Reborn in a Dating Sim: Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Reborn in a Dating Sim:

Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Copper listened as Sunset Shimmer began to talk about the adventure that she had with the crew of the Serenity. He watched as she began to animatedly talk about when they headed toward a border baron’s domain that looked to be mostly abandoned. He smiled as she began to talk about the barely working dock, and from there her story started to sound more like the kind of thing the Dumpster Fire of a game he’d played before. Her dive into what happened seemed like an almost fever dream.

She explained that once there they were asked to remain on board. Additionally they were asked to not venture into the hold. It wasn’t until one of the group that had boarded snuck out that something began to take place. One of the hideaways had been someone hiding in plain sight. The man had actually been a pirate that had been watching the ship for a while. From there she went into how the entire thing had been a huge trap set up for the Serenity, and how everyone on board had nearly fallen into it as well.

The fact that she was here, alive, and that she had willingly traveled all of this way wasn’t lost on him. There was something to be said about the fact that Sunset had abandoned her cushy existence in order to come see him. Even though she had fallen a little from grace she was still living an exceptionally posh life at the Academy. She had access to the exceptional room the higher nobility was given, access to the food on campus, and of course access to all of the entertainment available.

Instead she had sought him out on her own. He smiled at her, listened as she told the story about the mystery that had surrounded the baron’s domain, and then listened as she told how the crew, along with the guests, had managed to escape. Of course she explained that in the end the captain of the Serenity had managed to get the pirates to destroy themselves.

“Wait,” Artemis said as she neared her, “If I am understanding this correctly, the captain of the Serenity actually insulted the pirates enough that they overcharged their canons which caused them to explode. Which in turn caused their entire ship to turn into a huge fireball.”

Sunset nodded, “That’s exactly what happened,” she said as she looked at her, “He made sure to keep the Serenity just far enough ahead that they couldn’t hit us with a normal charge. So, he kept insulting their ship, their skill, and their overall dedication until finally they seemed to stop firing,” she said as she shook, “When that happened he laughed and said that the idiots actually are going to do it. They overcharged their canons, and a moment later it was like a chain reaction. It spread all across their ship, and in a few moments it was just gone.”

Copper shook his head hearing this. It was an ingenious way of dealing with the pirates to be sure. Feeding on their frustration to the point that they were willing to completely abandon all of their normal attempts and instead tried something insane. Of course if their canons would have been able to handle it then Sunset wouldn’t be here. He had to admit that the captain of the Serenity had some major balls. He was able to come up with something that could work, but there was a chance that it would end poorly.

He had to understand what could happen, and instead of trying to find another way he committed to the course. It was an insane maneuver, but one that ended up paying for itself several times over. At least it did in the sense that everyone made it out alive. That was enough to make it worth it, “So, what about the Baron and his family?”

She shook her head, “The Pirates had dealt with them already,” she answered, “From what we could find it looked like the place had been raided pretty hard. There wasn’t really any evidence of what could have happened to them, but our guess is that they were taken prisoner and sold as slaves. The captain said that he’d look into it, but there wasn’t any promise that there would ever be an answer. The Pirates themselves likely knew where they had been sold to at first, but we didn’t have the chance to ask them.”

Artemis studied her for a moment, “Did he have sons and daughters?”

She nodded, “The captain said he had three sons, and two daughters,” she replied before her eyes widened, “Wait, oh my god, Copper, I hate to ask, but I think that I might know where some of them are. Would you mind to take us back toward the Baron’s domain? I heard the stowaway talking about putting me with the other bits of fun.”

The phrase was ominous enough, but he understood what it meant. The daughters had likely been taken prisoner and made to serve the men in their fantasies. It was sickening, and he couldn’t just have abandoned people that were in trouble, “Sure,” he said before he looked at the others, “Anyone want to be big damned heroes?”

His Dad looked at him, “Son?” he asked as he neared him, “What are you talking about?”

He looked at Sunset, “Would you mind giving him the quick summary?”

She quickly told him about the adventure, and then where she believed the daughters, and possibly their mother, were. Gold Bit nodded, “Very well,” he said after a moment, “Son, prepare the airship. I will inform my friend of this. I know that he would like to accompany us as well. This is the sort of thing that we should strive to do as men.”

Within the hour the airship was heading out, moving toward the direction that Sunset had given them. The area itself was remote, which was something that most border barons preferred. Being this far out meant that the kingdom itself rarely messed with people. Instead they found it was easier to let the domains rule themselves, collect a little tax, and go about their day. The barons would bust their collective asses, but did so knowing that the kingdom would ultimately leave them to themselves.

