Highly Immersive Gameplay
The feeling was odd and unnatural, like being tickled by things that weren’t there. It went from the bottom of Applebloom’s hooves to the top of her forelock, down her spine and down her ribs. She shuddered. Sweetie Belle had said that after a while, you got used to it, but Applebloom at that moment believed she’d never quite get used to the feeling of going from the real world to the partially-imaginary.
“Oof!” she exclaimed as she felt a sudden weight on her shoulders and back. A heavy steel helmet sunk onto her mane and squashed it over her eyes. With a clatter, a heavy battle-hammer and shield fell next to her.
“Hello!” came a voice. Applebloom adjusted her helmet so she could see better.
Her surroundings were gloomy, but not unwelcoming or scary. Torches lit up the walls, and although there were shadows everywhere, Applebloom didn’t get the impressions anything was hiding from her. The voice that had called out to her belonged to a young stallion dressed in chain-mail.
“Uh, hey!” Applebloom said, and began picking up her hammer and shield. The shield, a heavy, dirty thing, she strapped to her left side, and the hammer she hooked onto her armour for safe-keeping. She assumed that was what she was supposed to do anyway. The picture of the class she had picked carried its weapon that way. “Are you in the party?”
The colt nodded. “Yeah. I played with S-Belle a few times,” he said. “I’m Beryllium Brave, but you can call me Bery.” He tilted his head. “You look like a paladin. What type?”
Applebloom straightened as best she could in her heavy plate. “I picked Watcher. Sweetie said it was a good one to pick.”
“Watcher Paladin, nice,” Bery said. “I’m a Noble Fighter, myself. The extra healing comes in handy.” He scratched his head. “Uh, I’m sorry to say this, but Sweetie couldn’t make it. She said she had some stuff to do at the Boutique or something.”
Applebloom sighed. “Oh.”
Bery held his hooves up. “But that’s okay! Me and Sweet can still show you the ropes. We even got a replacement Cleric for the party!”
“Sweet?”
“Yeah, Sweet Dreams. Hang on, she’ll be arriving here soon.”
Applebloom waited, and began subconsciously tapping her hoof. True enough, not long after Bery had told her to wait that two flashes of light lit up the cozy room. Two young fillies stepped out of the light.
“Hey, Bery!” exclaimed the first. “Oh, this must be Apple... uh, Applebuh...”
“Bloom,” Applebloom said. “Are you Sweet Dreams?”
The filly nodded. “Yup! And I found us a replacement Cleric! Guys, this is Samaritan. She lives down south of the Badlands, and I found her in one of the forums looking for a party.”
The final member of the party, a young mare roughly their own age, nodded. “Sup’. Call me Sam.”
Sweet brushed her colourful robes down. “I’m a Lady Sorcerer, so I’ll be providing some of our heavy-hitting spells.”
“I’m a Serpent Cleric,” Sam said. “Yeah, yeah, I know Serpent is a weird type of Cleric to be, but when you guys miss that one minion and I start taking hits, that healing poison comes in real handy.”
Applebloom whistled. “Sounds like you guys know a lot about the game,” she said.
“I’ve played a while,” Bery said, smiling. “As long as S-Belle, actually. We both got into it together, then I twisted Sweet Dream's foreleg until she joined in.”
Sam whistled. "Sounds like I'm butting into a tight crowd."
Bery and Sweet both laughed. "Don't worry, we're all kinds of friendly. We're basically beginners, since we mostly only play sporadically. I'm only level three, and Sweet is level four. S-Belle was the toughest of us, and she got to level six, so it sucks she's not here." Bery drew his sword. "This is basically the best thing I've got. It's adamantine!"
A door on the wall appeared, causing Applebloom to jump. Bery and Sweet both bumped hooves, grinning.
“Okay guys! Let’s play some Immersive Ogres and Oubliettes!”
The corridors and chambers beyond the strange door were somewhat similar to the room Applebloom had appeared in. The stone walls were smooth and pale grey, made out of some rock Applebloom would have assumed could be found in a southern temple or something. The torches lit up the place, and blue-green crystals glowed and added to the ethereal lighting and look of the place.
