“Mister Ignis!”

I slam my eyes open expecting to find myself on my ass in the orchard, but instead I just see darkness. Endless void.

I’m floating slowly, pointlessly around, and I look at my hands. They’re perfectly clean, no calluses, scars, or blemishes. This really isn’t my body. I don’t even know how long it’s been since I passed out, it feels like a few seconds. I feel unnaturally calm and my thoughts are slowing down.

I’m Ignis Ferrum.

If I have all this equipment with me then I wonder if my character sheet is in that knapsack? As the thought leaves my brain I see blue particles fly through me and around me, quickly. They start to accumulate and form a shape, soon enough I recognize it.

IGNIS FERRUM
High Elf
Level 3 - Wizard.

Strength - 13
Dexterity - 19
Constitution - 15
Intelligence - 20
Wisdom - 15
Charisma - 13

Cantrips:
Booming Blade
Control Flames
Fire Bolt
Mage Hand

1st Level Spells:
Absorb Elements
Burning Hands
Comprehend Languages
Feather Fall
Find Familiar
Magic Missile
Shield
Sleep

2nd Level Spells:
Dragon’s Breath
Invisibility

Skimming through the rest of it I mentally make a note of my skill proficiencies and languages, but how does that work? Sure on paper Ignis was apparently proficient with a Sling and can speak Draconic, but I’ve never done either of those things. Will it be similar to when I tried to say my name but my body spoke something different? Sounds a bit scary to be honest, not being in complete control of my body.

Gotta love being proficient in Religion while apparently being in a completely different universe. I’m sure that’ll be applicable.

Am I ever going to see any of my friends again?

“Send” works across dimensions right? Maybe I could try that. Let’s focus on that later and let me go back to my character sheet.

Man, I rolled really lucky on those stats though huh? 20 INT and 19 DEX at level 3 with not a single stat below 13. I don’t know if levels even matter now, but at level 4 I can give myself a +2 to any of those stats besides INT, since 20 is the max. Why am I not freaking out anymore? Is it because of this void? Am I dreaming? No. Elves don’t sleep, but I’m not sleeping, technically, I should be unconscious because of my panic attack. My body must have gone into the elven trance state automatically.

I have so many more questions like why do I still have modifiers and proficiencies in the first place when those only matter if someone is rolling a dice.

Suddenly the black void in my vision is quickly replaced with loose hay and it seems like I’m in a barn. I can hear what sounds like that small horse… pony, she’s a pony. Anyways I hear Apple Bloom and another woman I don’t recognize. She sounds older.

“Are ya crazy Apple Bloom! We got dang near the whole Apple family tree here with the celebration set to start in a few hours and you bring some creature that came from Celestia knows where with a sword and armor on!” She’s clearly talking about me, but when she puts it that way even I’m a little concerned with the decision making skills from Apple Bloom.

“He’s not some creature from Celestia knows where! He’s Mister Ignis and he’s an elves from the Feywild. I think? He said something like that, but most importantly, he’s lost! He said he don’t know who the Princess is or what the celebration is. Everypony knows who the Princess is!”

Well she said elves this time instead of elfs, but I’m guessing she hasn’t learned what plural means. Besides adorable grammar issues, she also brings up some valid points. I think I’m just going to step in here though and talk to the older pony myself. Save little Bloom from getting in even more trouble.

“What she says is true. My name is Ignis Ferrum and I am a High Elf. I’m also not entirely sure where I am, but I am fairly certain it’s the wrong plane of existence entirely. I don’t wanna cause either of you any trouble so I’ll just get out of your hair.” The instant I stop speaking everything in my vision takes on a hint of blue and it seems as if time itself has stopped.

In the space above the older pony I see the word “ADVANTAGE” appear and two 20 sided dice roll into view bouncing off of some imaginary table. They stop. One lands on 3 and the other on 13. The number 3 fades away into nothingness and then just under the 13 I see “+1 Persuasion” and the 13 turns into a 14.

