Dungeons and Dragons: Curse of the Lunar Fang

by MrConradTheDuck

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Celestia, Crossover, Sad, Main 6, Princess Luna, Drama, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Romance, Adventure, Sex
Length: 67568

Ponies play Pathfinder with Luna as their DM. Entering a new, exciting world the ponies begin an adventure that will make or break their interest in gaming!

~~~~~~~~~~~~UPDATE 3/15/2016~~~~~~~~~~~~

WOOOH. So, I went back and super edited everything and made sure everything was spick and span so I can actually take this story serious like. Major edits and changes, to see what changed feel free to look nya https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HsGbqxr_N3zv7UmLxSXahH9wKDgIBXcigFSFfPjWZCA/edit. It was mostly edits but I've basically rewrote the latest chapter and am going to start back from there, this time with a game plan instead of a just write as I go deally. I'm super hard at work on the next chapter so I hope to se you guys there!

The Mane six have spent plenty of time together but are beginning to lack in things to do, their common interests are relatively few, so with no one to turn to about things they could do Twilight decides to venture to Canterlot to see what's going on in the big city. After a few hours spent she decides to visit the library where she finds Luna reading an old tome, and this tome just so happens to be the Core Rule book of an old game called Pathfinder. Needless to say the ever knowledge hungry Twilight gets curious and before long they're talking about swords, sorcerers, elves and much more! After noting it sounds like fun, Luna invites the mane six to come to Canterlot once a month to play, and our journey goes on from there.

(Though the title is "Dungeons and Dragons" the system used is the Pathfinder system, mostly because of my more complete knowledge about it. I merely use DnD because it's better known, and may tend to be less confusing to people)

Update: 4:35 2/4/2014 - Minor editing done to Chapter 1 by a very cool dude, find his link in the authors note on that page and maybe check him out, eh?

Published 2012-10-18 20:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-19 00:56:01 UTC

Start of the First Session

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Starstorm

"Inside the capital city of the Kingdom of Arliege, New Krayan, a young wizard wanders the streets, her lizard familiar atop her shoulder as she passes by many men and women, all moving through the city sporadically." A disembodied voice spoke as Twilight, or rather Starstorm found herself walking the roads of the large town, however this wasn't any town in Equestria. The buildings were lacking the same color that those in Ponyville had, many remaining boring browns or dull greys depending on the building material, and to make it stranger, around her were not ponies, no, rather they were the strange bipedal creatures she had seen in Luna's books.

"Where am I?" Starstorm asked, standing still as many a person moved passed her, staring as she gawked at the sky in search of answers.

'You are in the game Twilight, this is my magic at work, it makes it far more entertaining than if I were were to resort to boring maps and miniatures. Do not worry, you can not be harmed here but everything happens in real time, so your hesitation could bring you failings, remember that.' The voice spoke directly into Twilight's mind. Quickly processing the information she'd just received she began to examine her self, she was standing atop two legs, her body was no longer purple but a pale peach-ish color, and she had hands!

"What, I, this is..." Starstorm muttered as she continued examining herself, she was dressed in light purple robes with stark white stars spotted all across it, on her feet were simple, purple linen boots and on her waist was a small lavender satchel filled with several, nondescript bits and pieces. "Oh, I get it! Wow," Twilight spoke aloud, earning her several more strange stares from the passing people "This is amazing, I have to learn the spell she used."

"Miss, are you alright?" A man asked with a particularly thick cockney accent.

"Huh?" Starstorm finally snapped too as she realized where she was, and particularly who she was supposed to be. "Oh, oh, yes, my apologies sir, I was merely lost in thought." she offered with a smile, accepting the explanation the man shrugged and walked off into the crowd "I see how this is better but what about the dice..." Starstorm muttered to herself

'The dice are automatically rolled by my spell when it's necessary, and all of the math is done for you, just move forward and forget that you are in a game.' Luna urged

"Well, I suppose..." Starstorm muttered before noticing that she was garnering more stares, blushing slightly she smiled at the onlookers before finally moving forward "Ok, forget it's a game... then what to do I wonder... I suppose go about my day, that's it I'll just go home, maybe read a book... and I have a feeling home is this way." Starstorm turned and began walking off in a seemingly random direction. After a few minutes Starstorm found herself in front of a small, simple wooden house with absolutely nothing remarkable about it. Fumbling inside of her satchel she found a key and placed it inside the lock, sure enough it twisted without fail and allowed access into the building "I was right!" She exclaimed and walked inside. The house, just like the outside, was unremarkable save for the many books that littered the floor.

Starstorm started to call for Spike to begin cleaning before she realized -Spike- was the little green fellow on her shoulder and that, besides a small bonus to one of her skills, he didn't provide much. Sighing she went about cleaning it up herself. "Jeeze, well this is fun... aren't I supposed to be doing something by now..." she crossed her arms expecting a reply but garnered only silence. "Of course you ignore me n-"

“Hello, Starstorm?” An elderly, yet stern and familiar voice rung out from outside the building.

As the voice spoke a name came to Starstorm’s mind, Archmage Eramac of the mages college. With that, a thought rushed into her mind “Oh shoot.” She bit down on her pointer finger, realizing those scrolls she was supposed to prepare were left on a wagon on the other side of town. “Wait, I don’t bite my… but Starstorm does, right, right, I’m not in a game, I’m not in a game.” she muttered as she felt compelled to follow through on the habits and quirks of her character

“What have I said about talking to yourself Starstorm.” the voice spoke from right behind her.

“Archmage!” she yelped, hairs standing on end and eyes wide as saucers. As she calmed down she held her hand over her heart, heaving as if about to collapse. Before her now was an old man, easily in his 60’s with a long, stereotypical wizards beard and mustache combo, his body was draped over with simple blue robe whose chest was emblazoned with two wands crossed over a book, the mark of the school he taught out of. On top of his head was a long pointy hat, his face bore a serious and tired look, though life did still find a way to shimmer behind his bifocals.

“And do get into some better shape, even I take prolonged walks around town from time to time, I swear you’re more likely to fall to a heart attack then I. “ The words nudged Starstorm oddly, but not in the way it seemed as she felt it a jab from her GM about her choice to keep a lower con score in favor of other stats. “Either way, have you prepared those scrolls?”

Recovering from her bout of terror and near collapse the young mage straightened up, a serious look of nervous despair spread across her face, a feeling of nostalgia washing over her as the scene reminded her of her mentor Celestia in the real world. “Uh, the scrolls, I, you see, I finished them…but…”

“But…” the elderly wizard urged on, curious as to his students next excuse.

“Buuut… and hear me out, but I think a stagecoach stole them.” She explained with less and less assurance.

“A stagecoach?” her mentor spoke with depressing amounts of disappointment.

“Yes, you see, he was clever. He talked me up, confused me with pleasant conversation, no doubt using magic to convince me into forgetting them on his coach for his own nefarious plot.” the young wizard spoke with fervor.

“You left them on a wagon.”

“Not left, they were clearly taken from me.” Starstorm offered with vindication

Sighing with the weight of a mountain giant, Eramac placed his palm on his face before taking his glasses off to rub his eyes. Placing his glasses back on he spoke “Look, Starstorm, you are a brilliant mind, but if you continue these shenanigans I will have to have you removed from the course.”

The thought of failure irked Starstorm deeply, images of a poor woman dressed in rags holding a tin cup out on a street corner flashed before her eyes as panic set in “Oh no no no, you can’t, you mustn’t! I, I, umm.” Desperately thinking as quickly as she could, the young woman pounded one hand into another as an idea formed “You don’t have to do that, because I am coming up on a, a, huge project.” she quickly lied

Crossing his arms, the archmage perched a brow in interest “Do go on.”

