Flurry Heart's Story: The Ghost of Grogar

The castle festivities continued as Spike and Buttercream opened all their presents. Barb, Scorch, and Singe gave them some sweet gems to eat and some hand-crafted charms that were said to bring good luck in Nordo Dracos. Billow’s gifts were small statues from Soder Dracos that were crafted after ancient Southern Drake warriors. Buttercream told Lily and Aster that Spike was also a fan of the Dragon Warriors franchise, so they bought him and Buttercream some action figures based on the characters. Buttercream had just opened a plushie of Smelt the Warrior as he appeared in the Super Dragon Warriors game, while Spike got a plushie of Grumblebog.

“EEEH! You got me Smelt! I love it guys!” Buttercream said, giving Lily and Aster a hug.

“We’ve been keeping that one for the past few months, hoping you hadn’t already bought it!” Lily replied.

“Thanks guys!” Spike told them, joining in the hug. “Grumblebog’s my favorite character to play as.”

“Yup! Butter told us all about your playing habits in a letter, and we had to go real quick to get the plushies from Myositi’s stand before they ran out,” Aster said.

“Wait, Myosoti? The creator of the Dragon Warriors franchise?! You guys KNOW him?!”

“Sure do! Butter knows him too!” Lily explained, excitedly. “She and Nighty met him back when they first came to Ester Dracos! That was back when Dragon Warriors was kinda new and hadn’t been released in Equestria yet.”

“But Myosoti was so nice and he even gave us a copy of the game and a free TES! Nighty and I were the first ones to play the game in Equestria!”

“Butter! I knew you had connections, but I didn’t think you had connections!” Spike teased, giving her a nooggie as she giggled.

“So is this Dragon Warriors thing like one of those energy based games they play in Ester Dracos?” Barb asked Aster.

“That would be the video game, Princess,” Aster responded. “Do they play those in Nordo Dracos?”

“Eh…not that I’ve heard of. We’re kinda old-fashioned up there.”

“I wouldn’t mind giving it a try someday,” Singe said.

“Yeah, it sounds like an interesting piece of technology,” Scorch added.

“It’s quite a pastime, just remember to balance it with some outdoor activity!” Lily told them.

“Alright you two,” said Barb. “There are two more gifts we have for both of you.”

Spike looked around to see if there were any presents left but couldn’t find any. He then saw Barb reach behind the couch and pull out a large purple egg with green and yellow swirls on it. The very bottom of the egg was flat and smooth to allow it to stand upright without rolling over. It didn’t look much like a real dragon egg and had a pearlescent glimmer to it. It appeared to be made out of a rare gemstone and had a zig-zagged crack going through it. Scorch then took another egg with the same colors out and gave it to Buttercream.

“There’s two sets for both of you,” Barb told both of them. “Sorry we didn’t put them in that colorful paper. Dragons don’t really do the whole wrapping thing when we give gifts.”

“That’s okay, Barb,” Spike replied, taking the egg. “Uh…so is this a real dragon egg?”

“Nope, that’s carved out of a special mineral that grows in Nordo Dracos. See that crack in the middle? Lift it up and see what’s inside.”

Spike and Buttercream lifted the top half of the egg to reveal another smaller egg that was pink with turquoise speckles. They realized both these eggs looked like their parents.

“Oh, I get it now: they’re Mom and Dad’s eggs!” Spike said.

“And that’s not all. Keep opening them,” Scorch said.

Spike and Buttercream lifted the top half of the second egg to reveal another smaller egg inside that was Barb’s colors followed by Scorch, Singe, Spike and finally Buttercream. Each egg was colored like everyone in Spike’s family and their sizes went in order of age. Buttercream’s was the smallest and was solid and unable to split in half since she was the youngest. All these eggs were able to fit inside each other and stored away inside Smite’s largest egg.

“Awww! It’s us!” Buttercream said, rubbing her egg against her cheek.

“They’re beautiful,” Spike said, wiping a tear from his eye.