The dungeon had been carefully crafted to look as eerie and magical as possible. It was awesome.
“Okay,” Bery said, “this is the Dungeon of Statues. It’s a pretty well frequented Dungeon, and we’re probs gonna’ be looking at gargoyles, skeleton-ponies and if we’re really, really unlucky…” Bery breathed in. “...a giant spider.”
Applebloom raised her eyebrow. “Spiders?”
“Nah, just one,” Sweet said, grinning. “Bery doesn’t like spiders. He's scared of them.”
Bery shuddered. “It’s not fear, it’s rational caution. They're just freaky. And they have way too many legs! And they suck the juices out of flies!”
“We get loads of spiders in the barn,” Applebloom said. “Applejack doesn’t like killing them. She always either leaves them or takes them outside with a glass and piece of paper.”
“These spiders, you’ll wanna kill,” Sam said. “Or they’ll eat you. Not a nice way to fake-die.”
Bery held his hoof up. “Anyway, we’ll only be finding monsters later on. For now, we need keys. There's a pair of locked doors that won't open until we get four keys, navigating the labyrinth of traps. If we keep our eyes peeled, we'll be safe.” He scratched his head. "This is a novice dungeon, but it does have a higher than average fake-dead player rate which I find a bit confusing. Probably just noobs bumping into traps, though."
“Split up?” Sweet asked.
“Yeah, probably,” Sam said. “It’ll go faster.”
“I’ll go with Bery!” Applebloom exclaimed. She felt Beryllium Brave was the pony she knew the best out of the group. Sweet hadn’t talked to her much and Sam seemed really cold.
“Yeah, whatever,” Sam said. “The healers should probably spread out between the two, even if it does mean me and Sweet will be a bit squishier.”
Bery shrugged. “Sounds good to me,” he said, adjusting his sword-sheath. “Onwards! Oh, and don’t forget to check the statues for loot.”
“So, what’s with this game?” Applebloom asked as she and Bery explored the corridors, keeping a wary eye out for traps. “Sweetie told me a bit about it, but not much.”
“Immersive Ogres and Oubliettes?” Bery asked. “It’s pretty simple, to be fair. Some wizard found a little pocket dimension and thought to himself, sweet, I can make an absolute mint out of this. He turned it into a modular universe we can play in. It’s seriously cool just reading about how the game works and stuff.”
“Does it hurt in here?” Applebloom asked.
“Yeah, a bit, but you only fake-die and me, Sweet, and S-Belle don’t do the more hurty dungeons.” He shrugged. “Some ponies go for that sort of thing, but we mostly just like doing this for fun.”
Applebloom passed a marble statue of a pony in armour. “Wow, I guess this is why it’s called the Dungeon of Statues.”
“Yeah. Don’t forget to keep an eye on those: sometimes the game leaves a necklace on them or something.”
“Can we keep items in the game?”
“If you complete the dungeon, you get to store the items you got, yeah. If you die or give up, you get nothing.”
“Huh.”
“It’s also possible to take things from the game out into the real world, too,” Bery said. “It's a weird glitch and I don't know how to make it work, but for real, some players make a living out of this.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah! It takes the idea of item farming to a whole new level.”
The pair entered a large room. Statues adorned the walls and stood guard near doors and chests. Bery held his hoof up.
“Wait a sec’,” he said. “You don’t wanna get hit by a trap, and some of these might be gargoyles.”
“I thought you said we wouldn’t be fighting?”
“You never know. The dungeon is randomly generated each time you enter, so it pays to be careful.”
Applebloom examined the statues of the ponies. She saw one wearing an amulet, and took it off. “Hey, I found something.”
“What is it?” Bery asked as he tapped some of the statues with his sword. “Any good?”
“Dunno. It’s an amulet.”
“Sweet. Keep a hold of that, it might be enchanted. We’ll get Sweet or Sam to check it out later. Their classes come with more lore.”