“Yes, well, I didn’t want to say anything, but I’m working on a spell, a special spell.” noticing her mentors eyes slowly close into slits Starstorm hastened her lying “Yes, you see, I’m developing a spell that will allow one to…to...” the woman began to stammer as her eyes scanned over the room at the speed of light until she noticed the books stacked on her shelf “to… read books in seconds, yes, it will allow one to instantly absorb the information from a book into ones head, allowing studies to happen in a flash! In fact, I’ve figured out a way for this seemingly powerful spell to be used as a mere cantrip.” the woman nervously giggled, face stretched wide in forced smile as beads of sweat careened down her face

The archmage processed what he had been told, stroking his beard as an impressed smile crept along his wrinkled lips “Oooh, I must say Starstorm I am impressed, to think behind your easily distracted nature lie a truly innovative mind.” the words -he bought it?- shot into Starstorm’s minds as she felt a weight fall off her shoulders “Well then, I best not keep you then, I’d like the rough draft on my desk by the end of the week.” suddenly a larger, much heavier weight landed on the wizard as if she had been caught between the couch cushions and Celestia’s royal white flank again. “Well, farewell, I was just checking in.”

“Eh...hehe…” the Wizard meeked out as her mentor left. Suddenly the poor girl fell to her knees, hands on the floor as she began to shake “Three days… three day, t-to begin a spell, not just any spell, but some super spell, in cantrip form no less. What do I do, what do I do!” she began to panic as she felt a sharp pain on her ear. Clasping it violently she looked to see her lizard friend staring at her, somehow in disgust “Don’t judge me! It’s your fault as much as mine, you should have protected your master from that evil stage coach and his hypnotic voice!” she shouted at the lizard who continued to stare at his owner.

Sighing in defeat “You’re right, well, life was good, but now I must move onto a life as a beggar, forced onto the cold cobblestone, begging stranger to stranger for naught but a mere coin for a warm meal. But, it’s not all bad, at least I’ll have you…” she looked down to her familiar who was already half way down her arm in an attempt to leave. Looking back up the lizard shot her master an insulting stare before continuing on his way down “Thank you, thanks a whole lot, my self esteem needed that, you know what fine, leave, I don’t need you anyways…” She crossed her arms and pointed her nose up before the lizard finally climbed off and walked away on the nearby table “Wait, no, come back I need you!” she whined, arm stretched out towards her familiar as it went along it’s merry way.

Realizing the lizard wasn’t soon to return Starstorm stomped to her front door, opening it up with as much conviction as a person could open a door before marching to the local reagent shop. Muttering in angry growls as she did, her look of extreme frustration warding off any potential conversation. Bursting into the store she looked up like a bat out of hell at the clerk “Umm, h-hello?” the clerk spoke nervously.

“I need… I need…” the Wizard began before blinking twice, noticing something that found it’s way onto her attention “What’s that?” she pointed down at a tiny little black satchel laying behind a display case.

“Oh, this? It’s called the Ever Pouch, it can store a near infinite amount of reagents and it can summon any with a mere thought, only a thousand gold.”

Cooing at the pouch Starstorm pressed her face to the glass. “I”ll take it.” the woman then proceeded to pull out several gems of varying wealth as well as some papers of certification. “These should cover it!” she said as the clerk looked over the assortment of papers and gems

“Yes they will!” he spoke excitedly as he pulled all of the gems into a sack before pulling the ever pouch out and handing it to the Wizard “Thank you, and do come again.”

Gleefully holding her new bag as she walked out of the building she stared at the satchel before something hit her, she had spent all of her money on a fancy bag, bought zero reagents, and was now broke with nothing needed to prepare her rough draft before the end of the week. Starstorm fell to her knees, arms falling to her side as she slumped over, now staring at the ground.

Noticing the downed woman a group of people began to surround her, several asking if she was alright. Suddenly she began to cackle “Alright, alright? Hohohoho, I’m more than alright!” she jolted up onto her feet “I’m Starstorm, the greatest wizard to ever live, I don’t need reagents, I don’t need incantations or somatics I’m a genius. hohoho!” she then proceeded to scoop back up her expensive satchel and march off, her tall and proud stance quickly deteriorating into a slumped over trudge “Stupid Eremac, stupid abandoning Spike, stupid fancy bag, stupid…” she said when suddenly the ground began to shake violently. “Dear sweet… something something of something!” she shouted in surprise, barely able to keep on her feet as the earth itself attempted to knock her flat on her backside.

The shaking eventually grew and grew until buildings began to crumble and collapse, falling over, spilling onto the streets, burying men women, and children alike with a few violently impaled by wooden beams. Suddenly, a blinding purple flash tore across the sky accompanied by a sound, a sound that reminded Starstorm of powerful magic ripping through the air, something mystifying and terrifying. Suddenly the light drained from the sky, save for a single pillar of rising energy, raw and angry as it erupted from the earth below and reached to the sky, as if to tear the heavens apart.

As the world looked on in shock and awe, something chilling crawled into Starstorm’s skin, a sickly feeling quickly formed in the pit of her stomach and the air around her turned bitter and stale, Starstorm had always been sensitive to magic, part of the reason why she was so talented, but the sensitivity caused her immense discomfort in the presence of something to massive...

Wrathtail Bloodmane

The morning was a familiar one to Wrathtail, the night before was buried in a sea of liquor, her body was sticky with sweat, her head rang with the familiar feeling of hangover and she felt as if she’d swallowed black powder. As Wrathtail slowly rose from under the covers of her bed, or rather the bed she was in, she noticed a figure wrapped warmly beside her. Lifting up the sheets revealed an attractive woman with exotic bronze skin and long royal purple hair. Smirking to herself in triumph Wrathtail noted her victory over the unconquerable easterner before pulling her tired body out from beneath the sheets.

Sluggishly trudging along, Wrathtail acquired her scattered property that had been haphazardly tossed along the floor in a passionate attempt to hurry her bedding of the woman. Though few, the things Wrathtail had were hers and she liked to keep a hold of them, among them were her trusty Katana, another eastern object she’d conquered during her training, next was her spell book, covered in food stains with handwriting even she failed to comprehend at time, and old, tattered blue robes. Picking the robes up she gave them a husky sniff, a misplay on her part as the putrid scent crawled up her nostrils and down her mouth, causing her to wretch as the smell and taste of sweat, mead, old bits of food and vomit clung to her nose and mouth. Shaking off the scent the woman decided it would be best to just put it on regardless instead of wander the streets naked… again.

As she finished clothing herself and attaching the book and blade to her waist she turned, noticing last nights lover fidgeting but fortunately asleep as she made her way out of her one night stands home. Smirking Wrathtail began to wander out into the paved streets of New Krayan, with the hopes of a bath, or more preferably work, in her near future; however something clicked with the woman as she remembered her true life as a pony in Equestria “Woah, what the hay!” she shouted as she rapidly remembered everything up to that point. Blinking twice the woman finally figured this was either Luna’s doing, or the result of those chocolate covered pretzels she greedily wolfed down, but either way she was here and ready to do… “What the hay do I do exactly.” the woman spoke out loud again, crossing her arms as passerby’s stared at her.

Realizing she must look strange Wrathtail did what she knew was socially acceptable, she jutted her neck out and screamed “The hay you lookin’ at, can a woman not talk to herself!” angrily, causing her onlookers to hurry away. With that settled the woman wandered around for a bit as she began to recall her location and some of the things around them, though recall would be unfair as it felt more like the memories and thoughts were finding their way into her head, either way she knew two things; she needed drink and work, and with that in mind she headed off for the pub.

