“We promise,” Stostine assured them. “We won’t leave until we get her.”

Yernal cleared his throat and waved us over, switching to Dwarven so the captives wouldn’t understand. “Ah know it’s awkward askin’ this now, but... how long should we wait? Just in case...”

“Ya won’t have ta worry yerself ‘bout tha’,” Rava returned in the same tongue. “We’ll be back.”

“R-Right,” Yernal stammered, nodding. “Just...erm...”

I stepped forward, cutting through his uncertainty. “Give us two hours,” I said, my voice firm. “If we’re not back by then, get them out. Understood?”

I felt the tempered looks from the others who understood Dwarven, but I ignored them. Promises didn’t mean a damn thing if we didn’t make it back. Better to be realistic.

“One last thing.” I walked back into the chamber, noting Leanne’s cautious gaze following me. The only way she was getting out of there was if we returned with that key. Her survival depended on us, and that was something I couldn’t afford to lose focus on.

“Take these.” I took a moment to remove two daggers, handing them to Mirna and her daughter. “These are for self-defense only. Got it? If you see a Redbrand, don’t try to be a hero. Just keep yourselves safe.”

“Applejack, are you su—”

“Absolutely not!” Rarity’s outburst cut Sunset’s attempt at softly telling her otherwise. Rarity was having none of it. “Applejack, are you insane?! Why would you give them—”

“Rarity.” Applejack spared a glance at the Crusaders before giving Rarity a stern look. “Ah get it. It don’t look good on paper. But what’s the better alternative here? Give ‘em knives an’ hope they never need ‘em? Or don’t, and wish we had?”

Rarity’s face twisted in frustration, her anger barely contained. “Perhaps, but, if that’s the case, why not Yernal? He’s somebody who has fought people before. Further, we. Don’t. Know. Him.”

Applejack let out a slow breath, nodding along. “Yer right. We don’t. Which is exactly why Platick wouldn’t give him a knife.”

“Well then think of a reason Platick would give Yernal the—” “Rarity.”

This time, Sunset intervened, speaking only loud enough for Rarity to hear without the younger girls noticing. “If it’s our characters giving something to them, the girls won’t be affected. Besides, we don’t have too much longer. We need to keep moving.”

Rarity clenched her hands, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. “You’re...you’re right. Okay. We need to hurry and save the other twin.”

Or at the very least, stop the Nothic, Story thought, glancing at his phone. The clock was closing in on 6PM, and the timeline was tightening more than he liked.

“More than anything,” Stostine said, stepping up beside me. “Just focus on staying safe inside. We’ll be back soon.”

“Right. Best of luck,” Mirna replied, keeping Narra well behind her as we spoke.

As I turned, I caught the sound of shifting chains and saw Leanne enter the corner of my eye. “May the Goddess Tymora be with you,” she offered, her tone solemn.

My hand instinctively hovered over the spot where Sister Garaele’s medallion rested against my chest. The wound was healed, but the memory of that close call lingered. I had tucked the medallion into a different pocket earlier, but now, I figured it was better to keep it close—extra protection in case things went south again.

We stepped out, and as the door closed behind us, I listened intently. A few seconds later, I heard the distinct sound of the door being pulled tighter against its frame. They were following instructions. Good.

“Okay d’en.” Glemerr said, cracking her knuckles as she seemed much more focused than earlier. “Where to now?”

I adjusted the red cloak around my shoulders, redistributing the three daggers I had left. “Yernal said there’s a hidden path behind that door.”

Everybody followed my finger as it pointed out towards the third door leaving the crypt. The body of the most recent Redbrand lied beside it with an arrow still firmly lodged in his brain.

“Makes sense.” Vareén’s hand instinctively reached for her hood that was no longer there. The red cloaks were thicker than they seemed, and combined with her usual gear, it would have hindered Vareén’s movement Her old one was left behind with Yernal and the others. “That’s where the ‘warden’ tried to make a run for it.”

We crossed the crypt, our boots crunching against the scattered bones littering the floor. At the door, we stacked up as we had done before, each of us taking our positions with practiced precision.

“Ready...Go.”

Rava threw the door open, and Glemerr surged forward, taking up a defensive stance as she scanned the room. But it wasn’t needed. The hall was empty. A simple twenty-foot space with a single door on the right side at the far end.

“Clear,” Glemerr called, but she kept her arms up, ready for anything. Rava stepped aside to let me, Vareén and Thorn Wielder pass through.

“Remember. He said discolored stones,” I told them in Elvish. But I didn’t need to.. Both elves had already locked onto the same spot on the wall.

“Without a doubt, the saddest secret door,” Vareén quipped, earning a bored nod from Thorn Wielder. “One of the hinges is even a different color.”

Rava stepped in next, squinting at the wall. “Musta had a new one made by the blacksmith in town. They were really tryin’ ta bunker down in ‘ere, huh?”

I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter now. Alright, Rava? I want you at the back this time. With the hallway this narrow, we’ll have to go about this single-file.”

Rava stared at me. “The back? Why’s that?”

“If Yernal’s right—and I’m pretty sure he is—the other side of this fake wall opens to the main chamber. The Nothic, bugbears, any Redbrands still standing? They’ll all be within earshot of this door. And since this is the only way to the necromancer, we want the element of surprise. Meaning, you need to be in the back.”

Rava clicked her tongue in mild annoyance but started moving aside, her armor clanking as she did. “Fair enough. Coulda phrased it better, though.”

“I take it you want me up front?” Vareén asked, expectant.

I nodded. “Yes.” Then I turned to the other elf, switching back to Elvish. “Thorn Wielder, you’re with us. And about that animal shifting you can do. Can you do it quietly?” She gave a single nod. “Good. Once you’re out there, turn into something mean. When we start, we’re going all out.”

She nodded again and began some controlled breathing exercises, preparing herself.

“Hey. Ah can be quiet too,” Glemerr whispered, clearly eager to prove herself. “And Ah got no armor. Lemme sneak in with y’all.”

I considered it, weighing the risks. Glemerr was light enough on her feet, so if she could keep her mouth shut she’d probably be as good as me or Vareén. “Alright, fine. Everyone else? Stay back until things kick off. If it goes wrong before that, you’ll know.”

“Oh, I might have somethin’ ta help,” Ricven chimed in with a sly grin.

“If you’re about to suggest playing music to help us sneak in, don’t bother,” I said flatly. “Your little ditty that broke my tools was more than enough.”

Ricven scoffed, flipping his cloak like a thespian. “It would’ve been more help if ya let the music in, but no. I don’t need music fer this. Tell me, who thinks they ain’t the most stealthy outta y’all?”

The group exchanged glances, each of us sizing up the other. My money was on Glemerr, but Vareén seemed confident in her. Thorn Wielder, on the other hand, had the quiet grace of nature. but here, on stonework, that wasn’t enough.

Eventually, when all of our gazes all settled on Thorn, Ricven had his answer. “I see.” Ricven sidled up beside Thorn with an outstretched hand. “Y’know, they say that singin’ ta plants helps ‘em grow. Mind if I prove that?”

Thorn watched him for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she considered his offer. “Sing to Acrine?”

“Well a’ course. I wouldn’t sing ta just any plant, y’know? Come now, time’s rottin’.”

“Wasting,” Vareén corrected with a grumble.

Thorn kept staring down at Ricven, but when she saw the rest of us waiting, she finally relented. She crouched to eye level with Ricven and unwound a few coils of her vine, holding them out in front of him. Ricven took the vine gently, his expression focused.

“Now then.” Ricven cleared his throat and began to hum—a rhythmic, almost hypnotic sound that resonated through the vines. Each hum layered over the previous one, creating a subtle harmony that grew richer with each repetition. By the fifth hum, a faint thrum shimmered across Thorn’s vines, a quiet but steady vibration that lingered even after Ricven stepped back.

It was incredibly faint, only audible if you were right next to the vines, but it was there. As long as Thorn didn’t creep directly behind someone, no one would hear her coming.

“There. Ya see? Not all my magic needs ta be loud and boisterous. Thank me later,” Ricven said with a wink. But as he turned to rejoin the others, I caught him muttering to himself—something about the tone still not landing.

I shook my head, focusing on the task at hand. “At least it was quiet. Everyone ready?” I looked between the elves and Glemerr, watching as they all nodded in turn. “Okay. Carefully now.”

Vareén and I took point, easing our combined weight against the door. As we pushed, the wall shifted with a low, hollow grinding sound against the stone floor—a sound that immediately made us freeze.

“Dagnabit, Platick, yer supposed ta be good at this,” Applejack scolded, glaring at the sad little ‘4’ on her die. The total was at least in double digits, but it didn’t inspire confidence.

Good thing they’re going as a group, Story noted as he heard Twilight’s number barely more than double what Applejack had.

“Shush,” Vareén hissed, shooting me a sharp look as she slipped into the room first. I followed a beat later, moving slower to compensate for the noise I’d made.

Behind me, Glemerr slid through the doorway nex—

Natural-twenty, WOOHOO~!

PINKIE!

Hey, quiet! We’re stealthing here! You’re gonna give us away!

Ughhhh...

Glemerr moved with a cautious grace, never letting her feet fully lift off the floor. It served her well, and soon enough, the three of us were clustered together in the dim light, waiting for our last frontliner.

And Thorn Wielder didn’t disappoint. Watching our movements, she gave a final glance back at the others still in the hallway before skulking forward. Despite the complete lack of nature around her—in fact, I’d say in spite of it—she moved with an eerie fluidity, positioning herself silently between the three of us. The entire time, I noticed she held her breath, a small but significant detail that made me reassess her focus.

I wasn’t sure about Glemerr, thanks to her mask, but Vareén’s brow furrowed in brief confusion. Thorn Wielder met our eyes, then motioned for us to back up. With little choice, we obeyed.

We were standing inside a storeroom, its walls lined with crates and barrels that crowded the otherwise plain square space. The southern wall, completely missing, revealed a cavern with a massive gash in the earth that stretched into darkness. Weak torchlight flickered from the northern wall behind us, casting long shadows that danced over the rough stone floor.

I couldn’t see a thing beyond the torches, but the others covered for that. I watched them staring intently in one specific direction, clearly sizing up our enemies who sat in the darkness.

“Countin’ four hairy gobbos on da far side,” Glemerr whispered as we slunk to the left, using the scattered barrels to somewhat hide ourselves. Vareén had moved to the right, blending into shadows with practiced ease. She stayed standing at a full height, readying her bow and a single arrow in it. But even still, Thorn kept gesturing for us to give her further space.

How big are you about to get? I thought, finding another barrel to duck behind that allowed Thorn even more space.

The moment I did, Thorn gave me an answer. Once we were all a good distance away, she crouched low and exhaled a deep, controlled breath. Her elven form seemed to ripple like water, expanding and reshaping into a mass of fur and muscle. Her clothes and the red cloak vanished, replaced by thick brown hide as her body quadrupled in size.

Her face elongated, morphing into the snarling visage of a massive brown bear. The transformation was unnervingly silent, save for the light tapping of her sharp claws on the flagstone. Thorn Wielder, now a towering beast, glanced back at us, her massive head alone the size of her former body’s torso.

Bear? You had a BEAR this whole time?!

My thoughts screamed for an explanation I knew I wasn’t going to get. We’d spent last night’s ambush turning Thorn into a rabbit and a deer, and now I find out bears were on the list?

The only hint that this bear was anything more than a wild beast was the thick vines coiled around its front right leg. The vines had grown with her, now looking like something straight out of a jungle rather than the thorned forest vine we were accustomed to.

“Light. Light!” Glemerr pointed out towards the opposite end of the cavern as a light appeared on the opposite end. It was a simple candle, from what I could tell, carried by a human Redbrand. It barely illuminated the space far ahead of me, but gave me some perspective.

The chamber stretched about sixty to seventy feet long, with a chasm in the center splitting the room into two sides. Near the middle, two columns of rock supported the ceiling. The lodge wasn’t directly over this floor—not that it mattered. Even if we wanted to, we weren’t capable of bringing down those pillars.

Two wooden ramps bridged the chasm, each pitoned into the earth on either side. The ramp nearest to us was partially illuminated by the storage room’s torches, while the second ramp was just a shadow at the edge of the Redbrand’s candlelight.

As the Redbrand approached, I watched him exchange words with one of the bugbears. No, not an exchange. The Redbrand spoke, and the bugbear barely listened. Until, suddenly, it did. The beast snapped to attention, facing the human with renewed focus.

Weird. I thought. Klarg had no respect for humans. Why’s it so different here?

“I have a shot,” Vareén whispered, drawing an arrow. “Say the word and I’ll snipe a bugbear.”

“Maybe da closest one?” Glemerr suggested, her voice low. “It’d give us more time movin’ in if it’s down.”

We needed to act fast. Thorn might have been eerily still, her breathing silent, but there was no hiding a grizzly bear in the open.

And sure enough, Glemerr’s hand clasped my shoulder with a readied look behind her mask. “Platick? What’s da call? Which one?”

I glanced at her, then at Vareén. She was poised, bowstring half-drawn, waiting for my signal.

“Go for the one talking,” I decided. “It might be a leader.”

Vareén nodded, stepping out just enough to line up her shot. “Pluvv.” She didn’t bother whispering the word. Veins around her eyes and ears pulsed as her senses heightened, and in the next instant, she released the arrow.

I watched it disappear into the darkness, silent and swift, before it reappeared in the candlelight, burying itself deep into the arm of the bugbear nearest the Redbrand. The beast’s roar shattered the tense silence, a thunderous bellow that echoed off the cavern walls, amplifying to a deafening level. It was loud enough that even the captives back in the jailroom likely heard it.

I drew my rapier, sinking further behind the barrel to stay hidden. The enemy didn’t know our full positions yet. There was an advantage in that. But regardless, chaos erupted with half a dozen voices roaring in fury. First was the bugbears’, with deep, guttural cries reverberating around us. Glemerr’s rallying shout mingled with Thorn’s bear-like roar in retaliation, a sound so primal and fierce that it made the bugbears hesitate for only a second before they rushed us.

The chamber had become a vortex of noise, and it took everything I had not to cover my ears. But in the midst of that cacophony, I heard it—a single voice shouting from the enemy’s side.

Mine.

“Keep the human alive! I want his brain intact!”

Author's Note

For some reason, I thought I used 'A Short Rest' as a title for a previous chapter. I'm so glad I didn't because it fits perfectly here.

I know that there's a cliffhanger since the party's about to go into another combat here, but as I mentioned last week, I am gonna need to put this story on a small hiatus for a while. I'm thinking three weeks. This combat, as well as the rest of the dungeon after, is all blocked out but I want to have a several-chapter buffer set up to keep from having to focus fire the chapters late into the week.

For those interested in current stats for the characters going into the major fight, they pretty much have everything here. Rava's down to only 4 points of Lay on Hands, Vareén just used her final spell for this combat, and Ricven has only one spell remaining and no more inspirations. Finally, Glem and Platick are still down 2 & 3 HP respectively.

Despite the small hiatus, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you have any criticisms or things you thought worked here, please let me know in the comments! I always love seeing your guys' replies on these.

See you in a few weeks, all!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(19) Digressing and Sidequesting

3rd Person POV
Griffonbound Vendors

"One. Two. Three."

Glemerr bent her knees first, bringing the crate level with Rava before she then moved with the half-orc to lower it onto the wooden floor herself. It was the last of the three crates and it had glass in there so they were trying to be as careful with it as we could.

"Perfect," Leanne said as she looked between the supplies and the bell Stostine had finished hanging above the door with a Mage Hand. "I gotta say it again, thank you all for this. You have no idea how much I've needed this delivery."

"Think nothin' of it," Rava told her with a low breath. "We were jus' lucky enough ta happen across it whilst we were puttin' our own affairs in order. We're glad ta help!"

"It put us behind schedule," Vareén said in contrast. "You think you'd be willing to help with that?"

Leanne's smile became a smirk. "As I told your friend here, I have something in mind."

"Not friends," Platick muttered.

Leanne was a human girl with light brown hair going just past her shoulders. She had a resting sly grin that framed her face and a splatter of freckles across her cheeks as she somewhere around early twenties like Platick and Stostine.

Garaele peaked into the third box before carefully taking out a lantern. One whole glass pane was smashed in three and the other two panes were badly cracked.

"We tried taking as much care as we could," Stostine explained. "But even then, we could not stop what had already happened. We are sorry for any loss of revenue." She gave a small bow towards Leanne as the others looked conflicted in their own ways.

Except, rather than take the apology, Leanne and Garaele smirked at each other. "Sister Garaele? Would you mind?"

"Not at all." Garaele walked over to the counter and began taking out the broken glass, setting them beside each other. Then she folded her hands over a holy symbol of her own; a coin with a smiling face. "Goddess Tymora," the lady whispered. "In the hopes of bringing opportunity and fortune, I plead. Mend that which has broken."

Garaele fingers began glowing with a divine light and got to work tracing her fingers along where the glass shards fit as well as the cracks along each glass panel. With each movement, the cracks fixed themselves and the lantern was entirely repaired.

"There!" Garaele brought her fingers together to keep the spell active. "Now then, could someone start bringing me any more broken items? And if you have anything broken amongst yourselves, bring that as well."

Ricven let out a low whistle while Rava and Glemerr got to work pulling out more broken lanterns. "Mendin' huh? Didn't expect ta see someone in this town with spells a' their own."

"I do what I can to aid those in need," she told us. "It is why I was instructed to come to Phandalin after all."

"Isn't Tymora the Goddess of luck?" Platick asked. "I've only ever seen her affiliated with most gambling halls."

"The do say 'Fortune favors the bold!'" Garaele giggled. "But followers of Tymora also bless farms and areas producing raw materials. Although with this town so close to the Dwarves of the Drakehead, most residents seem to follow Moradin or Ulaa."

"Ulaa, ya say?" Ravathyra crossed her arms, careful not to hide her own holy symbol. "Is tha' right?"

Garaele smiled politely. "I thought I recognized that symbol!"

"Um, Sister Garaele?" Stostine stepped forward and gestured to her robes. "By any chance, does that spell also work on cloth?"

"Oh my," Garaele quickly stepped forward and began folding the hole in her robe over, carefully tracing a glowing thumb over it before stepping back. Not even a stitch mark. "Literally good as new!"

"If ever there was a spell that I would want in real life," Rarity muttered but not quiet enough to earn a giggle from Fluttershy.

Stostine said her thanks as every other broken item was laid out on the counter space. After taking a quick stock, Garaele cracked her fingers and got to work.

"I love having you as a friend." Leanne sighed happily as she looked picked up a small clipboard with a built in inkwell towards the top. "And you all said that the crossbows were left at the cave, right? I'm gonna have ta have those picked up."

"Dat don't sound too hard." Glemerr shrugged. "Ya ain't goin' by yerself dough, are ya?"

"Not much of a choice." She put her clipboard and quill down on the counter. "I ordered fifteen crossbows. Not cheap. I can't afford that kind of loss. Besides, since the silver deposits are hit or miss, there's a surplus of prospectors wanting weapons." She rested a hand under her chin, rubbing her fingers together.

"How's come?" Vareén rose an eyebrow. Might be some work for later, she thought.

"The typical reasons." Leanne netted her fingers together. "Fear of monsters, rival prospectors, paranoia, bandits, more paranoia. There's been a few interesting sightings going on recently too. But since I only now got my stock back, I couldn't tell you any of the good stuff."

Ricven smirked. "Guess that means we gotta keep our ears on." "Open," Stostine corrected.

"Since when have ya seen a closed ear?"

"Well, there's a few places you could try," Garaele said as she moved to the fourth lantern. "The miners are pretty tight-knit but they've been wanting a ritual on their mines that I can't provide." She shared another smile with Rava. "The townmaster has a few jobs posted as well and the Stonehill Inn has become the new gathering spot for everyone since the Redbrands ruined the Sleeping Giant."

"Redbrands?" Stostine frowned.

"I was wondering how long it'd take for them to come up," Leanne admitted. "Redbrands are our local thugs. They've been bothering a few shops in town for 'protection money,'" She said with air quotes. "And scaring off travelers."

Platick huffed. "Let me guess; protection money only protects shops from them?"

"Nail meet head." Leanne nodded. "When they first showed up a couple months ago, they bought out my supply of, wouldn't you know it, crossbows. The same ones they're waving around now." She glared. "I haven't let them in my shop since."

"If it helps." Stostine came forward and removed the crossbow she armed herself with yesterday and placed it on the counter. "I kept this crossbow for myself but it does not belong to me."

Leanne smirked and took it in her hands. "It just might. In fact, everyone see that door?" She jerked a thumb to her right where a closed door stood. "Go ahead and walk through it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Sister Garaele? Could you watch the front for me?"

Garaele nodded as she finished her magic, setting aside the last lantern. "Sure! I'll be just outside."

Leanne smiled and then turned back to us before nodding to us. They took a moment eying each other before Platick took the lead. Spilling into the second room, each of them stared out at dozens of weapons and supplies lining the walls.

From shortswords to greatswords, axes of varying weights, A plethora of arrows and bolts, multiple methods of bludgeoning tools, daggers galore, shields of differing designs and materials, multiple types of lightweight armor, backpacks, kits, bedrolls, high quality paper and inks, matching salt and pepper shakers, clothes, ropes, empty vials, and then, locked within a case, other vials full of liquid with small labels ranging from 'acid' to 'snake venom' to 'antitoxin.'

There was another counter in this room which went up against the wall the door led through. After an awestruck moment, Leanne walked through a curtained archway that allowed her to pass between rooms with the crossbow in one hand and a bolt twirling in the other.

"So. What're ya buyin'?" She asked with a wink. Then she rolled her eyes with a grin. "Is what I would normally say. However, because of the service you've done for the Griffonbound Vendors, WE have decided to award the seven of you a store credit!"

"Dere's a lot a' stuff in here," Glemerr pointed out.

"Yeah. It's kinda baffling," Stostine agreed, dropping her professional speech for a moment.

"Blame the top brass of Griffonbound for that," Leanne said with a shrug. "The area directly south of Leodaav is barren land. Too dry to grow anything so it's neglected, meaning not well explored. Since Phandalin's one of the southernmost towns, and growing fast enough, Griffonbound thought adventurers would use this place as a base for, well, adventuring."

Then her grin faltered. "That was about four years ago. Since then, I became the new shopkeep and we don't have a supply for all these weapons. For instance?" she lazily pointed at the largest axe in the room. "We only have one greataxe. Any of you take it and we'll just have a greataxe-shaped hole on the wall for the rest of time."

"...Metal," Thorn informed us as she flicked her finger on one of the blades.

"Um. Thank you?" Leanne blinked.

"You said store credit?" Vareén crossed her arms. "How much?"

"Let's chalk it up to a fifty gold for now. Although~ if one of you beloved adventurers," she said with a sweet voice. "Would be so kind as to accompany me back to that cave you found so I can scoop up my junk, then I'd be willing to double it! What do ya say?"

"Deal. I'll go," Platick offered.

"Just you?" Ricven snickered. "My, what a lady's man."

"You're the last person I need saying that," Platick snapped back. "But why not? Cave's cleared out and she can obviously hold her own." As he pointed to Leanne, she was aiming the unloaded crossbow to the side to see if it was balanced before servicing it. "And we're on a time limit, right? Ten days? Well, nine and a half now."

"Are ya sure you should be the one?" Ricven pressed. "Ya seem like the kinda guy that knows where ta look fer the right answers."

"I am," he told us. "We'll deal with that afterwards. First? Let's take Leanne up on her offer." He stepped up to the counter. "We go first thing in the morning, gather what's valuable, then straight back here in exchange for double credit now."

Leanne thought on it for a second, again resting her chin on her hand as she rubbed her fingers together. "Does it have to be morning? This town has early custom— err, risers."

"Yes," he insisted. "But if you'd rather me go alone and keep a finder's fee—" "Deal," she sighed, holding out a hand that Platick shook with a straight face. "Ten o'clock. I can get us something fast if we do."

"Good." Platick looked back to the rest of us. "Everyone? Load up."

The others quickly took his advice and split amongst the room, picking apart everything that they would need for the next handful of days as Leanne bounced between all of them, answering questions and coming up with numbers without having to check the price tags.

In less than twenty minutes, the group was loaded and out the door before mounting up on the cart and heading over to drop off the rest of their supplies for the messily sum of gold they were forced to accept for their work. Not much was said between them and the store owner, Barthen, but he did confirm what Leanne had told them:

The Redbrands were a force of the small town. And they no doubt had a distaste for outsiders.

Platick's POV
Stonehill Inn, Taproom
Sundown

When he learned that Ricven was a musician, Toblen Stonehill, the owner, jumped at the opportunity to put on a show in his inn. So with three barrels and a couple old doors, Toblen had set up a makeshift, T-shaped stage for the gnome to set up on.

There was a sizable group of townsfolk gathered up in the main room exactly like the Tymora priestess had told us. The miners coming home from a long day, housewives looking for a place to gossip, and even a couple of children weaving through the tables all took a moment to pause as Ricven finished tightening the last strings on his violin.

"Thank y'all fer yer patience," he told the crowd. From where I was sitting, I was facing the front door where Glemerr was poking her head in. Vareén gave her a motion to stay where she was. "Before I begin tonight, I'd like ta take a moment ta say that on behalf of my travelin' companions, we are delighted ta see the welcomin' faces a' Phandalin today!"

A chorus of cheers resounded across the room with a few tankards in the air. I could already spot the lightweight drinkers in the room.

"Warms our hearts," Ricven tacked on. "Now, usually I'mma man who likes ta take special attention an' let the ladies of the room enjoy a nice calmin' rhythm." A couple of those lightweights let out a loud whistles while a few men soured for a moment. "But I also know that them mines derives more than sweat from a man's brow. So I thank it's only fair we give the miners a good song ta get stuck in their heads fer tommorah's work. What say Phandalin?!"

Another round of heavy cheers and Ricven had everyone in his pockets.

"Alright! Then let's start this out strong! The lyrics stack on each other so you'll hear how ta sing along. But let's see who can keep up!"

Ricven started moving his fingers across in front of him and the crowd watched as a ghostly lute and a handful of colorful notes formed into reality around him, making the children awestruck as he started laying into his bow.

"Ho, ro, the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley O'~!"

Immediately every Dwarf in the bar erupted in cheers and began to sing along with everyone else either following along or watching Ricven's illusions in wonder as more voices and the sound of a lute played like his own private band.

"I have heard of this," Stostine said thoughtfully. "From what I hear, it is quite popular in Dwarvish culture."

In spite of Stostine's culture lesson, Ravathyra stared into the table with a hard look that told me all I needed to know about her feelings. "Ah hate this song..."

"Doesn't matter if it's good," I told them. "Just that it's distracting." Ricven caught eyes with me and we nodded in tangem before he kicked up the tempo, making the Dwarves shout a string of lines unintelligible words that made all the children start laughing even louder.

No one expected Rarity to come up with a song this bizarre for her 'distraction.' Further still, no one expected Pinkie to have pulled out her phone to start playing the song on max volume. So everyone, aside from Dash who truly hated this song, were dying of laughter.

"Rar-Rarity," Story stopped to get over his giggle fit. "Performance check. Advantage."

With a hand covering her mouth, Rarity scooped up dice and tossed them out before laughing again. "Nineteen and a natural twenty!"

"Of course it is," Rainbow growled as her friends kept laughing.

Vareén signaled Glemerr and the half-orc acted quick. Opening the front doors wide, Glemerr shuffled into the taproom and brought Thorn Wielder in with her. We bought a hooded cloak from Leanne's shop and convinced Thorn Wielder to put it on so that people would have a harder time identifying a Cortássian elf. Too bad the scythe still made her stand out.

So with the crowd distracted, Glemerr shuffled along the back wall with Thorn Wielder's wrist in her hand and the two were quickly up the stairs and into one of the rooms before anyone could find out. All while Ricven started singing a mile a minute with a dozen gruff voices all trying, and failing, to shout along.

"DO THEY EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ANYMORE?!" Stostine practically screamed at Ravathyra who was now tightly covering her ears.

"NOT USUALLY," Rava shouted back. "THEY JUS' SCREAM SOUNDS THAT'RE CLOSE ENOUGH TILL THE LAST PART! THEN THEY PRETEND THEY KEPT UP AN' GLOAT ABOUT IT!"

"WHY?"

"NO IDEA!"

Finally, after what some of us considered too long, Ricven whipped one last note across his strings and took a bow to a sea of drinking, laughing Dwarf miners all applauding and cheering as loud as the children were.

"Wooooooo!" Ricven cheered. "I think I need to wait until my strings cool off before I start up again! Gimme a minute ta catch mah breath an' we'll be playin' somethin' a little more peaceful ta make everyone feel at home, huh?"

"Well, glad I got to experience that," Stostine said while rubbing her ear. "May I never experience that again."

The applause continued as a barmaid arrived at our table with a platter of tankards, cups, and a jug balanced on one hand. "How about that! I think this is the fastest Toblen's had me offer the talent and his friends a free round! I'm glad for it!"

She paused for a moment to pass a few of the tankards to a neighboring table. "Name yer poison," she told us.

"Strong," Rava told her. "Very. Strong. Please an' thank ya."

"Do you have any tea?" Stostine asked, earning a nod. "Perfect. With honey if you have it."

"Just water," Vareén called. I doubled that.

"Oh, an' can ye bring two pints a' ale an' a water up ta room four?" Rava asked her. "A few of us don't sit well with crowds if ya catch mah meanin'."

She nodded and set out two glasses before pouring out fresh water from the jug. "Ya know, it's been a while since we've gotten some adventurers," she started to gossip. "The only thing we got close ta one ourselves is an old stump in the outskirts."

"Tha' right?" Rava smirked.

"Owns the only orchard out here." She smiled before putting the jug back.

"Now hold on," Applejack cut in as she tried to stay off of her accent for Platick. "When you say orchard."

Story took in a breath and suddenly realized the mistake he created himself as both Applejack and Big Mac stared at him readily. Oh no, here we go.

"I thought you said you weren't a stickler for details," Story said carefully.

"Ah wouldn' call the type a' trees he has a detail. More like a basic," she defended.

"Eeyup."

"..." Story looked between the both of them, deciding his best option. The only winning move is not to play.

"His name's Eglath," the barmaid went on, ignoring Platick entirely. "He's fairly crusty but loves reminiscing about older times. Stopped comin' down since...Uh, sorry. I'll be back with yer drinks soon." She turned and held onto her platter as a few children threatened to knock them over before she started gliding over to the next table.

"Well that was easy," I told the others as they watched her go. "We have a full schedule tomorrow now."

"Full schedule?" Ricven walked up to our table with his hair messy, clothes ruffled, and a half-empty glass in his hand. "What's goin' on?"

"What happened to you?" Stostine frowned.

I gave him a look of disgust. "It hasn't been two minutes since you've been off that stage."

"Hmm? Oh, give it no nevermind. Jus' enjoying' the hospitality," he said before straightening out his shirt. "But, I can squeeze a quick minute 'fore my next song. I'mma have this crowd worshippin' me by the end a' the night!"

"...All the better for us." I left it alone. "You said I knew where to find answers, right? Well I found 'em. Tomorrow we split up the work between each of us."

"So that's why ya jumped at the chance ta make off with that shopkeeper." Ricven chuckled. "Ya simply wanna avoid talkin' with the folk."

"Actually, yeah, that's exactly it." I nodded. "I keep an ear out for information. I don't stick my neck out to get it. That's where all of you come in." I reached into my pocket and drew out a piece of charcoal. With the barmaid busy, no one was around to see me draw on the table.

"There's the three places the Tymora priestess mentioned; mines, townmaster, and this inn. Then, the barmaid mentioned the adventurer. The mines and this place are bound to have rumor mills we can tap. The townmaster and adventurer probably have keener insight too. As does Sildar."