It was a system that had flaws, but the biggest one was that there was so little protection for the border barons. They had to settle things on their own. Oh, occasionally they would have knights from the kingdom come and do a sweep for potential threats, but that was often far and few between. Most of the time they were simply left to their own devices. Copper wanted that kind of life. He wanted to be left out of the kingdom’s drama, and he wanted to live a decent life with those he cared for.

He could see a floating island in the distance, and more to the point he could see that the simple things that made it livable weren’t on. The electricity that normally would light up the fields at night was absent. There was an absence of torches as well. There was literally nothing that seemed to be there to indicate that anyone lived on the island itself. Those were the red flags that couldn’t really be ignored. Copper understood exactly what this meant, and he hated that he understood it.

It meant that whatever had happened was long enough ago that the normal upkeep of the devices that provided power had gone unchecked. That had allowed everything to fail. He watched as the airship moved toward the port, and slowly it docked. When it had he watched as Sunset looked around at the darkness, “The stowaway had said that they were keeping their toys under the island,” she said as she looked around, “I tried to understand exactly what he was talking about, but then occurred to me that sometimes there’s caverns that go through an island. They must have had one here. And likely that was where the stuff that the captain of the Serenity brought was usually taken.”

Copper nodded, “I get it,” he said as he looked around, “The captain of the Serenity smuggled some goods out here to the baron, and he did it somewhere that it wouldn’t be noticed. That makes way more sense than it should,” he replied as he looked at the island itself, “Still, finding it in the dark is going to be a trick. Plus, without the barrier being provided by the electrical current we’re bound to run into monsters.”

He stepped down slowly, “So, I vote that we begin a search, work out slowly, and carve it out like a grid,” he said as he looked at the others, “Father, what do you think?”

Gold Bit nodded, “That sounds good to me,” he replied as he moved down, “We should split into two different groups. Copper, take a group, and head off into the west side of the island, I’ll focus on the east, and then we’ll all come together in the middle and search out the center. I think that’s going to be the best way.”

Copper nodded, and together they began to move. It was something simple, and he knew that. As they moved Artemis followed him, or rather it was the avatar she used the most around him. Another one went with his Dad. He was fine with that. Diamond Tiara, Applebloom, Sunset Shimmer, and Rainbow Dash followed him as well. What he knew about Rainbow was that she was pretty skilled as an adventurer, and that she was something of a legend at using a blade.

But unfortunately that was about his limit of knowledge when it came to her personally. She seemed pleasant enough, but he wasn’t going to press his luck. As they moved he gave the commands. Artemis was watching their right side, Rainbow their left, and Diamond Tiara their rear. Again he knew that Diamond was the best choice for that because she was more capable when it came to defense. At least she had proven herself to be so before. He hoped that would be the cause here.

He was sure that the pirates were dealt with, but there was always a chance that there could be some of them left behind. A group that wasn’t on the ship that exploded. If that was the case then they would be looking for a way to escape. A new airship, a new crew, and any new playthings that could make the time go by in a more pleasant way. He didn’t want to see that happen to any of the girls.

They were all too kind, too nice, and he wanted to ensure that they would be fine here. It was something that he felt was only right. As they moved he listened, and he let his eyes adjust. Still, the darkness was suffocating, and there was no denying that with so little light they could find themselves in more trouble if there was a monster around. Deciding to err on the side of caution he dug into his pack. What came out was a lantern. The lantern was something that was more or less an ancient thing.

He dropped the few ingredients into it that was needed, and soon a light shined out. He watched as it filled the room, and then slowly he began moving. He watched as the beam of light lit up the area. Everything before him was bathed in the soft blue light of the lantern. It was easier on the eyes, allowed the ground to be seen, and from what he’d learned in their labyrinth raiding quest it was one of the few kinds of light that didn’t automatically attract monsters.

He wasn’t completely sold on the idea that it didn’t, but at the same time if it worked then he would have something of a leg up. And honestly any advantage would be better than none at all. He could see the overgrown vegetation, the sight of disturbed earth that looked as if it had happened months ago. Evidence pointed to a very short battle that happened here. If there had been servants then it ended with their deaths.

He breathed out as he walked. Keeping his mind calm he looked around himself for a bit. The battle that had happened was something that could be considered long passed at this point. There was no denying that, and trying to figure out what happened wasn’t going to help them. Instead he looked around the area for anything that could resemble a cave or maybe even a cellar door. One of the memories he had of the game was that if an Island had access on it to a cave system then sometimes it was hidden under a cellar door.