“Yeah, by the way, how do I… uh, do things?”
“Like, abilities?” Bery asked, prodding a door. “To be fair, Paladins don’t have that many. Just a healing ability and some clerical powers.”
“Yeah, but I want to know how to use them,” Applebloom said as she trotted over to Bery. "It'll come in handy, I reckon."
The Noble Fighter was trying to door. It was locked tight.
“You said you were a Watcher Paladin, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Great! Looks like we can get a demonstration,” he said, beaming. “When you select your class, you’re basically selecting two things: a ‘base class’, and a ‘type’. My ‘base class’ is Fighter: I, uh, fight things. That bit is easy. The cool part, in my opinion, is the ‘type’. My type is Noble, like I mentioned earlier. It comes with a few quirks that affect what I can do.”
“Uh huh,” Applebloom muttered. “Like what?”
“It affects what kinds of abilities I can use, as well as strengths, weaknesses, other changes to my base class. For example, I have a powerful healing spell I can use,” Bery said. “Noble Fighters are pretty overpowered, because they can tank for so much longer than other classes. That said, I also get a weakness to fire, which sucks.”
“Huh.”
Bery pointed at Applebloom. “Watcher, on the other hand, has a different ability. You can sort of ‘sense’ things, for starters.” He tapped the locked door. “You can also unlock things.”
Applebloom looked at the door. “Okay,” she said. “How do I do that?”
“Kinda like unicorn magic, which is why it’s a bit tricky to grasp for Earth ponies like us,” Bery said. “Basically, you need to ‘think’ the spell. In this case, ‘unlock door’. If you know the spell, it’ll work. If not, you’ll get a little backlash. Like a tickle. Or a flick.”
Applebloom did as Bery said, then felt a sudden pain on her forehead. She flinched, her eyes closing.
“Ow!”
“Oh, yeah,” Bery said. “You also have to be touching the door? Watcher needs to touch the thing they’re opening for it to work.”
Applebloom sighed. “Great,” she muttered, and put her hoof on the door. She closed her eyes, and thought as hard as she could.
There was a click.
“There you go!” Bery exclaimed. “Learning the spells is apparently the hardest bit for unicorns, but casting the spell? Easy peasy.” He pushed the door open. “Onwards!”
Applebloom grinned to herself. She really rather liked being able to cast spells.
After a half hour of searching, Bery and Applebloom had found two keys. Each were thick and heavy and adorned with various symbols. Bery explained that the symbols were part of the ‘game language’, but you didn’t need to learn it to enjoy the game. It was perfectly optional.
For every chest unlocked and trap avoided, both Bery and Applebloom acquired experience. They didn’t encounter any monsters, and much to Bery’s relief, no spiders, although Bery did say that winning a fight would boost their experience considerably. Apparently you got better abilities when you gained experience, which made sense to Applebloom.
“Hey! Guys!” came a voice.
Both Bery and Applebloom turned around. Sam trotted down the corridor towards them. Sweet was nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, Sam,” Bery said. “Where’d Sweet go?”
Sam rubbed her forehead. “She ran head-first into a trap,” Sam said. “I, uh, don’t have a resurrect spell, so she’s sort of, um… booted out of the game.”
Bery widened his eyes. “For real? We haven’t even fought a monster yet!”
“To be fair, we did. We got a gargoyle,” Sam said. “Sweet blasted it with a fireball.”
Bery sighed. “Well, at least she’ll have gotten some experience.”
“I thought stuff didn’t carry over when you died?” Applebloom asked.
“Experience does,” Sam said. “Prevents players from making zero progress. It got patched in." She brightened. "Good news, though: I got two keys.”
Bery nodded. “I got the other two. That’s four. We’re good to go.”
“What do we need the keys for? Can't I use my ability”
Not these ones I'm afraid," Bery said with a cheeky grin. "That's why they have two locks: you can't do both at once. Bad news is the doors are guarded by monsters, and we don’t have our fireball spammer any more.”