"Sildar has a broken leg," Vareén reminded me. "Plus he and I haven't been here long. He'll probably sit in his room all day."

"He's done this work longer than any of us," I countered. "We just need someone picking his brain. Hell, if he has errands, someone can be his runner. It's something either way."

Everyone looked down at the table. 'Inn,' 'Townmaster,' 'Adventurer,' 'Sildar,' and a crude picture of a mine was drawn out.

"That's five," Rava pointed out. "What's the last one?"

"It should be Sleeping Giant," Stostine brought up. "I believe that's the place both Sister Garaele and now the barmaid eluded to. Obviously these Radbands are—"

"It's Redbrands, sugarcube," Applejack corrected.

Sunset blinked. "What did I say?"

"Radbands," Gilda told her. Then she shrugged. "Sounds cooler though."

"She's righ'," Rainbow suddenly began, a smile coming to her face. "These Rawbrands are a nuisance. We may be able ta help."

Rarity giggled. "Ya gotta point. Though, we ain't seen any a' these Rarebrands yet."

The girls quickly saw the direction this joke was going and, without a word spoken, all unanimously agreed to join in.

"We're not going after the Railbrands," I told them. "We're already doing something else and we have nine days to do it."

"In case ya don' remember." Ravathyra turned to me. "That goblin cave took hardly three hours. Ah think we can pencil in thrashin' some bad eggs."

"The fight took us three hours," I agreed. "But we spent the rest of the day recuperating. Then another few hours packing up. If we take on every problem we find, we won't have time to deal with our own. So instead." I drew a question mark on the table. "The last job's for Thorn Wielder."

"Thorn Wielder?" Stostine frowned. "How is she supposed to get information? We hid her appearance for a reason."

"And we'll still be hiding it." I sat back. "She has magic that turns her into animals, right? If she can be an ox, what else? Horse? Dog? How's about a squirrel? We have her spy on people or watch for goblin patrols. So long as she doesn't get caught or start something, that's a positive."

"Wow, you are good at this," Ricven admitted. "In that case, I suppose I'll keep ta the tavern. Might even start violinin up tips."

"Drumin' up," Rava corrected.

"I don't play drums," Ricven told her. "Too boorish."

"I'll stay with Sildar," Vareén proposed. "Some people recognize me here. They'll let down their guard if I say I'm acting for him."

"Obviously Ah'm goin' ta the mines," Rava told us. "They'll welcome a follower of Ulaa wit' open arms. Ah'll 'ave a grand chat wit' 'em."

"Glemerr will handle the adventurer then," I decided. "Sending someone like Glemerr to talk to the townmaster sounds like a bad idea."

"I suppose that leaves him to me then," Stostine admitted. "Is anyone against me leveraging our services as a bargaining chip?"

"I just said we're not looking for extra work."

"I meant to get him to talk," she informed me. "What if the townmaster is unfriendly? He may not speak unless he finds use in us."

Vareén glanced up. "Barmaid's coming back."

With a word and a twist of her wrist, Stostine used that cleaning spell and had my charcoal cleaned up into nothing. I didn't even need to waste my water washing it out.

"Sorry fer the wait," she told us before handing out the drinks. "Lots of dry throats after all that roarin'. Which, Mr. Lioncatch? Toblen's asking if you're ready fer yer next song there."

"Oop! Got distracted. All on it!" He tossed the rest of his drink down his throat and started to make his way back through the tables to his thrown together table. As he went, he started up his violin again for a more relaxed tone. Then he began to sing just loud enough where only we could hear our conversation.

Ravathyra looked across the table for a moment before quickly scooping up her drink, as well as the tankards and water meant for Glemerr and Thorn. "Ah'll go ahead an' bring these up ta our friends. Think ye fer the service miss..."

"The name's Elsa, dear."

"Elsa, good ta meet ya. Call me Rava," she welcomed. "An' tell Toblen we 'preciate the drinks!"

Elsa gave her a smile and was off again before Ravathyra looked back to the table "Now come along Vareén. We've a long day tomorrah!"

"What?" Vareén stared back at her. "Why would I go upstairs with you? We both have our own rooms. And it's barely past sundown."

Rava gave her a tired look before a overdramatic shrug. "Awrite then. Ah mean, if ya want ta sit in wit' Stostine an' Platick Ah won't stop ya." She started to walk away, leaving Vareén to quickly realize who she was left alone with.

"...Wait," Vareén called back out, taking her glass as she walked after the Dwarf. "You're right. I'm tired."

No, please! I silently begged as the two girls quickly made their way up the stairs. Rooms four through six were upstairs and both of them, plus Glemerr and Thorn, slept their for the night.

By the time they ducked out of sight, I slumped forward and reached for my water while Stostine kept her hands folded in front of her as she watched me. Now I'm stuck with her. Stupid Dwarf...

Even as I took my time sipping my water, Stostine didn't look away. Instead she sat there as if waiting for something. And that expression wasn't going to leave. I tried waiting it out, to make her to say something first. At least then I could counter her. But she wouldn't have that either. She just took a short sip of her tea and kept watching.

Finally, after three minutes of silence between us, Ricven even managed to finish up his song to a much more balanced applause across the room.

"Why thank ya all," he announced. "Now, this next one was one a' the first songs I ever learned, but I only got ta play it right recently. After all, it takes a fairer voice than mine. You'll see what I mean."

Ricven altered around some more of his magic and brought one illusory orb of magic up against his throat and let it stay there as his magic band began the next song. And as the instruments rung to life, Ricven's voice was entirely different thanks to the spell.

The crowd was taken aback at first but as the music kept going, they quickly got used to it and our attention fell back onto one another round of silence that I was finally at my wit's end with.

"What?" I asked sharply, making her sit back. Probably to mock me for losing out.

"I want to know why."

"Why what?" I rolled my eyes.

"Why are you so apprehensive about me?"

"Didn't we already go over this?" I sat back. "It's that way you hold yourself."

"I told you, I am not of high-class," she tried.

"Which just makes it worse," I said. "If you were some sort of noble you would either be showing off or you're that unaware. But you're just acting like a noble. Which tells me you either think too highly of yourself, hate the position you're in now, or some combination."

"Those are my only options?" Stostine deadpanned. "How about, I had a tutor? Or that I grew up around people who talk like this? Or perhaps, I like talking like this. None of those fit in with your idea of what my life is?"

I shrugged. "Any of those may be causes but they would still fit my theory. It helps to know all of that about you though. So thanks for that."

Stostine caught her breath and took a sip of tea to calm down. "Whatever the reason, I do not see why that automatically means you cannot trust me."

"Oh, it's not only that." I folded my arms. "There's plenty of reasons I don't trust you."

"Then tell me," she demanded. "Because the way I see it, we both want to stay until the end of this. How am I supposed to get along with you if I do not know what I am doing wrong?"

"Oh please," I scoffed. "You're not gonna change just to appease one person. And if you did I'd trust you even less."

"Then what do you want?" She sighed. "I am not the only one with secrets. You know that better than most of the others."

"Don't compare me to you," I sneered.

"You do not. Even. Know me," she reiterated. "Do I have to spill my entire life story to make you back off?"

Would that help? She might actually do it but, no. I don't care enough. Not to mention, she'd probably avoid whatever she wanted to keep to herself.

Honestly, it wasn't nobility that made me distrust people. Sure, I don't typically like nobles but I wasn't close-minded. But I hate liars. Especially people that lied about what they were. Like Stostine. And like her.

"I guess I just want an honest answer." I propped my arms on the table and leaned forward. "I won't say I'll trust you after that but, depending on how you answer, I might back off."

She took a moment to consider it; probably trying to figure out what I wanted. But after one more sip of tea Stostine sat up and nodded. "Very well. One question and no matter what it is, I will answer it truthfully. But can I ask a condition?"

Ask doesn't mean get, is what I wanted to say. But because of my own curiosity, I nodded.

"Whatever question you're about to ask me I want to ask in return. Deal?" She held out her hand towards me, her expression cooling off.

"Deal," I said without hesitation as I shook her hand. There were so many ways I could spin my answer that I wasn't intimidated by the thought. And when I sat back, gauging her reaction, she seemed much more satisfied about talking.

"Why are you here?" I asked her, making her brow furrow. "Why'd you leave whatever you were doing? Whether noble or not, you had some other life. But you're not doing that anymore, are you? The others are obvious. Open books, really. Glemerr's trying to prove something, Vareén was already a part of this, Thorn Wielder has nothing to go back to, and I don't think Ravathyra or Ricven would hide it if I tried to ask them.

"But you?" I frowned. "You hid it from day one when we all met. To top it off, you lied too. Said you used to live in the capital. Then you switched it and said your dad was mayor of a plain small town. So the idea of wanting to escape the city life applied to nothing."

Applejack watched Sunset bite her lip. Huh. She forgot about that? She gave Sunset a victorious smirk to which the latter groaned light-heartedly.

This time, Applejack came out on top.

Stostine let her eyes lower themselves at the table before she started to finish off the rest of her tea. She knew I had her. To be fair, I didn't care that she lied about where she was from. Petty lies like that I can excuse. It's the why that made me feel so uneasy about her. Especially when she was the one that suggested we all introduce each other in the first place.

"Technically," she started after setting her glass down. Her tone was gone too. "I did use to live in the capital. Before Father was directed to move. And we moved with him. Even when we knew it wasn't going to work. Not like we had a choice though."

I wanted to press her on that but she didn't give me the chance. "I didn't leave because of my relationship with my father. I left because I wanted to prove that it was worth it. Not to him. Not to myself..." She looked directly at me and glared. "Now do I need to tell you exactly what it is I need to prove? Or can I at least keep that secret?"

I studied her for any sign that it was false but all I saw was sorrow and anger. They were both real and it felt like it was all being focused on making me feel like the scum I already was. It did work to keep me quiet, however, as I shook my head.

"Alright." She folded her arms. "Then in that case, what about you?"

I chuckled pitifully. "Not sure what'd I'd call it. Survival maybe?"

She squinted her eyes. "Maybe?"

"Yeah." I nodded weakly. "Survival never sounded right. Makes it sound like someone's trying to kill me but there's not. I don't think so at least. If anything, people never want to come near me."

Stostine's frown softened. "Because of...the necklace?"

I snorted. "Yeah. The necklace."

"...What were they like?" She asked me. "Your family, I mean?"

"I know what you mean."

I stood up. Not gonna tell you but thanks for the sympathy. "I'm going to bed."

"Wait." She stood up to be at eye level again, catching a few people's attention. "What were you looking for with my answer? Is that all you wanted?"

I closed my eyes halfway. "If you're trying to ask if that was enough for me to get off your back, then sure. About you at least."

"Me?"

"You're hiding something about your magic too," I accused, speaking quietly enough to let the neighboring tables screw off. "But Ricven said there was a reason for that. Still, don't be surprised that I don't trust you."

Despite what I said, Stostine smiled. "A step forward, I suppose."

"Sure."

Without another word, I turned and walked off to my room. Hopefully to fall asleep before Ricven was done with his songs and tried bringing his noise to the room.

3rd Person POV
Game Room

Applejack moved to say something but Sunset cut her off with a shake of her head. She was only doing as Sunset asked her to; to act as much like Platick as she could manage. She hated acting like all the girls were against her but, wherever she could, she tried to figure out some way to make him a team player.

The other girls didn't have nearly as much trouble following along with Sunset's request. For them, it was in their comfort zone. Twilight was probably the only one who was close to having the same problem as Applejack but even then she did that by design with Vareén.

"Now then." Story looked over the girls. "Is there anything you'd like to do before the night's over?" The girls all looked between each other for a few moments before coming up with nothing else.

"In that case." Story settled into his seat. "All of you begin winding down for the night as you relax in a bed for the first time in nearly a week as the feeling of actual mattress gives you a sense of welcome. Not only that but as the night grows too long for most patrons, Ricven's muffled music from the taproom becomes a guide to a good night's sleep.

"As for Ricven himself," Story continued as he turned to Rarity. "Toblen thanks you for the performance and, as promised, lets you and your group have the rooms for free tonight. He does let you know that he might not be able to keep up this exchange every night, but—"

"Think nothin' of it sir," Rarity cut in with Ricven's voice. "If we do plan on restin' our heads again, I think we'd be glad ta pay the fee. Goodnight." Rarity sat back and nodded to Story. "An' I'll climb inta bed myself."

"And with each room having two beds, that passes without issue. So." Story reached towards his bag and pulled out a stack of papers, each with small scenes and grids drawn across them as he set them outside the screen where the girls could see it.

He watched as the girls eyed it, expecting them to be confused about why those maps looked like they did and technically he was right. However, all the girls could see were a stack of paper that each looked like small rectangular voids. Not paper that was black or lacked color, the girls saw empty, paper thin, voids of space all stacked up like organized black holes.

Gilda saw this just as well, and inwardly was freaking out, but had to go the extra mile not to show it. To her and Big Mac, this was something Story did all the time. Now that the small maps were...that, it was unsettling. But what was more concerning to Gilda was that Big Mac didn't seem the least bit shocked about it.

"These are a few small maps I prepared," Story told them without any indication that something was wrong. Something the girls tried to replicate. "I prepared a couple big maps too if you all go somewhere specific but ignore that for now."

"A couple?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah. They're on the vinyl maps." For emphasis, Story held one of the rolled vinyl maps up and, like the paper, it too was a void of space now held in Story's grip.

It wasn't like that before, Sunset realized. But wait. Before, he drew the map in front of...But the goblin caves was predrawn too...Right? Well, it was covered except for what we knew about. These aren't.

"Again, ignore that for now." Story let the map drop out of his hand and onto the floor beside him. Then he paused, as if a stray thought came to him. "Hey Sunset? Can you roll me...2D12?"

"Two twelves?" When Sunset saw him nod she thought about it for a moment. It sounded random but... "A-Alright."

She got hers, and then one from Applejack before rolling them and adding the numbers in her head. "Ten?"

"Cool." Story sat up and casually rolled one himself, his expression shifting into one of surprise for a moment before shaking it off.

"What was that face about?" Pinkie asked him with a chortle.

"Oh, nothing," Story dismissed. Then he clapped his hands together as if nothing happend. "So! I believe you all said you were splitting up to take care of a bunch of jobs at once, right?"

A couple of the girls nodded as all of them grew this uneasy feeling dread from what just happened.

"In that case, I'll go ahead and warn you now; not everyone in town has all the information you're looking for. Some of them are red herrings and most of them probably won't even need one of these," he explained as he patted the void papers. It made some the girls calm down a bit, even if the sight of Story touching black holes confused a few of them. Except for Sunset who never lost her nervousness.

"Because of that, these parts will be shorter. Ask as many questions or make whatever checks you want but sometimes there's just nothing to get from it. Since this is your first game, I'll let you know if you're on the right track or not."

He glanced over towards Fluttershy, making her tense up. "We'll start with Thorn Wielder. Being an elf, and not drinking anything tonight, you're the first to get a full rest. Your trance ends and you begin to open your eyes..."

Thorn Wielder's POV
Stonehill Inn Bedroom

My eyes fluttered open in the darkness. To my left was the entrance leading into this room and to the right was a window that let me look outside into the town and the nature that surrounded it.

This town was a weird place. The town I met the Dwarf we were searching for was four or five times bigger than this one. Their ground and buildings were mostly made of stone as well. This town had buildings mostly made of wood and wide dirt trails between them. It looked more like the Cortássian towns I had watched from a distance.

The whole time here, the humans and Dwarves looked to me with caution while the only elf so far, the one with divine power, greeted me kindly. Back in my forest it was the reverse. Elves had caution while others tried reaching out to me. Even though my forest was in Cortás.

I looked over at Glemerr. She was snoring loudly like every other day I traveled with her. She was also using every inch of the bed as her arms and legs were sprawled in each direction. She let me trance on the bed closer to the window so that I could look out towards the nature outside of this room. She was kind.

I decided to stay in the room for a little while longer, watching idly as I let my vines slither around the bed. Glemerr and the others asked me to help look for more of the infestation or for strange things about the people in the town. What's more, they wanted me to do so as different animals.

I was glad to do it. Before we had attacked those goblins, becoming an animal was something that I could only do within my forest. I wasn't sure what had changed. Saving the wolves and area from the goblins, fighting and killing the goblins, or simply being in a danger, but I had regained my strength. Even if it was a fragment.

After a few more hours, I saw the top of the sun begin to rise from the distance and took my chance. I wrapped my vine back around my arm and then crawled out of the bed towards the window. I undid the tiny metal hook that kept the two sides closed and emptied my lungs of all breath.

As my entire body shrunk, I leapt out the window and felt all my weight vanish before landing on four feline paws. I glanced back up at the window, hearing Glemerr still snoring as if nothing happened, and prided myself for a moment before staring down at my front leg.

Like as a human, my vine was still there. Although it was as thin as a twig and certainly shorter. It was still a healthy green, however as it stood in contrast against my orange fur.

"Huh. Never seen a cat up dis early."

I whipped my head to the side and saw a groggy Dwarf letting out a heavy yawn. He was dressed in clothes more tattered than my own and a rag around his head.

I gave a loud mew! and darted off in the other direction, ducking around a building and straight ahead until I was outside town. With everyone sleeping, I would make better time looking for goblins.

Ravathyra Dagarkin's POV
Outside of Town (Northern Mines)
Sometime Later

A small crowd of about fifteen or so folk had gathered up behind me as I and a few of the lead miners finished spreading out a ring of silvered powder around the entrance. We had to make sure it was set along the ground, walls and even ceiling in order to get the best effect.

"Awrite! That'll do," The mine's director called out to us. He was overseeing our work. "Any more an' it'll ge' uneven!"

I stepped back and dusted off my hands to let any more powdered silver pool on the ground. It was understood that during this process much of the silver would fall to the ground so it was the safest place to let fall.

"Thank ye fer yer aid," I told the others. Three of the miners were Dwarves but the fourth was human; a welcome sight since Ulaa was a Dwarven deity.

They all nodded and went to join the others as I stood alone at the precipice of the mine. Since I didn't bring any vestments with me, I used my armor to represent my following. Might have been for the best though since the people watching me were probably more invested watching an armored warrior than a priestess.

Shame, I thought. Priestess clothes always look nicer. Easier to wear too.

I slowly brought out my hammer and began to turn it in my hands like a baton. They were slow spins thanks to the weight of the weapon but the miners understood it all the same and took a knee.

After I delivered an outspoken prayer, I stopped spinning the hammer as the head faced straight towards the ground and gripped the handle tighter, engulfing it in a brilliant white flame. I smiled at my handiwork. It was the third time I had done it today.

And the third time ever to pull it off, I thought. Before I left Cragen, I wasn't able to do this. What changed, I wondered.

I let the feeling pass and plunged the hammer head into silver powder below me, letting the white flame ignite the silver and travel along the path until the entire entrance was traced in the same flame.

As the miners marveled, I lifted the hammer once more and took a step back, this time swinging in an arc. The hammer slammed into the flames before all at once a shockwave of white fire shot out into the tunnel in every direction. We all watched the light continue until it was out of sight wherein the miners all began to stand back up.

"So that's what an Ulaa priestess does?" A human asked. "Is that, like, some sort of blessing?"

"It's a divine spell called Ceremony," I told him as I began to sheath my hammer. "There's the typical ones, aye, but each god 'as their own as well. Wit' Ulaa's blessin', you'll 'ave better luck spottin' them silver veins fer the next week."

"Which we desperately needed," The director, Lanar Deepstone, assured them. Then he walked up to me and held out his hand. "Thank ye fer the help Dagarkin! You've done me mine a great service."

I shook it with a heavy clap. "Ah should be thankin' you an' them other directors! It was yer powdered silver that empowered this Ceremony."

He nodded and turned to the others and scoffed gleefully. "Well?! Y'all 'eard the missie! One week, don' go spendin' it gawkin' at 'er!"

"Err do," I called out with a laugh. "Appreciated all the same! Good luck on yer findin's!" They all gathered their supplies and headed inwards with a few of them thanking me again as they went.

Lanar turned to me again. "Are ya sure ya don' want any compensation fer this? Ah know Ah can't be the only one feelin' guilty ta take this kindness unpaid."

"An' ya ain't," I revealed. The last two mine directors wouldn't take no for an answer when they paid me in powdered silver for myself. "Although, like Ah did them, Ah wanted ta ask. Me an' mah friends are lookin' inta a friend of ours. One Gundren Rockseeker."

A look of acknowledgment crossed Lanar's face. "Aye. Ah know him. He left three weeks back ta supply in Dreiweg. His brothers left town a few days afterwards ta check this 'silver hoard' they kept gushin' 'bout. That was more than a tenday though."

"Ten days?" I frowned. "They 'aven't been back since?"

"Don' think so." He shook his head. "They typically rub that secret mine a' theirs in all our faces at the Miner's Exchange. We all 'ear of it." Then he paused. "Come ta think of it, you were the band that brought in Gundren's supplies, righ'? Where is he?"

My frown deepened. "Gone. There was an ambush a' goblins on the way 'ere. We're lookin' fer him."

He threw a curse to the ground, earning a curt stare from me. Sure. Curse the earth I JUST BLESSED! "Sorry! Ah'm real sorry. Ah jus' wish Ah had any idea of how ta help. Ah 'aven't 'eard a' any goblin sightin's. Not any recently at least. Not even the prospectors 'ave laid any eyes on 'em. Just other wild rumors."

I scratched my chin. "Like wha'?"

He watched me for a moment and cringed. "As Ah said, mostly rumors. Though, with yer 'elp, those crazies may try seekin' ya out anyhow. May as well tell ya early." He straightened out. "There's a crumbled watchtower from the war about two days southeast of here. Folk say they see smoke billowin' from within the watchtower like a campfire. But whenever one of 'em try approachin', all they see is some colorful tent an'..." He sighed.

"An' what?" I rolled my eyes. "Ye can't jus' line up a tale like that an' cut me short. Finish it."

"Ah know, Ah know," he relented. "Them eejits claim they see...The dead." He tossed up his hands. "Sounds dumber ev'ry time Ah 'ear it, but they prattle on about seein' shamblin corpses walk outta that tent like a conga line an' stare at whatever man was fool enough ta...Missie?"

Rainbow Dash sat there, grinning ear to ear as Story paused to watch her. "Uh...Rainbow Dash?"

"It's zombies, righ'?!" She asked, nearly bouncing in her seat. "'Ow many are they claimin'?!"

Story eyed her carefully. Then abruptly turned to Gilda. "Right. You told her about the zombies."

"Heck yeah I told her about the zombies!" Gilda admitted gladly. "And it is zombies, right?!"

Story pinched the bridge of his nose. Great, now I gotta bring my A-game when they deal with that.

Story looked back at Dash who's Cheshire grin had yet to falter. "I'll fill in on what they are later, but for time, the director tells you whatever details he remembers from the rumors before excusing himself to get back to his mine. Which leads us to our next contestant..."

Glemerr's POV
Meanwhile

When I woke up, Thorn Wielder was already gone. She did say that elves do that 'trancing' thing but I thought I would have heard her leave. I was a pretty light sleeper!

Regardless, I got myself up, downed a quick mug of water before splashing another one across my face and went out to the morning sun. The others wanted me to find this adventurer guy who lived outside of town but I had no idea which direction to try. That meant I had to ask around.

Everyone in town had different levels of 'Oh cool, an orc!' before they kindly started pointing out directions. In the span of maybe a half hour, I already had eyes on a small orchard overlooking the town from a hill.

"What's growin' on the orchard?" Applejack asked out of interest.

Story shook his head with a smirk. "I'm sorry Applejack, I don't think you're there."

AJ huffed. "Fine. What does Glemerr see growin' in the orchard?"

"No idea," Pinkie cut with a head shake of her own. "Glemerr's never seen an orchard before!"

"Wait, what? What'cha mean she ain't seen an orchard?"

"She's right actually," Story backed her up. "Where Glemerr's from, she'd barely see farms. Aside from fish and meat, a lot of food's imported in."

Applejack blinked a few times. "Oh. Which town is that?"

"Sorry AJ," Pinkie told her with a grin. "Glemerr can't just tell ya! You'd have ta ask Glemerr herself!" The pink haired one's giggling made AJ prop her chin on her hand. She wasn't getting her answer.

I started up the hill and then walked past some rows of really short trees with green fruits that were slowly turning either orange or yellow before coming up on a—

"Okay, so some sorta citrus then."

"AJ," Big Mac warned.

"Sorry, sorry! Ah'll stop talkin'!"

I came up on a small shack in the center of all these rows of small trees. The roof was sunken and the front wall was at an eighty degree angle while the wooden boards had moss and plants growing up from the ground. It looked as though the home was slowly getting swallowed by the ground but it looked peaceful all the same.

I glanced through a small window as I passed. It was angled upward towards me but there was a curtain hanging between it and the room, blocking my view. So instead, I walked up to the door which was also at a slant. It almost looked like a cellar door more than a front door.

I admired the house as I reached forward and knocked on the center of the door. The entire place was probably built by whoever lived there and I was pretty sure they weren't a carpenter. A lot of the board looked uneven and edges of the roof were loose.

If I didn't know better, I'd think my knocking would topple the whole place over, I worried. But after a few more seconds, I heard the creek of floorboards and the heavy footfalls.

"Just a second," a heavy gruff voice shouted out. As I noticed that the door opened outward, I took a few steps back thinking it would come out and hit me. Instead, a small slot I didn't notice opened in the door.

On the other side was a wrinkled face with snow gray skin and cloudy eyes staring up at me. "Who're you?" The voice grumbled.

"Oh hey dere!" I grinned and waved. "Name's Glemerr! Glemerr an' err friends 'eard dere was an old adventurer named Eglath dat lived in town? Glemerr wanted ta talk to ya 'bout monsters!"

"Monsters?" His voice let out a chuckle that was almost a cough. Then he spoke up. "Mam, Ah can assure ya there ain't much monsters ta worry about 'round here. 'Least, not anything excitin'."

"Ah dunno." I shrugged with a grin. "We 'ad a run in with some gobbos de otha day. Dey had dis bugbear leadin' 'em an' apparently there's a whole tribe of 'em! We're tryin' ta hunt 'em down."

"Dat right?" He stepped away from the door slat and looked behind him for a few seconds. "...Tell ya what. Ah got 'bout thirty minutes fer Ah gotta handle some chores. Ya got the time, Ah'll tell ya a story 'bout some real monsters. Maybe put some perspective in ya. What say you?"

"Ah love perspective," I told him nodding along.

"Glad ta hear it! One moment." I watched the door slat shut closed before I heard Eglath shift a few things around, cursing to himself in the process after some metal clattered on the ground.

This was easier than I thought it'd be! I took a second to nod to myself before flinching. Wait, no! Remember why you're here Glemerr. You need to ask Eglath about the gobbos. They had patrols. Maybe Eglath saw them. Whatever you do, remember to ask. Remember to...

The front door was pushed open, revealing a home that was dug partway into the ground making the house bigger than it seemed on the outside. There was a handful of animal pelts and trophies of varying levels of monstrous that were hung up on the walls or sitting in jars that were more eye-catching than the last.

There were a few candles that helped to light up the space but in the center of the room was a large fire pit with a pile of wood ready to light whenever the need arose. But even though we were pushing mid-fall, the weather around this half of Leodaav stayed warm enough to go without a fire in the day.

Once the door was open, Eglath stepped back to let me in and before I got down the steps I was at eye level with him. Eglath was a goliath, standing a whole foot and a half taller than me; taller than Klarg was. Even with a baggy shirt and sagging skin this guy was obviously a fighter in a different life.

He walked over to a set of chairs settled around a small table that rested underneath a heavy axe mounted on the wall. It was pristine and looked as if it gave off a weak glow. Probably from light in the doorway or something.

Wait, focus, I commanded inwardly. You're here about gobbos. Don't get distracted by cool weapons. Here about gobbos. About. Gobbos.

"So ya think that goblins are monsters worth braggin' about, huh?" I glanced back and watched as he took his time lowering himself into a chair. Once he was settled, he reached over to the bookcase built into the wall beside him.

It did have a few books, sure, but most of the shelf space was filled up with more trophies. A large horn that looked jagged at the base, a jar full of leaves looking green and lively, this ornate wand snapped clean in two, and about ten other objects that all probably had stories.

About...gobbos?

"With the right numbers, them goblin hunts are a nice tale, but um..." He eyed them each for a second before carefully pulling out a bundle of curved bones all tied together in twine. Then he shook them like a rattle and chuckled. "Ya ever hear about Bone Nagas?"

"..." The widest look came to my eyes as my head started buzzing in anticipation. About...Nah, forget that!

"Tell me its entire life story!" I pleaded.

He snickered. "Bone Naga," He repeated. "It was an undead."

"Tell me its entire UNlife story!" I fixed, practically slamming myself into the seat across his small table.

"Pinkie," Twilight sighed. "You're looking for answers about goblins."

"But he said Bone Naga," Pinkie told her excitedly.

"Do ya even know what that is?" Applejack asked.

"No idea, but did ya hear how happy Eglath was?! He sounded really happy when Ah wanted ta hear it!" Pinkie asked. "Plus, it's only right! Ah need ta hear at least one story! Start the story, Story!"

"Right away Glemerr!" Story gave a mock salute "You listen intensively as Eglath goes from beginning to end about him and three other adventurers traveling along the west coast of Leodaav in search of ruins."

Time passed as he told me all these exciting things. Combing the forests like treasure hunters, killing the wild beasts that were hunting them, and then how it felt to actually unearth the entrance to these crumbling ruins buried in the ground.

But even then, there were more monsters and then traps that Eglath started telling me about, with him getting more into his story the more he spoke. Until finally, he started talking about this open space in the ruins that looked like some sort of alter.

"And then? There it was," Eglath said, pointing out in a random direction that I pretended to look towards. "Coilin' down a tall stone column were the bones of a snake maybe three times as long as Ah was tall!"

"Dat long?" I blinked. Then I looked at the bones. They were each the size of Ricven's hand. "Dem bones look sorta small dough."

"These are from closer ta the tail," he admitted. "One of their heads were smashed ta pieces an' the other one fetched some good coin. Ah don't keep what's worth more sellin'. Just what helps me think back on them fights."

"Wait, ya said heads? Like, multiple heads?" I gasped. "Did de bone snake 'ave multiple heads?!"

"...Urgh!" He grimaced. "Spoiled it early! No, there were two bone nagas. One from the ceilin', and one comin' up through a hole in the floor," he revealed, making my focus fall back to him. "Veld an' Triston moved forward to take the one on the column while me an' Forella focused on the one to our side. But the last thing we expected was the lightning firin' outta their boney jaws!"

"They shoot lightnin'?!"

"Bolts of it," he told me with a mad grin. "Thought me arms were gonna pop like sausages, hahaha! Forella didn' take kind ta that. She started bringin' down this beam a' moonlight on it while I kept slammin' it back with that beaut up there."

He pointed a thumb up at the axe hanging above our heads and I let myself admire it some more. I wasn't much for weapons myself. They weren't my kind of thing. But I knew enough people back home who always cared for their 'tools' just as much as Eglath did. Even if they weren't anywhere near as nice as his.

"Somethin' Ah didn't expect though," Eglath said. "Even though it was nothin' but bone, it was still poisonous."

"Wait, really?" He nodded. "But. Ah thought snakes had poison sacs on 'em err somethin'."

"They do," he confirmed. "But that's necromancy fer ya. Some undead keep the strength they had in life. I've seen skeletons hoist rocks heavier than them and act as lookouts for their masters. Don't underestimate a pile a' bones."