It wasn’t something that happened all too often, but it did happen. He didn’t see anything, not yet, but he heard something. He could hear it in the distance. The unmistakable sound of something walking. The sound wasn’t human, not in the slightest, but instead it seemed to be stepping on points. The sound almost sounded like a giant centipede. In the game there had been monsters like that.

Strange creatures that roamed the countryside on abandoned islands. They just seemed to appear, and of course he wondered if that was the case here. A moment later he saw the creature. It had the legs of a centipede, but its body almost looked like several human torsos that had been melted together. It moved lightning quick, and it seemed to be focused on them. In the game a good placed shot in the head was enough to take them down, but it was difficult to get a good shot. Mostly because the game used the basic RPG style of fighting. It meant that headshots were based on the luck and dexterity of the individual.

Luckily he wasn’t in the game anymore. While there were things in this world that very much resembled the game he’d played the fighting mechanics weren’t one of them. He drew up his rifle, aimed, and a moment later he fired. The blast went through the right eye of the centipede. It stumbled around for a moment, fell, and he watched as its body first fell apart, and then it dissolved into puffs of smoke. What was left was the core, and he walked over to collect it.

Monster cores could be sold, used for power, and he had a feeling that whatever was supposed to keep the barrier up likely didn’t have any cores in it. Most likely the pirates had taken the cores, took the women prisoner, and either captured or killed the men. If they were captured then he had little doubt that they were sold as slaves. He considered Gold Bit for a moment. There would be absolutely no way that his Father would have simply allowed his brothers, his sisters, or even Delicate Emerald to be captured. He would have died first.

That told him enough. There weren’t any of the men left. They would have died in order to protect their home, and it would have only stopped when the very last one fell. He would have done the same. Well, possibly not for Delicate Emerald. There was little doubt that he would protect Tarnished Tiara and Silver bell though. Both of them were decent sisters. Tarnished had become better than she had been, although she was still off. Still, it was nice to see her trying to become a nicer person. It was obviously something that was taking a lot of practice at, but she was trying, and that was what was important.

He listened for the sound of more centipedes, and when he didn’t hear anymore they began to move again. Each step he paid attention. Each moment was spent trying to understand what could possibly happen. Just like in the labyrinths he was paying attention where he was stepping. He was ensuring that everything that needed to happen would happen. The light from the lantern shined around the areas he was pointing it at. Each moment he looked for either the mouth of a cave or cellar doors.

It was the only way he knew to find the entrance to the cave. Sure, there was a chance that he would be wrong, but he didn’t want to think so. As they looked he kept his eyes and ears open for the sound of more centipedes. So far they’d been out a little over an hour, and they had already come across a monster. He had no doubts that there were more on the island. In fact he was fairly certain that his Father had likely already killed one as well.

The simple truth was that Gold Bit had been an adventurer, and he had absolutely no doubt that his Father could certainly defeat them. He was more worried about Bow Hothoof and how he would fare. Sure, all of the border barons were adventurers. Every last one of them had to go on adventures to prove themselves. They had to learn how to kill monsters, to live off of what they could gather from the labyrinths themselves, but some of the barons had long since abandoned the training needed.

A look at Bow Hothoof was enough for him to decide that Baron Hothoof wasn’t someone that kept up the training needed to raid labyrinths anymore. Likely he’d settled into a comfortable life of working his farm, raising his children, and dealing with his wife. He couldn’t fault the man for how he was proceeding. He had obviously earned the life he had. At the same time it meant that Gold Bit had more on his plate in order to keep Baron Hothoof safe.

He felt some relief that one of Artemis’ avatars was with him. At least with her there was a good chance that nothing would happen to them. His attention came back to the present as he searched around for a moment. He couldn’t allow his focus to slack while he was searching. He needed to look for the opening, and he saw something glinting in the distance. He moved toward it, knowing that this could be exactly what he was looking for. Moving he listened to the area around them. There were no sounds, and that was both good and bad. It meant that there weren’t any centipedes, but it also meant that something was frightening enough that any other animals wouldn’t be heard.

He looked at the glinting light, and there was a cellar door. It was exactly what he had been looking for, and the fact that it looked more taken care of than the rest of the island told him that it was used. He reached out toward it, and stopped before he touched it. In the game there were times that the doors were trapped. He looked around it, considering the trap that One Eye Mash had created and looked to see if there was something similar.