Sam licked her lips. “Yeah. We should avoid taking detours for loot, and go straight for the ending.”
Bery sighed. “Yeah, guess so.” He turned to Applebloom. “Sorry this is proving to be a bit of a bum session.”
Applebloom shrugged. “That’s okay. It’s still fun.”
The group began to move down the serpentine corridors. Bery looked much more serious now. His eyes glanced left and right, scanning for enemies.
“Okay, well, better get your weapons out,” he said, drawing his sword. “We’ll need to react quickly if a gargoyle appears.”
Applebloom unhooked her hammer and held it in her hoof. She was used to carrying heavy farm equipment, so one measly hammer wasn’t that bad. She wondered if real life abilities bled through into the game. That’d make sense: after all, she still felt like she was Applebloom. She looked at Sam. The young mare was quite pretty, now Applebloom took a closer look. She was athletic and… sort of smooth, Applebloom thought. Her eyes were also stunning. They were bright yellow, and seemed to glow in the dark. Applebloom had seen ponies with weird eyes before. Night ponies had funny eyes, as did some of the 'birdier' pegasi. Still, Sam's eyes were lovely to look at.
Bery by comparison looked rather plain and straightforward, but still managed to exude an aura of strength and determination that in many ways made him more appealing to be around.
“You sure like looking at your teammates, huh?” Sam whispered, her voice barely more than a hiss.
“Uh…” Applebloom stammered, staring ahead.
“Hey, it’s all chill,” Sam said. “Just couldn’t help but notice you were staring a fair bit at Brave over there.”
“I was staring at you too!” Applebloom countered. She groaned inwardly. With the benefit of hindsight, it was perhaps not the smoothest of comebacks.
“Hey, that’s all chill too,” Sam said. "We're all pals here." She widened her eyes. “Heads up, guys. I see something.”
Bery spun around. “What?” he asked. "I can't see anything!"
"Quiet, then! Just listen."
The group went silent. Applebloom could hear the sound of rock scraping on rock. She breathed in.
“That’ll be a garg,” Bery said. “Let’s hurry. The more doors we open before we get swarmed, the better.”
The group began to rush forwards. Bery and Applebloom took point, with Sam keeping an eye on the rear.
A large double-door came into view. Two heavy locks adorned it.
“Bingo,” Bery said. “A-Bloom, watch my back while I open this. Sam, the keys?”
Sam tossed Bery her two keys. Applebloom scanned behind them for any sign of movement. The statues that surrounded them stared at her eerily. Some of them looked different. The stone they were made out of was darker and rougher, and the statues were posed differently. Many of them were trying to cover their eyes. Applebloom shuddered. Creepy.
The scraping of the gargoyles got louder and louder and louder. Applebloom swung her hammer to test the weight.
The stone gargoyle, a great big ugly twisted thing, came into view. Applebloom found herself transfixed by its teeth.
“Hey, Applebloom,” Sam began.
“Great snakes,” Applebloom exclaimed, “these things are huge! What do we do if we get swarmed?”
“Hey!” Sam snapped. “You’re a Paladin. Smite first, ask questions later!”
Applebloom felt the shadow of the gargoyle loom over her. She shuddered. What would her sister do?
Remember, sis, if you can’t talk your way out or run away, one thing you must absolutely get right is that if you’re gonna hit it, hit it with somethin’ real heavy.
Applebloom’s hammer was very heavy. The word 'smite' resonated in her brain. Something about the word felt very... alluring.
Sam widened her bright yellow eyes as Applebloom lifted her hammer high above her head.
“Uh…”
Pieces of gargoyle flew like sparks from a firework. Applebloom roared.
Bery looked back, the doors opening. He grinned. “Hey, looks like you’re getting into the spirit of things.”
Getting into the spirit of things? Yes, that was it. Applebloom hadn’t understood what it meant to be a paladin until this very moment. Lawful good did not, under any circumstances, mean lawful nice. She grinned. She was going to lawful good all over those gargoyles. She was going to do some justice.