He rattled the snake vertebrae in his hand a couple more times before setting it back onto the shelf beside him. Then he stood up. "Alright. Ah enjoyed jawin' with ya Glemerr, but." He pulled the curtain back to look out the window. "Sun's in a different spot. Musta been an hour now an' my well's a few steps too far nowadays."

"Let me help!" I stood up the same time he did. "Mah friends are all doin' deir own things today! Ah can help ya wit' yer work!"

He gave me a curious look. "You'd do that?"

"Course Ah'd do dat!" I smiled. "It's da least Ah can do fer de story ya told me! Plus, Ah kinda cut mah mornin' exercises short so dis'll make up fer it!"

He scratched the side of his chin and nodded along. "Ah mean. Ain't gonna say no ta free labor. Okay, come along. While yer tillin' my soil, Ah'll tell ya what Ah know 'bout the goblins yer huntin'."

"Goblins we're..." I slapped my face with a groan. "Glemerr fergot all 'bout dat!"

Eglath chuckled to himself. "Ah know. Be lucky Ah didn't. On we go kid. It's already past noon."

Platick's POV
Back at the Goblin Caves
Past Noon

I threw my hands out in both directions, gripping whatever I found as Leanne rode the wagon over the tenth bump in the ground since we moved off of the main road.

As Leanne promised, we cleared the distance between the town and the ambush sight in less than half the time it took us to walk it with oxen. That was because it was only two of us, a horse, and a small wagon with an empty crate inside. Well, empty aside from me who had no choice but to sit inside it like a child.

"You know," I called out. "When you told me you could find us 'something fast,' I was kinda hoping you meant two of them!"

I heard her laugh. "What gave you that idea?! Besides, you fit perfect! Like a grumpy, little gremlin!"

I regret coming with you.

"What about when we get your crossbows?" I tried leaning against the crate wall. "Are you saying we bury myself in weapons?"

"As hilarious as that sounds," she started, making me almost growl. "I need to pack what we find carefully. No telling what those goblins did. You can ride behind me."

I slumped. Well at least I won't be in a box any... "Wait, behind you?"

"Yyyyeah," she hummed. "What, is that gonna hurt your pride something?"

"Not really," I tried to write off. "It's just. You're marching full speed down the road. I'm kinda worried you'll run that horse to the ground."

"You mean Tucker?" Leanne scoffed. "He's the one setting records. I've had to rein him in five times now!"

I can see why, I thought. Don't worry Tucker, I want away from her too.

"Oh! This it?"

Taking a deep breath, I gripped the sides of the crate and carefully propped myself up on my knees so I could look. Directly ahead of us was the rocky outcropping with a cave entrance and obvious wagon wheel tracks from where we loaded all the supplies.

"Yeah, that's it," I told her as she began slowing the horse down. Although, as we got closer to the entrance, the horse stopped moving to the cave altogether and even tried turning around before Leanne got him to stand in place.

"That's weird," Leanne said out loud. "He doesn't get spooked easily."

Maybe not that weird, I realized. With Tucker at a full stop I had no problem leaping out of the crate and the wagon before landing on the ground. "Leanne, unhitch the wagon."

"What?" She looked down at me. "Why?"

"Applejack, go ahead and make me a perception check," Story told her.

AJ watched him for a second, realizing that he was staying as straight-faced as possible before drawing up her die. "Alright..."

With a clatter she glanced at the magic writing as the die gave out a welcoming flash of light. "Sixteen."

Story nodded. "When you leapt out of the wagon, you hit the ground in a three-point landing with your hand planting against grass. Right away you felt some of the morning dew and possibly the spray of the stream that comes out of the cave as you begin to stand up. But it feels more...viscous than that."

Applejack gave him a slow look. "...What's on mah hand?"

"You glance down at your palm." And as if instructing her, Applejack did exactly that. "Then give a careful look at the grass ahead of you. There's blood."

The girls all stared at Applejack's hand, worried the magic was outdoing itself, but nothing was there. Instead, Applejack started to think.

"Is. Is it fresh?" She asked.

"Investigation check."

"Ah tell Leanne ta back her an' Tucker off," Applejack informed him before rolling again. It wasn't a great roll but it still flashed. "Thirteen?"

I rubbed my fingers together as Leanne finished unhooking the horse and started to move back. The blood was wet but that was because of where I found it. However, following the trail a little away from the stream gave me my answer.

The blood's dark. Old, I discovered. A part of me felt relaxed at that. Whatever was here, it's not anymore. But what was...No.

I flicked my rest and followed the trail. It led up to the stream and walking across it to the other side revealed the same trail leading onwards into the cave.

No!

I reached behind me, ignoring my daggers and newly bought shortsword and going straight for my rapier. I got as far as the sunlight reached and kept my eyes on the rocky floor. The bloodstains went inside with a single handprint smeared along the wall as well.

Light. I threw off my pack and scrambled for a torch. Get a light, get a light now! Every two seconds I glanced up or stopped moving altogether when I thought I heard even the smallest noise.

After a moment, a flash of flames engulfed the top of the torch and I stormed down the tunnel with my rapier ready. I ditched the pack at the entrance.

Please be dead, I hoped. Please be dead, please be dead, please be dead, please be—

I turned the corner into the wolf pin cavern and froze.

The iron chains. The multiple pitons we pinned into the wall. The cloth Glemerr used to bandage his wounds. All of it was tossed around the room in a frenzy. And the one who did it was long gone.

Stamped into the rock floor, as though the pacing of a madman were drawn out for me, was a lake of blood-soaked footprints. Enough blood loss on a regular human would be enough to make someone pass out but obviously the same wasn't said about bugbears.

Most of them were around the area Klarg was restrained to. He must have opened his wound or tore off the bandages at some point because these were definitely from the hole Glemerr put in his foot. I nearly plugged my nose from the amount of copper that invaded my nose.

However, that wasn't the worst of it. I wondered why Klarg's hand was covered in blood on the way in. It's the only reason why he would have stains on the walls. However, as I stared at the back wall of the room, that mystery was solved real quick.

Before Klarg left, he wrote a message on the wall. One that used a dizzying amount of blood that at this point made me wonder if all of this was his or not. But what made it even more unsettling was the five letters he left behind big enough to leave an impression.

WITCH

Author's Note

Don't underestimate bugbears. That's when they strike hardest.

These chapters may take longer to write than before for the next month as I'm currently taking summer classes. I'm finally at the tail end of getting my degrees and after the pandemic setting me back I'm ready to be done.

That said, don't expect chapters as often as they've been coming out. Sorry everyone!

This time I figured it was due to have one of the three more mysterious characters get their character sheet brought up. So I give you Platick's! Fair warning though, Applejack hasn't finished him yet. So some parts are...missing.

As ~~they come up~~ Applejack fills them in, I'll be sure to update it. But until then, this is how it'll look. For those that read them, I hope you enjoy.

So until next chap— Woah, we're almost at chapter twenty!
Until chapter 20 everyone!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(34) Intelligence Saves? Natural Ones

Stostine Swordhand’s POV
Sky Space

It was weird coming back to this sky cube. When I disappeared, there was no warning. I blacked out and, without any input from me, memories came and went on their own.

I couldn’t remember what those lost memories were, only that I forgot something. They were things about me or what I knew about something else but they were gone forever and sometimes replaced with something else. It wasn’t as alarming as it sounded though.

But as I ‘woke up,’ I was standing in the night sky again. Only now, I felt and looked...different.

It was subtle things. My hair, once purely blonde, now had browning roots. And my golden eyes sported a faint greenish hue to them. My childhood’s likeness sneaking back in.

When I came up here with Platick, my robes were missing one of the sleeves. That was from the fight against the Redbrands. I was still missing that sleeve but there were other imperfections now to show that I had them for a while.

That was from my new history too. After my childhood was finished, Sunset instilled with me a reason to leave Openshaw. Specifically, to leave my father. These robes were a farewell gift from Siora; my mentor. She was practically family to me after a while.

But one memory I cherished more than anything else was the one thing I requested; Mom’s face. I had no idea what to expect when I clung to that idea, but now that Sunset gave me my answer, I couldn’t imagine anything else.

I had other memories too, of course. Many that were mundane or even tragic in one form or another. Though, despite not being good memories, there was a sense of sentimentality. As though no matter how much I hated them, they were still mine. Even if they hurt, I could never bear to be rid of them.

As the rest of my consciousness returned, I took in the space around me with a content smile. One that slowly turned to curiosity when I saw that I was not alone.

Lying face down, thirty feet away on the invisible floor, was Platick. His legs were sprawled out behind him and his arms were folded underneath his chin as he stared at the thick cloudscape beneath us.

I couldn’t see his face from here but his muscles were more relaxed than I had ever seen. Like he was at a loss for something.

Too curious to ignore that, I crept up behind him like a child. Even to the point of holding up my arms like a praying mantis as if that would make me any more quiet. I made it maybe seven steps before stumbling. My ‘praying mantis’ stance flailed around while my feet tried steadying themselves on an unseen surface.

I bit my lip and stared up only to meet Platick’s gaze. His head was turned to face me but the rest of his body was in the same position. There was no anxiety towards me.

“Um..." I cleared my throat and tried casually standing up straight. “Hello, Platick. How long have you been here?”

He kept staring with this blank look. As each second passed by, I got this unsettling thought that his fear had come true. That his Player did something to him that might have ruined his entire psyche.

“About twenty minutes,” he finally answered. The lack of emotion failed to make me feel any better.

I slowly walked closer until I was about ten feet away. He never left that relaxed pose. “And...How do you feel?”

He studied my face with no discernable change for several seconds. Although, I nearly spotted the moment he clicked the pieces together. “You can calm down. I’m the same as when we got here. Err.” He finally emoted with this confused, furrowed brow. “Well, no, not the same, but...You get it. I think.”

He shook his head and stared back down at Prima. “I, uh...I got what I asked for.”

What you...Ah. I bit my tongue and nodded along, remembering how he spoke to his Player. “I take it the memories were not what you imagined?”

His head shook methodically to the sides as his chin rubbed along his sleeve. “No. But, that’s not really a fair question, is it?”

My mouth let out this awkward chuckle. “Point taken. Erm. May I sit?” I gestured to the space beside him.

His shoulders gave a low shrug. “Go ahead.”

I briskly walked over and after a second more of hesitating, sat cross-legged beside him. Something had to have happened. He says he’s the same, but he never acted like this.

But I couldn’t bring myself to break the silence. Instead, I kept sitting here, enraptured with the sky above and below as Platick kept staring down. When I wasn’t glimpsing at him, I had my neck craned back to look at what was above us.

If I was honest, it was the most gorgeous, yet ominous sight I or my imagination could ever fathom. The clouds encircled us, revealing only slight glimpses of the world below. The endless starry night sky not hindered by clouds. The stars that seemed closer and more alive than what one would see from ground level.

From up here, the sky wasn’t a simple dark blue with white dots. I could see shades of purples as well as faint oranges and light blues from Hestavar and Tyche, Prima’s two suns. We were so high up that we could see their rays from beyond the planet’s horizon.

It made me wonder if it were possible to see the borders of the other realms from out here. To see the mysterious gloom of the Shadowfell or the miasmic wash of hues drifting from the Feywild.

As I let my mind wander, inventing new creatures and destinations from any different plane, Platick finally spoke up. “...Why do we care?”

“Huh?” I stared down at him. He was staring back.

“Why do we care?” He looked so weak at that moment. Like a child lost in the woods. “We know everything’s fake. The world, the problems, the people. But you care. So does Ravathyra. And now, despite how illogical it feels, I care. Applejack didn’t make me. If anything, she went above and beyond to do everything I asked.

“And I should be jaded.” He sat up. “My made up life sucks because a cowgirl decided that. It wasn’t the murderer who did it; it was AJ. The Master didn’t even have much of a hand in it. But, knowing all of that? I care.”

He sat cross-legged himself, spinning to face me directly. “The second I got back here, I tried putting the pieces together myself. I was an idiot for trying but I still did it. It’s even dumber when you realize the Master needs time to set up those sorts of details.”

“Platick.” I spoke softly. This was something I understood. “You are not an idiot. All of that is natural for someone in your position.”

“Save the pep talk,” he dismissed. “That’s not the point. It was only three minutes before you got in that I remembered none of that matters. None of this is technically real! It’s all fake. But, therein lies my real problem. Why? Why do we care?”

My face contorted into something of tragic humor. “You know you are essentially asking for the meaning of life, right?”

Platick took in a breath, only to hold it as he stared back. “...What?”

“The meaning of life,” I repeated, my smile still present. “What is my purpose? Why are we here? What makes us, us?” I gestured to both of us. “Philosophers have pondered that for lifetimes. And, I am going to be honest, the Master probably took inspiration from their own world.”

Platick kept staring, the focus and anguish in his eyes fading away to a look of disbelief. “Wait, what? Yo-You’re kidding me?”

I started giggling at him. “N-No, not really. Did you not realize that?”

He huffed, resting his face in his hand for a second and then glaring at me as I started laughing harder. “Okay, shut up. I don’t think about philosophy, okay?”

I couldn’t stop, though. “Sorry, sorry! It’s just so obvious!”

“Not to me!” He argued. “Why would anyone try using philosophy on a real problem?”

“That’s kinda the point,” I said, losing my formality as I covered my mouth. Ironically, it made me sound just like Sunset. “You know, for someone who uses logic and theories, you sure overlook a lot of basics. Oh! Maybe that is your character flaw!”

“Stop it,” he begged. “And don’t talk like that, it makes us sound like dolls or something.”

“Well.” I bobbed my head a little. “What would you call us?”

“...Alive,” he admitted. “We can think, act, feel.” He shrugged. “And I’m never calling myself a doll. So we’re alive.”

“Wow.” I grinned. “Maybe Applejack did change you after all. You still seem rude but you’re a little more positive now.”

“What did I just say?” He asked me. “Stop talking like that.”

I held up my hands. “Right. Apologies, I am done. It’ll just be interesting to see how the others react to you.”

“Yeah. Uh, about that,” he spoke with this unsure voice. “I don’t want anyone knowing about this. As in, don’t tell anyone I showed up here.”

“Huh? Why not?” I blinked. “If this is about not trusting them, I do not think you have anything to—” “Not exactly.”

He stood up. “Look. With this specific thing, I trust you.” He watched me stare at him with an interesting look. “Weird coming from me, I know, but I do. And I trust Ravathyra and possibly Thorn. But I don’t know how well they keep secrets.”

I frowned. “Secrets from who? From Ricven?” When Platick failed to deny it, I gave him another look. “Hold on, actually from Ricven?”

“Like I said,” he insisted. “I don’t want anyone knowing. New history or not, I hate not having all the answers. I wanna figure some things out.”

“Such as?” I narrowed my eyes.

“That’s for me to know,” he insisted.

“Fine.” I shrugged, crossing my arms. “Okay. But do not be surprised when Ricven is the first to find out.”

“Alrig—what?!” He glared.

“You heard me.” I gave a devious smirk and stood up myself. “Maybe it is the fact that Sunset is my Player. Maybe it is my own interests. But I want to know how this magic works too. Plus, you need an expert in the arcane.”

“This isn’t arcane.” He glared. “Our world’s magic doesn’t apply here. You know that.”

“Maybe. Still, you cannot figure it out alone,” I tried again. “You need a partner. If that philosophy issue was not proof enough, you at least need someone to bounce ideas off of. Besides, your Player and mine seem to be building that dynamic anyway. Think of it as rehearsal.”

“Rehear—dynamic? You. W-Wha—No!” He finally stammered. “What are you even talking about?! There is no dynamic. There is no we! The only thing our kiddy Players are doing is making a useless rivalry while forcing this patchwork group to work together! We are not a team!”

“I completely agree.” I smirked again. “We’re a duo.”

“Yea—no! No, stop making this a thing! This isn’t a thing! We! Are not a! A-A duo!”

My new life goal, I joked to myself. “Listen. To put it bluntly, you cannot talk to people. You suck at it. Terribly. I can. And I was just given a background that made me all the more experienced in it. And whatever these things you need to figure out are? If they have anything to do with this?”

I gestured to the sky around us. “You will need more than yourself. You will need accounts and perspectives from the others. And if you want to hide the fact you were brought here, it will be even harder to ask for those accounts.”

“Who says I need to have them explain their accounts?” He asked me. “I’ll just listen in whenever you and the others talk about it.”

“And if people want to talk behind closed doors? Or if you are somewhere else entirely like you were during our Players’ break?”

“I don’t need all the accounts. Plus, there’s nothing to talk about bu—” “Face it Platick,” I cut him off.

“You need all the help you can get. And I already know your secret. Can you, in all honesty,” I pushed that word hard, earning a tense glare from Platick. “Say that my help is useless?”

“...” He said nothing, chewing on his lip as he flipped every part of his brain to argue my help as a bad thing. He didn’t give up easily either. We sat there for a full minute with Platick raged for an argument.

Every time his eyes focused on mine, he would try thinking harder as I reveled in his misery. “Admit it, Fortuna.”

He let out a low growl, staring up at the sky. “Applejack! Or Master Story, put us back already!”

“That would be too convenient,” I mocked. “Sorry Platick, looks like you will need to make a decision.”

He let out a heavier groan and looked back up to me. “Fine. Help me, Swordhand.”

I gasped, holding my hand to my chest. “Fortuna, you would ask for my help? Why, I do not know what to sa—” “On second thought? Nope. Nevermind!”

He walked away, rubbing his face. “I should have said nothing. I should have just said nothing! This is doomed to fail. I should’ve—” “I will take this seriously,” I said in defiance.

I walked up and in front of him. “I promise you, Platick, I will listen. I do not need to know what answers you are looking for and I will not press you to do anything. I only want to know what you find out. And in exchange, I will help however you need it. Please. Please, let me help.”

Platick paused again, watching my face extra carefully as I stared right back. I had no idea what he was getting worried about but it had to be something I wasn’t seeing. Regardless of what his Player was like, Platick observed things on a deeper level. He would find answers eventually.

And I want those answers, I told myself. Whatever it takes.

After a few more seconds, Platick gave in. “Alright! Okay, I get it. I’ll let you know if I find anything. But in exchange, I don’t want you questioning me. I have a way of doing things and I’ll do it that way. Get it?”

“Got it.” I nodded. “You are the bo—uhh..."

When I raised my head, I was no longer in the sky. Platick was gone too. Instead, I was back in my private room at Stonehill Inn.

After our Players ended their game, the seven of us went for a well needed rest in beds of our own. And since the town was frozen, Platick and Vareén felt no shame in taking other people’s beds in the interim.

I glanced around, making sure my door was still closed and locked. As was my window with the curtain closed. When I was sure, I let my head fall against my pillow.

I was brought to the sky while lying in bed, too lazy to get out of it. I had plenty of time to sleep but after the fight, I was too drained. Thankfully, Ricven had potions for us to drink, so we weren’t injured anymore.

All except one of us, that is.

I took a deep breath and rolled myself out of bed. Already, I knew what I had to do. I had to figure out where Platick was. If he was with any of the others, he might not be able to ease back into the conversation. People might catch on.

If Vareén or Glemerr are with him, they won’t push the issue. Rava or Ricven on the other hand? Those two gossips will never drop it.

After I finished throwing on a clean set of clothes I swiped from Leanne’s shop, I moved for the door and stepped outside to the taproom.

No matter what it takes, I thought. I will be useful.

Story Spinner’s POV
Sweet Apple Acres, Game Room
Meanwhile

I stared at all the notes I had in front of me. Most were written by myself about Sunset and Applejack’s characters, but there were full pages of notes the magic took too.

It all focused on details I missed or things about my world that needed to be adjusted. It was like I had an assistant. And when Sunset and Applejack were finished and outside Sky-Space, the magic faded but its notes remained.

Only question is what do I do with ‘em? I thought as I straightened the pages out. The interesting thing was everything was in my handwriting and organized the way I would do it. Even if it wasn’t the best method.

“I have a question,” Sunset asked, taking me away from the notes. “Rainbow Dash said when she made Rava’s siblings, they weren’t in Sky-Space anymore. Any idea why?”

“Wait. She didn’t have ta be in there?” AJ took a slow breath. “Woulda been nice ta know earlier.”

“I don’t think it would’ve helped,” I told her. “By that point, we weren’t working out specific moments like you two were. Or, at least, nothing with Ravathyra. We were just deciding facts.”

“So the scenes were what did it,” Sunset determined. “Anything short of that and the magic won’t bring us in the void.”

“Makes as much sense as anything else,” I decreed, setting the notes into a folder to be organized later. “Well. With, uh. With that...What now?”

The two girls shared a look. “Whad’ya mean?” AJ asked.

“I mean, is there anything else we’re doing? I kind of forced you guys into a cliffhanger, and the other girls went off to track what connects to the game outside. I know Twilight said you want to hold off playing tonight, but..."

“We already talked it over,” AJ informed me. “We’re stickin’ ta our choice. Make today about findin’ them links. Then tomorrah, wrap up our search with what’s happenin’ at school. Maybe find out about Principal Celestia.”

That hit me like a lead punch. “...Her kidnapping,” I murmured.

Sunset took a deep breath and slumped forward. “Yeah..."

“No! Nope, none a’ that,” Applejack said, reaching across the table and knocking my DM screen flat against the table while glaring between both of us.. “What’s done is done. No point playin’ some blame game over it. ‘Sides, we all know y’all would never a’ let this happen if ya had any clue about it! What matters is yer helpin’ now. Okay?”

I swallowed my self-loathing as far as it would go and nodded. “Yep. You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll stay focused. Just let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”

“Organizing the game’s already plenty.” Sunset recovered too. “None of us can do that. Also, sorry to ask, but could you keep quiet about the magic?”

“I assumed that.” I nodded. “I won’t tell anyone outside our group.”

“Well, there’s others who know,” Sunset admitted. “Ms. Cheerilee for example. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna know too.”

“Oh. Okay, well, that makes me feel a little better,” I recognized. “And you said Ms. Cheerilee would talk to the principals about—this..."

My eyes grew wide as I thought about my words a little longer. Ms. Cheerilee had no idea about Principal Celestia. We only figured it out yesterday. If it was the weekend, maybe Ms. Cheerilee hadn’t made a call yet. Still, she should know about this.

“Um. I just thought of something,” I started, my cracking voice alerting the two girls. “Has anyone talked to Ms. Cheerilee today? About...Anything?”

Again, the two of them shared a look. There was a moment of nothing being said as they waited for each other to speak.

“About that. We talked to her earlier,” Applejack started.

“Right.” Sunset took it from there. “More specifically, she called us. Apparently, her ankle healed up the same time Sildar's wrist did when he had that potion.”

“Wait, really? That's great,"" I celebrated, watching as their expressions did not match mine at all. "Annnnd, why am I the only one glad to hear that?" Curious, I started pulling out my phone.

“Well, we also tried asking her about a few other things that...She said she wanted us to call back later about."

"Uh-huh." I gave them a look as I reached Ms. Cheerilee’s name in my contacts. It was still listed as ‘Clockwork Teacher’ because I was a terrible person.

I hit the call button.

"Well, I guess no time like the present, yeah?" I tried to stay upbeat and positive like I had managed to pull off thus far while putting the call on speaker. It rung a couple times before Ms. Cheerilee answered and then quickly hung up.

“Wha?” I blinked at the phone a few times and stared at it. She. What the...? “She hung up.”

AJ and Sunset frowned. “Maybe she's not ready to tal—”

Just then, I got a call back from her. Except, this time, it was for a video call. Huh. Maybe she wanted to show us her ankle working? The girls did say Ms. Cheerilee was behind them telling me.

I turned around and held the phone away from me so all three of us would be in the shot. Then I pressed ‘Answer.’

Right away, the camera turned on to show Ms. Cheerilee staring back expectantly. I didn’t understand why she wanted to have the video call though. Her hair was unkempt, her eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, and she didn’t look happy to see us.

“Hello Ms. Cheerilee,” I said stiffly. “Um. I heard you're feeling better! How's your ankle?”

“Oh, just perfect. I'm glad to hear some knight-guy drank a potion to help me." She said with a sarcastically chipper tone. "But seeing as you're already aware of that, that means we can skip to the larger issue for now."

I felt my throat tighten as she gave us all this scowl. "Um. Larger issue?"

"Yes. The one that Applejack and Sunset tried asking about earlier but stopped prematurely."

Confused, I turned to look at the girls. Applejack was hiding her face in her hands while Sunset looked incredibly guilty. "Girls? What's she talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is Principal Celestia. And what they were beating around the bush about asking me."

Quickly, I hit the mute button and turned around to face them. All while having the phone 'slip' from my grip just enough to where the thumb was now over the camera. Then I spoke fast. "We're muted. What's she talking about?"

"Uh, well, that's," Sunset stumbled while Applejack just looked worse.

"Did you tell her?" I asked concernedly.

"Not really," Sunset told me. "We were hoping she'd tell us before we—"

"Story! Girls!" Cheerilee's voice warned us through the speakers.

Crap! I adjusted the phone to spot us again while also unmuting us. "Sorry, it slipped for a second. I'm sorry Ms. Cheerilee, but I wasn't there when you were all talking. Could you tell me what you mean?"

Cheerilee stared me down through the camera. "Mmm-hmm." She wasn't buying my lies. "Focus the camera on Applejack, please Story."

“What?” I looked up at AJ, who resembled a deer in the headlights. Crap. “Uh. Why? Why her? Exactly?”

“Because you’re too good at lying,” she told me directly. “Now put her on.”

Cringing, I passed the phone over to our resident truther.

“Now then,” Ms. Cheerilee began. “Supposedly, nobody knows what happened with Principal Celestia. So, I am very interested in what you were trying to tell me and how you know.”

“Eeyup,” AJ hummed, shaking her head. “We bumbled right inta that one, didn’t we?”

The next ten minutes were spent with us going into a summarized version of what we realized last night. How the game’s magic affected everything outside it and how we needed to keep playing to prevent bigger problems.

Part way through, Ms. Cheerilee shook her head. “Hold on. Pause for a second.” She followed her own command, reviewing a few things. “Not only am I connected to a knight, now you're telling me Principal Celestia's tied to a dwarf? Who's a miner?"

By this point, I had regained my spot in front of the camera. Now I could recognize the true look of disbelief on Ms. Cheerilee’s face.

“It sounds kinda out there, don’t it?“ Applejack was sympathetic. “We are so sorry fer lettin’ this happen. None of us had a clue what was goin’ on with the magic and, if we’d a’ known what we do now, we would never let it turn out like this!”

Ms. Cheerilee took a couple of breaths to try clearing her head. “I. I believe you, Applejack. I know none of you would do this on purpose. That is just a lot to take in right now.”

We watched her camera travel with her until she sat down on her couch and propped her camera against something so she didn’t have to hold it anymore.

“But...Putting that aside for the moment,” Ms. Cheerilee said more for herself. Wow, she really does know about magic, doesn’t she? How else is she waving this off? “Are, uh. Do you know if she's...safe right now?”

“Who? You mean Principal Celestia?”

I moved the camera on me. "I'm the only one that knows that answer. Every time I try telling the girls what's going on, the magic censors it. And, if I'm being honest, I'm worried if I say the truth to someone that can hear me, it'll come true. So I think I should only tell you what the girls know already."

Ms. Cheerilee had this distant look in her eyes as she tried to accept that. "Alright then. In that case, what do the girls know?"

I steeled myself for the worst. "...The Dwarf was kidnapped in the same attack that broke Sildar, your knight's, leg. He was carried off to a secondary location and he will be sold off to someone in ten days. Well, eight days now. It's been two days in the game since the girls learned about the kidnapping."

That distant look in Cheerilee’s focused in moments. “Wait. Sold off?! That’s what’s happening?!”

All of us flinched back as Ms. Cheerilee sank into her chair. She was having a crisis. “Oh dear. Then. Then explains why—And then...! But, wai—Oh no. Oh no, poor Luna.” She covered her mouth with this distant look in her eyes.

Too bad her phone was on speaker from the video call.

“You've spoken to Vice Principal Luna?” Sunset asked. Ms. Cheerilee gave us the same surprised look we gave her before. “Ms. Cheerilee. Did you talk to Vice Principal Luna?”

Ms. Cheerilee continued to look back, not making any sudden moves. She didn’t even lower her arms from her face. Sunset tried again. “Ms. Cheerilee, if you know anything, please! The magic doesn’t let us find out secrets about the game, but if we can find out what happens in the real world, we might be able to use that as hints. It might help save Principal Celestia!”

Ms. Cheerilee reacted to those words. And while it was faint, I saw her eyes darting ever so slightly back and forth. She was staring at each of our faces.

“...” Slowly, Cheerilee lowered her arms. “...First. First, I want a promise. I want you to promise that what I’m about to say won’t go any further than the three of you. Not even the others.”

“Not ta the others?” Applejack balked. “Ms. Cheerilee, wit’ all due respect, do ya really think any of us would go blabbin’ ‘bout the Principals? We would never do—”

“I know that,” Ms Cheerilee said with a newfound demeanor. “But Luna trusted me because she had nowhere else to turn. And I don't want to betray her trust. You can understand that, right?”

Sunset curled her fingers together and tried to calm her breathing. Then, without looking over, she spoke quietly and with a dark tone. “Applejack? If you can’t keep the secret, leave the room.”

“What the? Sunset, what’s gotten inta—” AJ clammed up when Sunset finally looked her in the eye. Since I was between them, I saw the same face Applejack did.

Fierce and driven. One Sunset, trembling from a mixture of fear, rage, and a readiness to act. Like she was gonna lose it if she didn’t get what she wanted right this second.

“...Ah’ll step out.” Without another word, Applejack got up from her seat, took Platick’s character sheet, and marched out the doorway and through the curtain.

Right away, we heard a scuffle, a faint gasp, and then a growl from Applejack.

“And yer comin’ with me,” Applejack proclaimed as Sunset and I could hear a younger voice arguing with Applejack, but the voice was too far for the phone to pick it up.

As that happened, I turned around to find Sunset giving me that same demented stare. As if challenging me.

“...I won’t tell anyone,” I forced my mouth to say. “I can keep secrets. Magic gargling or not.”

“I’d prefer you didn’t,” she said with a calm levelness to her otherwise emotive face.

I was taken aback from that. What did she say?

Then, I narrowed my eyes. Hold on. I caused this, not you. I think I deserve some answers too, you know. “You know how you agreed to owing me ‘so much,’ yeah? Well, I’m cashing it in.”

“Not for this, you aren’t,” she said, but her anger had a small break.

“Oh, yes, for this,” I doubled down. “You know how you said this wasn’t my fault? That means it’s not yours either. So, it’s either both our faults or neither! Either way, I’m staying for this. Besides, I run the games. If there’s something I can prepare for—”

“That’s enough,” Ms. Cheerilee called. “Sunset, I agree with Story. Even if you try to make him leave, I’ll tell him myself later.”

Sunset gave me a side eye for a few more seconds before muttering something incomprehensible and turning back to my phone.

“Now. This doesn’t leave the two of you,” she reminded us. Ms. Cheerilee then took a deep breath, whispering one last apology to Vice Principal Luna before making herself ready.

“Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna live together,” Ms. Cheerilee explained. “Usually, Vice Principal Luna stays out late. That’s normal, apparently. But, when she got back some time after midnight, she didn’t find her sister. Instead, she found a note.”

Ms. Cheerilee took another slow breath. “It...It was a ransom note.”

A chill went down my spine as Sunset leaned forward. “What did it say?” She demanded.

But Ms. Cheerilee shook her head. “I don’t know. I only found out when Vice Principal Luna called me last night. I was still awake, trying to figure out whether or not my ankle was actually healed. I wasn’t sure why she was calling me, but...I guess I do now? Does. Did this ‘Sildar,’ know too?”

“Yes,” Sunset answered instantly. “He was there. I'm pretty sure he told us the motive. Right Story?”

