-Guild Entrance-

“Man, this is one crazy way to run a guild,” Mike said to himself as he got back to the guild entrance as he waited for his friends to meet up with him. While he was waiting though, several of the mares at the guild gathered around the building towards the board near the receptionist's desk as she was placing papers on the board that was next to the desk. ‘What’s going on there?’

Mathias walked through a large crowd gathered around a set of boards, squeezing his way through to get to Mike.

“Hey Mike,” Matt said. “You holding up alright?”

“Yo guys!” Zander called from across the room, walking up to the two. “Dudes, check this out, I got my first weapon here!” he said, pulling out Midnight’s Edge.

“What!? How’d you even get tha- you stole it, didn’t you?” Mathias said, leveling a glare at Zander.

“What? No, I bought it. Totally legit, man.”

“With what money.”

“I just saw some chick robbing these guys and managed to stop her. They gave me money as a reward, I used it to buy the knife. It deflects magic!” Zander said, twirling it on his fingers.

“Oh hey guys, how’s everyone?” Sam asked, making his way to the group with a mug in his hand.

“Apparently Zander bought a- wait, where’d you get that?” Mathias asked, pointing to the ale.

“This? Everyone in the Feasting Hall was having a naked party so I had some cake and brought this. How’d your guys’ search go? Oh, right, I didn’t find Twilight, by the way. I just found someone who knows her.”

“Same here, only caught some of her friends on my way out,” Zander said, flipping the knife around.

“Whoa, that’s sweet! Did you buy that with the cash you won off me?” Sam said.

“Nope, something else. How about you, Matt?”

“Ugh… No, I didn’t find Twilight, I just… saw some girl get milked. Then her friend fell over and, I may have accidentally groped her,” Matthias said, blushing profusely.

“Hey, a couple mares flashed me when I went to the shop, so it looks like we all got some good sights today, right Mike?” Zander said.

“Yeah, I got harassed and attacked by some dickheads who I beat into the dirt,” Mike said.

“Oh shit, you too?” Zander asked, sheathing the knife.

“Yeah, they were idiots. But, I did find Twilight Sparkle.”

“Dude, that’s awesome!” Matt said. “We can go home! Where is she?”

“Uh, she said she can’t help us.”

Mathias’ smile turned into a raging glare. “What!? The fuck was the point of this then!?”

“Calm down! She said that a friend of hers might be able to help in a few days, so we’re not out of options yet.”

“Oh,” Mathias said, taking a deep breath. “Alright, good. Just a few days, got it. What are we supposed to do until then?”

“Well she also mentioned something about the adventurer school that might know something about not only the portal, but the amulets that brought us here.” Mike brought up.

“Oh, fuck off with school, seriously?” Zander said, banging the back of his head against the wall. “We literally go to a fantasy world of busty amazons and we’ve still got to go to school?”

“Like it or not, we gotta go there if we’re gonna try and figure out how we got stuck here,” Mike added.

“So there’s a Lambdass attacking in the district?”

The guys turned around to see two pegasi, the twins that Sam had run into before, reading a piece of parchment they’d taken from the board.

“Apparently, and the nearby homes are getting torn apart and made into its den,” the other twin said.

“Jeez, well somepony’s gotta stop it, then. Wanna see if we can buy some rain clouds from the Cloud District?”

“Sure, we don’t really go there a lot anyway. It’ll be nice to visit the folks.”

“All the way in Hollow Peaks?” another mare said to her group of four. “How did a Ragkna make it there?”

“Does it matter? Look at the reward!” the wizard in a red dress said.

“A Duosia sighting needs to be evaluated in a small settlement South of here,” another mare said to her group.

Groups of mares and stallions started rattling off more monster sightings and random tasks around the guys, talking about rewards and chores of varying difficulties. The group of ponies moved out of the way as Mayor Mare approached with a pile of parchments in her arms. She started posting them on the board in various spots that were emptied out, mostly along the bottom, the number of papers becoming more scarce as they moved up on the board.

“So what’s going on here?” Mike asked, watching the room.

When Mayor Mare finished putting the papers up, she saw the guys and walked over to their group.

“Hello boys, everything alright?” she asked.