The sheer magnitude of what I’m witnessing rocks me to my core. This is a reality warping power I possess. I just tried to explain away my presence and then excuse myself and now before any outcome is decided I just rolled for Persuasion with advantage. I’m not sure why this power gave me advantage but it looks like I rolled a 14. Not the worst thing I could’ve rolled for sure, but could’ve been better.

The numbers and words appearing in thin air instantly vanish and time resumes.

The orange pony squints at me suspiciously and replies, “Woah there partner. I can’t just let you walk out with that there sword and especially with whatever that book is. I’m not even a unicorn and I can feel the magic radiating off that thing. You’re not here to invade Equestria or hurt anypony?” Book? Oh that empty mount attached to the small of my back now has a book firmly held within it. Well that has to be my spell book then, and I guess Equestria is the country I’m in. I should probably answer this pony.

“No. I don’t even know where “here” is and I definitely wouldn’t just hurt someone for no reason.” I make a wide sweeping motion with my arms to put emphasis on the fact that I really have no fucking clue where I am. I really just need help getting home.

“You really have no idea where you are, do you? You said something about a plane of existence? I don’t know nothing about that, but I do know I’ve never heard of no elves before or the Feywild. Maybe the Princess knows something I don’t and she can help you. She’ll be in town later tonight for the Summer Sun Celebration. I can’t force ya to do anything, but I’d really prefer it if you stayed in this barn or atleast in this general vicinity for a while. You’d plain spook everypony out there and cause a ruckus and we still got a lot to do to finish up the catering for tonight. I promise to come get you when it’s time though.” She seems sincere enough. I’m surprised there’s no roll for Insight to see if I think she’s lying or something. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t feel a need for it? In some scenarios it might only need a roll if I consciously want to.

“That’s the first piece of good news I’ve heard so far. As far as staying here until it’s more convenient for you, sure I don’t mind….. I still need time to process some things to be honest so that’s probably for the best. One thing though, what’s your name?”

“Oh! Silly me, my name is Applejack.” Applejack responds and holds out her front left hoof while making eye contact with me.

A hand shake? I grab her hoof and she continues “Pleasure to make your acquaintance!”

“I’m placing all my trust in you Applejack, I’m in a foreign land surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and I decide to completely trust the first two creatures I meet. Maybe I really am crazy, but I hope I can count on you.”

I release Applejacks hoof but before she can respond Apple Bloom interrupts, “You won’t regret it Mister Ignis! I can’t even think of the last time my sister lied to somepony! She’s never let me down!”

The older pony gives Apple Bloom a bit of a side eye before adding in, “I’ll definitely do what I can, but I’m no miracle worker. That’ll be Princess Celestia’s job.

Looks like I have the first step in my quest. Meet with this Princess Celestia.

Author's Note

I know, I know the character sheet is an eye sore. I don't plan on showing it very often mostly because it isn't going to change that often, and also because I'm going to link the actual character sheet right here: https://ddb.ac/characters/93111821/jUgD9n

Also, I'd love some feedback. I was really stuck when trying to decide if I actually want to have the rolling of the dice happen in the universe itself, or if I should just roll the dice outside of the universe and maybe just throw the result in parenthesis like this (14)
or if I just let you guys infer the roll based on the outcome. If I keep the in universe dice rolling the actual scene where I describe what it looks like when time stops and the dice roll won't be as detailed in future references I just wanted to give an idea of what it looks like when it does happen the first time around.

Also for people who like the story but really don't know neither jack nor shit about D&D here's all you'll need to know for the story:

Typically in Dungeons and Dragons upon trying to interact with the world itself you must roll a 20 sided die (a d20) to decide what the outcome of your action would be, we call this a skill check.

Normally you only roll a single d20 when performing a skill check but there are 2 things called Advantage or Disadvantage. If you have either of those things then you roll TWO d20’s.

If you have advantage you take the higher of the two numbers, and if you have disadvantage you take the lower of the two. Since I had advantage I took the 13 instead of the 3.

In most scenarios it’s easy to just remember “Bigger number is better.”