“They’re called nesting eggs,” Barb explained. “It’s tradition in Nordo Dracos to make these for our families.”

“Even though we thought you two were gone, our sets back at home still have your eggs. We had to get two more sets of them made again for you when you came back,” Scorch added.

“And now we’ve all got our own nesting egg sets!” Singe said, rubbing Spike’s head.

“Thanks guys,” Spike said, hugging all his siblings one by one as Buttercream joined in.

Billow, Aster and Lily looked happily at the dragon family as they embraced one another. Discord started getting emotional and summoned a tissue to dab his eyes.

“Alright, anyone else got presents left?” asked Buttercream.

“Oh, just one more thing!” Discord said, making the tissue disappear.

He then made two tiny presents appear floating in front of Spike and Buttercream. The ribbons untied themselves and the boxes opened to reveal two custom sculpted figurines of Spike and Buttercream’s avatars they would use in Ogres and Oubliettes. Spike had just used a small paper with a drawing of his avatar in the past and Buttercream used a small clay sculpture she made when she was little, but these new ones were crafted rather well. Buttercream’s resembled herself dressed as a bard and carrying an old-fashioned mandolin, while Spike was still using his bearded wizard avatar, Garbunkle.

“Discord, did you make these yourself?” Buttercream asked, ecstatically.

“Well when you’re a creature of chaos, it’s not that hard to make things randomly appear…but yeah, I did the best I could to work harder on them without snapping the ‘ol fingers.”

The two chubby dragons went in to hug Discord as he put his arms around them both.

“Alright, anything left?” Billow asked.

“Nope. Looks like that settles it!” Lily said.

“Alrighty then! Bring out the cake, Starlight!” Discord called.

Everyone looked to the doorway to see Starlight bringing in a large chocolate birthday cake for the twin dragons. Buttercream had baked the cake herself and helped Starlight with some of the icing. She then left to go unwrap presents so she could be surprised with the rest of the cake. It was now finished and had all candles lit. Starlight began singing the birthday song as Discord, Lily, Aster and Billow joined in. Barb, Scorch and Singe looked surprised since this was the first time they had seen a birthday cake. They also did not know the lyrics to the song, so they awkwardly nodded their heads back and forth.

“Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Spike and Buttercream! Happy Birthday to you!”

“And many mooooooooore!” Aster followed up, using a soothing baritone voice.

Everyone clapped as Starlight set the cake down on a nearby table. Spike and Buttercream bent over and blew out the candles. As the clapping continued, they hugged each other and Starlight walked in with a knife to begin cutting the cake as Buttercream removed all the candles and licked them.

“Alright, first pieces go to the birthday boy and girl!” Starlight said, handing pieces to them both.

“Oh man! Butter, you made this?” Spike said after taking a bite.

“With a little help from Starlight, yeah! Chocolate frosting with vanilla cake inside and some creamy raspberry frosting in the center layer! One of my best recipes!” she responded.

Barb, Scorch and Singe were handed their pieces on plates. Lily and Billow showed them how to hold their forks right.

“Give it a try, guys!” Buttercream said as everyone watched to see their reactions.

They all took bites and waited a few seconds to taste it. Singe’s pupils grew so large and sparkly once the taste had set in for him.

“This…..THIS IS THE BEST FOOD EVER!” he exclaimed before taking several more huge bites.

“Hehe! I knew he’d love it!” Buttercream giggled.

“Whoa! This is good!” Scorch said as he took another bite.

“This tastes like Grandma Pebble’s sugarcane garnets!” Barb added.

“There’s more to where that came from! This little one can cook up the finest gourmet deserts!” Aster told them.

“She had the best culinary arts teachers back in Daleshire!” Lily added.