In the dirtier parts of New Krayan stood a pub as wretched and unclean as Wrathtail’s clothes and it's name was the Grimey Cobblestone, favorite hangout of mercs and criminals alike, even though most criminals there were likely pursued by the mercs that also called the pub their home.

Walking towards the door of the establishment, Wrathtail stopped to examine herself in the window, her light, toned, agile physique complimented her fast paced combat style, as did her short cut prismatic hair which was kept so as to prevent it from distracting her while she had her way with a variety of monsters and men alike. Appreciating how she looked she smugly moved forward. Bursting open the doors of the building, Wrathtail walked as if to demand respect, marching over to a stool that stood in front of the bar, pulling up a seat beside some blonde woman with freckles wearing a large brown, somewhat familiar hat and matching brown duster.

“Howdy stranger.” Said Wrathtail’s neighbor, who was cradling a mug of drink in her left hand.

“ ‘Sup toots, say do I know you?” Wrathtail asked with a squint of her eyes as she began to examine the other woman.

“Nope, ah reckon ya don’t.” Said the woman before she stood up and walked away out of the bar.

“What’s her problem?” Wrathtail asked with a tone of annoyance.

“Well, for one you’ve made an enemy of every woman in town, somehow.” Said a husky female voice that rang familiar to the merc magus. Turning, Wrathtail saw the familiar plump face of Brenda Williams, a larger woman dressed in a simple pink dress with a white apron over top, her round face topped with a lazy bun accompanied with thick mannish eyebrows “In addition, you’re just not pleasant to be around, considering the smell of course.”

“Brenda, long time no see!” Wrathtail said excitedly, brushing aside the snide comment about her natural musk “I’ll have the usual.”

“We spoke yesterday before you ran off with that tawdry wench.” The larger woman said as she began to pull out several bottles “And when you say the usual, you mean half my bar.”

“No, when I say the usual I mean the entire bar.” Wrathtail joked with a smile.

“Sure, so long as you can pay.”

“Psh, I told you, I just got paid big for clearing out some goblins the other day, let me just…” she said as she reached for her coin purse before realizing it wasn’t there “Uh…”

“You were saying?” the woman quipped, crossing her arms.

“I know I had it, where could it have gone! I know it was attached to my robes, and I haven’t taken them off since…” Wrathtail’s face went pale as the azure eyes of a bronze skinned beauty leading her into a small cottage popped into her head “That… that thieving…”

With a sigh, Brenda began to pour the contents of several bottles into a mug and passed it to the angry woman “You’re doing me a favor.”

“Hell ya, so you do have work!” Wrathtail exclaimed before snatching the mug and taking a long drink

“Nothing hard, but it’ll pay. Just need a shipment protected on it’s way out of town to Atrium. Think you can handle that?”

Slamming the mug down the rowdy woman wiped her face “Hell ya, and here’s to hoping I get some blood on my steel this time.”

“I’m sure you’ll get the chance, the job starts next week, early monday morning, be there on time and you’ll be off. Supply’s like rations, water-skins, torches are already taken care of.”

“Pay?”

“25 gold up front, 25 on return and whatever you get on the bodies of any bandits you merc on the way out.”

“What am I hauling?”

“Just some brew; I’ve got a deal with a merchant that way and he liked my drink, wants to try it out in the town to see if it’ll sell.”

“Consider me in.” Wrathtail passed the mug back to the woman and stood up “Right now, I’ve got to go get my gold back from a certain easterner.” she said vindictively as she marched out.

Before she could make her way out of the bar, however, she felt the world around her shake, at first she blamed the ale but on closer inspection she realized it was more than that as she burst through the door awkwardly stumbling as she did. Once she got out she quickly scanned around, noticing people panicking as they rushed out of their homes. As the shaking intensified Wrathtail stumbled unevenly before everything suddenly went purple. Wrathtail reached for her eyes and gripped them, cursing as she blindly ran into a wooden beam near the bar, the sound of collapsing buildings echoed out around accompanied by a familiar sound, the sound of magic forced into the world. As sight began to return to her she opened her eyes, they widened in horror as the blinding purple was now replaced by a spiraling tower of raw energy as it tore the sky asunder...

Lady Selina

The morning was a familiar one to Selina, tired, sticky, and about to make away with some hapless idiots gold pieces. The fact that it was Selina’s in life friend, Rainbow Dash, made the little heist all the sweeter as she played sleep beneath the sheets as the rainbow haired woman foraged through the small, ill gotten building for her things. Eventually the woman made her way out of the building, taking with her everything but the money pouch clasped in the rogues hands. After an awkward couple of seconds of the other woman talking to herself outside, Selina pulled herself out of the bed, brushed herself off, and began after her own things, among them was a set of expensive looking leather armor fitted with fine sapphires as well as a long, dark blue cowl trimmed with gold lace.

Dressed and happy with the 52 gold pieces she’d acquired she sauntered over to the closet to untie the bound civilian whom she requisitioned the building from. “I am sorry about this deary, business and all, I assure you I took nothing from your home, though, I wouldn't use that bed anymore. Anyways, I've money to spend, tata!” and with that she made her way out a window away from the buildings intended entrance.

“Another job well done Selina, and I must say it was well worth it, I simply can’t wait to see Dashie’s face when we get out of this little spell.” she muttered to herself as she strolled along, passing through some back alleys on her way to a hidden location deep in the slums. “Home sweet home.” she smiled as she pulled out the fake bars of a sewage grate before disappearing down into the dirty depths.

Upon reaching the bottom, Selina was greeted by her friends who made the sewers their home, the Thieves Guild of New Krayan. “Armless Armin, Earless Eren, oh and of course hello to you Mindless Mikasa how lovely it is to see you all.” she called and waved to the various members as she walked through the tunnels towards her destination, the office of the guilds leader.

After a series of dainty knocks on what looked like a solid part of the cobble stone wall she waited roughly 30 seconds before she heard a voice. “What’s the best mead?” the raspy voice asked.

“The one paid for with someone else's purse, of course.” she spoke with a smirk. Another moment passed before the wall finally shifted, allowing her access into the inner chambers that consisted of the guilds true base of operation. Waving and smiling at the other members who were busy playing cards, talking about heists they'd done, or are going to do, she made her way to the back, rather hastily. to where their leader resided. Taking the liberty, she opened the door and waltzed inside of the well furnished room where a handsome looking man with short blonde hairs dressed in tight black leather was busy sorting through papers, baby blue eyes rushing over every word methodically.

“Oh, deary, you really should relax.” Selina made her way to the mahogany desk and sat upon it, placing a hand on her leader’s, using the other to gently play with the short cut strands of blonde hair that stood over his angular,attractive face. Eventually her playing lead her down the side of his cheek to his shoulder where she lead a finger down the tight, black leather armor that bound his strong, masculine physique.

“Selina, your hand is sticky.” the man said with utmost seriousness, a steadfast look on his face

“Oh, er, yes, I just… finished with some business.” Selina awkwardly spout out, rubbing the back of her neck and blushing profusely “But, oh, I did get away with a small sum, nothing I’d write home about, but that's because you refuse to let anyone pull any real jobs…”

Pulling himself away from the woman and re-attending to the papers the serious thief spoke “The guard’s breathing down our throat, and with the church suddenly moving in so many Paladin’s, thanks to a certain someones friend's eager movements, I’d rather not run the risk of having us all taken to a guillotine or worse.”

With a huff Selina crossed her arms and pouted “Well that's hardly my fault, besides, how is a girl supposed to make an honest living trapped down here all day?”

The man looked up to her briefly, quirking a single brow.