"He has a theory," I said, trying to keep my heartbeat level in all of this. My mind was sparking with all the secrets I was learning. "He would have told you it's because of the mine Gundren found."

“Am.” I could about hear Ms. Cheerilee’s heart stop. “Am I going to be kidnapped next?”

“No! No, you are not,” I cut in aggressively, almost taking the phone with me as I tried pacing away. But Sunset grabbed my arm and forced me to stay still. “Ms. Cheerilee, Sildar is fine! Everyone’s characters saved his life. He’s in town, resting in bed. He’s fine, I promise.”

Ms. Cheerilee nodded to herself, taking a few breaths to get away from her own paranoia. “Okay. Well, that’s a relief. Um. Uh, w-well, so that’s what I know. Luna refused to tell me any specifics. All she admitted was that she was supposed to wait for a phone call in the next few days.”

In a few days, I deciphered. King Grol’s waiting for the Field Baron to come for Gundren. That won’t happen until ⟟⌰⊬⊑ days have passed. That’s when King Grol starts bartering. That’s what’ll happen in real life.

“Does Vice Principal Luna at least know Princess Celestia’s safe?” Sunset asked.

I blinked. Princess? “Uh, Sunset? You mean 'principal.'”

She shot me a glare that made me freeze up before looking back at my phone. “Yeah, that’s what I meant. Do we know she’s safe? Unharmed?”

“I don’t know.” Ms. Cheerilee shook her head. “But Luna hasn’t told anyone. She’s too worried they’ll do something if she does.”

That’s when Sunset looked to me. “Story. I don’t need an explanation, just nod ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Does Gundren get hurt while he’s captured?”

Does he? I took a second. The king wouldn’t have the goblins guard him. They’re not reliable. Possibly same with bugbears? The hobgoblins wouldn't harm him. They want Gundren healthy and in a better condition for a good deal. They might not feed him much. Does that mean...

I shook my head no if at least to make myself stop thinking about it.

Sunset took some solace at that. “Okay. Next, Dark Pit Keep’s not close to Phandalin, is it?”

Again, I shook my head no. Sunset probably already knew that. It took Klarg’s goblins a few days to reach Dark Pit Keep. And Klarg’s cave was a half day’s travel from Phandalin.

“I have a question,” Ms. Cheerilee spoke too. “Does this Gundren have a sister? Or, I guess brother, if the magic doesn’t care about that?”

I nodded yes. Two actually. One is...And the other’s...

My face was more than enough to alert my teacher and new friend. “Story, what happens to them?” Ms. Cheerilee asked.

“Don’t answer that,” Sunset said suddenly, giving me a look. Then she looked to Ms. Cheerilee. “I’m sorry Ms. Cherilee, but we can’t tell you anything else. To be fair, Story shouldn’t have told you what’s going to happen that hasn’t already.”

Ms. Cheerilee looked as if she wanted to resign the thought, but I jumped in. “Wait, I wasn’t? Since when?”

Sunset gave me a sorry look. “We don’t know what happens if you try and warn anyone about the future. Dunamancy builds itself on what is fate3d to happen. If you start talking about what will happen later, who knows what the result may be.”

“Uh, hopefully to prevent it?” I shook my head. “Why would giving someone a warning cause more problems?”

“Because there’s nothing that can be done to stop it.” Sunset told me. “Dunamancy controls fate, remember? You can’t change fate.”

“Can’t change—hold on.” I dragged over a couple of books and leaned my phone against that. In hindsight, I should’ve done that much earlier. “Sunset, the whole point of Dunamancy is messing with fate, isn’t it? We’re already changing fate. Why are we suddenly not allowed to do anything about it?”

“Story.” Sunset took a slow breath, trying to calm herself. “It’s like I said. Dunamancy is not something I know the most about.” She looked like she was about to speak again, but I interrupted.

“But you know enough that we can’t warn people about what’s happening?” I gave her a look. “And if so, why are you only telling us this now?”

“Because I didn’t think we’d be having this conversation,” Sunset shot back, giving me a look in return.

Ms. Cheerilee looked at us through the phone and sighed. “Sunset, Story, it sounds like there’s a lot you need to talk through about this magic. I don’t understand it myself, but if there’s an issue with me hearing about it, it might be best if I step away for now. If it turns out you can talk to me, please do. And, again, I know it’s a large favor, but please don’t tell the others about Celestia and Luna. At least, not until you two come to a decision. Alright?”

We paused our glaring match for a second to promise her we wouldn’t. And then, after an awkward goodbye, Ms. Cheerilee ended the call.

Sunset regained the conversation. “Story, I can’t let you tell anyone about this.”

“Sunset, our principal is confirmed to be in trouble. And our Vice Principal is terrified. If I know what’s going to happen and who else might be in trouble, I should be doing everything I can to tell people.”

"No!" Sunset shouted. "Story, listen to me. Fate is sealed. If you tell anybody, all you're going to do is put people into a panic. Some of them might try going against fate too, and if they do that then that's just going to make things worse!"

"But are you about that?" I asked her. "Is that what happened before back when people used this magic?"

"Ye— Well. I mean, more than likely," she told me. Her words sounded less sure though. "That's why it was made forbidden."

That's when a thought came to my mind. One that made me start getting angry. "No, that's not what you said last night. Last night, you said people got too frivolous using it and the side effects got bad. If it was because fate started snapping back, why didn't you mention it then?"

"That's what I meant by side effects!" She started getting angry. "When pon—people wished for things to happen, obviously other people would try and keep bad things from happening to them. And I know I told you and everyone else that those who weren't a part of the spell can be affected. That's why the only way to fix the problem is to use the Dunamancy and put everything back to normal! We can't tell anyone about what's going to happen because it won't change anything."

I huffed but didn't know how to argue my point. I wanted to tell Ms. Cheerilee about what was going to happen to Vice Principal Luna. I wanted to warn whoever I could about what was still inevitably going to happen. But if I wasn't even sure if it would be safe, I was worried.

So, I did the next best thing. "Alright. Fine. We can't warn people about what will happen. But you told Ms. Cheerilee about what happened to Sildar in the game, yeah? And that was okay?"

Sunset watched me for a second; concerned about where I was going with this. "I mean, sure? But fate had already happened and Ms. Cheerilee knows about the magic. Telling her had no risk."

"Aha! So then, all we gotta do is leave magic out of it, and brign up what has happened already? Then fine! We can just do that!" I scooped up my phone and opened the dial option. I managed to type in 911 and Sunset sat stunned.

"What are you doing?!" She screamed. "I just said you can't warn anybody! All you'll do is make things worse!"

I was already resolute enough to hit the call button. "I'm not warning them about the future. Just what's already happened."

"Already—" Sunset's eyes shot out wide. "Story, you can't be serious! Cheerilee trusted us not to tell anyone!"

"Sunset, you don't expect me to stay silent about this, do you?!" I gave her a disgusted look. "Someone is—" “9-1-1, what is your emergency?”

“Hello? Yes, officer, there’s been a problem.” I got up to walk away from Sunset, but she held onto my shoulder to try and keep me seated..

“Story, give me the phone,” she whispered through gritted teeth.

I gave her a shake of my head and got up. I started taking a few steps towards the door. “I’m trying to call about—” “No! Story, stop!”

I turned around to tell Sunset I made up my mind, but before I realized what she was doing, Sunset pushed my chin straight up with her palm, confusing me and making me lose my balance. At the same time, I felt her swipe my phone and run off.

“Sunset, no!” I reached out for her and caught the collar of her jacket, but she slipped out of it like a snake, leaving me with the thing while she jogged out of the room and started talking.

“Hi officer!” Sunset said in an apologetic voice. “I am so sorry about this! My friend came to pick me up and he overreacted when I wouldn’t wa—”

“You can’t be serious!” I took off after her, pushing through the game room’s curtain and spotting Sunset closing the barn doors, barring them for good measure.

“Sunset!”

And then I stopped when I saw her; wracked with guilt and barely holding it together.

Still, she kept coming up with more lies, answering the police with another lie to dig herself deeper and deeper. “What are you doing? Why are you doing this?” I asked quietly.

“I understand. And again, I am so, so sorry about this,” she said while staring directly at me.

“You need a lot more than sorry,” I told her with a glare.

She gave me a more guilty look but flinched when the officer said something else. “Oh! Talk to him?” She repeated, giving me another look as I caught on.

The officer wants me to prove...No. I started backing up as Sunset walked after me. “No. No, please, don’t make me do this!"

“Not a problem at all,” she said, looking so miserable. “Yeah, he’s right here. One second.” Sunset lowered the phone and put her hand over the speaker. “...Story?”

“Don’t do this,” I whispered. But she was already holding out the phone.

“I am so sorry,” she told me with the saddest look ever as she moved the phone towards my face.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, n—Hello again, officer,” I said in the best awkward, yet upbeat voice I could while taking the phone in my hands. Sunset was too terrified to remember to let go of it so we stood there awkwardly with the phone held by three hands.

“Hello there, sir,” the officer started, sounding a little frustrated. “Is everything your friend said true?”

“Yes. Yes, it is,” I went on, using my theatre lessons for all the wrong reasons. “This is the first time I’m picking her up from her place and I-I completely overreacted! She said she’d be ready to go by the time I got there, she was still asleep. I saw a glass bottle on the floor, it was actually cream soda. And when I couldn’t—I-I ended up call—and she woke up and here, heh, here we are! I promise I will not! Let this happen. Again.” I said strictly while staring at Sunset’s face with visceral hatred.

Sunset shrunk into her shoulders a bit but stayed right in front of me, taking it in.

There was a pause, and a few sighs from the officer before he spoke up. “I feel I should just ask one more time. Are you sure that is everything, son? That there is nothing wrong? You can tell me.”

‘Please no, please no, please no,’ Sunset kept mouthing as I took a second to think it over.

Either I lie to the police right now and I’m stuck with whatever Magical Girl Shimmer has planned. OR. I do the right thing and she gets in serious trouble for hiding it.

I didn’t have time to think. If I spent too long, the officer would definitely think something was wrong. And every moment I spent, Sunset stared with the saddest look I had ever seen. Sadder than when we burst into tears for causing this whole problem in the first place.

It’s either both our faults or neither, I told myself. That was the excuse I used to hear what happened with Vice Principal Luna.

I forced myself to let out a goofy chuckle. “Don’t worry, sir,” I told him with a smile as Sunset watched without breathing. “I’m just an idiot. I’m fine. My friend’s fine. We’re sorry to waste your time. Or, erm, I am! I’ll be more careful from now on.”

I heard the man take a low breath. “Alright then. I’m glad to hear she’s safe. And it’s better to call and it be a false alarm than not and have it be a problem. But be careful from now on, understand?”

“Yes sir, I will,” I told him. Then I watched Sunset take a heavy breath and try to pull her hand away from my phone.

I stopped her. Instead, I kept her with me and shook my head. “Have a great day, officer.”

I ended the call and dropped the phone onto the hay-covered floor while standing there, holding Sunset’s hand in place and staring her down. I gave her the blankest, yet not blank, look I could muster.

“...SO,” I started, letting go of her hand as she only took one step back. “Could you tell me, in a really simple way, why you just had me—”

My paranoia stopped me and I stared down at my phone. Yep. Call ended. Okay, good. “In a real simple way, why you just had me lie to the police, FOR YOU?!”

“No! I-I! I didn’t want—” “No, you did! You wanted me to lie for you!” I cut her off. “I’m pretty sure that’s a crime! I just crimed for you! Why did I do that?!”

“Be-Be. B-Because they wouldn’t have been able to help,” she told me, hysterical in her delivery.

“This is exactly the thing they would’ve been able to help with!” I told her. “This is what the police do!”

“No! I mean, they are literally unable to help!” She tried again. “That's what I've been trying to tell you! The magic changes fate! Fate says Princess Celestia’s going to be kidnapped and then ransomed! And we already knew that!”

“You know! There’s that word again! Princess!” I pointed at her, making her slam her hands over her mouth and step back.

I stomped right after her. “Why do you keep calling the principal a princess?”

“I...Y-You know. You wouldn’t believe me. If I. Told you...” she trailed off. Probably because of how stupid that excuse was now.

“Interesting.” I nodded with a tense stare. “Let’s test that. If I’m willing to lie to the police for you, I must be crazy enough to believe whatever you’re about to tell me. I mean, after all, I’ve been inducted into your magical cult for at least twelve hours! Obviously, I’m in it for the long haul! Try me, Shimmer!”

She kept staring at me while something insane no doubt flowed through her mind. She looked desperate and could benefit from someone talking her down from however miserable she was feeling about the principal, or princess, or whatever.

And I stood here, finally at my own breaking point as she considered her next words very carefully.

So she took one, deep, full-lunged breath to try calming her nerves—it didn’t work—and this was what she thought I needed to hear at that exact moment:

“Okay...The truth is, I’m not human.” Then she spilled every other word at a blinding speed. “I’m a unicorn from a world called Equestria where all the magic we have been dealing with comes from. I registered at the School for Gifted Unicorns where Princess Celestia—my world’s version of Princess Celestia—noticed me and took me on as her pupil. I was so happy that she saw my potential and did everything I could to try and be as good a student as I could for her so that I could one day take her place as—”

I shook my head and pocketed my phone before going back to the game room. “I’m done,” I said, too exhausted to care anymore.

She jogged after me into the room, still rambling. “But as I got older, I got it in my head that she was trying to prepare to take over as princess myself! But I kept screwing up! Princess Celestia tried showing me that I wasn’t mature enough for it! That I wasn’t ready! And I wouldn’t listen! She would keep trying and I threw it all away and I let her down! I let her down and chose that stupid mirror and my made-up destiny over her! I failed her, and now I'm about to fail another Celestia all over again because of the same magic! And I know I screwed this up too! I let this magic get out of hand, but I don’t have any way to reach Equestria because the portal’s not active and the book was destroyed, and I can’t even get a hold of Princess Twilight! And now, THIS world’s Celestia is in trouble, and I need to help her because it's the mirror problem all over again!”

As she spoke, I spilled out the contents in my backpack and gathered up my school supplies and nothing else. I didn’t bother touching any of the D&D stuff. Most of it was stuff the girls bought for me anyway. Backpack too. I didn’t even take the binder with my world’s info in it.

Once I had what was mine, I brushed past Sunset and approached the barn doors. Sunset followed after me, still ranting and shouting behind.

“Come on! Don’t tell me you would turn your back on her!” She shouted, now trying to guilt me of all things. “Principal Celestia’s in danger and we’re the only ones who can save her! You’re a part of this too! I know it sounds crazy, or demented, or unfair, or out of our league, but we need your help! It’s your world that the dunamancy’s coming from! And we still don’t know how to solve it! And do you really think I would let all of this keep going?! If I was able to find out how, I would detach the magic from your game in a heartbeat! We’d be fixing all the problems the right way! But calling the cops?! Story, all that’s going to do is make more people terrified about something that’s destined to happen! Because I let it all happen in the first place!”

I pushed the block off the barn door and pushed it open, revealing the sunlight above and Applejack standing there in complete shock and confusion as I walked out with the sourest look I’ve ever had.

When AJ watched Sunset stepping after me, trying to cut me off from my car, Applejack caught Sunset in her arms to stop her. Thankfully, Applejack heard nearly everything.

I unlocked my car door, tossing my things inside in the passenger seat as Sunset tried one last time.

“You have to help!” Sunset kept shouting, not bothering to fight through Applejack’s grip. “I need your help! I don’t...! I! I can’t disappoint her again! I can’t let another Celestia down! Come on, HELP ME!”

I stood partway in my car, my hand on the top of its door, and finally looked Sunset in the eye. She was in tears. She was crying because I wouldn’t believe her made up sob story.

“You know Sunset?” I said, watching her bite into her lip in an effort to make herself stop crying. “You were right. I don’t believe you. Because if you’re able to lie to the cops and then convince me to lie to the cops? I'll give you one thing, I definitely believe you aren't mature.”

Applejack looked down at Sunset, who was stumbling for words. “Wait. What did y’all do?!”

“I’m going home,” I told them. “I’m going home where I can go back to believing magic, and talking dogs, and unicorns don’t exist! You’re crazy! You need help! And not from me. Goodbye and good luck.”

Sunset muttered to herself, unresponsive as Applejack did her best to hold her up. Meanwhile, I got in my car, closed the door, and started the engine. I saw Applejack take out her phone. Probably to call the others.

As for me, I turned my car around and drove as they watched from my rearview mirror.

I went home and said hi to Mom, who was waiting for me. As well as my little brother with his face buried in a handheld game and that goofy beanie like always. Mom tried to talk but after taking one look at me, she let me trudge up to my room where I could bury my head in my pillow and be alone.

I was done.

Author's Note

Sorry everybody. They ain't over everything yet.

Normally, I don't like these scenes in movies or books. But the more I kept thinking about it, I never made Story to be a brick wall. And I don't think Sunset is either. She's wiser and more hardened, but I figured something was scarred with Princess Celestia. Maybe the Equestria Girls show plays that idea (I never had a chance to watch the TV series) but this is my own interpretation.

They cracked before. Now, they broke.

As always, I love to hear any sort of feedback. I'm always looking to improve or figure out where I could have done better somewhere. Anything is always appreciated!

Also, kind of a given, but no new character sheets this time. Probably not until we level up, either. Although, I'm working on a world map! Since I'm using my D&D world that means it'll basically help for here.

See you all next time.
Cheers,
-Zeke

(49) Monastic Tradition

Glemerr’s POV
Legacy of the Lost, Alderstone
3 Years Ago, Late Evening

“Alrigh’ kids,” I called out, cupping my hands around my mouth. “Cog’s leavin’ da port! Sailin’ straight fer Bed Land! All passengers need be ‘counted foooor~!”

The obvious groan of Awwwwww erupted across the orphanage, making me chuckle. “Dat betta be a rallyin’ cry fer mountin’ yer beds~! Now find yer covers. Come on now.”

One of the kids, a full orc named Iverg, stomped towards me. He was ten years old, giving me an edge in age by three, almost four, years. Despite that, he thought he could talk down to me since he was already as tall as I was.

“I ain’t goin’,” he told me like it was a fact. “Ah’m meetin’ some friends out ta’nigh’.”

“Oh, are ya now?” I leaned against one of the worn wooden walls with a smirk. “Well, mah deepest apologies, Iverg. Ah had no clue dat’s what you thought you was doin’.”

He nodded and started to walk past me. “I’s fine. Ah’ll be back ‘fore midnigh’.”

“Uh, hmm. Nah.” I reached out, clutching my fingers around the top of his cueball head to hold him in place. He squirmed and complained, but I just twisted him back around towards his room and lightly thumped his head to get him moving. “Ah dink you’ll be goin’ ta bed. Before midnight.”

He looked at me in complete confusion. “What?! But you was jus’ lettin’ me go!”

“Iverg.” I smiled at him. “D’ere’s a lot a’ things Ah let ya do. Mostly so ya can learn from ‘em on yer own. But sneakin’ out ta play Punch Dunk wit’ kiddie Angla’s? Dat ain’t one of ‘em.”

“Ah, come on Glem.” He rolled his shoulders and looked all tough for me. “D’ey ain’t Angla’s. Ah’m jus’ Punch Dunkin’ wit’ some urchins. None of ‘em are gang kids!”

“Is one of ‘em dat canal rat, Tirnit?” I frowned.

Iverg went to answer but thought it through. Then, thought harder. An awkward amount of harder. “...Is Tirnit one of the ones you hate?”

“Yeah,” I said without emotion.

“Then no,” he told me with a finger wag and a smile. “Definitely not.”

He’s trying every day, I told myself. “Well good. Sounds like he’s doing somethin’ smart fer a change. Like yer gonna do tonigh’.”

“Yea—No. Uh. Actually, he is goin’! Which means Ah should go. Because Ah’m smart like him? Yeah.”

Gently, I patted him on the shoulders and held his gaze for a few seconds before, with the thinnest line my mouth could make, I spoke. “No.”

“But Ah wanna!”

“Yeah, an’ Ah wanna have a bridge named after me,” I told him. “But dat ain’t gonna happen either. Look. Uncle Mord said dat the gangs have been rousin’ like crazy. ‘Specially at night.”

“Wuz rousin’ mean?”

I shook my head. “The gangs are gettin’ dangerous, Iverg. And Uncle Mord don’t want us goin’ out late righ’ now. ‘Specially not ta some random alley at night playin’ Punch Dunk.”

“We weren’t only gonna play Punch Dunk,” he told me as if that was the problem here.

“No, Iverg.” I stared him down, making him slump in defeat. “Not tonight. Get some rest. And in the mornin’ if yer dat desperate fer playin’ Punch Dunk, talk ta Ocaih an’ Cirg. Dhey play Punch Dunk all da time.”

“We’ll take him!” I heard Cirg cry out from the kitchen. It was her turn with the dishes tonight. “Besides, puddles are much better for Punch Dunk than the canals.”

“Ya see? Quality practice.” I smiled.

He sighed. “Yeah, alrigh’, Ah get it. Ah’ll stay in tonigh’.” He started trudging off. But not before shouting into the kitchen as he went. “Dat puddle better not be straight mud!”

“No promises,” Cirg shouted back before laughing.

As Iverg passed into the bedrooms, another dull green head poked out from around the corner. This one was much closer to the ground with a raggy doll in her arms. “Wah Punk Dun?”

“When yer older, Vetre,” I told her. Three-year-olds don’t need Punch Dunk.

That just made her angry and, in the highest noise she could make, she screamed. “WaH PuNk dUn?!”

“O-kay!” I walked over towards her, scooping her up like a tiny kitten. The girl was still smaller than a goblin, so it was easy to lay her on my arm while she smirked triumphantly. “Tell ya what. Let’s get ya in yer jammies an’ Ah’’l tell ya all ‘bout da Punk Duns. Okay?”

“Yay! Punk dun!”

I shook my head, letting her have her moment before I turned around to bring her into the bedrooms. “Alright, alright. Jus’ promise not ta tell Uncle Mord ‘bout Punk dun. He hates dat game.”

Vetre just giggled, hugging her doll in triumph. I wasn't planning on actually telling her. I could easily distract her with something else. But before I could even reach the bedrooms, I heard a slam at the door.

I stopped, my face turning to stone. None of us knock like that. Nobody that comes around here knocks like that.

Boom! Boom! Boom! “MONO FIST! WE KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”

…

Slowly, I set Vetre down, covering her mouth before whispering towards the kitchen. “Cirg? Cirg! Get Vetre and the others in the backmost room. Now!”

Right away, Cirg understood the situation. Vetre tried shaking herself free of my hand to scream again, but I didn’t let her. After a couple seconds, Cirg came in and replaced me as I skulked towards the front door.

BOOM! BOOM! “GET OUT HERE! OR DO WE NEED TA SAY HI TA THE KIDDIES?!”

Making it to the door, I pressed myself against it and checked behind me. Iverg was poking his head back out into the main room and with a glare and wave of my hand, he vanished again.

“Whoever yer lookin’ for, d'ey ain’t here!” I shouted back. “Get lost! We’re tryin’ ta sleep!”

I put my ear to the door, hoping to hear whether or not there was more than just one of them. And unfortunately, when I heard one whispering “kick it down,” I had my answer.

I pressed my back up against the door before— BANG!

A heavy slam struck against the door, rattling my spine and hands. The frame of the door had already started breaking and if it wasn’t for me, they would have broken the door completely.

“Are you crazy?!” I shouted. “Ah just told ya! It’s jus’ me an da kids! Go! Away!”

“Only one way ta know fer sure!” The voice shouted back. “Either we find Mono Fist, err we gut his kids! Now open up err we’ll just fuckin’ burn ya out!”

BANG!

Again, they slammed into the door. I saw the frame around the lowest hinge break and some of the door was caving in towards me. Splinters were digging against my lower back, but still, I held.

“Don’t ya think if Mono Fist was ‘ere, he woulda COME OUT BY NOW?!” I roared, my fury driving me to keep this door in place.

BRKKKK!

This time, the other two hinges, plus handle, failed. The final kick made me slide forward for a second, but rather than fall away I clutched the door and slammed it right back against the entrance.

It was little more than a broken chunk of wood plugging a hole now. And through the holes, I saw them. Two full orcs, obviously two or three times my age and body size. One of them might’ve even been an orog from how large he was.

“Kid’s sturdy,” the orog-looking one muttered. Then he wedged his fingers through a hole between the door and the wall and just started peeling off a piece of the door.

“Back off!” Gripping the door from the sides, I slid it upwards and crushed his fingers against the frame. He let out a shout, tearing his hand free and the piece of the door he was holding.

“FINE!” He slammed his fist through the door, shattering it to mulch, and then grabbing me by the neck. Then, he pulled me through the open doorway and chokeslammed me into the semi-liquidy dirt.

It wasn’t coming down hard, so I couldn’t tell from inside, but it was raining. The ground was already turning into mud. It didn’t help make the crash any softer.

“Find ‘em,” the orog commanded the orc. He grunted, stomping past us and into the orphanage. “And if any a’ the brats give ya trouble like this ‘un, kill ‘em.”

“Yeah, yeah, Ah know the drill.”

No. NO! ‘Stay away from them,’ is what I tried to demand, but all that came out was gurgled nonsense as he choked me.

“Huh?” The orog looked back at me. “What? You think yer gonna d—” My fist clocked his jaw, making him stop talking. It dazed him for a moment, and I took the chance to try pulling myself free.

But it didn’t work. Instead, the orog hefted me up by my throat and slammed me even deeper into the mud. The earth squelched, helping to seal me in place, but he wasn’t done yet.

He released my throat, giving me just enough time to suck in a gasp of air before he knitted his fists together and drove them down hard against my chest, making me feel something inside break.

My air came right back up with a bit of blood as the orog started to stand himself back up. “Ya thought that punch mattered? Ye’r jus’ trash. All shined up in a shack. And if you, err dem other trash, don’ tell us where Mono Fist is, ya won’ even be dat.”

He reached down, grabbed me by the jaw, and pulled me back out of the dent in the earth. I was hardly conscious, only able to pry my eyes open enough to see the orog’s face as he got real close.

Then, in the orphanage, I started to hear the kids. They were screaming.

“Now start talkin’,” he told me. “Where is Mono Fist?”

Glemerr’s POV
Redbrand Hideout, Cellar
Present

As Rava and the others dealt with the Redbrand in the main room of the lodge, I walked down the steps Thorn found. Thorn and Vareén saw me go down, but a short stare from me kept the latter from stopping me. She just backed up and watched me go.

Once down the stairs, there was this short, maybe ten-foot, hallway that led to a single door at the end. The door was left open, probably by the thugs who charged up after Thorn during the fight. And aside from a distant light source past that door, this hallway was dark.

It didn’t stop me. I stomped through the doorway, having to lower my head to make it through. It was probably built for humans or elves, so I was a little too big for it. But once I was through, I found myself on a small balcony peering over a cellar.

The balcony had stairs on either side leading to the cellar’s floor. There was also a small metal railing to keep people from walking off. On the left side, there was a turned-over chair in the corner. Probably from the thugs camping out here before they heard us.

In the cellar itself, I saw barrels and crates either missing lids or broken open. Probably raided from town. It was all cluttered, but still, there were small paths to let someone get from any of the doors down there. However, what drew my attention the most was this large tub-sized stone pit of pure, clean water.

Drinking water, probably, I thought. I kept quiet at that moment, perking up my ears for any sign of somebody in the room. I could tell the room carried on underneath this balcony. But if anybody was there, I couldn’t hear them.

If someone’s there, they’ll probably jump me on the way down. I checked the space between the ceiling and the top of the railing. Then, I checked how sturdy the rail was. Enough to vault it, at least.

Not gonna happen. Tightening my grip, I planted one foot on the railing and then jumped it, sailing the fifteen-ish foot drop down.

“Wait. Jump?” Story blinked. “But. There’s stairs?”

“Mmm. Nuh-uh. Glemerr wants to jump down,” Pinkie told him, her thoughts strangely to herself for the moment. “We don’t trust it.”

“O-kaaaay..." Story glanced down at his notes before he slowly stood up from his chair. “Roll me acrobatics to not take damage.” He took the second to step over towards his maps that were against the wall as Pinkie scooped up the magic die again.

“And, as you’re doing that.” Story picked up a large vinyl map and started to unroll it. “You guys are officially entering the dungeon. I need to set up the big map.”

“The maps get bigger?” Scootaloo pointed at the lodge hall map still on the table. The girls were starting to pull away the minis for Story while Pinkie rolled to herself.

“Much,” Story told her, taking out a collection of black construction paper he prepared as well. One to tape over each room that was on the map.

He had a feeling that the magic would hide the rooms anyway from the girls, but with the small audience, he wanted to keep up the illusion that everything was normal.

After a few seconds, Pinkie’s magic die failed to shine with anything resembling success. All it ended up doing was making her brow furrow as deep as Glemerr’s had become. “Nine?”

“Nine, unfortunately, doesn’t pass.” Story set down the construction paper for a second and pulled out a D6 he brought with him just in case. He flicked it onto the edge of Ms. Cheerilee’s desk and he and the teacher watched as it rolled onto the highest number. Story cringed and Ms. Cheerilee quickly realized he was aiming for a ‘1’.

“Oh no. You take six damage as the full force of your drop goes straight into your wrist on a bad three-point landing.”

“Mmmm. Mm-hmm.” Pinkie held her wrist for a second. “Kinda like in the forest when I jumped out of that tree.”

“You jumped out of a tree?” Applejack stared at her. “Why?”

“To jump the fence,” Pinkie admitted, her frustration keeping her from elaborating.

Quickly, Story finished up covering the map and laid it out on the center of the table. Like the last few games, the magic once more visualized the space better. The cistern of water rose a couple of millimeters from the table, revealing clear water lightly shifting within.

The walls of the chamber helped to shape the space for them, and the landing that Glemerr jumped off from was trying to materialize higher up above the map only for it to fail after an inch or two. Still, the stairs leading onto the floor were present and that was enough to show that a second door was ‘underneath’ those stairs.

“So.” Story got back behind his screen and had Pinkie lay Glemerr’s mini flat on the floor. “You take a moment to pull yourself back up onto your feet...”

Ow...Why’d you make me do that?

Planting one foot further forward, I cupped my fist into my hand and looked around me. The space underneath the balcony was vacant, save for a single closed door. There was nobody down here waiting for me.

But then, rather than the door behind me, I heard the one beside the drinking water open up. A single human man poked his head through, at first glancing up at the balcony, but quickly finding his gaze locked in on me.

“You! How’d you get in here?!”

From behind him, further in the room, another “What’s wrong?”

“It’s that orc outsider! He’s somehow down here!”

From behind my mask, I huffed and readied my stance. Well, the mask worked.

The man kicked open the door, slamming it against the barrel beside it. Both he and his friend were already raising swords at me. “It’s just him! Come on!”

After the fall I took earlier, they were faster. The first one came at me with a wide swing, which I was able to duck under. The second one though was more skilled. He made a tighter swipe at me, which I couldn’t juke away from. So instead, when his sword cut into my side, I drove my palm into his nose with a resounding crack before his higher-pitched yelp.

He reeled back, swinging wildly at me to try and get anything out of me, but I just took a step away and watched him teeter against the bathtub. A few drops of blood fell into it, marring the clear blue.

Hearing the first guy coming back for another go, I pulled out a belaying pin and deflected his shortsword off to the side. While he was stumbling, I drove my shoulder into his chest. He fell against the stairway, his head pounding against the sharp edge.

“Filthy orc!” Broken Nose came at me one more time, but rather than trade blows, I swung my pin like a bat, smashing it against the side of his face. He stumbled for a moment but screamed when I grabbed him by the collar and launched him up and over me.