“Well, we found Twilight Sparkle, but we’re going to have to wait until some lady called ‘Sunstone’ can help us instead,” Mike said.

“Huh. Well, in that case I imagine you boys would like something to pass the time. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t sign off on any quest you’d take until you all earn your licenses.”

“Wait, quests?” Mike asked.

Mayor Mare nodded.

“Every day around this time, we compile lists of quests submitted by Town Hall, as well as any files brought in personally by Ponies in need. We let them put up jobs of almost any kind, so long as they can pay the Guild itself for the space on the board. Anypony can choose any mission, though we do have a rating system in place to determine the difficulty a quest may be associated with, such as certain areas or monsters you could end up facing. In fact, some of the top-rated ones are reserved for a certain Raid Party, since they seem to be the only ones who can complete them without grievous injury and with everypony returning alive and not cursed.”

“Jesus, that sounds intense if only one effing party can keep up with those,” Zander said.

“Exactly,” She followed up. “Though we also have goblins to deal with, hardly any adventurers do those with how weak they are. But there is that one stallion who goes out of his way to accept those… ah, I’m sure it doesn’t matter.”

“Well that sounds-”

“Again,” the Mayor interrupted Zander, “I can’t sign you off on any of those since you need a license. If you want to go on to getting them, you’d need to get to the Adventurer’s School down the road.”

The crowd near the board was silenced as a group of mares walked up to it. The guys turned to see familiar mares that they’d each met already all in a party together. At the front and center was Twilight Sparkle, who reached up and took a parchment from the very top of the board. She nodded to her group and opened a swirling vortex of magic. As they walked through, some of the girls noticed Mike’s group and waved at them before walking through the thing and leaving.

“Hey, I met a couple of those girls,” Zander said. “They were pretty cool.”

“Yeah, I recognized the… yellow one,” Mathias said.

“Dude, nice! She’s freakin’ huge!” Zander said. “But damn, so was the pink one.”

“You mean Pinkie?” Sam asked. “Yeah, she was pretty fun to hang around with. Wish I could have hung out a bit longer.”

“Wait, did we all meet members of Twilight’s group? That’s weirdly convenient,” Mike said.

“You’re telling me,” Zander replied with a sigh.

“So you each met members of the strongest team in Equestria?” Mayor Mare said, making the guys turn to her in surprise.

“Wait, they're the strongest team?” Mike asked in shock. “I beat up two asshole earlier just to get them off of Twilight and Applejack’s backs.”

“I saw both Fluttershy and Starlight topless a few minutes ago,” Matthias added.

“I met Rarity and RD and helped them with a couple thugs earlier,” Zander added. “Even let me buy this crazy dagger.”

“There was a sweet party going on in the Feasting hall and Pinkie gave me some cake,” Sam said before taking a swig of his ale.

“I guess you can consider yourselves lucky that they’re laid back, otherwise you would’ve had your fannies kicked across Equestria,” She joked. “Those girls know how to hold their own.”

“So you said that they're the strongest raiding party right?” Mike asked.

“That’s right, they usually handle the most dangerous of missions that most of the other parties can’t, that’s why they’re the Raid party.” She added with a smile. “If you boys want to be as strong of adventurers as they are, why not check out the Adventurer’s school here?”

“Believe it or not, that’s actually where we were planning on going,” Mike brought up. “One of them mentioned earlier about how we could learn about the medallions we found.

“God, do we really have to go back to school?” Zander asked.

“Shouldn’t we discuss this?” Mathias asked. “I mean, going to classes even though we’re hopefully only going to be here for a few days?”

“We’re discussing it now, aren’t we?” Sam said. “And I’m for it! Let’s get learned!” he said, slamming the empty mug onto the table.

“Okay, the building you’re looking for is outside, down the road to the old outpost.”

The Mayor walked the guys to the door before she pointed at the large stone building down the way.

“That’s the school,” she said. “Hard to believe you missed it.”

“Well, we were led here by Lyra and Bon Bon, so we were more focused on finding Twilight than that place,” Zander said.

“Guess we should go now,” Mike said.