“Oh, you know what I mean. Come on, we have to take our chances, and, a little birdy tells me of a pretty profitable opportunity.” the man, now crossing his arms, looked to the leather clad woman “I knew I could peak your interest. You see, I hear Brenda down at the Grimey Cobblestone is hiring people to protect a shipment of her goods on to the next town over, Atrium, and I think we could take this shipment for ourselves.” the man, having lost interest, returned to his papers “What’s wrong?”

“You've clearly gone mad is what’s wrong, you expect me to have our men rob ale?”

“Oh, Darian, darling, whatever could you…” before Selina could finish speaking the man interrupted

“What makes you think this is worth the manpower or the risk?” his gaze now one of annoyance.

With a smirk Selina shifted her legs around, placing one atop another before placing her hands on her knees “Because this Ale isn’t just for anybody, no no no! This is for Thios.” the name Thios instantly struck Darian, his gaze turned quick to Selina

“Thios? Thios Armanos? He’s got his finger in every town in not just this realm but the surrounding ones as well… and you’re sure?” Selina gave a cocky nod “Hmm, still, I don’t think it’s quite worth it.”

“The point isn’t in the ale deary, it’s in the person who wants it.”

“So you risk angering Thios? And what are we hoping to gain?”

Shrewd and cunning as she was, even Selina wasn’t foolish enough to play with such a powerful man without leverage and she had just the thing “His darling little Arma of course.”

“Arma, his daughter? I know we’re a bit light on jobs at the moment, but dealing with someone that powerful is suicide.” he spoke with finality, but Selina was never one for giving up just because something seemed difficult, in fact, she relished the challenge.

“That’s why -we- won’t be getting on his bad side. Brenda will. I think we should tamper with the Ale, he’ll send some men to shake down her tavern, we make sure his men fail, we come in, do it for him, and boom instant ally!”

"And how does his daughter come into play?" Darian questioned

"It's by her request the ale is being moved, she wants to own a tavern and wants a brew that'll bring in business. It'll help us ease in nice and close to her. That's when we'll strike. Then when he's desperate, he'll turn to us to... assist her."

Stroking his chin, Darian weighed his options. He knew with a man like Thios on his side he had the power to run the town, no problem. But one measily little favor wouldn't cut it, but he knew what would. Out of all the things Thios was, him being such a dutiful, loving father wasn't one people expected, but it was true, a truth that Darian had always wanted to take advantage of but never had the right chance to. Even as close as his daughter was, and as opportune it might seem, it carried with it more risks than any job he’d dealt with before, meaning if he failed, or rather if his men failed, he’d be done for without question.

Silence took the room, they both sat there, beneath the city, the girl with big goals and the man more set in reality. In the time she’d been here, since he pulled her off the streets, she’d somehow remained a mystery. She was a nobody from nowhere, penniless and weak, and yet, since her training, every move she made she made with a precision that even impressed Darian. She’d been smart, she’d been quick and clever, and more over, she’d been effective. Even so, she'd never tried anything of this scope before, then to suddenly bring something like it up? How did she know all this, why would she know all this? Either way, his answer was obvious, this woman wasn't just interested in this job, she wanted it, she had planned for it and that means this job, this task was not truly his, but hers given through him.

“Can you get it done?” he asked with an almost hesitant tone.

“Of course.” She uttered simply.

“Then I leave you to it.” Darian sat back down “And, whatever you truly have in mind…” Selina turned halfway out the door, a piercing, frigid gaze tore through him, almost at once he no longer felt the want to speak instead pulling a stack of papers from under his desk "Your update is here."

Blushing profusely, Selina quickly scooped up the papers and looked over them, huffing "You know better then to go through my deliveries." she complained.

Giving a passive shrug, the man spoke plainly "Not my business who you do and don't stalk." as he waved her out

Selina, given what she wanted left the secret compound. Sure she was a touch annoyed, but it was quickly washed away by the excitement she felt. Everyone felt it as she rushed by them, walking with a powerful sense of purpose. Finally she reached the secret door that would lead her out of the base into the sewers “I have been given control over our latest job.” she said with a slight turn, the men and women inhabiting the lair glancing towards Selina, a curious look cast upon the woman as her voice commanded a before unheard authority “You guys are to do whatever it takes to delay the ale shipment from the Grimey Cobblestone to Atrium, do this, and you’ll all meet with more wealth then you have right to own. I've business to attend shortly but when I return I'll be able to fill you in on the grand scheme as it were.”.

Everything was working out for Selina, her heart raced but she knew there was much more to do, much more to be done as she continued over every option available to her on her way to one of the ladders leading out of the sewers. When she met one she placed a single hand on it, gripping it as tightly as she possibly could, her veins felt as if made of fire, but she liked it. She was a woman seldom upset, and when she was…

Suddenly, as she gripped the ladder rung she felt a shake. Realizing quickly what it was she began to pull herself up as fast as possible, turning to notice the sewers begin to crack and crumble “Dammit, get out of…” the world took a violent shift, stopping her mid sentence to grip onto the ladder more thoroughly before watching as the sewers fell where she had just come from “No, you can’t be serious!” gritting her teeth she finished pulling herself up and cursing as she reached the top only to feel another sharp shake. Pulling herself to the surface she rolled onto her back, huffing violently.

As she lie there, tired and out of breath her eyes were hit by a bright, blinding shade of purple. Gripping her face she squirmed on the dirty streets below for what felt like a lifetime as she clawed around at the ground trying to pick herself up. Finally she found her way to her feet, opening her eyes as she rose, rubbing vigorously as she did. Finally standing she noticed something out in the distance, a sight accompanied by a high pitched sound, an unfamiliar one to Selina but the sight, though also unfamiliar, was more blunt and straightforward with what it meant, which was nothing good. The sight was a massive swirling spire of what appeared to her as magic as it pervaded the sight of the world and thrust it’s image into the mind of perhaps millions...

Author's Note

As usual, hope you enjoy, yada yada! I'm thinking of throwing some Character sheets on there, who knows, seems legit XD

Jessebelle

It was dawn. Jessebelle knew it was dawn because she felt like crap, she was all too hot and her eyes were sore from excess sunlight. Definitely dawn. Opening her eyes she was quick to tip her hat down further, keeping the pervasive rays from blinding her further, it was bad enough her neck was sore from using a rock as a pillow, she didn’t need to go blind too. Lazily, but surely, the woman began to get herself off the dirt, first she pulled herself into a sitting position with a loud grunt as her body, weary from travel, didn’t appreciate the sudden shifts even at her young age. “Ugh, what tahm is it…” she said with a yawn before she blinked “As a matter a’fact, where’m…” as if remembering for the first time the woman blinked two more times “Raht, that there game. An th’spell. Ugh, why does magic alway make me wanna vomit.”

Now curious, Jessebelle began to explore her new form, it was definitely like those humans in the picture, the long legs and arms, pale hairless skin, hands instead of hooves. Now that she clarified that much she began to take in the details, from her large baggy leather pants up to her brown leather vest which clung snugly to a chain vest beneath it, on her feet were classic cowstallion boots, spurs and all with matching brown leather gloves and to make the look complete, on her head was the traditional hat. “Not bad, ah must say.” she stood and brushed herself off, shaking her head to loosen her neck, causing a long blond pony tail to whip back and forth. “Hmm, not entirely sure what ahm s’pose to be doin’, though ah have an inklin’ ahm headed that way.”