Both the men screamed when they collided with one another. And then they just groaned, too injured to get back up.

“Stay down,” I threatened, looking down at my pin. It was polished darkwood and a gift from Cirg. A tinge of fear struck me when I saw the blood splattered against it, but it fueled itself back into anger when I looked down at the two.

“Ya dirtied up mah gift.” When neither of them had anything to say to me, I approached the pool. The blood hadn’t made the entire thing filthy, just part of it. And after using the water to wash off the blood, I sighed in relief.

“No cracks. Good.” With the water not clean anymore, I picked myself up and put the pin back in its place. “Now then. Where’s dat doppelganger Platick was talkin’ ‘bout?”

Before I could decide on which door to check first, the sound of clanking armor erupted from the hallway behind the balcony. “Oi! Glem! Slow down!”

Looking up, Rava burst through the doorway and nearly collided against the rail, staring down at me and the scene around me. Her eyes quickly fell on the two collapsed Redbrands and then the bloody pool of water before falling back to me. “What’re ya doin’, lass?! This ain’t a matter a’ goblins no more! Ya gotta keep the heid in all this. At the very least, wait fer the rest of us!”

As she spoke, a few of the others came out onto the balcony behind her. Ricven and Stostine stopped on either side of Rava, glancing around the space while Vareén took one look before walking down to join me.

“I dunno ‘bout that,” Ricven remarked. “Miss Glemerr seems ta be wreckin’ lodge all the same.”

“Wrecking house,” Vareén told him. She stopped at the base of the stairs and noticed the other door beneath the balcony.

Ricven shook his head. “They might be livin’ here, but ain’t no way this is a house.”

“Where’s Platick an’ Thorn?” I asked them, holding my hand against my side.

“Closin’ up upstairs.” Rava started to come down next while Ricven and Stostine stayed in place. “Glem, Ah get it. They got in our heads. The shapeshifter ‘specially. But lettin’ it broil us up only makes us run a bad play.”

“It ain’t just ‘bout gettin’ in our ‘eads, Rava.” I shook my head. “Mah Unc...mah instructor made me promise ta keep his secrets. Dat doppler went an’ found ‘em out anyway. Ah gotta find out what they took from me. Before d’ey start runnin’.”

“An’ we’re gonna help ya, Glem.” Rava made it downstairs with me, stopping a few feet in front of me as Vareén started searching this room and the one the bandits leaped out of. “But ta do tha’, we gotta work together. So, please. Please don’t be goin’ off on yer own. Awrite?”

I pulled out my hand from my wound and glanced at it. Blood. The cut was deeper than I thought it was. Deep enough where, even with bandages, it was gonna make me start slipping.

I nodded. “Okay. Ah’m sorry, Rava. Ah’ll stay close. But if we see dat doppler anywhere, ya gotta understand dat Ah made a promise. Ah gotta take ‘em out before all else.”

“Same goes for me.”

Once more, from up on the balcony, Platick and Thorn arrived. Thorn instantly started walking down the steps towards us, still as a wolf, whereas Platick stayed up there with the magic folk.

“Regardless of the circumstance, if that shapeshifter’s still here, it dies.”

“Any circumstance?” Stostine gave him a look. “What if it knows where this ‘Dark Pit Keep’ is? Or has information about the Field Baron?”

“It definitely knows the Field Baron,” Platick told her. “And it probably knows where Dark Pit Keep is. But I don’t care. It dies. The longer it’s near us, the more it learns what we keep to ourselves. That’s how shapeshifters work. They learn.”

“Agreed.” I nodded. “We can’t let it find out more junk. We gotta kill it.”

“Kill?” Ricven rose an eyebrow. “Pardon my sayin’ so, Miss Glem, but them Redcans mentioned somethin’ ‘bout you havin’ a code? Ain’t yer code not killin’?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. Then I looked back at Platick. “D’ere’s another door under da balcony. Which way we takin’?”

“Not this way.” Vareén reemerged from the room the Redbrands came from. In her hands was a small sack that jingled with coin as she stepped out. “It’s just a closet they converted into sleeping quarters. Salted meat, coin, and filthy capes. That’s it.”

“Th-That’s...our c-coin.” One of the Redbrands tried to groan out in defiance.

“Not anymore.” Vareén walked past them and hung the pouch on her belt. At this point, everyone else started to make their way down. Filling up the space as Rava looked at my bleeding stomach in concern.

“Are ya well? ‘Ow bad did they getcha?”

I shrugged a little. “D’ey got the jump on me. Won’t ‘appen again.”

“Mmm, not sure Ah like that answer.” Rava looked back towards Ricven. “Think ya can ‘ave another round a’ that song ya played fer me?”

“I don’t got too many encores in me today.” Ricven frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets as he strolled past. “If I do that, we might be hurtin’ when the real trouble sways in.”

“Ah said Ah’m good, Rava,” I pushed, standing at my full height. It hurt, but the mask hid my expression. “Trust me. Ah am the doctor ‘ere.”

“A thought that terrifies us more each time,” Vareén told me. She stepped aside and waved at Platick. “Mind checking the door?”

“Sure.” Platick walked over. But not before pausing to look at me. “If you’re the doctor, that means you know how to fake being okay Either let someone take your place up front or admit you need healing.”

From that, I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yer gonna tell me dat?”

Platick grimaced for a moment. “You’re the one who said you’d listen to orders. And already you failed. Get healed.” He turned and joined Vareén at the next door.

I let out a soft huff. He’s got me there.

“Here. Lemme help.” Rava removed her gauntlet and gestured for me to pull up my shirt. “Ah got a way ta mend ya. Wanted ta save it fer an emergency, but Ah’d say this applies.”

She put her palm up against my sword swipe, making me flinch. Rava gave me a side eye from that, recognizing how much I was trying to ignore the pain, and proceeded to pump a divine light into the wound.

Immediately, the pain went away. All the blood that was dripping down dried and crumbled away until all that remained was a stain and cut on my shirt. Only when the light went away, leaving only the torchlight of the cellar, did Rava step away and begin putting her gauntlet back over her semi-bloody hand.

“There. Not all yer troubles by the sight of it, but it’ll keep ya nice an’ hardy.”

I rolled my shirt back down and nodded. “Thanks.”

“How much more of that do you have?” Stostine asked her.

“Ah used a tad over half a’ that power,” Rava admitted. “Got some left, but not fer anythin’ major. So, try not ta get poisoned err hit too hard. ‘Less we wanna use some bigger spells.”

Ahead of us, Platick stood up from inspecting the lock and gestured for everybody to stack up on the door. We had made plenty of sound in this room by now, but he wanted us to do this his way.

Once we all did, Platick held up his fingers. Three. Two. One. Fist.

The moment Platick clenched his fist, he turned the knob and stepped out of the way.

I slammed into it with my shoulder, throwing myself into the room with my fists raised. Thorn rushed in by my feet, sliding into place right beside me. Then, Rava filled the open door frame with her shield, protecting the others from whatever was waiting for us.

Barely ten feet ahead of the door, as well as to our right, were stone walls. At our left, a long hallway that ended at a set of metal doors. There were columns against the walls of the room and the place looked dusty. There was no sign of action. The opposite, actually.

“Clear.” I relaxed my stance, still keeping my fists raised while Thorn slowly stepped aside in a way where the others could step in enough to look around.

The hallway was ten feet wide and ten feet tall but ran down eighty feet from one side to another. The metal doors on the opposite side were a dull green with what looked like angels carved into them.

The columns looked like they were fused into the walls and the entire part of the hallway was covered in dust, save for the space we were standing near the doorway. It didn’t look like that was because of us though.

“And old,” I added as the others finished filing in, gathering behind me and Thorn in the space to the end of the hallway closest to our door. “Big ol’ angel door at the end too.”

“Looks like it was decorated to be a mausoleum,” Stostine said. “And. Green metal? Well, this lodge is Elvish in design. Maybe they enchanted it?”

“Don’t overthink it. It’s copper,” Vareén told us. “Upon oxidizing, it turns green.”

“Upon what-izing?” I looked at her.

“Question. Do any of our characters know what oxidizin’ is?” Applejack asked. “Ah know we do ‘cause a’ chemistry class, but they never had it.”

“Well, Rava definitely would,” Story pointed out. “Dwarves and all. As for everyone else, I guess that’s for you and your Intelligence score to decide.”

Twilight felt more than one pair of eyes fall on her and she relented. I guess it's only fair that I not apply what we learned in class. I’m sure Rainbow Dash remembers the lesson well.

“Uhm.” Rainbow hummed for a second as she felt me nod for her to go on. “Well, erm...oxidizing is. Well, it’s got oxygen, aye?”

“The door?” Pinkie asked, her serious expression cracking for a moment.

“Ye—err, no. That’s not...That doesn’t sound right..." Rainbow bit her lip as she thought again. “O-Okay! Well, we sound it out! Oxidizin’. Oxygen-dizing. Dizing. Di. Die. Dye. Dye...? Dye! Oxygen’s dyein’ the door! It dyes it green! There ya have it.”

From under the table, Twilight heard Spike snickering as he was looking up at her. Her face gave every impression that she was trying to think of a reason how Vareén could try and correct the Dwarf.

Ten, Twilight thought to herself. Is ten intelligence enough to know that doesn’t sound right?

Pinkie, meanwhile, had no problem playing along. “Makes sense ta me. Ah mean, it’s metal an’ green. Don’t need more proof than that.”

Please no, Twilight thought to herself. I don’t wanna pretend Vareén believes...Actually, I can just say—

“It doesn’t matter,” Vareén told us. “We have a job. Focus.”

Platick narrowed his eyes. “I don’t trust it. Why would this part of the hallway be clear of dust, but not the rest of it?”

At that, everybody scanned the room for an answer. Walls, ceiling, the columns, the door. We all stayed at our side of the hallway as we did, refusing to go any further. It didn’t take long though. Maybe ten seconds later, Ricven snapped his fingers twice at the floor ahead.

“Aha! Found it! Trap dead center.” With Ricven pointing it out, most of us quickly spotted where the stones were different. The center ones didn’t look newer exactly, but the dust on them was wrong. Almost like it wasn’t dust at all.

“They painted the stones,” Platick told us. Seeing that, he casually stepped up to the edge of where the stones changed. “It’s hard to tell unless you screw with ‘em, but they tinted the stones with chalk.”

He ran his fingers across the closest stone and held it up to show us. The 'dust' weirdly coated his hand.

“Maybe we can shuffle on da sides?” I pointed at the parts where the stones met the wall. “Some of dose stones look like de regular kinda dust.”

“I may need to take your word for it,” Stostine admitted. As if agreeing, Thorn whimpered and pawed at the floor.

“Let me go first.” Platick stood up. “Maybe there’s something that can—what are you—?!”

Ricven ignored him, walking right over the stones with a sly whistle as he did. Vareén, Platick, and I braced to wait for the stones to drop, only...they didn’t.

“I don’t gotta care,” the gnome said with a laugh. “Look closer, Platty. Them stones aren’t individual. There’s two panels they’re stuck two. You can see it in the crevices between and the crease in the middle. It ain’t anythin’ complex.”

“He’s...right, actually,” Platick admitted, kneeling back down to check closer. “There’s no pulley or anything. The panels are probably just holding each other up until something heavy steps on it.”

“How heavy we talkin’?”

“Regular human person, probably.” Platick backed up. “I might be on the thinner side, but I’m not risking that.”

Hearing that, Thorn crossed next. She was a smaller type of wolf, so she was fine. She just made it to the other side, turned around, and sat on her haunches waiting for us.

“Heh. Guess it pays ta be smaller, huh?” Ricven went to scratch Thorn behind the ears, only for her to growl at him. “Right. Right, not an actual wolf. My bad!”

“Mmm..." Stostine stared at the stones with a tense expression. “I might be a little too close to that line. Vareén?”

The elf bit her lip. “Ehh...I dunno. Even if I was, my gear probably puts me over the limit.”

“We can hold it,” Platick told her, earning a short glare from Vareén. “You only brought your bow, quivers, and sword. We hold onto that and you can probably cross.”

“I don’t like the use of ‘probably’ there.” She told him. “If I fall, it’s gonna hurt. If I make it across, I can’t punch you.”

“Come on Vareén, you can make it,” Stostine assured her. “You will be fine. Besides, the more we have over there, the less risk of somebody falling from here.”

Vareén stared between the two humans for a little longer before slowly admitting defeat. “Alright. Fine.” She started to remove her weapons before passing them to me. “But if that thing collapses under me, I will find a way to drag you two with me.”

“Wait. You can use this.” Reaching into my pack, I pulled out my silk rope. “Tie it around ya and we can hold it. D’at way, if ya fall, you’ll be fine!”

“Good call.” Vareén took it and quickly tied it around her waist. But then she handed it off to Stostine and Platick. “And you two get tied.”

“I don’t know if that is the best plan.” “No chance.”

“It isn’t. And too bad.” She stepped forward, forcing the two to go along with it. “It’s your plan. You suffer too.”

After they were tied down, Vareén stepped up to the edge of the trap and prepared herself. At the same time, Stostine slowly gripped onto the rope and Platick did the same. Although one of his hands now had a dagger held against the rope.

Vareén didn’t notice though. Instead, she took a few deep breaths, calming her nerves before letting out almost as much air from her lungs as she could to lighten the load further.

“Are you serious?” Platick asked her. “That won’t make you any light—”

“Shut.” When Vareén spoke, she sounded breathless. Like she actually forced all the air out of her lungs. Then she started to walk.

Story Spinner’s POV
Ms. Cheerilee’s Classroom

“You step forward, easing your weight from one foot to the next as much as gradually as you can down the hallway. You spotted the trap yourself earlier, so you see what Ricven meant when he said the stones were set into two ‘panels.’ And you make it down the first one without complaint.”

I kept narrating, focused intently on Twilight as she sat back in her chair. The entire time I spoke, I was swaying slightly to the left and right, trying to mimic the movement I was describing as best I could. The creaking of the office chair I was in didn’t match the scene, but the sound seemed to add to the feeling.

A part of me felt sadistic narrating this. I saw Vareén moving around in Sky Space less than a week ago. I saw her and the rest of them when I started preparing for the game in the hospital. And throughout all of this game, I’ve had to aim to kill each of them.

The only thing that had me staying focused was the fact I had to play it through in front of their little sisters and Button. Whatever all those voices were that insulted the girls, I didn’t want it happening again.

“However,” I went on, my face neutral. I wasn’t about to take pleasure in this. “When you start to shift from one panel to the ne—Crrrkrkkk!”

I slammed grabbed the table and jerked it a bit, making Twilight flinch slightly. “The ground buckles. Stone grinds against stone and you feel your body lurch for a moment, almost causing you to stumble. As for those of you who couldn’t see where the trap started and ended, it’s clear as day now. There’s this obvious divot in the hall where the panels start taking this subtle decline. Vareén in the middle.”

“Should we pull her back?” Rainbow asked, grabbing a die to roll whatever she needed to.

“Hold up.” Applejack held out a hand to hold onto Rainbow and her die. “We do that, she might just fall anyway.”

“I think I’m gonna fall if I just keep standing here,” Twilight told them.

“Twilight.” I looked directly at her as their worries went mute. “I need to ask. How much does Vareén weigh? Not counting equipment.”

Twilight stammered for a moment before scrambling around her notes. She had to shift through a couple of papers to figure it out. I saw her find it, but after a moment, she paused. “Um. W-Well, normally. I mean.” She thought about her next words very carefully. “She is typically about ninety-two lbs.”

Well. Let’s see if the magic covers this. “Let me rephrase. How much does Vareén weigh currently?”

Twilight took a moment to look across the others. None of them seemed to have the right response aside from Sunset; the only one that knew the reason. “Um. Is it garbled?”

“I think. How much?”

“Well...Vareén would still try to look the same. So...five pounds lighter?”

I nodded along. “Okay. Next, you have armor. And a pouch of coin you swiped from that bedroom.”

Twilight tensed up. “I mean. Vareén would’ve handed that off too.”

I grimaced and shook my head. “We both know the magic won’t let that go.” She sunk into her chair a little, leaving me to look at my notes. I needed to find out how much Vareén’s armor weighed.

Just then, the magic answered for me. Before I could even reach for my book, the little notecard I had of the girls’ stats sputtered to life. The entire paper filled itself with stats about Vareén. One of them being about her leather armor. Her ten-pound leather armor.

I smiled a little. Maybe it was short-sighted, but seeing the magic help out in smaller, more mundane ways made it seem easier to work with.

Okay. Ninety-two pounds made five pounds lighter because Changeling, I thought to myself. Add ten from leather armor... But again, the magic helped. The notecard added it all for me.

Vareén: 87 lbs.
Armor: 10 lbs.
Misc Supplies: 2> lbs.
Total: 99 lbs.
Trap Weight Limit: 100 lbs.

Yep. Very close.

I sat back. “For every second that passes, everybody hears the stone grinding. The sheets are holding but only by the cobblestones that continue to grind and chip against each other.”

Twilight sat up. “So, I’m okay for now?”

I nodded, watching as the little notecard’s last line was flaring a little bit. It was flickering, as though giving off the idea that it was about to change.

So, to help push things along, I put my knuckles together with my hands flat and started to make an opening motion. Complete with the sounds of stone cracking.

“Go.” Sunset got the message. “Vareén, go now!”

“I hurry across,” Twilight shouted in this hushed, tense tone.

From behind my screen, I watched Vareén speed walk over before just outright jumping the last couple of stones. Ricven helped her keep her balance. And the trap remained in place, untriggered.

I looked back at the notecard. The last line started to drop like a fast countdown until the Weight Limit now read 50 lbs. Ricven would have trouble making the limit now.

“And you do,” I said in a relieved tone. “And the trap, while now obviously visible, holds. You all assume any more weight will likely set it off.”

They all took a breath, calming down before realizing the four people that were left to cross the hallway. Platick, Glemerr, Stostine, and Rava.

“Ah guess Platick will try next.” Applejack moved Platick up against the edge of where I marked the trap for them. The map, just as I described, also was faintly different in terms of how the ground looked. “Does it take anythin’ ta have him skirt around it?”

I nodded. “Acrobatics.”

“Right. He’s good at that.” Applejack picked up her die and paused. “Before Ah do, Platick’s gonna undo the rope on his waist.” When she saw me give her the all-clear, she rolled to cross.

The die clattered around before stopping on an ‘18’. Even without the total, I smiled.

“No issue,” I told them. “Platick, already seeing the difference in the stones, you shuffle against the brick walls and hug the faux columns. You make it across so well, the trap doesn’t even shift from your presence.”

“Good work, Platick,” Rainbow said with Rava’s accent. “So. Who’s next?”

“Ah’ll do it,” Pinkie said in Glem’s gruff tone. “In case ya fall, Ah can pull ya back up wit’ da rope.”

The girls agreed and Pinkie, still wielding the ‘magic die’ as the girls kept calling it, rolled her check next. It was an easy roll for her. But seeing as how she failed the same roll for jumping off the balcony, I was worried.

The die rolled in this awkward pattern, bumping against a book a couple of times. But when it stopped and flared, Pinkie let out a sigh of relief. “Twenty-two. Same as Platick.”

“And the same result. The trap, while still settling in place, does not react to your presence. All that remains is Rava and Stostine.”

“Mmm.” Rainbow tightened her jaw, looking down at Rava’s character sheet. The distinct lack of good acrobatics worried her. “Does it have to be acrobatics?”

“I mean, if you have something else in mind, it might work.”

“Uhm...Oh! Wait a minute. What about athletics? Rava’s got that! It’s basically the same thing.”

“Not entirely.” I shook my head. “Acrobatics is for doing things carefully, like shimmying around a trap. Athletics is more carrying or running.”

“Would jumping work?” Rainbow kept trying. “Hurdling’s a sport. Jumping over things. What if I jumped the trap?”

“Or long jumping,” Twilight added. “I think that's a rule in the game.”

Curious, I glanced down at my DM screen. Ironically enough, the magic dispelled itself and just showed me what was already printed on the screen to begin with. All about long jumping.

Oh. Right. That exists. I felt like an idiot only before I realized that the party was almost all low-strength and wouldn't be able to. Except for Glemerr and—

Slowly, I formed a grin. “You know what, you’re right. Rava makes it across without a problem.”

“Really?” Rainbow blinked. “How?”

“What’s her strength score?” “Fifteen.” “Thought so.” I nodded. “Assuming you have at least a ten-foot jump, which you do, you can jump as many feet as you have strength score. Meaning fifteen.”

“Without trying, she reaches fifteen? Awesome!” Rainbow sat back, throwing her die out of her hand.

But for Sunset, she looked at her Strength Score and curdled. “Stostine only has a seven.”

“Can she jump and then we catch her?” Rainbow Dash offered. But at that, I hummed with a frown.

“You could, but there’d be more rolls to pull that off than just crossing.”

“I think we’re overthinking this,” Sunset told them. “I’ll just try to cross. The rope is still tied around Stostine anyway. If she falls, someone can catch her.”

“Just how deep are we expecting this pit to be?” Rarity asked. “For all we know, it might just be a sinkhole.”

“A sinkhole they covered?” Twilight blinked.

“I’m rolling now,” Sunset said before the girls fell into another tangent. And thankfully, it was a higher number. “Fifteen?”

“Fifteen passes,” I answered, to the relief of the girls. “Maybe not as gracefully as Platick or Glemerr, but you start sliding against the wall. At some point, your heel settles on the trap, which, combined with all the time it’s been stewing, finally gives way and crashes open with a heavy Boom! The dust, both real and fake, settles, and after all the rocks crash down you spot that it is a massive twenty-ish foot pit that looked purposefully dug up. And much more recent than the room as well.”

“They dug up a mausoleum?” From behind me, Ms. Cheerilee looked somewhat disturbed. “Are they grave-robbing bandits?”

I went to give a nonchalant answer but froze. Oh. Oh no.

Quick enough, the other girls started to notice it too. And out of them all, Twilight spoke next. “Can we determine how long it was dug up? Was it recent?”

I glanced around at my notes. It wasn’t something the original adventure detailed, nor did I prepare it. Why would I?

Still, the game helped create an answer. The fact it created one so quickly unnerved me, but I tried my best to go with it and look at the screen as the characters studied it. Only a couple of them seemed to be judging the timespan.

“I guess...Rava, Thorn, and Platick. The three of you can all roll me either Nature or Investigation. Rava, you get advantage since Dwarves have a close affinity with earth.”

The three quickly did their work, hoping they could figure it out quickly.

“Natural twenty,” AJ told me. “Twenty-seven in all.”

“Not natural twenty,” Fluttershy spoke after.

“Not. Even a ten.” Rainbow propped her chin on her palm and waved me off. “Just skip me.”

“Thorn Wielder, looking at the marks along the walls, you can see ancient roots and clay deposits that they barreled through making this pit. And they didn’t bother to straighten out the walls of this pit, making it look rushed. But in that rush, you can tell that it hasn’t been here for long. Maybe a month or two in all.

“But Platick,” I went on, focused on him. “You can see more. Even with the pile of stones in the center, you can make out the obvious signs of shovels and picks that were used to break away the earth. And looking really closely, you can see how much progress they made each time. They did it in five-foot increments. And beyond even that, with your great roll, you can see the very few pinches of dirt stuck between the stones and against the walls. Given the layer of dust on that?”

I paused, trying to run the math in my head to compare how long ago we started playing this game with the amount of time the game was giving me. I didn’t like how close the number felt.

“How recently?” Applejack asked with a tense stare.

“You assume that while the pit could be one, maybe two months old at best.” I put my hand over the magic’s number on my notes. “It looks like they’ve been cleaning and maintaining this trap and the illusion of dust constantly. Some of the dust is a little over a week old at most.”

The girls went silent, seeing my contempt for the timeframe. Maybe they were starting to realize that I wasn’t making up these smaller details anymore. It didn’t matter. The fact that they were upkeep a hole meant that someone might have been doing that in real life. And at a mausoleum or something to that effect.

“This ain’t even about necromancy anymore,” Rainbow spoke. Not as Rava. Not entirely. She was somewhere between her voice and her Scottish accent. “These freaks defaced a grave.”

“Defiling the dead,” Sunset muttered, rubbing her face. “Someone out there. Somebody did this.”

Even Pinkie, while trying to stay semi-positive amid Glemerr’s poor headspace, lost her smile. “D’ere gonna pay fer dis.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” Rarity frowned. Then, spotting her sister and the girls watching intently, she cleared her throat and went back to Ricven’s accent. “Unfortunately, that’ll have ta wait. There's still some skeletons need smashin’.”

“Agreed.” Pinkie looked at Applejack. “Platick? Ah’m openin’ dat door.”

AJ gave her a nod. “Go for it.” Then she looked at me. “Platick starts drawin’ knives.”

The other girls spoke to the same effect, with Twilight and Stostine untying the rope and passing it back to Glemerr. And after they shifted their tokens up against the copper doors, Pinkie made it official.

“Ah open ‘em. Big ol’ push.” Pinkie stretched out her arms, miming the heft of the doors.

“And pushing them open,” I gathered my thoughts and watched the scene on the DM screen change. It was like watching security cameras switch over. “You find ahead of you a large space, rectangular in shape, with a faded yet beautiful pattern carved along the polished stone at your feet. Four more faux columns, one in the center of each wall, are half-formed in the walls. To the north sit two more doors. Both smaller and less grand in design than the ones Glemerr opens.

“A single sconce, currently lit, illuminates this chamber. But the most notable features are the ones that make it obvious this space was meant to respect the dead. Loculi, shelves for the deceased, make up the northern and southern walls. Towards the center of the chamber, one directly across from your door and then two more set against the east and west walls. Sadly, every one of them has their lids pulled away, left against them, and desecrated.

“However.” I started to stand up, opening a small box beside me that was behind my screen. In it were a few basic skeleton minis and then a small collection of miniature skulls I had snipped off of larger minis and left without bases.

“Not a moment beyond when Glemerr breaches the entrance, you see it. A hand, devoid of all flesh, rises from one of the sarcophagi. Its fingers grip against the edge and help to pull the entire body up before it gazes at you all. Empty eye sockets at first only to swell with putrid green energy. The energy pulses across its form as it tears itself free.”

I put out the skeleton minis. One from each of the sarcophagi. The girls looked ready to speak up or grabbed their dice only for me to hold up my hand.

“But that’s not all.” I then began to place the skulls. All against the north and south walls. “Simultaneously, you start to hear the cracking. And popping of bones.” From behind my screen, I cracked my knuckles, while also mimicking the sounds with my mouth as well.

Seeing Twilight, as well as Rarity, Fluttershy, the ‘Crusaders’, and even Applejack a little, begin to squirm in their seats, I knew the sounds were convincing. Sunset didn’t seem too pleased that I was making a performance out of it, but I had a reason.

I didn’t want them to take the skeletons for granted.

“As, along the loculi, the skulls shift. Subtle at first.” Then, I placed the skulls around. There were seven in total, but that was just to further dress the scene. The four skulls that I painted with green in the sockets were the only ones animating.

“But then, you see their teeth start breaking apart, revealing long spindly legs that stretch free and lift the skull. All before the canines grow to the point of mandibles to complete the hideous deformity. No longer skulls of the living. Now, arachnids of undeath.”

“Did you have to crack your knuckles with that?!” Twilight asked, still disturbed.

“Ewwww,” Sweetie Belle groaned from the back of the room.

“Awesome,” was the opposite response, uttered by Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash as they quickly got excited about the spider skulls.

“Sorry. Dramatic effect,” I told the purple bookworm with a sad smile. “All the same, girls? Roll initiative.”

Author's Note

Originally, this was going to be a shorter chapter and not get to the skeletons, but I decided to combine the two. I wanted to make sure that the skeleton fight wasn't held off too much longer.

And like I posted in the last author's note, if anyone's interested in following the group's location, there's a map of the hideout I'm using. I'm putting it in the Google Doc folder which has a link in the summary of this story, so feel free to check it if you're interested.

Finally, here's the stat block (and image) of the Spider Skulls. It's not a homebrew of mine, or from a published Wizards book, but I have always kept the stats of this thing in my mind. It hurts me how boring skeletons are in 5e, so these guys are always a fun idea to me.

All that said, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! If you have any criticisms or something you just wanna share about Tabletop stuff, feel free to comment. I always love reading them.

New chapter next week! Until then.

Cheers,
-Zeke

(1) A Sudden Ambush

Sunset’s POV
Some Time After School
School Sports Fields

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Once we caught her coming out from the locker rooms, Pinkie Pie and I started flagging her down with umbrellas over our heads. Or umbrella hats in Pinkie's case.

“Hey guys.” Rainbow called out with a sigh before walking over in a frown. She was wearing a blue raincoat over top her usual clothes to avoid the rain whereas the two of us had gone without one for now.

“Something wrong?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” She said sourly. He frown deepened. “It started raining right in the middle of soccer practice. Now there’s nothing to do for the next hour.”

"Come on Rainbow Dash, there are plenty of things you can do in the rain!" Pinkie's ever present smile only grew.

"Don't let Rarity catch you saying that." I said. Rainbow tried to hide a smirk, but it was still easy enough to spot.

“There’s that smile!” Pinkie bounded over, her umbrella hat somehow staying totally secure as she kept bouncing around. “Come on Rainbow Dash, let’s go find Twilight! She wanted a tour of the school, remember?”

I smiled as Pinkie kept hopping in place. Starting today, Twilight had officially started school at Canterlot High. The six of us wanted to show her around before class started, but she was adamant about getting to homeroom as soon as possible. As a result, we were only able to show her where her classes were and promise to show her around later.

This only managed to eat at Pinkie all day. Now that the day was over, she was jumping at the bit in order to have us all meet up as soon as possible in front of the cafeteria.

“Yeah Pinkie, I remember.” Rainbow stopped hiding her smirk and rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s usual attitude.

“Then what are we waiting for out in the rain?!” Pinkie turned on her her heel and pointed towards the school dramatically. “Our friend needs us! Let’s hurry!”

“NOOOOO!”

A voice had shouted out a small distance away from us.

“...” Pinkie stayed completely still in her dramatic pose. After a few more seconds she shrugged and replied with, “Well, okay, if you really don’t want to.”

“Stay back!”

We all turned towards the voice and spotted a lone guy keeping a firm grip on a backpack while a few stronger looking jocks were facing off against him. We all realized immediately that there was not a fair fight.

“Not until you get us back the ball.” One student that was holding the opposite end of the backpack. He was staring down the smaller guy with a malicious smirk.

I leaned towards Rainbow Dash, not once taking my eyes off what was going on. “Rainbow, who are those guys?” They were drenched to the bone and had mud splashed along their shoes. But past the dirt and rain, I saw sports jerseys and cleats. They were athletes.

“They’re some of the new transfer students.” Her tone sounded more like a low growl. “I’ve only met the shorter one. His name’s Dumb-Bell.” I could see her tense up when the one holding the backpack tried to yank it away from the other guy. “Apparently they’re all trying to get on sports teams. Dumb-Bell kept complaining about how we don’t have a weightlifting team and settled for trying soccer for...some reason.”

“I don’t have anything to do with your stupid football!” The guy tugged on the backpack again. And to his credit, his strength took the three bullies by surprised and forced the leader of the group to take a better grip of the backpack so as not to lose it.

“Come on.” Once I saw the girls nod, we all headed off in their direction. “Hey, leave him alone!” I called out.

It didn’t get all their attention, but we managed to get the third one to look over. He had a basketball jersey under the mud and his brown hair was hiding his eyes. “Score, look.” He started tapping the bully that was fighting for the backpack, apparently named Score. “Someone’s comin’ over.”

“Good. Maybe they can talk some sense into Storytime over here.” Score flashed a cocky smirk at the kid.