“You boys take care then,” Mayor Mare said, waving at them. “And if you ever need a hand… well, I’m sure I’ll have something I can lend fine young studs like yourselves,” she said, winking before walking back, sashaying her hips.

“Not gonna lie, I’d smash her,” Zander said.

“Dude! She’s been nothing but kind to us, why would you do that!?” Sam said.

Zander shook his head and started walking off to the school, the rest of the guys following. More adventurers were loitering the area around the Guild, a few walking off to another building on another path.

“Whoa, what is that place?” Mike said, pointing at a building.

The building they saw looked as if it were taken out from Candyland itself, with gingerbread walls, icing along the edges and candy decorations along its surfaces. Many ponies were walking in and out of the building, and the aroma it gave off was intensely sweet.

“The hell is that place?” Zander asked.

“Either Diabetes in physical form or a Slaaneshi pub. Either way, we’re going in later,” Sam said.

“Guys, I see the school,” Mathias said.

The building in question looked like an old fortress, built on a slab of stone and lined with two-story walls, three spires visible from where they were. The stones were faded and worn from age, though the roofing was freshly redone and painted a multitude of colors, like lavender, white, orange, cyan, pink and yellow in repeating tiles. The gate was wide open, and peering into the mechanisms one could see the spiderwebs and dust, showing that it’d stayed open for quite a long time. Past the gate was a large courtyard, several training dummies and racks of fake armor and wooden weapons were lined up by the farthest wall. Some stone walls were knocked down to make for more open doors and hallways, with actual windows being placed along the upper levels. Overall, it was clear that this place was ancient, but they’d taken care to renovate what they could and reformed this bastion of war into a school.

“Wow, it looks old, but it looks like they know how to take care of it,” Zander followed up. “Wonder what it’s like on the inside?”

“Looks like the place hasn’t seen much action aside from… whatever they’re doing now. They don’t even have lookouts in the towers. Guess we really landed in a good starting town, huh?”

“Yeah,”Mathias added. “So you think they may have some info on those amulets we found?”

“Hopefully,” Mike followed up. “We’ll need to check out the building first.”

The group walked through the courtyard, watching younger ponies whacking dummies and sparring, a few stares lingering on them only for a few moments while they walked through. The courtyard itself was quite large, with a large ring in the center, about the size of a tennis court filled out with loose dirt, with weapon racks stacked up against the far walls. Some ponies were fighting in it at the moment, though the guys didn’t pay attention to that. A sign pointed to the nearby set of double doors that read, “Head Instructor”, which they followed at every turn. One of the colts and a filly training approached the group.

“Are these new monsters?” One of them asked in confusion. “They look kinda weird.”

“No way, one of ‘ems a dragon, kinda, so they can’t be, otherwise it would have eaten ‘em! They’re some kinda minotaur hybrids!”

“Hey,” Zander said in annoyance.

“Easy man, they’re just kids,” Mathias followed up.

“Yeah, they’re just as interested in learning about us as we are about… well, everything else here!”

The rest of the students began to gather causing a female teacher to show up asking, “What’s going on, what are you all crowding around?”

A tall mare strut forth, wearing a long, thin gray robe with a tall witch’s hat. Her robe split open by her shoulders, reaching a V down to her navel revealing a canyon of cleavage of her impressive G-size magenta bust. Around her waist was a series of golden bands, engraved with smiling faces that accentuated her wide hips. The dress’ skirt reached all the way to her hooves, though she wore fishnet stockings that were wracked with holes and tears. Her mane hung down over her shoulders, running with two tones, pink and violet. Her eyes stared down at the group, pale green eyes widening in curiosity.

“Okay, this is pretty awkward,” Mike said, rubbing the back of his head. The guys were about to move when they suddenly felt themselves locked in place. “The fuck?” Mike said as he looked down to see that a rune circle appeared below them. Before they could even ask what was going on, they felt themselves surrounded in a large bubble that slowly rose and covered them. The bubble then slowly lifted them up, keeping the bubble above the ground. The guys looked at the pink mare, and her look of curiosity was gone and was replaced with a more serious tone.

“Who are you boys?” She asked, still keeping her serious look.

“Oh, I got this!” Sam said. “Hello there! I’m Sam, this is Mike, Mathias and Zander!”