Before setting off the woman began to brush herself off further before she brushed against something on her hip, and she was sure she knew what it was as she turned to stare at the six shooter at her side, and if she recalled it was a piece of junk, which it was, but she took comfort in the fact it was her piece of junk. “Well, hello dere, ah reckon you an me have a history.” she pulled the large, deadly piece of metal from it’s leather holster and began to examine it, it was a traditional six shooter, though it only had about four of those six shots loaded into it “Damn, almost outta shell, need’ta make some more… but iffen ah recall, and I recall quite a bit oddly enough, the town ahm after ain’t much fer hostilities. Ah should get along fine, and if not I should…” the woman knelt down to examine her boot and sure enough there was a dagger inside of it “Good, well, no tahm fer wastin’” she assured herself as she continued on her way.

The journey was short lived as she did, infact, come upon the town in about 30 minutes “Ah knew ah shoulda checked over that there ridge last night, now ah got this krick in mah neck…” she complained with a sigh “Welp, a tired body such as mine deserves a bit of somethin’ to ease the tension.” she muttered as she scanned the area until her eyes fell upon a man in official looking armor standing at the gate, the gate itself was just a simple arch and wide open at that. Ready for some piss warm ale and cold food the woman walked over to the guard. “Howdy.”

The guard returned the greeting with a nod.

“Ah don’t reckon yalls have a saloon where a weary travela can get a drink or nine do ya?”

“Ahm sorry miss, what’s a saloon?” the mans equally thick cockney accent making it clear there was a division in their ability to fully comprehend one another.

“Yalls know, a place t’get a drank.”

“Ah, a pub. You can get yerself drunk down at the Grimey Cobblestone, ah’d give you directions but just follow the smell of booze and disappointment, you’ll come across it.”

“Much obliged.” she thanked the guard with a tip of her hat and walked further into the town. To the player, it was just like Canterlot, large, made of stone, and filled with too many rich, snobs to care about, but to the character it was unlike what she was used to. Instead of wooden houses and sandy streets she was in a town of stone, though it wasn’t her first town like this, it was the largest and by far the most impressive as at it’s heart stood a massive castle that reached high into the sky and demanded respect from her and all of it’s citizens. “Yeah, but ain’t it just overcompensatin’ fer somethin’ else?” she said aloud with a smirk, confusing those who heard her, but that didn’t phase the outsider. Instead she worked her way forward, head ducked low in an attempt to go unnoticed, though considering her appearance it did little to help as eyes from all over were glued to her appearance.

Annoyed, the women's attention was on her watchers instead of her path as she felt her head ram into a large, hard metal surface, knocking her down. Shaking her head Jessebelle looked up to see a massive woman clad in solid pink armor clasp over a massive, almost unwieldy frame who atop that was a soft, gentle face with one big blue eye, the other presumably covered by long, soft looking pink hair. “Oh it’s y…” stopping mid sentence Jessebelle realized -she- didn’t know this woman, and since she wanted to play the game right, she stood and nodded at the woman before walking away
.

“Sorry!” was all Jessebelle heard as she departed from the giant of a woman.

‘Jeeze...’ Jessebelle thought to herself ‘Did she have to be so big? Well, she is about that big in real life… in a matter of speakin’

Trying to forget about her shy friend Jessebelle made her way around and surely enough on gut instinct alone she somehow followed the faint feeling of hopeless despair to her destination, the Grimey Cobblestone. It was a shitstain of a building, dirty, unpleasant, surely afflicted with the plague, yet it had a charm, like that toothless stallion by the bridge who pees in the river and asks for bits whenever someone passes by ‘Ok, so iffen ah recall, yalls can get some interestin’ information outta place lahk dis’ she nodded to herself assuredly before stepping in.

The Grimey Cobblestone was as advertised, there was cobblestone, it was certainly grimey, and hey, there might even be a ‘the’ somewhere in here. Jessebelle’s entrance was met with immediate stares, the girl was a sore thumb among the armor clad, sword wielding men, but she knew that bit from the get go. Deciding she wanted her character to be cocky, Jessebelle stepped forward, smirk on her face as she sat at the counter, pulling out a small satchel of silver pieces and placing it with authority. The jingling of coin brought the immediate attention of a heavier woman, who turned to her new customer with a smile “Well, well, I do hope that’s money and not more empty promises like the rest of these sorry drunks.”

Deciding her character was a serious type, Jessebelle just said “Make if strong.”

“No time for small talk I see.” the woman smirked at the gunslinger and moved to prepare a drink “I’m Brenda and by your appearance alone I'm sure you're here for more then liquor, yes?”

Brenda’s observations impressed Jessebelle to an extent, causing a small smile to form “Ah reckon you got me pegged.” she said as Brenda placed a large stout in front of Jessebelle “Ya, ahm here, er…” Jessebelle, or rather her player, got stuck mid sentence as she tried to come up with a fitting response “Ah, yeah, ahm here for, uh, work.” she said, stumbling over her own words ‘Smooth Applejack, smooth…’

“Uh-huh, well you’re in luck. I need a wagon taken to another town nearby. 25 up front, 25 on return, supplies will be given to you for the trip.” Jessebelle considered the bartenders words as she guzzled down the brew which, despite the name of the establishment, was damn good.

“When can ah get that gold?” she asked, remembering her near empty six shooter.

“The day you start, not a moment sooner.” Brenda said sternly

“Hmm, ah reckon I won’t be doin’ much til’ then.” She muttered causing Brenda to perk a brow

“What’s that mean?”

Prompted by her question, Jessebelle pull out her gun, giving it a few twirls for effect before plodding down on the bar before her “Ahm low on ammo, can’t shoot without bullets.”

“So, this is a gun huh, I’ve heard about them, how does it work?” Brenda asked as she reached for it, stopping short as a leather bound hand snatched the weapon away

“Well, to make it short, I pull this here…” she pointed out the trigger “And whoever I find a distaste for at that particular moment stops breathin’ “ she said with certainty

“I see, well, let me see what I can do. I think I know someone who can get you some bullets, after all, can’t have you doing a job unarmed.” She said with a smile before walking off

“Much obliged.” Jessebelle tipped her hat and began at her drink again before she heard someone walk into the bar, which was an understatement considering the pubs door swung open loudly. Turning, Jessebelle instantly recognized her pigheaded friend, or, she would if they weren’t in the game, but they were so she didn’t ‘Ugh, this whole game thang is gettin’ confusin’ ‘ she thought briefly as the rainbow haired woman who had just entered the bar marched to a seat beside her.

“Howdy stranger.” Jessebelle said to Rain- to the strange, never before seen woman.

“ ‘Sup toots, say do I know you?” Wrathtail asked with a squint of her eyes as she began to examine Jessebelle.

“Nope, ah reckon ya don’t.” Jessebelle said curtly, feeling a little hurt one of her best friends didn’t recognize her, even in the confines of the game. With that, she stood and left the pub with haste.

Now back on the street of New Krayan, Jessebelle decided to explore a bit, after all, it wasn’t often one gets to explore a city of this size. Taking the opportunity Jessebelle moved forward with hungry, however, just as she passed an inconspicuous man she felt a brush against her back side. Taking it for a pickpocket she reached her hand back and patted her self, turning all the while shouting “You no good varmint, come back with mah…” she began before she felt something jingling in her hand, surprisingly it was her coins “Huh, guess he was just a perv… wait, was ah just felt up!” she shouted and turned fully, only to find a whopping amount of nothing “Gone, well, no harm done ah reckon.” she muttered, continuing to search her possessions, though nothing was out of place.