“It’s Story Spinner! And you’re the ones that needs the sense knocked into them!” He gave a strong pull on the backpack again and this time managed to make Score lose his footing for a second.

“Let go!” Story yelled out as we finally began to approach them.

“You let go!” After recovering his footing, Score tightened his grip and shoved the other guy back a few feet. “You’ll get this back when you get our football!”

“He’ll get it back now!” Both of them looked towards us in confusion as Rainbow Dash jumped for the backpack, yanking it out of Score’s hands before he had the chance to stop her.

“Hey, you can’t just take that from me!” The bully grabbed the backpack and was trying to take it from Rainbow Dash. This brought us right back to square one, except now there were seven of us fighting over same backpack in the pouring rain.

“It’s not even yours!” The kid took this chance to grab the backpack to help Rainbow wrench it away from Score. Soon enough, the other bullies joined in, as well as Pinkie Pie and myself.

“Just let go of it already!”

“What’s wrong with these girls?!”

“Wrong with us? What’s wrong with you?!”

“Save tug-o-war for field day!”

As all of us were shouting back and forth, none of us noticed the backpack beginning to give in to everyone's pulling. Although what we did manage to hear was the kid gasping.

“Wait, stop! It’s starting to ri—”

Almost as if the next moment was in slow motion, the four of us suddenly started to fall backwards weightlessly. The backpack was still in our hands, but it didn’t take long before the kid and Rainbow Dash lost their grip.

Pinkie and I were able to keep a hold of the bag, but that didn’t last long either as it flew out of our hands and over our heads. I tried to reach up to catch the bag as quickly as I could, but the ground under my feet was suddenly missing.

“Sunset!” Rainbow Dash’s voice yelled out from where she was as I fell backwards. Meanwhile, Pinkie had the same problem as she tried to keep her balance on the edge of the slope.

Rainbow reached out to try and catch me, but it was too late. My back crashed against the mud as I rolled down the hill. Meanwhile, Pinkie was falling down the same way I was. Except that instead of tumbling around she was literally rolling down the hill as though she were a car wheel.

There were a few more seconds of us crashing down the hill until finally there was a loud splash. What followed was the feeling of freezing cold water covering my entire body. It wasn’t too deep, thank Celestia for that, but we had landed face first and our clothes were now four times heavier.

I sat up and started to spit out the muddy water. We landed in the trench that ran alongside the sports fields. It was made to collect rainwater and route it out to the drainage pipes. But as the heavy rain had been going on for nearly an hour, the trench was on its way to being filled up to street level in places.

Pinkie swam over to me and helped me stand out of the water. At the same time we spotted Rainbow Dash practically surfing the hill in order to get to us as soon as she could. The other kid was trying his best to do the same. Although he was having a much harder time.

“Are you two okay?!” Rainbow Dash started looking us over, making sure that neither of us were cut or anything from the fall.

“We’re fine,” I assured. “Are those bullies gone?” I tried to look up and spot them, but they were nowhere to be seen.

“They ran off the second you two started falling,” She threw a scowl towards the top of the hill. “But don’t worry. They’re not getting away with this.”

“Hey, where did Story's bag go?” Pinkie was looking around us with a puzzled look on her face.

“Oh no…” All of us turned to spot the kid in question only halfway down the hill. Story was holding his ripped up bag with one hand as he looked all around the ground ahead of him.

Littering the area, we could see papers scattered around as well as a few folders either floating along in the trench or laying on the ground getting pelted on by the heavy rain. Next to the broken backpack was a book or two lying open on the dirt, collecting raindrops while a third book lay half submerged in the water. However that was far from the only thing that fell out of his bag.

Floating around us were dozens of these tiny little figurines of different sizes and colors. Some of them had wings on their sides, some of them had wings but no longer, and several small black discs were on the ground or floating in the water without any figurines connected to them whatsoever. However, not even those lasted long. Every single one of them were steadily floating downstream and into the drainage pipe where they went into the sewers below.

Pinkie threw out a gasp and dove back into the water to gather up whatever she could out of instinct while Rainbow Dash just stood there in silence. She could see the entire mess from where she was standing.

I took this chance to pick up a small figurine that was floating past me. And after cleaning it off with the bottom of my soaked shirt I was able to get a good look it. A short, human figurine stood in purple robes with dark gold trim atop a circular disc made to look like wooden flooring. He had with him a backpack and a bottle strapped to his belt. His face was hidden by the hood but I could only just make out the small line that made its mouth. I could tell that under the hood it had eyes painted on it too.

“Hey, a dragon!” Pinkie stopped her frantic movements and stood up with a bronze colored dragon in her hand. Sadly, the wing fell off as she was holding it. "oops."

“Hey, are you okay up there?” Rainbow tried to make her way up to where Story was. She was stopped short when he glared down at her.

“Yeah...I’m fine.” He spoke with a sharp tone before trying to shovel everything near him up and into his bag. I could already see some of it spilling back out, but it didn’t stop him.

“Uh…” When Rainbow Dash spotted one of the books on the way, she scooped it up and closed it before any more water could ruin the pages. “Do you want some help getting everythi—”

“No.”

After gathering up all the stuff that was around him, he held the backpack in both hands and tried to find a way back up the slope.

“Wait, what about the books?” I started to make my way over towards the other two books that were laying out in the mud.

“...T-There not school books. Besides, they’re ruined anyway.” He was already back up the hill before he could look back over at us. That’s when I finally saw his face. Colors of brown and some red were mixed all over his cheeks and in his hair. A black eye was already starting to form and his shirt was ripped along the shoulder. He probably caught a branch or rock when he fell.

“Thanks for the help. I’m, uh...I'm real sorry about this.” His voice had turned sincere before he started to make his way back up the rest of the hill.

“W-Wait, hold on!” Rainbow tried to run off after him, but she stopped short once I caught her arm. “Wha—Sunset?!”

“Let him go, Dash. He wants to keep to himself right now. Besides, if he really wanted help he would’ve stayed to gather all of his stuff."

Not to mention, I thought. He had a bigger problem to worry about regarding those bullies. There's no way they're going to leave him alone. I know their type too well.

Rainbow Dash didn’t answer and instead gave a nod to me. Then, as I let her go, both of us went to help Pinkie Pie collect whatever figurines were still in the water.

The next five minutes were spent sloshing around in the water and feeling around for anything extra in the mud. In that time we had combed out nearly fifty of those small figurines, all the ruined books, dozens of dice that hadn’t yet floated into the drainage pipe, and a large piece of rolled up vinyl that had gotten stuck between the pipes of the grate.

There were still papers and folders hanging around, but it was all useless now. In all the time spent in the rain, they looked like unreadable tissue. Still, we checked regardless. Two more minutes wasted and we were ready to crawl back up the hill in our brown-soaked clothing.

We stood up, random things cradled in our arms, and started back toward the school. I considered going for my umbrella, but when a few dice slipped out of my grip and rolled back down the hill I decided against it. We were already filthy anyways. So, instead, we started trudging back into the school to dry off.

? ? ? POV
5 Days Later
Unknown Room

A sick snort echoed across the near-empty room as a single person sat within. Usually, this room would be alive with advisors and messengers; each bringing in news and separate solutions for the impending battles that lie in wait of Leodaav's armies. Although, perhaps ‘alive’ is not the right word for what would happen during those meetings. Battle strategy was always much less interesting than what the theatre and bards would describe.

On this day, however, the only sound that echoed across the room was a quill. Rhythmic drips of ink and scratching against parchment had the quill playing a symphony amidst the silence. The musician to blame was a young human by the name of Percival Waterbringer.

Percival sat inside the quiet room and stared at the empty council table before him. On most days there would be a world map filled with tokens representing the troops belonging to either the enemy or the Allegiance. To Percival's left would be final decisions that would need to be sent out. And then, to his right, there would be stacks of papers from the commanders on the front complaining about some problem or another. It would be Percival's job to read and deal with every single paper accordingly, ensuring that they reached their intended destination.

However, the only things that were on said table now were a few pieces of blank parchment, a box of almost empty tissues, and music box perched on its stand playing whatever songs came to it. Courtesy of ~~Pandora~~ an enchantment placed by the academy’s transmutation expert.

~~The man took a moment to look out the windo~~

The window to the man’s right revealed the results of war. A village of tents and make-shift walls and barricades were spread about with soldiers currently resting or heading towards their next shift. Their lowered guards felt somewhat comical to Percival. It was not five days that assassins had managed to sneak by the army and strike at him. While a patrol had saved Percival, the assault had left him poisoned and weak with much of their military secrets sabotaged.

With a disgusted sigh, Percival sat back in his chair. The commander was due to arrive any minute for her usual meeting. Although today it seemed that the commander would have an actual reason to visit her young officer.

Percival grimaced at the thought of the meeting to come. He knew that ~~running~~ ~~leaving~~ moving to a temporary camp rather than staying deeper in the kingdom's borders was dangerous, especially given his position. Yet still he did it. Why? What was his reason for doing so? What was there to gain by practically kissing the front lines while consciously dismissing the safety of home?

Those were the questions that the commander more than likely had in store for him. Actually, he knew for a fact that those questions were to come. It was his job to know. And still, he would have to come to the conclusion that he had no real answers for her.

So all he could do waz_____

I jolted in my seat at the sound of knocking on the door. “Ugh...Every. Time.” I muttered under my breath. “Ms. Cheerilee, yo-you don’t have to knock,” I called out awkwardly. “I mean, it's your classroom.”

Glancing at the clock, I noticed that Ms. Cheerilee was a little earlier coming in than usual. She always came in at 3:23. Like Clockwork. If it wasn’t so funny opening the door for her right before she knocked then I would be freaked out by it.

Still, that didn’t stop her from knocking some more. With a sigh, I slumped forward on the table and just called out, “Come in!”

A few seconds of silence later and the door finally opened. The second it was, however, it wasn't Ms. Cheerilee that walked in. Instead, some random girl with a cowboy hat stuck her head in and glanced around. Once she saw me leaning on the table she cleared her throat and chose her words.

"‘Scuse me, but I’m lookin’ fer some sorta...club?” She spoke with an obvious country accent. It sounded almost too over the top to be real. Except, the cowboy hat and freckles made the accent seem way too fitting for it to be fake.

I rolled my eyes and jerked my thumb towards the general direction of the club she was heading towards. “Art Club’s in room 2-0-9. Not 1-0-9.”

“Nope. Not lookin’ for the Art Club.” She went ahead and straightened out so she wasn’t leaning into the doorway as much.

That had me perk my head slightly. “Funny. That’s the club that almost everyone’s looking for. In that case, cheerleading practice is meeting at the auxiliary gym today since the gymnasium floor is being waxed.”

“Uh,” She let out an awkward chuckle. “Flattered ya think me the type, but I ain’t lookin’ for them neither.”

I looked at her in confusion. “Wood...Working?”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe it’d be easier if I just said which club,” She murmured. “I’m lookin’ fer somethin' called the Dand D. Club?”

"Dandy Club?" I repeated. It took me all of five seconds of staring her down before a jolt snapped me out of it. “You have got to be joking.”

“Nope. We’ve been tryin’ ta find this club fer the past ten minutes.”

“Well, sorry to let you down, but it's not called the Dandy Club. It's called...I’m sorry, did you say we?” Once again I was left entirely confused.

"Yep. There's seven of us." She gave me a smile.

"...O-kay..." I debated how to play this out. "I mean... Alright, I'm...I'm sorry if this comes off as rude but why are you interested in this...well, I guess you could call it a club." That last part was said more to me than to her. "D&D's not really the kind of thing people would be willing to choose over other clubs. Especially if they've never heard of it before."

The cowgirl thought it over for a moment. "Well, wasn't that the point a them flyers we saw some time last week?"

"The flyers are what drew you in?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Ms. Cheerilee, in the attempt of having this club actually become something, had me make and put up flyers around the school. I only made about five or so and they each just had simple outlines of the D&D symbol with 'D&D Club! A tale of Adventure each Tues. / Thurs.' written on each poster.

And two or three days later those dumb posters were thrown away by me. Of course, I didn't have the heart to tell Ms. Cheerilee that part. She instead thinks the janitors made a mistake and threw them out.

Before I could question her further the girl turned back out into the hallway. “Hey y'all, I found the club!”

After shouted loud enough to bring the cows home, she walked back into the room. As I saw the rest of her I noted that the girl was dressed in some white blouse-shirt thing, a denim skirt, and cowboy boots to match. If I didn't think she looked the part of a cowgirl before than her clothes were a ringing bell. Still, 'Dandy Club' or otherwise, what the heck was someone like her doing here?

“Um. We early err somethin’?” She started looking around before setting a bag of stuff on the table I was sitting at. “Where is everybody?”

I gave a deflated laugh and put on my best pathetic smile money couldn't buy. “You see, funny you mention that. Everyone's already here," I said with a wave of my hand. "Me, Myself and Silence. We're about all this club can handle, I guess...”

She rose an eyebrow with an amused smile, forcing me to drop the whole act. “Sorry, dumb joke. I’ve been in here too long.” I held up my hands in defense. “So, who’s this ‘we’ you mentioned? All I see is—”

I was interrupted by a quick knock on the door frame. “Hello?” Another head peeked inside the room. This time it was a girl with glasses that cover most of her face and deep blue hair with two strands of hair being violet and purple all tied up in a bun. “Oh. There you are Applejack. We couldn’t tell which room you were in.”

As the girl walked in I saw that she was in a sweater vest and had a very familiar looking set of Dungeon & Dragons books resting in her arms. Just as I had figured out that there were three of them, my attention was brought to the next girl that walked in behind her. I instantly spotted a large amount of light pink hair and a green skirt with butterfli...

“Fluttershy?” I asked, very confused to spot a familiar face at this school.

She let out a quiet gasp upon seeing me. “Story?”

“You two know each other?” The girl with glasses was looking between both me and Fluttershy, as was the country girl.

“Y-Yeah. Fluttershy works at the pet groomer. And one of my dogs—” “Puggles! She's our favorite visitor,” Fluttershy finished with a smile.

Puggles was one of my family's dogs. Since her back nails grew into the bottoms of her paws, we had to get them trimmed regularly. Soon enough, we became such regular customers to the point where she gets her nails done free. Although I had known Fluttershy even before then.

“By the way, she’s due for an appointment after the weekend, right?” Fluttershy didn’t waste any time walking over and putting some kind of plastic bucket on the table next to the bag that the country girl put down.

“Next Monday, yeah." I chuckled. "How’d you remember that?”

“I’m the one clipping her nails this time. Uh, if that’s okay with you.” Fluttershy gave one of her usual shy smiles.

“You kidding?” I broke out into a grin. “Puggles loves you! I don’t see why not.” It wasn't too often that she actually showed any kind of smile without being behind her hair, but she was giggling nonetheless.

“So what are you all doing here anyways? And what’s all this stuff about?” I noticed the girl with glasses put the books she had on the table while Fluttershy placed a plastic bucket down beside them.

“Hello?”

Before Fluttershy answered, a fourth girl walked through the doorway with a sophisticated air to her. Not to mention the only thing I could really use to describe her would be purple. Purple hair, purple dress, purple boots, purple...Purple.

“Now, really Applejack, did you think that all of us were just down the hall from you?” The purple girl continued in and noticed that Fluttershy and the other girl placed some stuff on the table. So, adding to the pattern, she placed two shopping bags on the table as well. One had this really nice looking backpack in it from some brand name store along with a smaller bag placed next to it.

“Yeah well...Sorry Rares, guess I jumped the gun a bit.” The country girl, named Applejack apparently, adjusted her hat from the embarrassment. A habit of hers if I had to guess.

“Oh, you needn’t be upset, darling. I didn’t mean anything by it.” The girl then turned to me. “You must be Story Spinner, yes?”

“Uh, yes?” I started to look between the four of them. Then towards all the stuff collecting on the table. “Okay seriously, what is all this stuff?”

“They’re gifts!” “BWAAH!” What the hell?!

“Pinkie!” More than one voice had shouted.

Sadly, I didn't get the chance to see who was shouting as I was too busy trying to stuff my heart back into my chest. By the time I realized that I was breathing louder than I needed, I noticed that two other girls had come into the room at some point. Those two, plus the girl dressed in bright pink with a wall of frizzy hair, all rung a distinct bell for me.

One of the girls that just ran in, frowned. “Pinkie Pie. We’re trying to welcome him to the school, not scare him into leaving!”

“Well you’re a bit late for that!” I shouted, not able to control the volume quite yet.

“I'm sorry," the pink girl beside me stated. "I’m just so excited!” The girl practically jumped over me and the table before hopping in place next to the others. “I’ve never thrown a ‘Schoolwarming Party’ before!”

“The heck is a Schoolwarming Party?” I stared down the girl in pink while still clutching my heart with both hands.

“This is, silly!” She gestured to the classroom. “Gummy and Silence got the right idea. Isn't that right you two?!” She looked over at the desk I was pointing to earlier, which now had a...a…

“Is that a baby gator?” I probably looked like an idiot in front of all these girls with the dumbfounded look on my face, but I swear, officer, that alligator was not there before.

“Uh-huh!” Still, the pink girl didn’t seem the least bit surprised. Nor was she scared considering that she was near inches away from that thing.

"..." Without any more words left, I simply nodded and took a moment to calm down. Thankfully, the girls noticed this and let me have my time to regain my composure.

When I looked back up I looked over the last three girls to come in. The girl in pink, Pinkie as one of the others called her, was grinning happily as she held what seemed to be several bags with smaller boxes inside of them. The next one was a girl with fiery hair and a leather jacket as she had some kind of cylinder container peeking out from her bag. And final out of the three was a girl with a rainbow of colors through her hair. In fact, a lot about her was multi-colored.

Those last three had me lean back a little in thought. Like I thought before, it was a distant bell but I was fairly certain I remember bumping into them before. More than just passing by in the halls.

And then the memories of last Friday starting coming back.

"You three..." I muttered. "What are all of you doing here?"

"Well," the girl with fire hair began. "Back on the slope, we noticed that a lot of your things were ruined when they crashed into the water. And when we saw just what all of it was, we wanted to try and help get some of it back for you."

To show some emphasis, the girl took out the cylindrical package and placed it between the plastic bucket and backpack.

"...Wait," When I saw some of the girls look at me expectantly, as though parents waiting for their kid to open a gift, I pulled the lid off the container and noticed a piece of familiar looking vinyl wrapped inside. Curious, I slid it out and, sure enough, it was the same vinyl mat I had lost to the water. "You found it?"

The pink gi...Pinkie walked up next and handed me the bags she was holding. "Uh-huh! We found a lot of other stuff too, see?!"

I opened the bags and there were seven or so small boxes each wrapped up like presents. I carefully shook one next to my ear and heard the sound of several small things jingling around inside of it. Without ripping open the paper I knew it was some of the dice and miniatures I lost.

"After tha girls told us 'bout the fight you were in with those jerks." The cowgirl spoke up from the back. "We thought we'd try an' make yer first few weeks at Canterlot a tad better."

"But...All of this though?" I glanced back over at the three books and backpack. The three books were the player guide, dungeon master guide, and monster manual; the three books that are nearly required to play a legit game. Only, they weren't the original editions, they were some collector's edition that was more expensive than what I had. Pair them with the backpack that had 'Carousel Boutique' on the tag and I immediately remembered that the store with that name was a local store that was not cheap to shop at.

"I..." When I glanced towards the smaller bag I spotted a couple of boxes that had D&D miniatures in them. Each one was meant to have four random minis, with three random miniatures and one large random miniature. Those cost nearly twenty dollars each and there were three of them.

"...I. I don't know how I can pay any of this back." I could barely speak.

"Well that's the thing about gifts," Pinkie assured. "You're not supposed to pay us back for them."

"And if you want," the girl with glasses added. "You can go ahead and think of them as...Well—"

"As a peace offering," the fire girl concluded.

"Peace offering?" I snickered. “What, am I at war with the…” I looked down at the paper I was writing on before any of them showed up. And while biting my lip I flipped the paper upside down. “Uh. D-Don’t answer that. Still, um, you didn't have to do all this...”

"We didn't want you to get the wrong idea about Canterlot High.” The purple girl told me. “And we didn’t think that it was fair about everything that had happened.”

“I mean..." I thought back to the three bullies that had messed with me. And while the one who decked me got suspended, the others simply got a warning. Mostly because I didn't say anything about it. "Still, you guys shouldn’t be the ones getting all this stuff. It’s not like you’re one of those jocks that threw my bag down the hill…”

“Oh come now. Don’t you think that you’re holding an unnecessary grudge?” The purple one asked.

“Unnecessary?” I repeated. “Do you know just how much that bag of stuff cost me? All the figures, adventures, my lap—my materials? Care to guess just how much money literally went down the drain?” They all stayed silent at that.

I took a deep breath in order to calm down. They weren’t the reason that my stuff was ruined. Or that I was going to be chewed out by my parents whenever they eventually learned about all this. Not to mention the black eye I was poorly hiding behind these stupid sunglasses.

“Over three hundred bucks.” With a sigh, I settled into my seat and watched all their reactions. Most of them sat there dumbfounded. A few of the others were just staring at me as if they were waiting for the punchline.

It wasn’t coming.

Suddenly the alarm on my phone went off. I pulled it out and sure enough, it was 3:23. Time for Clockwork.

They watched as I turned off the alarm and got up to answer the door. “This...This stuff is that expensive?” The girl with the rainbow hair was talking to herself, but I heard her.

"Pretty much." She perked up when she heard me answer. "The books I had were about twenty to fifty bucks a piece. There was papers and stories that took me weeks to perfect. Some dice were collected from former players or people I only met once." I paused at the door. "The figures were the most expensive. Some were commissioned, others were painted and repainted by hand. A few of the others were even 3-D printed by an old friend of mine. After all that time, materials, thought...memories poured into that stuff...I’m probably low-balling the price with three hundred.”

Once I reached for the door handle, I discarded my sadness as best I could and opened the door. “Hello Ms. Cheerilee.” From the hallway I could see her flinch and make some small ‘yip’ sound.

“Story…” She took in a few quick breaths. “How do you do that?!” She was able to control the volume in her voice, but she still sounded scared out of her wits.

“It’s a talent I guess.” I shrugged in indifference as I held the door open for her. Her hands were full with a few snacks, her computer, and some kind of medicine. It was funny. For someone who was caught off-guard from me opening the door, it sure looked like she was expecting someone to get the door in the first place.

“Well, regardless," she composed herself almost as well as I had and stepped inside. "I wanted to stop by and give you something for your eye, courtesy of. Nurse. Redheart…” She stopped when she saw people other than me in this room for the first time since coming to the school. “Girls?”

“Oh. Hello Ms. Cheerilee.” The fire hair girl gave an awkward wave of her hand to greet her. “What a surprise to find you here.”

“In my classroom?” She deadpanned, causing me to snicker.

“They're here because they heard about the black eye. And stuff.” I took Ms. Cheerilee’s laptop and went to put it on her desk to start charging it.

“Ah. That explains it.” She snapped out of it and put the snacks and medicine on the table along with the other things the girl's brought. “Oh. You didn’t bring your laptop?”

I stopped where I was. “Uh—No. No, I left it at home for now. I mean, I don’t have a backpack to carry it around in...Remember?”

It took her a few seconds, but she nodded along. “Right, right, I forgot about that.” I gave a silent sigh of relief as she caught on. “Well, at least you're finding other ways to keep busy.” Cheerilee started looking around and noticed that all eyes were on her. I guess it was a force of habit, seeing as how she’s a teacher and all.

“...Well!" She clapped her hands. "I think I'll cut this short.” She made her way for the door after handing me the snacks and medicine. “I don’t want to interrupt the club any more than I already have. See you all tomorrow.”

As the teacher took her chance to leave before it got any more awkward, I broke open one of the little packets of crackers she left me. “So, um...Since you’re all still here, did you...Did you want me to explain how all this stuff works?”

“Actually, I think I would like to hear about it.” The girl with the glasses took a step from where she was standing. “I tried to read through the books as much as I could, but it didn’t give as much an explanation as I hoped it would.”

“Well, I think I might be able to help Ms...W-what’s your name again?” I couldn’t remember whether or not she even said it.

“Twilight Sparkle,” She gave with a nod.

"Twilight. Okay then," I repeated the name in my head a few times to try and remember it. It was only after that when I realized I knew almost none of their names. "My name is Story Spinner. I'm kind of a big drama nut, so I usually hang around the theatre whenever I'm not here.”

Realizing that I still didn't know most of their names, I kept going. "So, how about the rest of you? I'm afraid that out of all of you, I only really know Fluttershy." Both of us shared a friendly nod. It was ironic the more I thought about it. From what I could tell she was probably the shyest person in school and she was one of the only people I really knew.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer,” The girl with the fire hair introduced. "I'm a bit of a music geek. Actually, we all are."

“Name’s Applejack," The cowgirl said. "My family and I work Sweet Apple Acres."

“Pinkie Pie!” The pink one didn't even introduce herself. She just shouted her name. "Party planner extra-not-ordinary!"

“My name is Rarity,” the purple one spoke politely. "I manage the Carousel Boutique a few roads down."

"Wait, you manage..." I glanced back down to the backpack's tag. 'Carousel Boutique'. It clicked in my head. "You manage that place? But, you are a student here, yeah?"

"Well, technically Prim Hemline owns the building," Rarity explained with a nervous chuckle. "However, I am the one who manages the entire boutique and creates quite a few of the marvelous outfits that everyone is always talking about."

“Uh...I'm," The rainbow-colored girl gulped in worry. "I'm R-Rainbow.” Whether she had acted like that the whole time or not, 'Rainbow' was acting much meeker than before. Like she was suddenly worried of something. I opened my mouth to say something but as I did I noticed a small hint of Rainbow trying to shrink back. Definitely worried. Huh.

I instead gave a polite nod. With having already known Fluttershy I was used to getting along with quieter people. Still, it did strike me as odd that only one of Fluttershy's friends seemed to be shy like her in the first place.

Once all of them finally finished their introductions I started on my own. “Well nice to meet a few more friendly faces outside of other drama nuts. And since some of you were interested in just what all this is, let me try to show you." I started to move back to my seat, glancing at all the things set around me. "The name of it all is Dungeons & Dragons, or D&D for short. Not to be confused with Dandy D.” I jokingly clarified since Applejack was one of the closer ones standing nearby.

Going back to the packet of crackers, I took out a cracker and continued. “The way it works is that basically there’s a group of players and one DM, Dungeon Master. All the players work as a group as the DM acts as a narrator to the adventure the group plays.”

“Wait, narrator? So then the game’s all 'bout tellin' a story?” Applejack’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“More or less, yeah.” I shrugged. “Players make their own characters and put them into the story. You fight monsters, solve mysteries and puzzles, discover the answers to the universe, pretty much anything like that. Kind of like you’re an actor in an adventure movie.” I tried appealing to them as much as I could, but I saw a few of them already starting to get lost.

Taking this opportunity, I spotted one of the gift boxes, courtesy of Pinkie Pie, and fully ripped away the wrapping paper to reveal a simple white box with a tabbed lid that you could unfold to open. As I flipped the lid open I was immediately welcomed with a random collection of several miniatures that had fallen into the draining water last week. Letting my pure joy flash across my face for a moment I pulled out a couple of the familiar miniatures and placed them out.

The result was a small army of humanoid-looking creatures. One was a decent sized orc with a heavy mace resting on its shoulder. Beside that was a barbarian woman in furs and leathers with an axe and a bald wizard in a red robe holding flames in each hand. With each mini I placed down I continued to give a quick overview of the game and what the point of these minis was even for. The fact that I was using the gifts they had given me had drawn their attention slightly.

Over the next two or three minutes, I kept bringing in more of their gifts, even opening up on of the store-bought boxes of miniatures that had four random figures inside.

As I took out the contents of the surprise box, handing the bubblewrap that each mini was wrapped in to Pinkie when she demanded it, I held out a well-detailed miniature the size of my entire hand. The sight of it tore Pinkie's attention away from the bubblewrap and made her face light up.

“Woah, look at this one! A dragon!” Pinkie Pie took no time in taking it out of the plastic for me before flying it around the room like a kid with a place. All while making dragon noises in the process.

A couple of us laughed at the sight, while the others simply shook their heads with smiles. “Sorry ‘bout her.” Applejack gave out a chuckle before inspecting the orc from before. “Geez. This thing’s got the underbite of a bulldog and then some.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda their thing.” I hurried up and opened the second box as the rest of their interest remained. The figures in it were a cockatrice, a water elemental with a trident, and a Needle Blight; a humanoid-shaped creature that looked as though it were made out of wood. As for the bigger figure, this time it was a Pegasus.

The rest of the girls started to gather around as I pulled out some dice and the book that Twilight had brought. The more I broke out the 'peace offerings,' the more interested they seemed to be. I took it as a sign that they bought all of this stuff without any idea on how it was supposed to work.

More time passed as I begun to explain the game in more depth. What the dice were for, which books did what, the magic that was in the game. When I had gone over everything I could without going in too much detail I turned the questions to each of them. I tried asking questions to try and find out where everyone's interests and dislikes stood. By the three minute mark I had most of them pegged pretty easily.

Rarity seemed the type to like dramatics, so I played up the acting part of the game whenever answering her questions. With Twilight, I just had to bring up numbers and mechanics without making it too boring for everyone else. For Pinkie Pie, I just had to roll the dice or move the figures and she would take up a front row seat. By the time I told them enough background I already began to tell them a story from one of my older games to draw them in further.

By the time I finished telling them about "Bear God", the ridiculous plan I worked out with another player that could shift into animals, Fluttershy and Applejack were sold on the game as well. The more I was able to move past the fact that there were numbers and rules to the game, the more all of them seemed willing to hear about it.

That is save for the two girls who had at one point excused themselves from the table and out the door.

Sunset's POV
Outside Classroom

“Woah, hey, what’re you—” I dragged Rainbow Dash out of the room with me and quickly shushed her before she could alarm the others. Next, I made sure to close the door as slowly as I could so that I wouldn't bother Story or the others. He was only now starting to get move past explaining things and started to speak to each of the other girls. That meant the two of us could slip out without distracting him.

Once I was sure the door was shut all the way I let go of the handle and turned toward her. “Okay, Rainbow Dash. What’s going on?”

She stopped pushing back against me and instead folded her arms and tightened up. "What are you talking about?"

"Something's bothering you. I can see it."

"Well, yeah, something's bothering me," Rainbow said awkwardly. "I. I Wanted to hear that...Bear story."

I rolled my eyes. "Before that."

Rainbow Dash didn't give me an answer. She just folded her arms tighter.

"Rainbow," I sighed. "You started acting nervous out of nowhere. Before, it was you who came up with the idea of making him feel welcome. Now you just look like you want to run out of here." I rested my hands on my hips. "You're acting guilty about something."

“No, I'm not,” She shouted. When I raised an eyebrow, she started to shrink a little. “I-I mean...I just thought he would be a lot more. Not friendly, is all. You know, like anti-social. Or something.” She started to avert my gaze and study the lockers as if they would all swing open any second.

“Uh-huh,” I hummed. We both saw him back on the sports fields. A 'not friendly' person wouldn't already have a couple of friends with the drama students. And if that game was any proof, he didn't seem anti-social in the slightest.

After taking a deep breath, I loosened up a little and gave her a more worried look. “Rainbow, is there something about this Story guy that's bothering you. You can tell me.”

Rainbow Dash held her breath with a bitten lip. After an attempt of stubborn silence, she cracked. “That obvious, huh?” She closed her eyes as if thinking to herself for a few more seconds. “Look, I don’t like talking about it that much. But...I'll say this much; I know him.”