“Keep her distracted, I got this,” Zander whispered, drawing his knife.

Zander pressed the knife into the bubble before Mike grabbed him by the wrist.

“Dude, you realize that’ll only make us look worse, right?” Mike hissed.

“I don’t care, dude she trapped us in a fucking bubble before she even said hi to us!”

“Just let me handle this!” Mike growled as he looked at his friend with a serious face. He then trunks back to the rather busty teacher, and calms down. “Anyways, we don’t really mean any harm to anyone here.”

“Mind stating your business then?” She asked, with a calm tone, but kept her serious look.

“Mayor Mare said you’d be able to help us,” Mike replied with a sigh. “We just walked here and we didn’t know you were having class.”

“I see,” she said, calming down and her smile returned. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

“You trapped us in a fucking bubble before we could explain ya crazy broad,” Zander said.

Her smile dropped instantly as she popped the bubble, dropping the guys on the ground.

“Keep it up, see where that gets the lot of you,” she said, crossing her arms. “Anyways, sorry about earlier, one can never be too careful especially since I have to look after the entire school to help new adventurers get ready for the real world.”

“Understandable,” Mike said with a sigh. “It’s no wonder you acted the way you did.”

“Why thank you,” She said and her smile returned. “Anyways, if we’re going to continue this civilly, let’s take this inside, and I’m sure we can discuss this in a manner that benefits all parties. My name is Headmistress Cheerilee by the way, the headmaster of the school.”

“No problem,” Sam said with a smile. “Nice spell, by the way.”

“Thank you,” She said before turning to all of her students. “Continue your training until I get back everyone.”

The students nod and return to their training and Cheeilee turns back to the boys. “Follow me to my office everyone.”

-Cheerilee’s Office-

“Here we are boys, my office,” Cheerilee said as she opened the door to her office.

Inside was a large room, nearly the size of their garage, filled to the brim with magical nomenclature. The walls on the sides were lined with bookshelves filled with ancient tomes, the windows were all opened to let in a nice breeze, and her redwood desk was in front of a circular table with five stools around it. There were some other tables in the corners of the room, covered in potions and ingots, with glowing runes etched into them.

“Woah, this is almost the size of our garage,” Mathias said with a shock look on his face. “Look at all this.”

Cheerilee snapped her fingers and a vortex of magic summoned a tray, filled with a plate of cookies and a teapot with five cups on it.

“Please, have a seat,” she said with a smile as she took her seat and used her magic to pour the tea in each cup. Each of the guys took a seat and she used mer magic to hand each of them a cup. “So, is there any reason why you were sent here?”

“It’s a long story, and it may be hard for you to believe us,” Mike said as he took a sip of his tea. He tasted sweet honey and berries were mixed in the tea, giving it a very sweet flavor. Mixed with a heat it seemed to dance in his tongue.

“Hon, considering I came across creatures I know nothing about, and how we deal with different adventures on a daily basis in this world, nothing is impossible,” she said ,taking a sip of her tea. “So try me.”

“Okay, but like we said it’s a long story,” Mike said as he began to tell her everything. Each of the guys helped fill in the gaps as well ranging from the medallions, to the teleportation, meeting the strongest adventurers and even trying to find a way home, if it’s even possible.

“So let me get this straight,” She added, taking another sip of her tea. “You boys say that you’re from another world, you found mystical medallions that represent a demon, a phoenix, a wolf, and a dragon, one of them is cracked, you found a spell that teleported you here, and you have no idea how to get back home?”

“Yeah,” Mike said.

“Right,” Zander added.

“Uh huh,” Mathias added.

“That is, word for word, what we told you, yes.” Samuel added.

“Hmm. I need to test something,” she said, standing up, her large breasts jiggling from the momentum. “Could you each show me your medallions?”

“Uh would if we could,” Mike replied with a nervous smile while rubbing the back of his head. “They kinda merged with our bodies when we got here,”

“Interesting.” She turned to the book shel, snapped her finger, and a book flew out from one of the shelves, its pages flipping rapidly before she started reading a select passage. “Very well, show me where.”

Mathias took off his shirt and showed off the Phoenix on his back, Zander held his head up to show off the Wolf on his neck, Mike held out his hand to show off the Demon, and Sam tapped his chest to point to the Dragon.