What he saw was a basic tripline that looked as if it was running toward something else. A quick look revealed a small bouquet of grenades. They were suspended just above them, and he took a moment to study the trap. It was simple enough. He moved, carefully removing the grenades from the hanging place they were at, and he undid the string that had tied them together. Once that was done he checked for another trap. Not seeing one he slowly opened the door.

The cellar door didn’t creak or groan while it was opened. Instead it opened like a well oiled door. Moving down he saw the cavern walls. They were well worn, evidence of being moved through for years was present. The evidence of the area pointed to a place where potentially illegal things had taken place. The smell coming from the cavern was something else. It smelled musty, like an old room in a back alley. The kind of smell that came from poverty and sex.

It was a smell he could remember in his past life. A time when he went to visit a friend, and found that his friend’s mom worked as a prostitute. She saw men in a small room in their house, and that room always smelled like this. It didn’t matter what she did, the smell lingered. It was one of the reasons he didn’t visit that friend too often. Not because of the smell, but because he knew that it embarrassed him. He didn’t want to put that undue stress on his friend.

Moving quietly he saw the open floor. Three bodies were tied up, their hands tied behind their knees, their bottoms in the air, and the evidence of what had happened was there. He could see the way they shook. The sound was enough to put them on edge, but there was a sort of resignation that seemed to be present. They had accepted that this was going to happen. That what had been happening was their new normal.

It was something that obviously had been happening for some time. He stood there, and he shook. What had happened to the bulk of the pirates had been too fast. He heard a sound, and he saw a male body moving toward them, “Damn, didn’t expect to see the ship go like that, still, we’ve got our toys, right?”

He didn’t wait, Without a warning he attacked. The butt of his magi-gun struck the pirate, knocking him back. He looked up in surprise, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. He began to move on him when he felt a hand gently touch him, “My Captain,” Artemis said, “Please allow me to do this for you. I do not want you to soil your hands on this piece of human garbage.”

With that she moved forward, and before the pirate could scream he was lifted into the air, “What you did is unforgivable, and what will happen will be the same. I will treat you to the kind of horrors that is reserved for the damned, because that is exactly what you deserve.”

Within moments the man began to scream as Artemis bent his arm in a wrong direction. The moment that bone broke through was the moment that the man’s voice raised in pitch. He screamed for mercy, he screamed obscenities at Artemis, and at no time did he ever apologize. Instead he begged for them to help him, that he was obviously sick. That much was obvious, but the evidence that he could be reformed wasn’t there. Instead it seemed far more likely that he was far beyond any form of redemption or reformation.

From what he’d seen, the man was garbage, pure and simple. He watched as Artemis slowly broke him down, only for her to stop, for a moment, seemingly to give him a few seconds piece before beginning again. She finally stopped before going much further, “Applebloom, could you heal him, please?”

Applebloom moved toward her, gently touched him, and Copper watched as he was healed. Every injury pulled itself back together, “Now, that you are of sound body, we will begin again, and we will do this for every single individual that you’ve done this to.”

The man screamed so loud that it caused Copper’s ears to ring. It didn’t take long for the second round to happen, and once again he was healed. At this point he was begging to just be taken in. He was pleading to be handed over to the Kingdom, to be sold into slavery, to have anything else happen to him. He was pleading so hard that he had long since lost control of his bodily functions. He’d long since soiled himself, and smelled heavily of it.

Copper began moving toward the women, slowly cutting them loose, having Applebloom heal any of their injuries, but she explained that there was a good deal more wrong than she could heal. The kind of trauma they had would be life changing. There was no getting around that, “We need to take ‘em to the temple,” she explained, “At least thar they can get the help they need.”

The temple would be the best place for them, although he doubted that it would be much more than a place for them to hide away. A place of solace where they could hopefully escape the memories of the terrors they’d suffered. Of course there was every chance that they would never fully escape. He knew that, but at the same time he wasn’t going to argue. Let them have what peace they could potentially get.

“We’ll take them,” he agreed, “After we leave, we’ll take them to the closest temple for help. It’s the best option for them, and it might be the only way they can get any kind of help.”

“I don’t know what it might really do,” Sunset said after a moment, “I mean I want to help them, but this… Goddesses, they’ve suffered so much here. I’m not sure if they can honestly recover from something like this.”

“They need to have help.” Diamond Tiara replied, “They need the chance.”

It was enough of a reason for Copper.