“You do?” I looked back at the door. No one got up to check on us. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I...I’m not sure.” She shook her head as if she regretted saying that much. “Look, it happened back in elementary, before you started coming here. Before most of the girls started coming here. And, if it’s all the same with you, that’s as far as I wanna go about it. If it helps you and the others from worrying so much, then I’ll try a little harder not to make it so obvious.”

I mulled it over. Seeing Rainbow Dash like this was new. Typically she wouldn't just lean away from something like this. She'd actually take it head on. “...I understand. But you have to remember that we're here for you. If you want to talk, any of us are here to listen."

"...Thanks." Rainbow Dash started to loosen up at my words.

"Don't worry about." I let myself return a smile, but it was short-lived. "There's something else I need to talk about though."

I looked back in the window of the door. The rest of the girls were still crowded around Story Spinner. They looked completely entranced by whatever story he was telling them about. Even though it seemed that Pinkie and Twilight were bombarding him with questions, Story already seemed to keep up with either of them. As he held up his hand he started shouting in this crazy, high-pitched voice before half flinging his hand down onto the table. Whatever he was telling them, the entire group seemed to be laughing about it.

“What's up?” Rainbow walked up next to me to look into the window herself.

“Well...I don’t think Story Spinner’s being completely honest with us either. It felt like he was trying to keep quiet about something.”

“How do ya figure that?” Rainbow was at a loss.

“Remember when he told us how much his stuff was worth?” She nodded. “Well, it sounded like he was going to say something else, but stopped himself.”

“O-kay," Rainbow looked more puzzled. "I mean, that doesn’t really mean anything does it? He could have still been angry about it.” Rainbow looked at me out of the corner of her eye before looking back through the window.

“I thought that too, but then there was something else.” I backed away from the door. “When Ms. Cheerilee came in, she mentioned something about him always having a laptop with him. But suddenly he doesn't have it with him anymore.”

“...Yeah?” She crossed her arms. "Didn't he say he couldn't bring it since he was missing his backpack?"

“That's just it” I found myself yelling at her in a whisper. “He said that he didn’t have a backpack to put his laptop in anymore. So that means he usually has a laptop in his backpack. And what happened to his backpack?”

“You already know what happened. It fell down the hill,” She answered matter-of-factly.

However, Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to get it. So, rather than correct her, I nodded for her to go on and watched as the gears in Rainbow's head started to slowly turn. Just as I was about to explain it to her, Rainbow's head suddenly flinched faintly. Her eyes began to widen and her mouth opened as she was about to speak eyes begin to widen. It looked as though her expressions debating with one another until, finally—

“His lapt— augh!” I covered up her mouth before she gave it away.

“Rainbow, be quiet!” I stared her down. “We can't let him know that we found out!”

She shook away from my hands. “What do you mean don’t let him find out?!”

“He kept it a secret for a reason, didn’t he?!” I took another look in the window to make sure nothing changed. “Look; he probably didn't want us to feel guilty for him. We already started giving him all these gifts."

"Then, what, we pretend that this is enough and leave him alone?” She certainly wasn’t about to do that, but she was waiting for an answer. "His laptop is gone because of those creeps!"

“I know that.” I took a second to calm myself down before this turned into an argument. “I don't want to let this go either. You saw how miserable he was a few days ago."

"Then why don't we go to those jerks that ruined his laptop in the first place?" All of Rainbow's worry and silence was gone now. Instead, it was filled with determination and want for action.

"It's not our place to butt in. After all, if Story didn't tell Vice Principal Luna about his laptop than that doesn't mean we should do that for him. There could be another reason why he's not telling anyone."

Rainbow Dash grimaced for a second. "Well, what if," she drew back what she was going to say. "Well, he's new, right? Maybe when he gets used to everyone he'll tell someone about it."

I glanced back into the room and instantly saw the issue with Rainbow's idea. Still surrounded by the others, Story was telling a story in a way that reminded me of those silent comedy films. After a few more seconds of rolling his fists, he went still and started tilting to the right, pretending like he just got clonked on the head. As his head hit the table, the girls laughed belted out laughing.

I looked back to Rainbow Dash. "It looks as though he's settled in already. Opening up to others might be harder than it seems."

I watched along with Rainbow as he picked up a book and spun it around to face the girls, pointing to one thing and then the next. From what I could tell, he seemed to be pretty invested in explaining everything. Not only that but the girls all seemed to be paying attention to what he was telling them.

That's when I saw Twilight act. She quickly dug through her backpack and pulled out a couple of pencils, saying something to Story. Story seemed confused for a moment, only to be taken aback as the other girls started to add on to what Twilight said. Each of them seemed to nod as Story seemed less surprised as he gave off a genuine smile towards the girls.

And that's when it slowly began to dawn on me.

"That's what we do."

"What?" Rainbow pulled back to look at me.

"We join his club." I backed away from the window. "If we join his club than we can try and help him."

Rainbow's expression showed just how against the idea she was. "What would even be the point?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she stuttered. "He doesn't have any problems with getting along with others. And he even said he had some friends with the drama kids. Isn't the whole point of our magic being that we help people learn about friendship?"

I leaned back for a moment. It wasn't as though Rainbow was exactly wrong. Our magic revolved around friendship. But even if Story Spinner didn't have problems with friendship, there was still something else going on here. And I think Twilight would understand that too. In fact, she'd probably be thinking about joining his club the moment she noticed that no one was in it.

I shook my head and focused. "Friendship problem or not, I think joining this club is the right idea."

I saw Rainbow try and formulate any kind of alternative. Something else that we could do that would keep her a distance away. But why?

"Rainbow Dash," I cut in before she could speak. "If you have another idea then I'm all ears."

Whatever Rainbow Dash was about to say, that made her think it over again. "...How's about we just buy him another laptop?" I rose an eyebrow. "I mean, it can't be that expensive...right?"

I just crossed my arms. I know that she didn't even believe that. Rarity, Applejack, Twilight and myself all chipped in for the books alone and it was still a dent to each of our wallets. None of us had the money to buy a decent laptop.

So instead, Rainbow tensed up and rethought her words. "O-Okay, then, how about we just ask him what he wants?"

I sighed. "Do you think you would ask for help in his position?" She opened her mouth to speak, but something stopped her. "You saw him in there. He was thinking of a way to pay us back for all of those things. Even if he admitted what he wanted, he'll just think that we're taking pity on him because he's in a bad spot."

"And you think that joining this club won't look like that?" Now it was her turn to narrow her eyes at me. "He'll still think that we're taking pity on him."

I heard another collection of giggles from the room. "Normally, you'd be right. However..." But of us went back to the window only to see a few of the girls with some dice in each of their hands and Pinkie Pie now being the head of the conversation. She was still holding the dragon figure in her hands and seemed to be playing around with it as though she were a little girl with a dollhouse. Only, instead of a dollhouse, she was pretending that the table was some kind of village.

"Something tells me a few of them are joining the club anyways." Suddenly, Pinkie used the dragon figure to knock over a monument of erasers before flying around the room some more, earning eye rolls and some laughs from the rest of the group.

As Rainbow continued to watch, she became more and more aware of the fact that she was the only one worried. She started to bite at her knuckle as she tried thinking of some other plan, some other way to talk her way out of it.

But she couldn't.

"I'm the only one that doesn't really want to, huh?" She let out a sigh and turned towards me with a serious look. "Alright Sunset. I'll go for one day. But if it doesn't work, then I really don't want to keep coming back."

"I understand," With a smile, I leaned against the wall. "Besides, maybe he's just going through a rough spot right now. At the very least, this will help him feel more welcomed here. Now come on." Signalling her to follow, I reached for the doorknob. "Let's go tell the others."

Author's Note

This story is something of a project to me. Like I mentioned in the summary, I will be writing this story with IRL dice rolls for the D&D sections. So scenes like those found in this chapter that doesn't have the game involved has no dice rolls whatsoever. It's normal.

I'm doing this half out of interest and half from experiment. There will be times when dice just go horribly wrong and there could be a sudden tragedy in the middle of a game. People that have played D&D before can attest to that. But how does that look in a story?

There will also be an overarching mystery across the story as well, which isn't determined by dice. Although the dice might help reveal or fail to reveal clues for both the characters and reader.

Again, this is all an experiment, but I'm doing this 'cause it's fun! But if anyone has any criticism for the story OR finds a mistake I might have made, please let me know! It never hurts to get advice from someone else! :scootangel:

Until next time everyone!
Cheers,
-Zeke

(2) A Gathering of Adventurers

Story Spinner’s POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Room
1 Week Later
Tuesday, 2:57 PM

The dull tapping of pen to notepad was the only noise echoing across the room today. So far I was still the only one in the room and everything was now set up for the game. Or at least that's what I was trying to figure out as I kept looking back over the notepad. Typically I wouldn't need to make a whole list when setting everything up. I would just know what needed to go where. It was only due to the fact that I was building everything from the ground up that I was actually concerned about missing something.

Any important notes on the world were saved on flash drives, the cloud, and papers that were always left at home. But every idea for campaigns and one-shots were left on my laptop. Which forced me to fall back on pre-made campaigns that came with the game in the first place. That wasn't a bad thing, but it meant that I had to alter the whole story to fit into my world, which always turned into a chore.

Thankfully the girls were all set to play the second that they got here. During the week, I managed to meet up with them one on one and help them make characters. A few of them were a little harder to try to go along with the idea when more and more numbers went in. In fact to a couple of them it felt like paperwork mixed in with math. However once all the numbers were done with practically all of them took to creating their characters a lot quicker than I thought.

When I was done checking each game piece a third time to make sure I hadn't missed anything, I tore out that piece of notebook paper and threw it into the trash. If I left it with my notes than I'd be staring at it the whole game. Besides, there was one more page I still needed to look over before I started.

Player Characters

Fluttershy: "Thorn Wielder" Wood Elf. Very anti-social, does not speak well, will avoid harming animals, mismatched clothing. (Full Backstory)

Pinkie Pie: "Glemerr" Half-Orc. Always interested in a fight, friendly to most, very intimidating build, somewhat tattered clothes. (TBD)

Rarity: "Ricven Lioncatch" Forest Gnome. Charismatic, driven by wanderlust, constantly retunes violin, nicely made vest. (Concept)

Applejack: "Platick Fortuna" Human. Inquisitive, quick to act, distrusting of others, inconspicuous clothing. (Little Backstory)

Twilight Sparkle: "Vareén" Elven. Quiet, calm, keeps to herself, always keeps her hood up. (Backstory)

Sunset Shimmer: "Stostine Swordhand" Human. Cooperative, polite, falls apart under duress, natural blue robes. (Concept)

Rainbow: "Ravathyra" Hill Dwarf. (TBD)

If the game went on past today the lists were probably gonna get longer. For now all the list was going to be able to show me was one or two basic traits as well as a short phrase that helped me remember each character's appearance. For now, all it would help me with is how each character would probably present themselves or what kind of environment they would stand out in.

In terms of other notes I had made myself memorize the classes and abilities that each of them had. None of them had ever played before which meant I would need to be able to correctly explain any part of their character whenever they needed it. Thankfully they were all level 1, which meant that memorizing any of their abilities would be easy. Plus only two of them had magic to begin with. It was a good thing too; magic was the hardest thing to keep up with in this game.

It was also worth saying that since I had no clue what any girl would be better at playing, in terms of magic over hitting things hard, I decided to make a game out of it. So instead of explaining classes to them, I gave each of them a 12-sided dice and told them to roll. Each 12 numbers would corresponded with one of the 12 classes and whatever the girl rolled, that was her class. After Fluttershy and Pinkie rolled, I had the next two girls use a 10-sided dice, and the next two had an 8-sided, and so on until everyone got their class. Some of them were interesting, some fit pretty well, and one of the girls hated it so much that it took some convincing to keep her from rolling again.

Spoilers; it was Applejack. She hated her class but kept it since it was only fair. She didn't want to be the only one to choose her class.

I was honestly surprised that the trick worked so well. If I tried that with anyone that actually played Dungeons and Dragons they would probably have a much bigger problem.

As I studied over the last note and pinned it to my DM Screen, a fold out screen that hides all my notes and papers from the players, I slumped back into my chair and looked around the area. I had pushed two large tables together and left two student desks at the end to give more than enough space for everyone to fit. Not only that, but I had made sure to give myself the teacher’s computer chair before any of them could get here. Probably a dick move seeing as how they had student chairs, but it wasn’t like my back was going to scold me for being greedy.

“Alright, everything’s set up.” I leaned back in my seat and tossed a notepad on top of all the other papers and cards that were hidden behind the screen. I couldn’t let any of them see any of this stuff after all. "Now all I’m missing are the girls…”

I looked towards the door, then the clock, tapping my foot the whole while. “3:02...” They weren’t actually late. I did say that the group meets a little after three. “I should’ve been clearer.”

Knock Knock Knock

I rolled my eyes. “You do not have to knock!” I said it more out of habit than anything else, but when I saw who all came in I smiled nonetheless. “Hey girls.”

“Heya Story!” Pinkie Pie was the first one that came in, followed quickly by the others. “Wooooow! What’s all of this stuff?!” She immediately bounded for the tables I had set everything up on. “Hey, where’s the dragon?!”

As the others started to come in and look at the set I started to chuckle. “Something tells me that Glemerr’s not ready for a dragon just yet.”

“Hey, don’t you dare doubt Glemerr! Glemerr can take on anything!” She flashed me a determined look before heading over to the chairs. She was one of the girls who was most looking forward to playing this game the most. Apparently she was already in love with the idea of acting like a character. She even went as far as to compare it to one of her Nightmare Night parties that she was so happy to tell me about. Three times in a row. It was still a funny story though.

“Well I certainly hope so. In the meantime, find out wherever your character sheet is. If you don’t wanna sit there, feel free to trade with anyone else.” Behind her were a few of the other girls. They weren’t all here yet, so I decided to dig out a few extra things that I might have needed.

“Oh, Story Spinner?” Once she found her seat, Twilight held up her hand for a second as if to be called on. “I went ahead and read up on the adventure that you said we were going to be doing first. I know you said that you didn’t want me to, but I thought it’d be better to read up on it in order to understand the concept of how the game worked.”

I nodded along, bearing a neutral grin on my face. “Yeah, I figured you were gonna do that. Which is why I told you the wrong adventure on purpose.” The grin remained the same as she froze in place.

Then, almost as if my response had a delayed reaction, her eyes began to widen. “What.” It almost sounded more like a command than a question.

“Aw, come now Twilight.” Applejack gave her a sad smile. “If ya read the whole story then you’d know everything that happens.”

For a second I could have sworn Twilight was twitching behind her glasses. But thankfully the crises was averted as she gave herself a second to do some kind of breathing technique. Once that was done she turned to look toward Applejack. “Yes...I suppose you have a point.”

Note to self; false information makes her break formation. “Well.” Once I saw Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow take up the rear of the group, I gave a dry clap, earning everyone’s attention. “Glad to see that all of you still wanted to come back. Thank you. Seriously.” A few of them returned my gratitude with a chorus of "of course," and "no problem's".

“So, um, since we got everything set up already, were there any questions before we get started?” I reached for the pack of markers and pulled out the ones needed while one or two of the girls rose their hands.

“...Okay,” My face met hand as I allowed myself to keep a sad smile. “Please, don’t raise your hands. I’m not a teacher ya know.”

“Oh, uh, right,” Applejack cleared her throat, and lowered her hand before going on. “So there was one thing I wasn't quite sure of. Well, a few of us I suppose. We were worried 'bout how much a' everything we gotta keep up with in this story. You said it was a whole adventure, so is this like some kinda Harry Potter level of complex err what'?"

“What do you mean?” I blinked a few times with a brown marker in hand.

Rarity decided to jump in next. “I think what Applejack means to ask is that when you were explaining the whole game, you had mentioned several different, erm, events that happen within said game. So we were just wondering if we’ll have to try to—”

“Remember the name and issue of every person, town, monster, and twig that you find in this game?” Finally catching on to what they were asking, I leaned forward and began to draw a simple rectangular floor plan on the vinyl mat that was laid out in front of everyone.

“That’s...A blunt way to put it.” Sunset cocked an eyebrow towards me.

“Right, sorry.” With a chuckle I started to make little tally marks where the windows and front doors were. “But in all seriousness, you don’t need to remember much of anything. I’ll try keeping everything in check for all of you since it's your first game. So, while everything goes on, go ahead and just consider me a glossary for everything. Of course, if you want to make some notes on the side, you can. Heck, I’ve heard of people just using doodles as notes.”

“Way ahead of you!” Pinkie held up a piece of paper with her and a giant grey human-esque figure, otherwise known as Glemerr, holding hands. And despite the huge amount of differences between the two, they both had the same happy smiles on their face.

It took all I had not to snicker at it. “Right then. So, if that’s all the questions we got,” A quick scan of the room and I could see none of them had any objections. “Then let’s get started.”

Once the building itself was drawn I started to draw in a bar counter. “To begin; each of you have a set of dice in front of you. 4-sided dice, 6-sided, 8, 10, 12, 20, and 100.” With the bar counter done, I put a few lazy circles for bar stools before jumping back behind the screen for a moment. “Go ahead and pick up the D10 and D100. Once you got those, roll ‘em.”

It took them a few seconds but, eventually, they all got the right dice and started rolling on their own.

“I got a sixty-three!” Pinkie cheered before going back to the picture.

“Eighty-one.” Sunset rose her hand for a second.

“Fifty-seven.” “Oh! Ninety-six.” Twilight and Rarity spoke at the same time, but I caught the numbers regardless.

“Forty-six.” Rainbow and Fluttershy called out before locking eyes with each other.

“Really? Hundred different numbers and y’all get the same ones?” Applejack turned to me. “twenty-two.”

I wrote down the last one and tossed the pen aside. “Alright, cool. Applejack? Can you roll a D6 for me?” I picked the marker back up and started to draw up a set of stairs to the right of the bar followed by drawing in tables to finish up the map.

“The normal one, right?” Earning a nod from me, she tossed it up in the air. “Two.”

Checking the post-it note I had beside me, I nodded. “Okay. Fluttershy, you’re next. Roll me a D4.”

She held one up. “The triangle one?” After another nod from me, she tossed it forward with a curious look. “Um...Also two?”

After one more check of that paper, I turned to Rainbow. “Okay, Rainbow?” She looked up at me with a straight face. “Roll me...A D20 and a D6. Then add them together.”

“Okay...” She sounded guarded, but picked the two dice up anyways. “So why are we rolling all these dice now? We haven’t even started.”

“I know. But what your rolling is important.” I watched as she rolled the two with a blank expression.

“Eleven, six—Seventeen.” She looked up.

“Seventeen people. A busy bar for what time it is.” As I finished marking their numbers down, I looked up to their confused expressions. “Allow me explain; you all just rolled a bunch of different sets of dice. Each of you rolled a percent roll, the D100 and D10. The top four numbers were the people whose characters would start out the game. Meanwhile, the lowest three numbers then helped create the setting. Applejack made the scene, Fluttershy, the time of day, and Rainbow rolled for how many people will be in the area,” I finished.

“So then what did we win?” An interested look was playing on Rarity’s face.

“Not too sure.” I shrugged with a look similar to hers. “That’s for me to tell and you guys to find out. So…” I opened the small white box I had since labelled “Player Races” and kept it at my side.

“Let’s start a story.”

3rd Person POV
Mid Afternoon

Within the kingdom of Leodaav, two standards act as the foundation of every day life. The first was wealth. From the Drakehead, the mountains of the east, to the peninsula of coasts from the west, merchants and caravans would travel across the land and back with a purpose. Each of them selling different materials, resources, and supplies for the highest coin possible. Currently, wealth was the kind of standard that anyone could achieve. Or at least, the standard they could achieve given they had the right luck.

The second standard was much less accessible. Nobility. Thirty years ago, a great war between kingdoms came to an end with dozens of veterans earning titles as proof of their service. From these titles, the newer nobility helped greatly widen the gap between commoners and upper class. The result was the new bluebloods now buying land and employing businesses to work under them. Today, society has created a rat race that would only fuel the standard of wealth which in turn would fuel the nobility's race. A seemingly endless loop if you asked the short-sighted.

Towards the center of Leodaav sits the small city of Dreiweg. What was once a bustling outpost between trade routes became a city full of shops and street vendors with dozens of merchants coming through daily. And just like any other day, it was full of energy.

As the sun stood high above the streets of Dreiweg, a young gnome made his way down the street with a violin bow between his fingers. He paid no mind to the locals of the city. Instead, he would be whistling a new pattern of notes to himself. The violin would then repeat these notes for him. But upon every note the gnome would not agree upon, he would force himself to stop, tune his violin ever so slightly, and repeat the last few notes until he was satisfied. And then he would continue.

“Wait a moment. Is that—”

“Your character? Why yes it is Rarity. Yes it is.” Story confirmed. He made note of how the girls were now paying much more attention than before.

When Story noticed this, he quickly scribbled something down on a blank sheet of paper:

"Beginning needs work. Less exposition?"

The gnome would continue down this path for another minute or two until he would recognize something. Just the other day, the gnome was given a set of instructions to navigate his way through the city. One of the landmarks being a smith made to look like a barn. With the rhythmic sound of a hammer to anvil, the gnome made note of several stacks of horseshoes all ready to be loaded onto a cart.

"Huh. Charmin'," The gnome spoke with a southern sophisticated drawl to him. "The Iron Outback? There's gotta be some sorta story behind that."

The gnome turned down the road to his right as he was instructed, muttering under his breath one or two of his own made-up stories behind the smithy's name. A few of them sounded pleasing in one way or another. But, ultimately, it served only as background noise as his true imagination was attempting to find a good cadence to pick up from.

While the gnome continued turning onto the new road, another figure was walking much further ahead at a brisker pace. This one was nearly twice the height of the gnome and stood more than above eye level compared to the other human women around her. She walked as this sense of respect and purpose followed in her wake. This was something that would not go unnoticed by a few of the men who walked by. Which, in turn, not going unnoticed by the women that were walking with said men.

On most days she would try to avoid this type of attention and chose instead to take the alleyways and shortcuts less traveled. Although since she had never been to Dreiweg before she didn't have the option of taking the quiet alleys. So, she was forced to go the route her dwarven acquaintance had told her to take.

As she walked along the edge of the street, her bright golden eyes scanned the small merchant stands she passed by. One of them was a very attractant stand with a beautifully designed piece of tapestry depicting the vibrant colors of the Veil Lights. However, not three stands down, there was a small indoor shop with small cages full of rats and other vermin.

The human woman studied the more desirable of the two stores before deciding it was in her best interest to walk up to it and glance around a little more closely. The store itself had only one half elven man running the store and while everything seemed organized, the store seemed more casual than professional.

"Excuse me," the woman spoke suddenly. Her voice seemed very precise, as though she had chosen each word with the upmost care. When the man looked up, she continued. "I am sorry to bother you, but have you a price for the thing right there?"

She pointed toward a small oval-shaped object placed upon the higher shelves in the shop. As the elven man looked up toward it he gave an entertained chuckle. "Ah, the little thing caught your eye, huh?"

The woman only smiled and nodded.

"Well, your in luck. Despite it's rarity, it's only 25 gold pieces."

The woman's smile was caught short. "That much?"

"Aye, I'm afraid so. That's the lowest I can do, especially given the trouble it took for me to get it."

"I see," The woman stated sadly. "Well, if I ever come across the gold to spend I will certainly consider it if I ever come by again. Thank you." As the woman said her piece, she gave a small wave goodbye before walking away from her desired store.

"Come back soon then," The man warned. "That item will be off the shelves sooner than you may think."

The woman made a note of this and began to walk once more at her usual brisk pace as more glances were directed toward her. One of these glances originating from the very gnome that was now only a few feet behind her. For a time, neither seemed to notice that the other truly existed. However, as both individuals spotted the same landmarks, taking similar pauses to get their bearings, and then finally making the same turns, both of them began to become very aware of each other's presence.

As the two of them finally turned onto the lane that had their destination in sight, the woman sharply turned on her heel to stare directly at the man behind her. And then she looked down and only then spotted the gnomish man.

"Well hello there miss," The gnome greeted. His eyebrow raised inquisitively at her stern expression, but he adjusted his collar with rehearsed suave. "How lucky am I ta get a lovely view of your beautiful gaze. Tell me, what's a gal like you doin' in a market like this?"

“...” Sunset continued to give Rarity the same sternest look she could muster. Except, as Rarity finished winking toward Sunset, the stern expression was cracking very quickly.

“Is something the matter, doll? You seem stressed,” Rarity remarked, still speaking with her character's accent. If she had any indication that Sunset was very confused about several things, she wasn't showing it.

“...I never thought I’d be asking this, but Rarity...Are you flirting with me?” Sunset tried to keep her tone incredibly neutral and guarded. Her attempt only got worse as she heard snickering from Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie alike.

“Wha—Oh. No, of course not darling.” Rarity giggled the thought away. “I’m simply playing the part of my character, is all.”

“...Uh-kay...” Sunset gave a slow nod before turning towards Story just as slowly. “Um...Why is…”

“Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to point out something important. Sorry,” Story apologized. Sunset almost didn't hear his apology through the hand he was using to hid his own laughter.

“The gnome you see standing before you, Rarity's character," Story clarified. "Is a guy.”

“Wait, they are?” Sunset looked at Rarity with a confused look, only to receive a nod in return. With a sigh, Sunset calmed down. “Alright then, I guess I’ll just play along with that then.”

The woman gave the gnome an incredibly odd look before weighing her options. Still, the gnome took the silence as a victory by his own silver tongue and patiently awaited for the lady's response.

Finally, the woman faked a cough to clear her throat. “My apologies, I thought you were a child for a second.”

All at once, the gnome's suave attitude shattered like glass. Every muscle of his being started to tighten with sudden fury as all thought was brought to a halt. Whether he was aware of it or not, his grip on his bowstring began to tighten more and more until the string was in danger of snapping in half.

To Ricven, every sound that made up the bustling crowds around the two of them began to slow down and mix into one audio blur. It took the majority of his focus not to shout then and there at the woman for her comment. Although the woman would have no clue about any of this. All she could recognize of the gnome's fury was his eye twitching for a few moments.

"Erm...My apologies," the woman said awkwardly. She cleared her throat off to the side and continued. "Mistakes aside, why were you following me?"

"F-Followin' you?" Ricven repeated, slowly regaining some recognition of his surroundings. "M'lady, I am not so brash as to stalk a woman through the streets. I'm jus' headin' towards the...The..."

"Where was I headed towards?" Rarity asked.

"The Evening's Nest," Story answered. "It's a tavern."

"I was jus' headed towards the Evenin's Nest," The gnome answered.

"You mean the tavern?" The woman asked immediately. "Why? If you do not mind me asking."

"Not a bit," The gnome waved the thought away. "I happened by a merchant, err, someone similar ta that trade, and he was searchin' fer some folk to help 'im with a job."

"...Ah!" The woman's face lit up. "You must be one of the other travelers that Gundren had mentioned. He did say there would be a handful of us on this task."

The woman held out her hand to the gnome. "My name is Stostine Swordhand. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Well it most certainly is a pleasure," The gnome said, taking the woman's hand. "Folks know me as Ricven Lioncatch. The Connoisseur of Culture."

Ricven went to kiss Stostine's hand only for it to swiftly be pulled away at the last second. Before he could even look back up, Stostine was already folding her arms into the long sleeves of her robes like a woman of the cloth. She didn't show any sign of being disgusted by his behavior, but to say Stostine seemed uninterested would be an understatement.

"Well then." Without missing a beat, Ricven began to walk forward, joined quickly by Stostine beside him. "I suppose we better hurry to whatever this arrangement is 'fore our mutual friend believes us late."

"Right." Stostine turned back in the direction of the tavern before adjusting her robes. With nothing else stopping them, the two began to walk alongside one another toward the building.

? ? ? POV
Meanwhile
The Evening's Nest

Despite the name of the building, the Evening's Nest seemed to be alive with a fair crowd well before the evening was anywhere in sight. The tavern wasn't anything too large. There was a dozen or so round tables, a bay window just left of the entrance, and a nice staircase that led to the second floor where rooms for rent were. At the counter there were only three bar stools, all of which were empty. Across the stools and the bar itself was the bartender who had been occupying his time doing inventory of the drinks that still remained. For him, it was business as usual.

Currently, about half of the tables were being used. One of them was dedicated to a card game between two halflings, a Dwarf, and this ancient human. Judging by the terrible cough that was making even the Dwarf flinch, he wasn't doing too well health-wise. Game wise, however, he was killing it. Over the past hour and a half this old man had pulled the most coin. If he was somehow cheating, I couldn't spot it. Yet.

Not too far away from them, two tables had been pushed together and were being used by a group of nine town guard. They had already been here by the time I arrived and every once in a while I noticed them stealing glances at me. I refused to react in any way toward them. It would just give them more reason to keep watching me. Regardless, they couldn't kick me out of the bar for looking 'shady' in their eyes. Only the bartender could do that. And since I came in with someone who kept the drinks coming, the bartender wasn't about to do anything to me.

Then, there were the stragglers. This couple was sitting nearest the window as they talked about prices on spider silk. At another table a man dressed like a scholar was currently face down, snoring into his book. Then, finally, there was this one gnome currently staring at a large map she rolled out across the table. I tried getting a glance or two at it, but all it seemed to be were blueprints of a temple. What interested me the most, however, was the way she was staring at them. It screamed desperation to me and she stared down anyone that came near. She didn't want anyone else coming close to her.

Finally, there was our group. From the moment our group had stepped into the door we had become the loudest patrons. The loudest of us all started with the orc woman. She stood a whole head and shoulders taller than any of us and had the build to go along with—

“Oh! That’s me! That’s me!” Pinkie started jumping in her seat, ignoring all the weird looks she was getting from the other girls.

“Why do you have a character like that?” Sunset asked.

“Well when Story told me that I had to pick a race, I saw the half-orc in the picture and it reminded me of this funny story that Maud had told me! You see—” Story cleared his throat before she could say much else.

“Remember Pinkie, don’t spoil everything yet. You said it was a surprise, didn't you?” Pinkie’s eyes started to gleam at the word and she began nodding like a bobblehead.

"No problemo!" Pinkie gave a salute before suddenly slamming an arm on the table and sticking her lower jaw out like a bulldog.

"Oi, Gundren," Pinkie spoke in a thick English accent, catching a few of the others off-guard. "Ye gonna tell us why we're 'ere any time soon er wut?"

"Impressive," Rarity noted. "Glad to see I'm not the only one with her acting chops, as it were."

"It's more like an acting jaw, really," Pinkie corrected with a smile.

The orc was now staring down the very Dwarf that had invited the both of us to the Evening's Nest. The Dwarf's full name was Gundren Rockseeker and he was planning an important delivery. Well, important to him at least. I had doubts that the delivery was actually important to anyone else.

Then, to round out the last of us, there was the most regular man of our group, Sildar. He, unlike any of us, was human and currently donned in metallic armor with a shield leaned up against the table beside him. Gundren may have been the one with the delivery, but it was Sildar who had called for me to take the job. Suffice to say, I was doing it only because I had yet to pay him back for something he had done for me in the past.

"Patience, lass, patience," Gundren spoke coolly. "You'll learn all d'ere is ta know in a bit. We jus' gotta wait fer a few more friends ta arrive."

Almost as though Glemerr and Gundren had timed the moment, the front doors opened up to reveal two figures of completely different sizes entering the tavern. The first was a human woman with neutral blue robes with sleeves that nearly hid her hands. The second was a young looking gnome dressed in a nicer-looking vest and a violin on his back.

Upon spotting them, Gundren gave a wave. "And dere’s da two of 'em now! Greet'ins! We was startin' ta wonder what took yous so long ta get ‘ere!” His voice boomed with this deep, grizzled tone. Something that through off nearly all his 'acquaintances.' “Tell me, what ‘ave ya been up ta?!”