“I see, so these medallions merged with… why is yours missing part of the Dragon?” Cheerilee said, pointing to Sam.

“Hey, it was broken when it showed up, blame the FedEx guy,” Sam said. “Part of it probably melted into the floor. Oh crap, I’m gonna have to clean that up when we get back.”

“Hmm. Well, this isn’t exactly the first time this has happened, though it’s been long enough that the memory of it’s not exactly common knowledge.”

Cheerilee snapped her fingers, shutting the blinds and drawing the room into darkness before a crystal ball rose from the ground, hovering as it glowed with moving images of other medallions, similar to the ones they found.

“What is this?” Mike asked.

“The Gods of this world bargain and gamble with Gods of many others, often the reason why we see such various species across our lands. Some gambles bring fortune, like Hippogriffs and Zebras, and others bring trouble, like the monsters of the Everlost. Eventually, a Great Game was decided upon, one where an outer-realm’s God would be allowed to throw their own into the mix while another God riles the dark forces of our own world, sometimes even mixing in their own. Unfortunately, one of the rules is that true warriors, born and raised for combat, are not allowed to be summoned, so they pick warriors at random to see if they can make it with the Blessings of the Guardian Lords. Once picked, the warriors would be brought to our land to fight and protect it. If they succeed and defeat the evil before the Advent Eclipse, then we’re saved. If not… the old Prophets of Yvraine and Ynneal say that we’d be ripped from this world and they’d simply start anew.”

“So your asshole Gods made it so that everyone could get killed because a bunch of gambling idiots want to see what some bumbling morons could get when they’re thrown into a random fantasy world?” Zander asked.

“... yes. Our Gods are… not bright,” Cheerilee said, rubbing her temples.

“So what, we just kill whatever freak is causing a problem and we get to go home?” Mike asked. “Does anybody else know about this stuff?”

“As I said, this is an old story that has faded into legend, so not many ponies know about it but a select few.”

“Well that’s just fun,” Zander followed up. “So what are we supposed to do?”

“I… have no idea. Usually there’s some horrible event that happens BEFORE the warriors are supposed to show up, but… we haven’t seen anything like that yet. Usually it’s some king of the Underworld, some kind of cosmic horror or a cult of super weirdos trying to mind-frick everypony but… so far we haven’t really seen anything.” Cheerilee said. “Although… there is the Summer Sun Celebration happening in a few days, maybe something cataclysmic will happen there.”

“So we just stick around and wait for something terrible to happen? Well, given the present company it should only take us a few hours.” Samuel said. “Got anything we can do to pass the time? Maybe we could catch a class or two while we’re here. This is a school, so why don’t we learn something?”

“Hmm, I suppose there’s no harm in spectating some of our top students while I have my assistant discuss this matter with a contact of mine,” she said, a scroll being coded with strange text. “In the meantime, they’ll be taking care of something for us.”

“Okay,” Mike said.

“Anyways, why don’t we continue the tour of the school?” She said with a smile, opening the door in the process. “If you boys are gonna be stuck here, we can continue the tour of the school since Mayor Mare gave you permission to look around.”

She guided the four through the main building, starting with the top floor where the students would learn about alchemy and enchantments, as they were among the most important for adventurers to learn. On the second floor were the classes dedicated to more practical skills, such as cooking, smithing and monster anatomy. On the bottom floor were the classes dedicated to learning combat and practicing. When they were done, Cheerilee led them back outside to the main courtyard.

“So what do you boys think of the school so far?”

“Pretty festive to say the least,” Zander said with a sigh. “But why did we stop here?”

“I figured I let you boys meet my top five students,” she said pointing towards the center of the courtyard where a crowd of students gathered.

Cheerilee walked forward and clapped, getting the attention of everyone in the courtyard. The students all turned and made way for the Headmistress and the guys, though the fighting in the ring didn’t stop. As they approached, the guys managed to get a good look at the five mares in a free for all in the ring.

One student was yellow with a red mane and tail, a tight white crop-top wrapping around her chest with tight blue shorts clinging to her waist, a massive axe in her hands.