“Smite!” she shouted, and charged.
Bery’s face fell. “A-Bloom? The door is open.”
More gargoyles began to explode under the weight of Applebloom's hammer. Sam stared.
"Bery, I think I'm in love."
Bery rolled his eyes. “Well, at least this gives us time to plan a little,” he said as he peered through the double-doors. A piece of gargoyle bounced off his helmet. “There’ll be more monsters through here, too...”
“This is awesome!” Applebloom shouted, and charged through the doors, swinging her hammer left and right. “I’m gonna smite ‘em!”
Sam beamed. "Why is everything always so wonderful?!"
A half dozen dead gargoyles later, Applebloom had began to calm down somewhat. Panting and sweating, Applebloom stared into Bery's eyes as he held both his hooves on her shoulders, looking at her with concern.
“Hey? You in there?”
“Uh… yeah, yeah…”
“You kinda went berserk a bit there,” Bery said. “It’s okay, happens to first-timers. Some of them get real scared, others, uh… go nuts.”
“I’m better now!” Applebloom muttered in-between pants.
Bery looked unconvinced. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“We don’t have fingers.”
“You’re probably fine,” Bery said, and straightened. “Uh, good news is during your 'episode', you gained a level.”
“I did?”
“Yup. You should be able to heal twice per rest, now! Among other things. You’ll want to consult the guide later for more info.”
The room they were in was, like most of the rooms they had explored, filled with statues. Again, many of them were the rougher, more life-like ones. Bery was a bit off-put by them. Applebloom got to her hooves.
“More monsters will be coming soon,” Sam said. “Applebloom, unless you want to be the best pony ever again, you should get the door. Me and Bery will hold them off whilst you fiddle with those dumb double locks.”
Applebloom nodded. She felt exhausted after her recent episode. Her hammer felt twice as heavy and her breath came in pants. She took Bery’s remaining two keys.
“The door should be a ways ahead,” Bery said. “Off you go, and stay safe.”
Applebloom nodded, and trotted away. She couldn’t help but feel a little proud. A whole level! She had no idea if that was good for a first timer, but regardless, it was still her first level, and she liked it. That made her a level two Watcher Paladin. Immersive Ogres and Oubliettes was so much fun. It was way better than the regular kind Sweetie had once tried to get them to play. Scootaloo had never looked quite so unimpressed with her friend. Scootaloo would love this, though!
The large double doors rose up before her. This door looked even more impressive than the last, and was seemingly made out of marble, the same material as the non-creepy statues.
“Oh, crud. Here they come!” Bery shouted. “Have at you, fiends!”
Applebloom inserted the first key into one of the two locks. It didn’t budge. She spat, and pulled it out, moving it into the next. This time, it worked. She looked back. Sam and Bery were getting swarmed by a mix of skeleton ponies and gargoyles.
Applebloom inserted the next key, and turned it. The door became unlocked with a clunk. In a bout of initiative, she closed her eyes and tried sensing what was beyond the door. Watchers were supposed to be able to do that, she remembered.
After a second, she decided she couldn’t sense anything, either because she was doing it wrong or because there really wasn’t anything there. Either way, she was out of time. She pushed the door open.
“Come on, guys!” she shouted. “Door’s open!”
Sam darted towards her, weaving in-between the skeleton ponies. Bery, on the other hand, didn’t move.
“Beryllium?” Applebloom shouted. Then she saw why Bery hadn’t moved.
Not far away was a huge, hairy spider. It was as tall as Applebloom herself and crawled along the walls. It's mandibles were waggling about like the tentacles of an octopus, and its eight beady eyes were staring at nothing in particular. Bery was fixated on it, using his sword to block attacks through instinct alone, as if sleepwalking.
“Bery! Come on!” Applebloom shouted.
Bery’s eyes flashed. He roared, and charged the spider.
“I will be scared no longer!” he screamed. "Onwards!"
Applebloom felt Sam’s hoof on her shoulder. “Come on, we need to go!”