A few of the girls sat with their jaws hitting the ground. All of them except for Fluttershy, who had somehow been prepared for Story’s sudden voice change.

“Wha?” Story Spinner looked them over with a sly grin. “Too Scot'ish?”

“N-No,” Sunset shook her head as she was the first to recover. “I—we—just didn’t expect...That. It sounds so different from your usual voice is all.”

“That is so amazing! Do me next! Do me next!” Pinkie started clapping, amazed by the voice.

“Um...Maybe some other time,” Story scratched the back of his neck, looking away from the girls with a bashful look on his face.

“I apologize,” The human woman said. As the two of them took their chance to join the group, I got up from my spot and joined the table as well. As I did, I made note of the guards that now had several pairs of eyes watching us. “Were we late?”

“Nah, not really,” Gundren shrugged before reaching for his tankard. “Jus' tha last ones ta arrive is all.” He cleaned out the tankard in record time standing up. Although that still made him seem only a few inches taller than when he was sitting. “Least now we can get started.”

"Good," I said before sitting up in my chair. I noticed that the two newcomers were now studying me, both of them for two different reasons. "Now we can learn what exactly this job is."

“Job? What job?” The half-orc looked at Gundren in confusion. "I though' we was all 'ere fer some type a drinkin' challenge!"

Gundren burst out laughing. “Ah, I like dis one. She’s got da right attitude!” With a shake of his head, he started to get serious. “Although, with respect, I'd say that the lass is righ'. I've been holdin' off too long on the details. Ya see, I wanted all o’ ya ta be here ‘fore I explained it. Makes it easier on me.”

As he gave a quick whistle and a motion for the barmaid to make her rounds back to the table, Gundren finally began. "Recently, me an' my brothers 'ave come 'cross a long abandoned mine from before the war. And as it's got quite a few perks an' history to it, we want ta set up shop as soon as possible. Least, without attractin' much attention ta our little business.

"That's where we need the lot of you ta come in," Gundren went on. "Ya see, I need ta ensure that all things make it to their destination accordin'ly. And as not ta attract attention, we need ta take 'em in lighter loads. So, Sildar 'ere and I," Gundren said as he took a light jab at Sildar's shoulder before going on. Unbeknownst to the Dwarf, however, Sildar started massaging his shoulder in protest. "Will be takin' da first cart as soon as all of us are square. Meanwhile, we need y'all ta meet up wit' another group come firs' sun tommorah and move the cart ta the next town over. Simple as that."

By this time, the barmaid arrived to the table and looked to Gundren as he grinned. "Oi! A round a ale fer everyone at tha table. All on me, 'course."

The barmaid nodded and began to walk off. As she did I looked to Gundren. “Not thirsty,” I spoke curtly.

“...Does it have to be ale?” The human woman asked with a sigh.

“Hey. If y'all don’t want yer tankards, then I think Glemerr ‘ere would be glad ta wash it down fer ya.” Gundren gestured to the half-orc who was nodding with a toothy grin.

"Well consider it a gift from me to you," The human woman said. "But back to the mission for a moment, what town would we be delivering these supplies to?"

“Phandalin,” Gundren answered. "It's a young pioneer's town east by southeast of 'ere. They got a few mines in the area, but none like what I'm gettin'."

“Is there anything else about this Phandalin that my character would know?” Twilight held her hand up with a confused look. “Since I don’t know what adventure we’re doing," She said through faintly gritted teeth. "I didn’t have the chance to read up on it.”

“I know. That was on purpose.” Story nodded. “For your character, in particular, you and Sildar had met Gundren in Phandalin before heading toward Dreiweg. It's a small town, but growing quickly with several farms and a trading post specially meant for miners. You weren't really there long enough to know much else, however.”

"What about the rest of us?" Applejack asked. "It's well an' good if one of us know somethin', but could any of the others?"

"Sure," Story answered. "In fact, for anyone who wants to try and know anything about Phandalin, make a history check." When he saw that a few of the girls were hesitant to reach for any dice, he cleared his throat. "To make a check, roll the 20-sided die you got. Then, add the number that's next to the word 'history.' That's a history check."

A few of the girls caught on and started rolling dice. A few taps along the table later and some of the girls looked up.

"Twenty." Applejack looked up.

"Twenty-two," Rarity said with a small grin.

"Thirteen plus...Fifteen." Sunset was the last of the three.

"Okay...Each of you know about as much as Twilight's character knows, but with some other notes of worth as well. For Applejack, you know that there's been talk of the Griffonbound Vendors setting up a shop in the town. Rarity, or Ricven, from down the grapevine you've heard talk of some abrasive mercenaries making a home in the town. Though you're not too sure how much of the rumors behind them are true.

"And finally Sunset, or Stostine," Story continued. "You've heard a little information about the town thanks to your background. Phandalin is managed by a townmaster though you don't know their name. They were elected to run the town, for what that's worth."

Sunset nodded along and looked to AJ and Rarity. All three of them declined to explain why that was the specific information that they had gotten. Instead, the three stayed quiet and watched the scene go on.

"Well." As the barmaid came back with drinks, the gnome rolled the ale around inside the tankard for a moment. "This information's all well an' good. However, there's one thing you've yet ta explain ta us."

"Yeah," After downing half of her first tankard, the half-orc Glemerr, agreed. "How much a this ale were you sayin' was on yer tab?!"

"Erm...Well, not quite," the gnome backpedaled awkwardly. "What I mean to point out is that you've yet ta bring up the subject a' payment."

When Gundren's attention fully focused on the gnome, his jovial smile faded slightly. This did not go unnoticed by the gnome who continued.

"Now, you've certainly made it clear that this job a' yours is quite important to ya. Whether or not the job's actually important for anyone else remains ta be seen. Though, that's not really any of our concern, ain't it? Still, if the four of us are to...understand the importance a' this task the same way you do, we'll need a sort of equivalent compensation. Although I'm sure you already have a number in mind for such a thang. Am I wrong?"

Gundren didn't respond immediately. Instead what he did was take a few seconds enjoying his drink as he let the silence build. However, the gnome didn't seem at all concerned. He simply sat back with his arms folded behind his head and his eyes now closed, seemingly proud of his act. And after what he had said, though I would never admit it to anyone, I and the rest of us were watching Gundren's response for the gnome.

Gundren finished whatever was in his tankard with a refreshed sigh. And as he put his tankard down and looked across the table to the gnome and no one else, he spoke bluntly. "200 gold."

"T-That," The human woman stuttered slightly. "That sounds like a ver—"

"Two hundred," The gnome repeated, opening a single eye. "May sound like fair coin fer us. But keep in mind, dear Stostine, that there's more than four of us guardin' this supposed cart. If we're ta assume that this second group is four-strong just like us then that means it's two hundred gold split amongst eight capable folk."

He had a point. Even if the two hundred gold were only split amongst the four of us, fifty gold pieces would not be enough in Leodaav. Not anymore. While the war had ended decades ago, the entire kingdom was still in an economic boom. Even the poor had the opportunity to earn gold pieces. So, to a hunter like me, fifty gold wouldn't even be enough for a new bow.

Gundren began to squint his eyes as if trying to wrap his head around the gnome's words. "Wait... Split?" The Dwarf grew a toothy grin. "Na, na, na. I don't recall sayin' split." He sat up in his seat and spoke softer. "You misunderstand me. I'm payin' 200 gold pieces. Each."

"Two...each..." The gnome's eyes opened up in realization, losing all bravado. "N-Now, that...Is a much better deal, ahehehe...I'd say that'd suffice, right gals?"

As the gnome tried to keep himself from slipping out of his seat, I looked back at Gundren. "For an 'easy as that' job like this, 200 gold per guard sounds exorbitant. There's a catch."

"Not particularly." Gundren kept his voice low. From the way he held himself, he didn't seem at all afraid of the collection of guards across the room. That told me he was either a professional or that this had nothing to do with crime. But there was still something that he wasn't telling us.

Gundren went on. "That aside, wit' the other group assistin' ya, that makes seven guards in all. So ya can see that I ain't sparin' expense on this."

"Well it is quite generous of you," The human woman said as she wore a simple smile. "And I would be glad to offer you my services."

“Meah!” The orc spoke between gulps of ale. “Me’ll get da car’ dere.”

Gundren's serious expression shifted into a jovial one. Before I could figure out whether or not that smile was honest, he brought a newly filled tankard to his lips. “Now that's an attitude I'll gladly drink ta, lass! Cheers!” They both drank their ale happily, before quickly trying to tip their tankard higher than the other. It wasn't long before the two somehow winding up in some kind of competition.

“Can I roll anything to win?!” Pinkie had an excited look on her face.

Story gave Pinkie Pie an entertained look as he thought it over. “Yeah, sure. Roll me a Constitution Save. D20 plus your—” “I got it!” Pinkie was already rolling it.

“Eighteen!” Pinkie cheered.

“Wait, hold on," Applejack interjected. "If Pinkie's makin' this 'Constru...tution Save,' are they tryin' ta see who gets drunk first?" AJ sat back. "I thought constr-conser—ugh!—con-sti-tu-tion. Geez, that word's a tighter tongue twister than a tongue that turned to twist."

"It's easier to say Con Save." Story shrugged. "Con Saves usually have to do with health and stamina. And I don't know about you, but I'd say chugging ale would take a pretty good iron stomach." The girls could hear dice clatter from behind Story's screen. "Something that dwarves always seem to have."

As Gundren emptied his tankard, he quickly slammed it on the table before the orc could even swig down the last of it. “Ahaha! Sorry lassie, but you’ll have ta try harder if ya wanna drink a Dwarf under da table!"

She gave a heavy sigh but slowly nodded before wiping her jaw free of ale.

“Well,” Gundren, as well as his friend Sildar stood up. “I think this is a fine chance ta take our leave. If ya like, the Evenin's Nest doubles as an inn. And seein' as how tha lady beyond tha counter owes me fer a favor I did ‘er, I'd say it's free board for ye. Mention my name an’ she’ll getcha each a room.”

“Why thank you sir.” The gnome tipped his imaginary, yet still just as genuine, hat to the Dwarf. He then turned towards the human woman. “Perhaps it'd be best if we'd share a room, m’lady. Ta free up the space fer everyone else, of course.”

“Well…” Stostine gave him a sideways glance. “Glad to see that you’re worried for others.”

“Oh. It is the absolute least I can do.” The gnome gave a wink in return.

“Oh, almost fergot,” Before Gundren left, he turned back to the group. “The cart will be stationed at the Onyx Steed Stables, southeast o' the city walls. That’s where the other three ar' meetin' ya come early sun. Once ye get tha cart ta Phandalin, I’ll pay ya when ya get there.”

“...Fair enough.” I rested my elbow on the table and got comfortable. I guess I was staying here for the night.

“Consider the job done, Gundren,” The human woman said. Gundren gave her a polite nod and began heading out with Sildar without any more time wasted. It was then that the human turned towards the rest of us. “Well, I think I will be heading back to my own lodgings for the night.”

“Oh, you have your own home here?” The gnome asked with a sly smile.

“Not exactly. I’m staying at the…”

“Can I just make up a place?” Sunset asked.

“If you’re that desperate to get away from Ricven?” Story shrugged. “Go for it.”

“I’m staying at the Sleeping Willow.” She watched as the gnome seemed defeated somewhat. “Buuut,” He perked back up. “If you still want to help keep the occupied rooms to a minimum, perhaps you could share a room with…Sorry, I never got your names.”

“I’m Glemerr,” The half-orc rose her hand. “You spell it Glem. And then Err. Glem. Err. And I’ll bunk wit' the gnome!” Before he could get away, the gnome found himself pulled to a bone crushing chokehold from Glemerr.

“Ack! Oh...Thank you...Glamour...”

“OI!” Glemerr's chair scooted against the floorboards and alerted all the guards' table as she stood. “I jus' told ya! It’s Glem. Err. Say it from here!” She pounded her chest as she glared down at the poor gnome.

"I...I-I see." The gnome's act was failing him. "My mistake. Won't happen again. Yo-You can let me go now." By this point, two of the guard had placed a hand on the grips of their sword and begun to stand.

All of us, save for 'Glemerr,' noticed this and the human woman took the chance to step forward.

"Well it is nice to meet you, Glemerr," the woman greeted. As she spoke, she held up a hand to signal the guards to stop moving. "My name is Stostine and my acquaintance here,” she continued as she gestured toward the terrified gnome. "Calls himself Ricven Lioncatch."

Glemerr looked noticeably calmer as she stopped hovering above Ricven the gnome and let him slide out of her grip. It was almost as though she were never angry to begin with as she signaled for the barmaid to get another refill. The guard seemed to take this as a sign to turn back for their tables before the group of them quickly started paying for their drinks and meals. If I had to guess why I'd say that they didn't want to deal with us on their lunch break.

Once Stostine was certain that there would be no other problems, she turned to try getting a look at me from under my hood. “And, might I ask your name?”

“...Vareén...” I said slowly, studying her reaction the entire time. The name wasn't actually Elvish, it just had the syllables. So even if people studied Elvish, they wouldn't realize that instantly. All they, and Stostine for that matter, recognized was a simple name with a rolling R sound.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Vareén." Stostine gave a small bow of respect. "I hope we get along during our mission together." When she still couldn't see my face as she bowed to me, she adjusted her robes and stepped back.

“Right. Well, on that note, I suppose I will see you all tomorrow. Good day,” With one last nod towards the three of us, Stostine turned to leave. Once she was through the door, Ricven began to walk off after her.

By the time he made it to the door, I leaned back. "Do you even have the money to spend at a place like the Sleeping Willow?" I asked. I then watched as Ricven scoffed.

"Pfft. Please," Ricven started. "With the type a talent at my disposal, I can get myself a room at whichever inn I desire." He made it to the door while Stostine was probably lost to the crowds by now.

"Fine," I told him. "But if you're late to the stables because you wasted energy on a free room, we're leaving without you."

That made the gnome stop moving. "You'd really be so cruel?"

"Cruel would imply I'm making you suffer. Costing us time would be your fault. Lioncatch," I added with a roll of the eyes.

He took a few moments to weigh his options. "Very well." He closed the door and made his way back to the table. "I'd hate ta let Gundren's generosity go ta waste anyhow. So I guess this means I'm bunking with you, right?"

"Wrong," I answered. I then stood up and walked to the bar to claim a room. "Besides, you were going to spend the night with Glemerr. You don't want to upset her, right?"

"Uh, well, I-I would neva' put a miss's feelin's on tha line fer my. Own...yeah..." I didn't have to look behind me to see that Ricven was worried about the orc's reaction. Instead, I just got my room's key, went upstairs, and enjoyed the personal room.

Twilight’s POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Room
Tuesday, 3:22 PM

“I’m guessing that’ll do it for this scene?” Story started to collect the figures on the board and held up a wetted paper towel.

The rest of us all looked between Pinkie and Rarity, who wore different expressions. Finally, it was Rarity who gave an exasperated groan. “Yes, I believe that will do it.”

Story nodded and started erasing the vinyl mat, moving the four pieces that resembled our characters towards each of us. Sunset and my figures seemed to resemble our characters well enough, but Rarity and Pinkie’s figures weren’t as exact. The only thing that seemed right was their races.

“Wait, what about the rest of us?” Rainbow leaned back in her seat.

“Well, it’d be pretty boring if we just did the same exact thing, so that’s why I said that the three of you already met Gundren. So now,” As he wiped most of the grid mat, Story looked around at us. “You guys get another choice. We can either have you guys all meet up at the Black Steed Stables or we can start on the road where you’re already guarding the cart where the interesting things happen.”

When Story looked back up at us, we all watched as he pulled his buzzing phone out of his pocket. “Huh, 3:23. I guess while you guys try to decide what you wanna do next, I’ll go say hi to Ms. Cheerilee.” He stood up from his seat and made his way for the door.

“Hey, Twilight?” Applejack sat up in her seat. “What’s with yer character? She...He...It wasn’t exactly what I expected.”

“Yeah. Just what is it anyways?” Rainbow was sitting back, more confused than curious. "I mean, if Rarity's gnome-thing and Pinkie's orc don't hide themselves, why is your person wearing a hood?"

“Well…” I looked down at my character sheet. “I guess I can say this much: Vareén’s a girl.”

“...And that’s it?” Rainbow furrowed her brow.

“Uh-huh. Sorry.” I gave them all a sad smile. “The rest of it is kind of related to her backstory I came up with. I don’t want to give anything away.”

"Wait, your person has a story?" Rainbow asked. "Isn't all this supposed to be a story already? I thought you were supposed to fight in this."

"There's more to this game than fighting, Rainbow Dash," Rarity corrected. "I for one am impressed that you could put together a story for Vareén so quickly. I'm afraid I barely have anything made for Ricven." Rarity seemed to have an idea pop into her head as she looked back at me. "Where did you get the idea from? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Oh, well..." I couldn't keep myself from biting my lip nervously. "I got the idea from a few fictional novels is all. Plus, Story did tell us that we could make as much of a backstory as we wanted so it just came together is all."

"Well, that's good ta hear. 'Least one of us got an inklin' of how this whole character thing works." Applejack looked over at Rainbow and took a few seconds to watch for something. Whether Applejack saw something or not, she rose an eyebrow. "Ya had ta 'ave come up with somethin', didn't ya?"

"Uhhh," Rainbow hummed. "I mean, I didn't really have a chance to—"

A sudden gasp from behind us stopped Rainbow's questioning, much to her relief. “Story Spinner, please stop doing that!” When we all looked over we saw Ms. Cheerilee coming into the room with a clipboard and pen in hand.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to.” He flashed her an innocent smile. To which Ms. Cheerilee only hummed with a nod.

“You know, you tell me that every time. And every time I find it harder to believe.” Her smile returned nonetheless. “Anyway, since this is the first official meeting for D&D Club, I needed you to sign a few things.”

Rainbow's sigh of relief turned into a small growl as she lay her head on the table. “This is starting to feel more like reading a book than playing a game.”

“Silly Rainbow Dash, we’re on a website, not in a book!” Pinkie flashed a smile towards her. “And besides, this is fun! Look at little Mini-Glemerr!” She picked up the miniature orc and held it up to her face. Her smile turned into the same face that the orc was making. “GRRR! I am GLEMERR! I figh' everyone! I glow when I tal—hey, it’s glowing!”

Pinkie held the mini out for all of us with an open palm and watched as pink aura started to flow around the orc figure.

“Wait a second…” Sunset leaned in towards it with narrowed eyes. The rest of us did the same. Except, while none of us seemed to notice anything, Sunset’s whole body went stiff.

“Pinkie. Drop it,” Sunset said with a wavering tone. Sunset looked over towards Ms. Cheerilee and Story Spinner to see if either of them had noticed either. For the time being, they were still dealing with whatever papers Ms. Cheerilee brought in.

Pinkie looked up at Sunset with a sad look. “Aww, but Glemerr's powering up. She's about to go Super Orc,” Pinkie cheered.

It took me a few more seconds, but as Pinkie kept holding up the miniature I finally noticed what Sunset was talking about. Feeding from Pinkie's hand were wisps of aura from both her palm and fingertips collected around the miniature. It was siphoning off of Pinkie's magic and containing it. Exactly as the magic capturing device I had made before.

I looked back at the rest and noticed that none of them, aside from a brief gasp from Fluttershy, seemed to realize what was going on. Not even Pinkie; the one having her magic siphoned.

“Pinkie, drop it.” Sunset was not asking now. When she saw that Pinkie still didn't understand the problem, Sunset reached across the table and swatted the mini out of Pinkie’s hand. With a light tap, the lifeless mini fell onto the table and rolled somewhat toward the middle of the table.

When everyone now spotted the tendrils of magic going from Pinkie's hand to the mini, they caught on immediately. Pinkie quickly balled her hands up and folded them behind her head. Whether it was her intention or not, the tendrils grew thin enough to where the magic simply stopped flowing into the miniature.

We gave a deep sigh of relief.

Then the magic started spreading.

The pink aura from the miniature leaked out like a puddle of oil and coated the objects on the table. First, the pink magic puddle spread across the vinyl mat that was the map. While the griddded lines on it started to shine through the puddle, the magic reached further beyond.

The magic then stretched out several tendrils that pinned themselves into the other miniatures scattered across. Each mini in front of each of us seemed to collect the most magic while any extra minis left out only had a 'light coating' in comparison.

As the magic finally reached the dice and papers near each of us, that's when it got worse. From each of us had different colors of aura begin to draw from us and flowed into the puddle of magic spread across the table. Sunset's aura, Rarity's aura, Rainbow's, Fluttershy's, AJ's, more of Pinkie's aura. I only started to officially get terrified when I saw a purple-hued aura draw from my hand and pour into my character sheet.

A few of the girls either scooted away from the table or simply jumped out of their seat to get away from the table. That didn't work. A few more of us, tried waving the magic away or tried moping the magic that had already covered most of the items. That failed too. Pinkie even tried to suck up the wispy aura with a straw as though it were some sort of vapor.

With no progress made I looked up only to see Ms. Cheerilee staring at us with utter terror and confusion in her eyes. After we noticed that Story was still looking the other way, a number of us frantically motioned for her to say nothing or distract Story.

She didn't make any indication that she noticed us. She just continued to stare at the colorful aura whirling around the table. She and the rest of us then watched as the aura began to carry over behind Story's screen and out of sight. It seemed as though after the magic was done effecting all the pieces it would collect behind the screen.

"Uh, Ms. Cheerilee? Is something wrong?"

All of us froze with a few of us too scared to even look at Story. But thankfully, right as Story began to turn back to the table, Ms. Cheerilee acted quick.

"Oh, well. Uh. Um." Before Story could turn fully toward the table Ms. Cheerilee pulled him back to face away from us. "I...I almost forgot," She stammered. "I need you to sign your name in print too. An-And I need you to put everyone else's names along the bottom."

“Everyone's name?” Story looked back over the papers carefully. "I don't think there's enough room for all our names on this line."

"Well..." Cheerilee hummed as she glanced up at the rest of us. We took it as a sign to hurry up while she still had Story's attention. "That's paperwork. Every line is...always too small?"

"I mean, I guess you're right," Story agreed. Nevertheless, he started to fill out each name. Only to glance back up at her. "Wait, if you're aware of that, how's come you make the lines on your tests so small?"

Back with our group each of us were trying to halt the magic flow. I noticed that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were practically flailing their hands to cut off the magic, but the aura still kept flowing from them. At the same time I and Fluttershy were trying to sit on our hands, but that wasn't working either.

“What do we do?!” Rarity was whispering as quiet as she could. She was a step away from getting out of her seat.

"I'm not sure," Sunset answered. "Twilight, that device from the Games. Did it have an off switch when you first used it?"

"No," I replied. "Well, I mean I could've closed it, but this is different. It's the magic doing this, not the objects...I think."

I pulled my hands out from under the chair and kept watching the aura. Ever since I unleashed the magic at the Games we all figured that I had some traces of magic. Now that I was looking at the proof firsthand, every worst case scenario was running through my head. Anything from the school being transformed to the magic corrupting any or all of us kept coming to mind.

“H-Hold on a sec. Do any of y'all feel tuckered out?” Applejack was watching her hands as the orange aura kept leaving her. “I don’t think this is doin' anything ta us.”

Each of us took a second to look ourselves over. The string of magic didn't seem to grow any duller and none of us were getting any less exhausted either. In fact, all of us were still no less anxious for something to happen. With my machine, each of them lost some color and had no trace of any magic. In fact, if this was supposed to be anything like my spectrometer, than most of us should've been drained of our energy.

Rainbow Dash was the first to reach out for one of her dice. As she picked it up she and the rest of us watched as the twenty-sided die began to finally show some kind of result. While the die was originally green with white numbers etched onto each side of it, Rainbow's magic swirled around it and changed the colors. The green instantly cooled into a deep, almost chrome blue color as each number went from white to every color on the spectrum. Exactly like a rainbow.

As Rainbow started to turn the die around in her hands, she looked up. "This isn't like the clam, machine, thing." Clam machine? It had a name. "It's like the instruments!"

“Okay, done.” All of us looked back to see Story handing over the clipboard. “I think I got it now.”

“Um…” Ms. Cheerilee locked eyes with Sunset, still seeing the magic moving around on all pieces of the game. “There’s one more thing,” She said as she turned back to him. “I need you to put the time.”

“Oh...Uh, okay. Let me get my phone.” He started to turn around.

“No!” Cheerilee forced him to stay right where he was. “I mean...You don’t have to do that. Just go ahead and put 3:30.”

Story glanced at the paper. “If I need to put the time then how's come I can just put whatever?”

"It's...Well..."

I turned back towards the table. “Speaking of time, we're running out of it.”

“Wait. I think it’s fading.” Sunset saw the aura from each of us finally fade away, only leaving the materials glowing.

“Well that’s great an’ all, but what about the game?” Applejack picked up her own twenty-sided die, which had changed just like Rainbow’s. It was now a darker orange with red numbers around it.

In fact, everyone’s dice had resembled their usual colors. Even mine, which had a dark purple base as the numbers had the same brilliant rose color that the streak in my hair had.

Soon enough, the aura finally started to subside. “There, I guess," Story said with no enthusiasm. "Anything else Ms. Cheerilee?” Spinner's attention sounded a little strained, but he was trying his best to stay patient around her.

“...” She looked up to us one last time. She could tell the floating aura was gone, but that didn’t stop her from looking worried. Yet somehow she managed to give the most genuine smile I had ever seen. “No, I think that’s everything. Sorry to keep forgetting so many parts about this.”

Story gave a sigh of relief. “It’s fine. Just, I'm surprised at how much there is to sign for this. I feel like I'm signing my soul away or something.” He turned around to start walking towards the table, causing Cheerilee to tense up on instinct.

“Alright." Story let out a breath. "Sorry to keep you all waiting.”

As he made his way to his seat, all of us waited for a reaction. The aura might've been gone, but our dice were all different colors and the gridded lines looked as though they were lined with silver. Not to mention all the magic previously clouded around where he was now sitting.

"...What?" He asked, seeing all of our expressions.

"Nothing!" Sunset blurted out. "It's nothing." Even if Story may not have noticed it now how long was that going to last?

“...Alright then." When Story saw that Ms. Cheerilee wasn't leaving just yet he spoke up. "Oh, hey Ms. Cheerilee? You can stay if you want. There’s actually something going on for once.” Story took his seat and reached for the now enchanted markers. And unbeknownst to him, Ms. Cheerilee was watching in fear, waiting for the moment where everything would explode.

"You have no idea," Ms. Cheerilee spoke flatly.

"I don't?" Story looked confused.

"I mean," Cheerilee backpedaled. “I actually need to turn these papers in to Principal Celestia. Now.” She turned for the door. “Have a nice day everyone! And be careful.” She looked over all of us as she spoke her warning.

Nevertheless, she opened the door to the hallway and tried as best she could to act natural. Afterward, Story didn't seem to notice the sound of Ms. Cheerilee's boots clicking against the hallway's floor as she started down the hall as fast as she could.

Story snickered a little. “Be careful? What, does she think the game’s gonna come out and bite us?” He started to draw a straight path on the mat as we all shared a worried look. How many 'what's the worst that can happen' metaphors did we have to bear?

“So.” Once Story drew a regular path along the middle of the small mat, he put away the brown marker and got out both a green marker and a two small pieces of paper. There was something drawn on the bottom sides of the papers though none of us could see what it was as he quickly placed the pictures face down. “Where did you guys want to start? At the stables or after all of you hit the road?”

“...”

Story looked around and noticed all us glancing in every direction that wasn't his.

“Um, hey girls, why are you all so quiet? There something I don’t know about?” Well obviously, yes, there was, but how were we supposed to tell him that?

The seven of us slowly looked at each other, silently trying to decide what we could do. We managed to get away with Story not seeing any of the magic. Only now it was starting to dawn on me that him seeing the magic might have made our situation better.

The fact that Story didn't see the magic would make warning him about it more difficult. Not only that but if we told him about the magic than what was the point in keeping him distracted? Would Ms. Cheerilee permit us telling him? Actually, would the Principal and Vice-Principal want us telling him? They made it clear to everyone at the Friendship Games that we needed to keep the magic to a 'Need to Know' basis. Even transfer students like Story weren't told about it.

“...” None of us made any plans of breaking that rule. So instead, we painfully stared at our feet. We could feel Story's worry without having to look at his sad expression. To Fluttershy and Applejack especially, all this secrecy was making us feel even worse. Finally, the creaking of Story's chair made a few of us glance up in time to see him lean forward.

“Look, if you guys want we can, just, call it a day from here.” Story started to reach for his backpack. “I mean, I get it. The game can be pretty boring. Besides, I don't mind packing up and heading home earl—”

“No!” Sunset tried to sound casual about it, but her appearance said otherwise. Her head shot up from the floor with eyes wide with worry. “No, it’s not that. We just...Don’t really know what to do ourselves. We're all kind of new to the game. Right girls?”

Some of us nodded along with muttered agreements while Applejack squirmed in her seat. The lie was not sitting well with her.

"Besides," Sunset went on. "We don't want you to have to pack up all your things," Sunset stressed as she looked across the table at Rarity. "And just head home. Right Rarity?"

"...Right," Rarity agreed slowly. The meaning of Sunset's words were starting to spark an idea to Rarity. She quickly sat up and continued Sunset's thought. "We would hate for all of your painstaking effort of putting all these dice and materials out go to complete waste."

It took myself a few more moments to catch on but once I did I found myself nodding in agreement. "Yes." I sat up. "Besides, didn't you say that you'd help teach us how to play? We still wanted to try to find out how the game works."

"Wait, even after all the—ow," Rainbow rubbed her side that Applejack drove a light elbow into. AJ might not have been able to lie along with us, but she wasn't about to let Rainbow blow our chance.

“Um." Fluttershy started to look up. "Why don’t you go ahead and do whatever you think is best?” Fluttershy gave Story a small smile. “After all, you know more about the game than we do.”

“I...W-Well...Yeah, I think I get where you're coming from.” Story put his backpack back down and faced forward towards the table. “Then, if you're all fine with it, we can just skip ahead to when everything begins actually happens."

Story took a moment to check over a few things as we all shared one last look between ourselves. By this point, we were all aware of the problem. If Story left now, he'd be taking all of his now magical things with him. So far that magic only seemed to change the dice colors, but if what I saw at the Friendship games was any indication, we couldn't let someone keep this much magic with them. At least, not until we found out what it all did.

Besides, we couldn't just take everything from Story. Even if we gave him a lot of these things as gifts they were all still his things. And if we weren't going to explain the magic behind this than that meant we wouldn't have a reason to tell Story to give up his things. For now, the only solution was waiting it out and seeing if this was even a problem to be worried about.

Hopefully, things wouldn't get too bad before we could have an answer.

Author's Note

Post Revision:

Wow, this took me so much longer than I thought it would! To anyone who might have read this chapter as I was rewriting it, I am so sorry for any point it turned out to look weird. What I thought would be a few quick edits turned out to be practically rewriting most everything.

That being said, there are parts that are now entirely different and plot points or scenes that may be missing or changed completely compared to when I first started this story. And if this doesn't at all link up with how the next chapter seems in the coming weeks of 4/30/2019 I apologize for that as well. I'm basically remaking the entire story from beginning onwards.

That said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Also, all of the Mane 7 D&D halves being introduced all at once is somewhat intended to be confusing. But to help keep the names in order, I tried keeping the names similar to their counterparts.

Sunset = Stostine
Rarity = Ricven
Applejack = Platick

The only names that aren't too similar are Pinkie and Twilight but those two are the exception. With Pinkie, Glemerr seemed like a ridiculous kind of name that only she would pick. Meanwhile with Twilight...Well, all in due time I suppose.

But until that time,

-Zeke