Another was stark white with a two-toned pink and purple mane and tail, dressed similarly to Cheerilee, though her robes were a bright cyan and her hat was replaced with a wreath of red leaves. In her hands twirled a mage’s staff, a white branch vibrant with arcane might.

The third was a slim orange pegasus, wearing a tight green one-piece with a cape and skirt made of dried leaves and framed with twigs. In her hands were two daggers, one a fiery orange and the other an icy blue. When she clashed them, a burst of steam shot across the arena.

The next was a pink mare with a two-toned white and pink mane, a silver tiara resting upon her head. She was clad in a white dress, with fingerless elbow-length gloves and was making signs with her hands, summoning random weapons and throwing them at the others, though when they missed they disappeared.

The last one was a grey mare with a silver mane and tail, wearing a pink dress with no skirt, though she was wearing tightly clad thigh-high stockings lined with rings and grooves mounted with blades close to her hooves. She also wore a pair of glasses with a band keeping them on her head.

“Whoa, that’s intense,” Zander said, watching the fight.

“Yeah it is!” Sam said. “I’m rooting for the silver one.”

“Who are those ponies?” Mike asked.

“Our top students. With the axe, we have Apple Bloom, sister to Applejack. She packs quite the punch, even without the family heirlooms. Sweetie Belle, the unicorn, proficient in illusions and sister to Rarity Belle, one of the School’s top funders. Scootaloo, the pegasus, with ambitions high as the sky. She was tutored by Rainbow Dash in CQC and it certainly shows. Diamond Tiara, the Earth Pony with the white dress, is daughter to one of the town’s wealthiest families, who also hold a share on the school’s funding, excels in weapon summoning and smithing. Lastly, we have Silver Spoon, another heir to the wealthier part of the town’s upper class but she’s proved herself to be just as deadly up close as even Apple Bloom. Overall, their backgrounds and performance have led them into a five-way tie for Valedictorian for their class.”

“Okay… so, hypothetically, where would we be grouped up if we were to start at this school? Just out of curiosity,” Mathias said

“Well, considering you have no reputation, credits or certifiable achievements, you’d be starting at the same level as… young Button Mash over there,” she said, pointing to a small brown colt with a spinner hat, intently watching the girls in the arena.

“And that level would be…” Mike said.

“Level minus-one. You’d be starting out learning the pre-basics before we can even evaluate your current abilities. Essentially, we’d have to teach you about stuff most ponies would learn at the age of three or five.”

The group stayed silent, jaws dropped at the thought of being put in a preschool level class.

“Are you serious!?” Zander said. “So we’d have to take a class meant for actual literal children, and have to take basic courses to get our licenses?”

“I already beat up two Bronze Rank adventurers at the Guild,” Mike said. “Both at the same time!”

“That’s impressive, but just because you beat two fully licensed adventurers doesn’t mean you know proper first-aid alchemy or how to fix a broken sword,” Cheerilee said. “Not to mention that being good in a fight doesn’t exactly equate to understanding the Principles of Magical nature of our world, nor does it help you understand the intricacies of trade and Guild systems.”

Unbeknownst to the guys, the fighting in the ring stopped as the girls fighting noticed their conversation.

“Who do you think they are?” Applebloom asked as she held her axe over her shoulder. “Ah’ve never seen them before in mah life.”

“Note sure,” Sweetie Belle said with a sigh. “They don’t look threatening though.”

“Yeah, I heard Cheerilee trapped them in a bubble or something,” Scootaloo said, putting her daggers away.

“They look pretty down. Maybe they got some bad news,” Sweetie Belle said.

“I think the one with the weird arm said something about beating a couple of Adventurers?” Scootaloo said.

“Huh, maybe they’re lookin’ ta get their licenses like us?” Apple Bloom said.

“If that’s the case,” Silver Spoon said, “then maybe they need some help finishing their requirements. Why don’t we spar with them? It would help get them the credit for physical performance and it’d look good on our parts to help lower-ranked students.”

“Good thinking, Silver,” Diamond Tiara said. “Not to mention that it’ll be good to practice against somepony who isn’t one of us. It can be a learning experience for both groups involved.”