Shrugging Jessebelle took one more step forward before she felt the world begin to shake. Wondering briefly if it had something to do with her lech, she pushed it aside, favoring concentrating on balancing herself, though she’d find the position was not in the least auspicious as the sound of crackling wood and stone was followed by a nearby building falling toward her. In an incredible display of agility she leapt out of the way as the home finished it’s tumble down to the streets. Just as she thought things couldn’t get worse, they got worse when her vision was violently, and suddenly filled with blinding light. Falling on her back, she gripped her eyes and began to roll in pain “You rassin’ frassin’ sonofa…” she yelled angrily until he vision restored. Opening her eyes, the unthinkable was before her “Damn, it got worse again…” as a purple, spiraling tower of energy pervaded the sky...

Author's Note

Holy ^*&$ I'm not dead, wow, it's like christ... huh... here's another thing. I wanna get more things done, but fug dat, I'm a writer, we don't actually "do" things. That's what the starving orphans are for.

Sprinkles

The Arliegian air always had a special way of tickling ones nose. Never being too offensive to bear, yet never being pleasant enough to ignore. It was a special kind of familiarity to Sprinkles, one she could rely on, something she could state without fear of strange looks, not that she minded, getting people’s attention was the duty of a bard, and one she took seriously, or, as serious as the kilt wearing woman could be. Sprinkles, or Beatrice to certain others, was a silly sort, she loved to dance, and sing and play, and that was fine, but she often did it too much! To her family, it was fine to be joyous, but they were warriors, men and women of arms and war! But, Sprinkles didn’t care, she had other wants and dreams. Though, most of those dreams involved frosting, they were still dreams darnit.

As she sat atop a New Krayan home, legs kicking happily as she did, she felt the cool summer breeze pass over her, tossling her wild pink hair as well as carrying with it the scent of the slums she’d come to live in and love, smiling all the while. Life was simple, life was easy, and life was ‘Boring!’ she thought, indeed the still life was not one for the bardess, instead she wanted, well, something, and something she’d have!

Like a gift from the heavens, something came to the woman as she heard the doors open below her. Looking down, she saw a head of rainbow hair atop a slim physique. Giggling to herself, she stared at the colorful woman right before she took a suddenly aggressive position and began yelling something, prompting many onlookers to move away. At the same time, another noise caught Sprinkles attention, and this time it came from behind. Crawling atop the building to investigate, she saw this time a brownish woman with a wonderfully styled, though now messy, head of royal blue hair, in her hand a satchel of coins. This made Sprinkles giggle more as she quickly put the pieces together.

“Well, ah suppose ah should trah and get to havin’ a bit’a fun m’self, aye?” she whispered softly, smile creeping on her face, “But, ah wonder what’n the worl’ ahm’a suppose to be doin’, perhaps ah can go’n take a bit’o a looksee to find m’self some adventure.” with that she tumbled down on the the ground with a flourish before setting off.

At first, the woman thought to explore the pub for fun, but wasn’t interested in being pinched, ogled, and probed by a drunkard into playing a few tunes for him. No, she wanted something more interesting, but what was a bard to do in a foreign town? Surely, the kilt wearing, wide eyed girl could find something interesting, and she knew just the place to find it!

Sneaking off into the royal district of the town, near the castle, the bard pulled her lute out and decided to try her hand at a bit of trickery. First she cleared her throat, then shook herself excitedly, then began to play a song, but this song was no ordinary song as the more weak minded people about began to draw to her like gnats to fire, thoughtlessly staring as she began to dance around playfully kicking just high enough to excite some of the more lecherous of her watchers. Once she felt them suitably distracted by her shenanigans her deft fingers got to work, snaking around several satchels as she did the honest duty of alleviating the wealthy of their golden burdens. She did this for a while, plucking one hapless fool of his wealth after another until one, pink clad woman beside a young, ragged boy, took to noticing her.

“H-hey, stop!” the pink haired giant shouted at the bardess from down the road.

‘Ooh, it’s Fluttershy, oh this is going to be so fun!’ Sprinkles thought as she waved at the woman, hoping to poke the bear a bit before running off.

Making chase the larger of the two put her massive leg span to use as she hurriedly rushed the pink haired thief, who took small breaks in her running to make silly faces at her pursuer.

“In the name of the law, you’re under arrest!” the plus size paladin pronounced, urging Sprinkles to chuckle more as she continued to run.

Rushing forward, happily dancing around several people as she did, Sprinkles took herself a sharp left through the market district. Hoping to ditch her playmate among the crowd and stands, she began leaping over stalls and darting around salesman with playful precision before stopping to turn and see her pursuer still hot on her heels. Taking a moment to thank that heavy armor for slowing her buddy down, Sprinkles turned and continued her daring escape.

Hearing the continued clinging of her friends armor nearby, Sprinkles turned again, this time heading for the slums, knowing of a few abandoned buildings she could sneak through to get away, and she’d need to get away soon as she couldn’t keep up with her much more wellbuilt pursuer who, after Sprinkles had turned her head to examine, looked as if she hadn’t even been phased by all the running. 'Jeeze, I didn't know I'd get so tired so fast.' she thought, breath beginning to heave as she continued on. As Sprinkles turned her head away from her friend she noticed, just in the nick of time, a sign post that threatened to take her head off if she hadn’t slid beneath it, rolling to her feet right before she heard the sound of splintering wood behind her. 'She really wants to get me' she thought, taking a quick gulp of worry.

Having made it to the slums, Sprinkles turned to see her pursuer again, now with chunks of wood in her hair, still after her with no hint of slowing down anytime soon. It didn't take long until she recognized one of the buildings in the slums, and not just any building, but one with an obstacle she could abuse. Urging the large woman with a wave she ran into the large building that once housed a small gang before being routed out by the local guard years, ago and, if memory served the last time she explored this place there was a ‘Aha, the hole!’ she thought cheerfully as a large, wide hole was set dead in the center of a hallway that, at it's other end, had a door for her to leave through. Inhaling deep she focused hard on the hole before kicking off seconds before meeting it, leaping over to the other side with a roll before continuing onto the door where she stopped to take a breath.

“Chase meh now ya silly girl.” she rasped heavily as she bent over, palms on her knees, trying to regain her lost wind. A moment passed by as heavy stomps could be heard from in the building as the paladin made her way, full speed, towards Sprinkles “Come now,” Sprinkles yelled “Y’can’t make tha’ jump.” she spoke with confidence, but that didn’t slow the paladin down in the least, instead she seemed to speed up, which caused Sprinkles to wince in surprise “C’mon, you’re goin’ ta hurt yerself.” she said with a tone of worry, slowly inching backwards, just before the paladin sprung over the hole, leaving the bard wide eyed as she landed heavily on her feet and continued towards her “Oh, well darn.” she muttered as she pulled herself back into a hurried sprint.

“How’d ya even do that, paladins aren’t good jumpers, and you’re in medium armor!” Sprinkles yelled in disbelief, clearly out of character, but this didn’t deter her pursuer as the large woman kept her pace, arms shifting back and forth methodically ‘Ok, ok, new plan, I’ll take her back around near the castle, there’s going to be some definite traffic there.’ she thought, though this would prove difficult as Sprinkles had long since become exhausted and was just barely keeping ahead of the paladin.

Sticking to her new plan, Sprinkles lead her pursuer back to the royal district, just in time to see a group of merchants leading a trail of wagons. Happy with the blockade, Sprinkles pushed herself one last time as she, with incredible agility, jumped up onto one of the guards who was with the wagons and over one of the large wooden transports to the other side before continuing a little bit further, stopping to turn and gloat “Ah..*pant* win… *pant* …” she said with ragged breath, completely drained from the prolonged exercise, however what happened next sent Sprinkles jaw to the floor, as the large figure of the paladin came bursting through one of the wagons, followed by several radishes.

“My radishes!” the merchant yelled as the paladin pulled back up to her feet, dead set on catching the bardess.