“But Bery…”
“He’s gone ballistic. It's awesome, but we need to survive to win. Let’s split!” Sam insisted, and pulled Applebloom through the door, and then closed the door behind them.
Bery, Applebloom assumed, went to join Sweet Dreams in a blaze of glory.
The other side of the door was brighter, and more inviting. Actual sunlight poured in from above, illuminating chests and treasure. Applebloom didn’t feel very happy to see it, though. She had wanted the whole party to have made it. Even though it was only fake, it felt just real enough to sting.
She felt a hoof on her side. “You all right, Applebloom?”
“I guess,” Applebloom said. “I just wanted all of us to win.”
Sam’s large, yellow eyes glistened. “You’re sweet,” she said. “But what’s done is done.”
Applebloom looked down at Sam’s hoof. “I guess. You’re pretty nice, too,” she said.
Sam grinned, her sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. “Thanks.” She adjusted her mane, which seemed to move and shift. “But you’re probably thanking me a bit too early.”
Applebloom tried to tilt her head. “What do you m…” she began, before her words began to falter. “Uh… uhhhh…”
Sam grinned, her teeth seemingly becoming whiter and sharper. “Serpent type, remember?” she said. “Poison comes in real handy when you need somepony to stop living for a bit. Of course, it's touch based, but most part members tend to let me close enough for that.”
Applebloom felt her blood run cold. She couldn’t speak, or scream, or lift a hoof to defend herself. Instead she crumpled on the floor. Sam began to trot over to the treasure in a businesslike fashion.
“You ever been down south? There are some weird types of pony down south, past the Badlands,” Sam explained as she rummaged through the chests, pulling out various gold coins and necklaces. “There’s this one type of pony that, when you look at them, really look at them, and they look back, you turn to stone. Kinda like a cockatrice, but we’re not some dumb bird-lizard.” Sam clicked her tongue and sighed. “Whoops. Let that one slip.”
She got up and turned towards Applebloom, who could do nothing but stare at Sam. She couldn’t even blink. The poison made her insides feel like acid.
“Sorry, I meant for that to be a way grander dramatic reveal. It was gonna be awesome. I was gonna whip my mane and the snakes were gonna happen and the lighting was gonna be super dramatic and stuff. I really mucked it up. It's basically ruined and I feel like a total idiot. I swear I'm usually way better at this."
Applebloom did not say anything, because she was too busy coughing on the ground.
"Um, okay then. Surprise snake-pony!" Sam exclaimed.
Applebloom writhed as whatever natural healing factor the alternate-universe gave her began to kick in. Sam circled Applebloom.
"Anyway, this isn’t personal. Being what I am, I can’t exactly get a real job and function in normal society, can I?” She chuckled. “I couldn’t even chat to my mom without turning her to granite. Boy was that awkward! Pro tip, always wear sunglasses. In fact, this is the only time I can really talk to ponies. That way, if they catch a glimpse of what’s under the mane, well, at least it’s only fake death, right?” She strode up to Applebloom and began to relieve her of her hammer, shield, and armour. She plucked the amulet Applebloom had found earlier from her saddlebag. “Wow, an amulet of dexterity. This'll sell well.” She grinned. “Did you know that if you use a spell to eliminate fake-death on yourself, you can take your inventory over to the real world? Glitches are fun, huh? Anyway, thanks. I get to eat something other than rats tonight.”
She packed all the loot, including Applebloom’s equipment, into her bag.
“So, the thing is,” Sam went on, “you can’t actually win the game until all surviving players bang that button over there, and I reckon that once the poison wears off, you’re not going to come along quietly, are you?” Sam leaned in closer to Applebloom. “You’ll just be one more statue in this place. I bet nopony will even notice one extra young filly trying to cover her eyes.” Sam tilted her head. "Oh, yeah, you're not my first. This is kind of where I farm for loot, you know? My comfort zone, I guess."
Applebloom could feel her hooves again. She tried to bring one up to escape, but it wasn’t fast enough. Sam’s mane came undone.