As everyone was talking, Billow continued staring amorously at Scorch as he finished his cake. She admired his muscular build and his wide shoulders that complimented her round physique. She had seen plenty of handsome male Southerns in her homeland, but Scorch was just the right type for her, whether or not he had horns. She did not realize Buttercream was watching the entire time. She nudged Singe and they both started giggling. Scorch looked at them confused and then turned his head the other way to Billow. She immediately picked her plate back up and ate it to avoid letting Scorch see her.

“Er…um…mmmm! Good stuff, Butter!” she said with her mouth full.

“Yeah, he sure is!” Buttercream said, playfully.

Barb rolled her eyes at her siblings antics and then got up to stretch.

“Alright, so we still doing this Ogres and Oubliettes thing?” she asked Discord.

“Oh, right!” Discord said, simultaneously dumping the cake, plate and fork in his mouth and chewing them up. “Sorry everyone, I’m still getting a few things ready for the game. Butter, I’m not familiar with how you set up for campaigns so would you like to give me a claw?”

“Sure thing, Discord!” Butter said, skipping away to follow Discord to the large table behind them.

As they both walked to the table, everyone else kept themselves busy with conversation. Barb walked over to speak with Billow as Scorch was busy with the others.

“I see you’re still eying my brother,” she told Billow.

“Er… sorry about that,” Billow said, bashfully.

“Oh no, that’s okay. I’ve been trying to get him a girl for a while now. Honestly, I think he likes you too.”

“Does he?”

“Yeah. He’s been asking about you ever since the wedding.”

“Well I hope I’m not distracting from the festivities. Being the heir of Soder Dracos, I’m kinda expected to find a gentleman soon, but I don’t want to intrude or anything.”

“Oh, I know how that feels. And don’t worry about it. I think you guys would both be great for each other.”

Billow blushed, as Barb walked off to speak with Scorch, who had just finished talking to Aster. She elbowed him to get his attention.

“You gonna make any moves yet?” she asked him.

“Moves on what?”

“You know what. Or rather who.”

“Oh. I mean, she is really cute.”

“And?”

“Well I came here for Butter and Spike tonight, so I wouldn’t wanna ruin it for them.”

“You won’t ruin it, Scorch. I can tell she likes you back. Don’t be afraid to talk to her some more.”

“Yeah, bro. You’d better hurry or I’ll be the one to court a girl first,” Singe teased.

Barb rubbed Singe’s head, as he walked by, eating his second piece of cake. He walked over to the table to see what Discord and Buttercream were doing. Sprawled out across the table were cards, papers, pencils and other game pieces that Buttercream was setting up. Discord was in the middle of reading a list that she had made for him.

“Hey guys, mind if I watch?” Singe asked.

“Sure! Come on over, bro!” Buttercream responded.

“So this is the game? This looks kinda cool.”

“I know, right? It might take a while to play, but since this is your first time, I made this one easy for you, Barb and Scorch. Discord just needs a minute to get familiar with this style of play since he’s usually playing the more advanced edition with Spike and Big Macintosh.”

“Yeah. I think we’ll have fun with it.”

“So do you like my friends from Ester Dracos?”

“Yeah, they’re really nice.”

“How about Lily? She’s kinda cute, isn’t she?”

Buttercream nudged him teasingly as he looked bashful at the question. Although he didn’t disagree, he had someone else on his mind.

“She is, but I’ve already got my eyes on another dragoness back home.”

Buttercream looked surprised. She leaned in closer to listen what her brother was saying.

“Oooooh! Who is she, Singe?!”

“Her name’s Simmer. Her dad works in the guard so our families have known each other for a while. I had her in some of my classes when Barb, Scorch and I were still schooling. She’s a dainty little thing, but she’s a lively one at that.”

“She sounds cute!”

“You bet she is. She kinda reminds me of you.”

“EEEEH! I have GOT to meet her someday!”

“I’ll introduce you next time you come up to Nordo Dracos. And when I get there, I’m gonna see if I can court her.”

“Sounds romantic! What’s dragon-courting like in Nordo Dracos?”