“Son of a biiiickersnicker!” Sprinkles yelled as her friend relentlessly came after her, now decorated with several cuts and bruises.

Desperate to escape, the bardess ran just a bit further, exhausting herself to near unconsciousness as she hastily, and recklessly ducked into a small alley before clammering up an auspiciously placed ladder, panting and wheezing harder than she ever had before “Ya silly girl, ya sh’da looked up.” she thought happily as she knew she’d evaded the paladin… or so she thought.

As Sprinkles hopped her way off the building, still looking in her pursuers direction, she failed to noticed the cross armed woman standing right below as she fell right in front of her.

“Oh, yer a clever one.” Sprinkle said with a gulp as she realized she was trapped.

“I’m sorry, but, y-you have to come with m-me.” the larger woman said hesitantly, her dominant stance faltering a bit.

“ Aye, but first, ya look a wee bit tired, why dontcha sleep a while?” she said as she cast a spell right on the others head, only to find it take no effect “Huh, ah take it you’re a lot less tired than ah thought.” the smaller of the two smiled as she peeked off to the side, noticing a rather large crowd was milling nearby.

Fumbling with her satchel, the paladin pulled out a pair of manacles “Now, just give me your arms.” she urged. Knowing the simple manacles would be easy enough for her to slip out of, the bardess complied with a smile as she offered her wrists before feeling the cold metal latch over her

“Aye, yah caught me, ah admit defeat, but might ah ask ya for a bit’o water though, ahm a tad parched from runnin’” Knowing her friends altruistic nature would peek over to the game, she was given a sip from her flask before they began walking.

As her friend led the way, a poor mistake on her part. Sprinkles began to release the water she held in her mouth onto the manacles, hoping for just a bit more slip so she could escape their bonds, though, this was only a part of her plan as she knew there was more she could do to make her daring escape far more successful.

“Hey, you, what kinda music d’ya like?” Sprinkles asked, smirking as they had just entered into the aforementioned crowd.

Realization etched on her face, the pink paladin turned “Please, don’t…” she muttered, with unbearably cute puppy dog eyes, but by then it was too late as Sprinkle began her song, causing dozens of people to swarm the two.

Despite being obviously musclebound the other woman refused to forced her way through, instead pleading gently for order as Sprinkles sank away into the crowd, slipping off the manacles before sneaking away for good.

Exhaling heavily, and wiping her brow Sprinkles took a seat in an alley and began to count her coin ‘Sorry Flutters, hope you’re not too upset about losing that one.’ she, or rather her player thought joyously. As she finished poking through her third pouch she felt an unsettling rumbling.

“Oh sweet Celestia she’s back!’ she yelled, breaking character in fear of the return of the tenacious paladin. However, instead of being met with a large mass of pink she was hit with a much larger mass of blinding purple which caused her to fall prone, hands desperately clinging to her face in pain.

A few moments passed as the woman carefully blinked her sore eyes until her vision came back, and as she opened her eyes she was met with a swirling spire of magic, the sound of energy echoing in her mind as she felt it’s presence “Wowee…” she muttered and she knew she was in for much more than stealing coins...

Author's Note

Yeeeeeee... I should probably take more time on these, but eh, I'll probably go alot slower moving forward. This is mostly practice, and practice I shall. Next chapter I'll probably do a full process for. I'm also still looking for pre-readers so I can knock some of the bumps out quicker, but, eh. Anyways, if you enjoyed it leave a comment and stuffz. Anyways, check ya lata!

Leona

It was rather early when Leona’s eyes shot open. The sun had yet to peak over the horizon yet she still felt the need to wake as soon as she did. Maybe it was her sense of duty that pulled her out of bed earlier than the other guards and knights of the city, maybe it was because she had a chance to revel in the early morning coolness, and enjoy New Krayan when it was at it’s most peaceful, that time when thieves and bandits went to hide away from the guard, and before men of all backgrounds awoke to sell, buy, or work for the day. It was easily her favorite time, yet it always left her with a distinct lack of satisfaction. She liked the calmness, the coolness, the peace and yet she always felt it nothing more than a charade, as the truth of the city would eventually peek its ugly face out again to hurt and abuse people for it’s own gain.

Frowning, Leona turned to peer out the window of her living space, a small, pink room in the temple of Mia Morey. It was in these halls she was raised, from youth to adult she had done so with the heart and spirit of her goddess, but she felt distant from her at the same time. The things in her head, they told her to love and protect the people she cared about, but Leona cared about everyone. Sure, people could be cruel, cold, selfish and unfair, but she wasn’t sure if it was them to blame alone, or the society they’d been brought into. She heaved a gentle sigh, pulling off her pink, heart embroidered blanket to stand before her mirror.

Staring into her reflection, she gazed at her massive form, wrapped delicately by soft, light features and a pale skin tone, all topped by soft pink hair. She smiled for a bit, but that smile turned all too quickly. She hated the way she looked. She came from a place far to the south, or, at least her parents did. The place her heritage hailed from was a harsh, cold place, far more unforgiving than anything the paladin’s witnessed in the city. That place, far from here was often referred to as the “Land of giant men.” and her reflection told her why, she was large, freakishly large, she was even larger then her father had been, and that spoke volumes. She dwarfed everyone and everything around her, her bulky physique making her the target of not just ridicule, but fear.

Long ago, the people, her people, marched on Arliege, leaving thousands of homes buried in ash. The tales from then spoke of rageful, vicious monsters who tore through women and children alike with such wild and angry abandon, it scarred the people of the land for centuries to come. Though they failed to take the nation, the mark her heritage left on the country was a permanent one, one that loomed over her head anytime she so much as stood up. People were afraid of her, afraid of the legend that her eyes would glow red and that she’d tear them apart with her bare hands before screeching in some foreign tongue in victorious roars. Even she feared it.

She wasn’t an angry person, she really wasn’t. Or, so she told herself. Truthfully, it took a lot to even get her so much as annoyed, let alone mad. Yet, when it happened, as rare as it was, it was … terrifying. She recalled, after having witnessed a dear friend beaten for her brown skin, tortured and nearly killed for daring to be foreign something in her head broke, and something else awoke. The memory, no matter how distant always found it's way back to her. The anger, the carnage, the -satisfaction-. The look of fear plastered on the offenders faces as they begged for mercy, a mercy that would only come in... Leona shuddered, for as she loved the goddess with all her heart, the feeling then, the adrenaline, she craved it.

Leona shook her head, looking away from her own face, hoping if she believed it enough she would be a different person, only to be disappointed each time. She stood, in utter silence for a while before she heard the small click of her door opening. Hastily, she reached for her blanket and wrapped herself up as a young boy, with dirty blonde hair and wide green eyes peeked his head in. The boy blushed as he got just enough of an eyeful to cause any young boy awkward dreams for months. The boy turned and began to speak “I-I’m sorry dame Leona, I, uh, I thought you, uh…” he stumbled over his words, trying desperately to push the woman’s attractive form out of his head.

“Oh, uh, s-sorry, I forgot I asked you to accompany me this morning… if that’s still okay I mean…” Leona spoke apologetically.

“Of course!” he said, completely still, though wanting to take another peek, letting the idea slip away in fear of being stricken down by an angry goddess.

“Um, I should get dressed, so…” Leona muttered just loud enough for the boy to hear

“R-right!” he said as he ran out, slamming the door shut behind him.

With a sigh Leona gathered her clothing and entered the small powder room attached to her quarters. After having cleaned and dressed herself in tight fitting black underclothes she left her room, her young ward waiting outside, blushing furiously as he stared at the ground. He hadn’t seemed to notice Leona, prompting her to fake cough until he lifted his head “Oh, uh, r-ready?” he asked, which she replied to with a nod.