“Good idea,” Sweetie Belle added as she and the girls walked over to the group.

Meanwhile, the boys sighed in defeat knowing that there was no way out of this and turned about to find the girls that were fighting were now approaching them.

“Hey,” Apple Bloom said, approaching Sam, “we heard y’all were in a bit o’ trouble, so why don’t we help show ya the ropes?” she said, patting him on the back.

She hit him with enough force to send him to the ground face-first, Sam coughing and hacking as he laid there.

“Geez, Sam you okay?” Mathias asked as he and his friends were worried about him.

“Ah! Oh, that’s what lung tastes like,” Sam said, struggling to breathe.

Apple Bloom blushed as she quickly took off her gloves.

“AB, you really need to be careful, you’re gonna kill somepony like that,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Hehe, sorry,” She said with a smile while blushing.

“Dang sam, you alright?” Zander asked, trying to help him up.

“No, but I’ll pretend I’m fine.”

“You guys only solidified that you need our help,” Diamond followed up with a sigh. “We’ll give you an hour or two to prepare yourselves.”

“Prepare ourselves, for what?” Mathias asked in confusion.

“Well, I suppose we can start with Evaluations, then. Get the humiliations out of the way early so you can focus on your studies.”

“What do you mean?” Mike asked.

“Oh, you know, new adventurers come into town, challenge the top-rated students and then get beaten into the dirt so badly we have to pick up what’s left of their pride with a spatula. Let’s get this out of the way early so we can document your weaknesses and move on to properly training you four.”

“Whoa whoa whoa! We’re not ‘challenging’ anyone here! We’re lost and just asked what’s going on! We didn’t have a choice where we woke up this morning, why do we get to be humiliated!” Said Mathias.

“Plus the only reason I fought those guys was to make them back off from harassing two mares I met, and I didn’t even know who they were!”

“I apologize, I’m a bit too used to seeing the former scenario happen all too often. At least you lot seem to be somewhat level-headed, not what one would expect from a new band of adventurers. You didn’t deserve that, and I’m sorry.”

“Eh, it’s alright. We’ve had worse assumptions levied against us. Friggin’ Dean and the landlords still never paid for the damages,” Samuel muttered.

“Well, good luck to you boys,” Cherilee said as she saw them out. The group leaves and she returns to her office.

\\\//////

She walks back in her office and sighs to herself as she walks towards what looked like a family photo. In the picture was her, another mare holding two babies and a red stallion wielding a greatsword.

“Better pay these two a visit later,” She said with a smile. “I need to be there for them, especially if the Gamble is upon us.”

A note appeared in the air above her desk and floated down. Cheerilee reached towards it and it floated up to her, unfurling as she read its contents.

“Hmm… alright, I’ll see if I can fill in some gaps. Hopefully those four will have what they need by the end of the Summer Sun Celebration.”

\\\//////

“Well, how do we ‘prepare’ for these Evaluations?” Mike asked.

“I have no idea,” Mathias said. “Maybe we can ask some of the students or something?”

“Let’s ask around,” Zander added. “Who do you think- Sam?”

They found that Sam had already walked off and was talking to the brown colt with the spinner hat. He was wearing simply chainmail armor and looked pretty meek compared to some of the other students they saw, standing only an inch taller than Sam.

“Alright, well we’ll let you show us around then,” Sam said, waving the rest of the guys down. “Hey! Button Mash over here’s gonna show us around town!”

“Dude, that’s not what we’re focusing on,” Mike said.

“I know, but we’re going to need to know where we can get weapons and armor if we’re going to actually be ready for a fight, and he knows where everything is since he’s done plenty of shopping with his mom.”

“Can you not say that part out loud!?” Button hissed, blushing as he looked around. “I don’t want ponies to think of me as just a mommy’s colt!”

“Nothing wrong with having a loving mother,” Sam said, waving Button’s concerns off. “Now, we’ve only got an hour or two, so let’s get going!”

“Ah, alright, sure,” Button said.

“Aaaad-venture!” Sam said, pumping his fist into the air.

“We’re screwed,” Zander said.

Author's Note

More lore being played out and meeting more interesting characters in the making. Lets keep things up with the next chapter being a corruption chapter.