“Well, you see-”

The lights suddenly turned off and Discord could be seen at the end of the table with a flashlight under his face. He spoke in a daunting voice that echoed throughout the room. Everyone else around the couches dropped everything they were doing and drew their attention to the game.

“Gather around, children of the land, as we begin our journey into the world of Ogres and Oubliettes! Are you ready to fight the darkness that seeks to conquer the land and stop the evil, tentacled demon of the depths, Wrathulu, or as we like to call him, THE SQUIZARD?”

“You bet we are! Garbunkle is here to fight!" Spike said, flying in and placing his new figurine on the table.

Lily, Aster and Billow all came in and put down their own set pieces they had made for them years ago. Lily’s was a druid, Aster’s was a ranger, and Billow’s was a barbarian.

“Here are our figurines! We had these made for us in Ester Dracos!” Lily chimed.

“And nice job with the voice there, Discord!” Aster complimented the Lord of Chaos.

“Why thank you, Aster. I’ve been practicing. Anyway, if you’re all ready, I’ve got my piece set up right here.”

Discord snapped his fingers and a figurine appeared that resembled him with long blond hair and an archer’s uniform, wielding a bow and arrow.

“This is Captain Wuzzolas the Archer. I sort of gave his name an upgrade from the original ‘Captain Wuzz’ that I randomly generated from my chaotic mind when I first played with Spike and Big Macintosh. Unfortunately Big Mac isn’t here tonight, so I guess that means Sir McBiggun won’t be joining our party, but oh well. We can just say he’s at the tavern having a little too much chocolate milk or something. Hehe.”

“Uh…wait, guys, when are we playing the game?” Scorch asked, looking around, confused.

“This is the game, silly!” Buttercream told him.

“Er…oh, it’s one of those games then.”

Scorch looked disappointed. He looked down at all the set pieces and cards before him, not sure of what to make of it all.

“Is everything okay, Scorch?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, it’s just…well…I thought it was a game where you get up and move around to play it, preferably outside. I didn’t think it was a game you had to sit down for and use these…whatever you call these little gems with runes on them.”

“The dice you mean? That’s okay, we’ll guide you through the whole thing.”

“Eh…okay.”

Scorch sat down as everyone else found seats. Barb almost sat next to him but signaled to Billow that she can take the seat instead.

“Go ahead, Billow. This is a good chance to help him out and win him over,” Beo Tuag told Billow.

Billow complied and sat down next to Scorch. He already looked a little bored, so she gave him assurance.

“Hey, if you need any help, let me know,” she told him.

“Thanks,” Scorch said, smiling.

“Alright, Barb, Scorch and Singe, there are plenty of classes to play as,” Discord told the royal dragon siblings as a sheet floated in with artwork depicting samples of the players in the game, “Which do you want: mage, druid, barbarian, ranger, paladin, bard, rogue?”

The three of them looked very confused at what Discord had just said. Discord then snapped his fingers and made three figurines appear for them.

“That’s okay. I decided to just make these up on the fly in case you couldn’t figure out what to decide on. Barb will be Flamina the Magician, Singe will be Scaledron the Fighter, and Scorch will be Nordomir the Paladin.”

He snapped his fingers a second time. Tons of little figurines that resembled skeletons with weapons appeared in the center with a figurine of Wrathulu the Sorcerer. Behind Wrathulu was a tall castle with a pony inside the tallest tower that resembled Rarity.

“I simplified the campaign as best I could so we aren’t here till morning. Here’s the rundown: the evil Squizard has captured the lovely and fair Princess Shmarity and placed her in a tall tower. Our goal is to make our way to the battlefield, fight the skeleton army, slay the Friendcraftian beast, and rescue the princess. Simple as that. Everyone ready to enter the world of Ogres and Oubliettes?”

Discord looked around to check all the players. Barb and Singe had nervous smiles while Scorch was doing his best to enjoy himself. Discord picked up the 20-sided dice and shook it around in his hand.

“Alrighty then! Rolling in three…two…one!”