“I thought we... were friends…”
“Don't be like that. Like I said, this isn't personal,” Sam said with a wink. “A snake-girl’s gotta eat, and if I didn’t fleece noobs like you, I’d be starving on an island surrounded by dead, empty statues of ponies who tried to cut off my mom’s head because some noble said it'd be cool.” She patted Applebloom’s cheek. “We’ll probs never see each other again,” Sam said, a sad little smile playing her lips, “so I just want to say, well, you deserved to win. Too bad life is filled with small tragedies. Like me!”
As Sam's mane fell down, countless snakes writhed on Sam’s head, like a nest of worms. Applebloom could feel her rear legs begin to freeze up. At least the feeling of cold stone replaced the pain. Sam winked.
“Hope you enjoy this last little stare, Applebloom. I know I will.”
Applebloom’s eyes opened as she fell from her chair in her room, screaming loudly. She breathed heavily, lying on her back for a moment. She heard hoofsteps pound up the stairs. Applejack burst into her room.
“Applebloom?” Applejack asked, panicky. “What’s wrong?”
Applebloom sighed, and rested her head on the floor. “I’m fine. I was just playing a game.”
Applejack breathed out, relieved. “Whew. Don’t go scarin’ me like that,” she said. “What happened?”
“Well, it was going mostly fine, then a snake-pony turned out to be one of my friends, left my other friend to fake-die, stole all my loot, flirted with me, then killed me by turning me into a statue.” She frowned. "Oh, and Sweetie had to do stuff at the Carousel Boutique."
"Sounds like a heck of a day."
"It's a weird game."
Applejack frowned. “This that Immersive Ogres ‘n Oubliettes nonsense?”
Applebloom nodded. She had heard Applejack's spiel before. “Yup, it’s that Immersive Ogres and Oubliettes nonsense.”
Applejack shook her head. “You’re as bad as Twi’s big brother,” she said. “He got ambushed by a vampire pony in there once. That game ain’t safe, you know. It's a magnet for weird ponies.” Applejack moved back to the door. “Well, be more careful next time.”
Applebloom got to her hooves and sat down at her desk again. It was still covered in the guides and books required to play Immersive Ogres and Oubliettes. She couldn’t help but remember Samaritan’s piercing yellow eyes. Not many ponies could claim to have been turned to stone by a Gorgony and survived. Or… well, technically she hadn’t. Thank heavens for fake-death.
“Yeah,” she said. “I guess so.”
Applejack left the room, leaving Applebloom on her own.
“Next time, I think I’ll insist on having Sweetie Belle as our Cleric.”
Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed the story! If you did, feel free to comment! I don't always have time to reply to all comments, but I read every single one. Also, if you had fun with this, please upvote the story as it'll help other gents notice it and (hopefully) also enjoy it.
A few notes:
The class system is a combination of traditional D&D classes and the star sign system from the Elder Scrolls series (specifically Oblivion).
Sweetie Belle is a Shadow Cleric. She decided that she could use the invisibility to escape and heal from safety. It also reflects her desire to avoid conflict.
Shining Armour, who also plays the game, is a Mage Paladin. Cadence also has a class, and is a Lady Bard.
Samaritan was originally a Lover Cleric in order to be able to paralyse her victims before her snake/medusa-pony motif was determined. Samaritan is partially inspired by Vriska Serket, who also kills players in role-playing games in order to survive. Samaritan is not her real name, although she is very fond of it.
Beryllium references the fact that the party is comprised of four players; 4 is Beryllium's periodic number.
Bery's adamantine sword references Perseus's sword used to kill the Gorgon. Unfortunately he wasn't able to use it this time around.
The phrase 'great snakes' isn't a reference to anything. It is just an awesome vintage thing to say and I think you should say it more often, whoever you are, wherever you are.
The pocket universe the game takes place in is similar to Discord's home.
The bodies of deceased players disappear in-game, but their statues do not. This is due to magic shenanigans.