The two walked silently to the church armory where Leona kept her equipment. The boy, without a word of prompting, opened the door for Leona, before quickly entering himself and running to grab a massive armor stand sporting large pink full plate, emblazoned with a big heart.

“Not that armor, we’re not doing anything more than patrol today.” Leona spoke, causing the boy to nod and push the armor back into place. Instead, he pulled an equally large stand out with a pink breastplate on it, it too decorated with a heart. Letting her squire do his job, she took a seat as the boy hefted the armor up over her head and onto her before fiddling with the straps until they were nice and tight on her body.

“How’s that dame?” he asked with a smile, proud of his handiwork

“You did fine, could you go fetch my blade and shield squire? I think I left them in the training hall.” she asked politely before the boy nodded and ran off “Oh, you’ll need a whetstone!” she shouted after him.

Now she was alone with her thoughts again, and that was never a good time for her. She began to think about all the things that bothered her, about how mean people can be, and how so many people in the town were hungry, and homeless. The people she's hurt... She thought about how the guard did nothing to ward off the thieves guild. She wanted to think about happier things, but she rarely did, she wanted more then anything to change the way things were in not just New Krayan, but all of Arliege. Sometimes, the way they treat people, the bigotry, the cruelty, it stung her, made her grit her teeth as she fought back something in her blood that screamed for justice.

Wanting to stem the tide of emotions she got to her knees and began to pray, it’s what she always did when upset. She prayed for New Krayan, for people to get along and be happy, for people to stop being attacked on the roads from town to town, for the mindless, selfish murder to stop. She wanted things to be better, at any cost ‘No matter who get’s hurt in the process.’ the words that stretched across her head caused her to force open her eyes in panic. “I-I…” she muttered quietly to herself before sitting back down on her stool quietly.

She sat in complete silence, looking at the door every so often, wondering when her squire would return. ‘Is this entirely because of where I’m from?’ she wondered ‘are my people really so angry? No, they couldn’t be, my father nor my mother were like this, they were the nicest people I know!’ She tried to convince herself, but she felt like her thoughts were wasted as it didn’t change herself. She just wanted to help people, to make people happy, so why did she feel these weird urges to hurt some of them as well.

Again, a memory came to her, this time it was during her training. By then her parents had passed, murder in front of her, her dearest friend had dissapeared and the city saw her as a monster for the incident that preceded her joining of the church. She and the other sister quickly learned she simply lacked the patience or understanding to perform their spells and blessings. And for a time this hurt Leona, broke her. But soon she found purpose, strength, a blade was given to her, the weapon as light as air and as natural as breathing. Maybe it was her size, or her strength, or her very blood but she wasn't just skilled, she untouchable. The ferocity by which the woman fought was astounding, the way she took blows without flinching almost inhuman. She was born to fight, and it was clear to all around her.

This brought about a new memory. A painful one. A few years ago, Leona was pit against a recruit from out of town, another heralded as a natural born fighter. The boy was blonde, handsome by most standards, but he was snobbish, rude. He treated women like toys, and other men like dogs. He thought that because he had money, that because his parents had power her was somehow immune to the same rules that applied to everyone else. As they continued their bout, the man taunted her, insulting her, her size, calling her many awful names, but nothing she hadn't heard before. He then began to insult her parents, laughing at their death, how he knew was beyond her but it stung, bringing her to tears as she fought through the rising anger in her chest. His words came out like venom as he said "And to make it even funnier, I hear that worthless brown skinned whore of yours is a member of the thieves guild. But don't worry, when I get the chance I'll put the bitch down like all the rest." Her heart beat like a frenzy, years of unkempt emotion burst like a shattered damn as she began to weep. The man stood over her, laughing as he continued his hateful speech, but no words were heard. All Leona could feel was rage.

Screaming like a wild beast Leona began her assault anew. Her blade coming down so fast and heavy the man had no time to speak. Seeing his opportunity he struck, bashing the sword against her skull with incredible force, so much so the blade snapped and flew away. And as the blood fell from her head, he came eye to eye with her, cocky grin turned to a terrified gaze. In that moment he knew he had to escape, though the group around the two were unaware. With a roar she dropped the sword and shield she held, grabbing the boy, tearing his shield away before pinning him on the ground. Again and again she bore her armors gauntlets onto his face, smiling, screaming, yelling "What's wrong! Why'd you stop talking! Where's the hate you were so proudly spewing from your ignorant mouth!? Are you afraid? Scared? Yes, fear me, fear me as I will kill you all!" by now she had no comprehension of what she was saying, words echoing out hollowly as she unabashedly beat the mans face in, three knights just barely pulling her off right before the killing blow could be made. They say the boy survived, but he left the knighthood soon after.

The memory was awful, and it pained her that she was capable of something so brutal and vicious. ‘It’s not right.’ she thought as she began to tremble slightly just as her squire returned with her sword and shield. She turned to look as they were presented to her. The sword was a long sword of masterful quality, it’s hilt shaped like a pink heart. The shield, too, was painted pink with a heart right on the front. Leona smiled at her square “Thank you.” she said, prompting a bow from him ‘You forgot the whetstone…’ she thought for a moment. ‘I guess it’s sharp enough…’

“So, dame, where’re we going?” he said with a smile

“Nowhere special, just headed to the royal district to do some patrol.” she said, turning to look out a window to see the sunshine beaming brightly over the town “We should get to it.” she said softly as the two left.

Leona, alongside the boy, walked about for a while. Neither spoke much, and every time the boy tried to start a conversation Leona either ended it short or just pretended not to hear him. As they were preparing to move to another part of town her squire tugged on her leggings “Dame Leona, look!” Leona turned to see a pink haired songstress composing for the nobles. The two watched for a while, appreciating the music. After a few seconds Leona became distracted as she felt something bump against her back, turning she saw a blonde, freckled girl behind her on the ground, wide eyes staring up at her. Leona blushed, certain she was being stared at for her size.

“Oh it’s y…” the woman said as if just realizing something, but abruptly stopped.

“Sorry!” Leona said as the strangely dressed woman got up and rushed herself away. ‘She must of been afraid of me too…’ Leona thought for a moment before feeling another tug on her leggings as her squire pointed out the woman again “No, we can’t sit around and listen to her all day.” She said softly before getting another tug

“No, look, she’s taking their purses!” he said, pointing out the bard’s clearly illegal activity

“What! She can’t do that, someone should…” she began as the boy turned to her, eyes wide in excitement as it was apparent he wanted to see her take this girl down “Oh, that’s my job.” she smiled nervously before running over towards the other girl. “H-hey, stop!” Leona shouted.

Having taken notice, the other woman began to wave at her, smiling happily as she did before running off. “Shoot!” Leona muttered softly before making chase.

Galloping full speed, Leona shouted “In the name of the law, you’re under arrest!” though that didn’t seem to slow down the thief.

As they ran Leona noticed the woman, dressed in a light blue kilt and white top, begin to dance and twirl about mockingly as she deftly dodged several people before making a sharp left into the market district.

Seeing Leona barreling down the street, everybody immediately jumped to get out of her way as she ran down after the girl. Taking the same left as her target, she watched as the women made a show out of leaping, ducking, and twirling about away from Leona. The crowd was thick, as was normal for the market district by this time. This made Leona’s job all the harder as she began down after the thief, forcing her unwieldy body to stop, dodge, and sometimes even move through the various obstacle in her way.

Making good time, Leona was quickly on the other woman's heels as the thief stared back at her. The woman turned her head right before falling to her knees and sliding underneath a sign. Not having the dexterity to do the same Leona, instead of trying to dodge the sign, lifted her arms above her face and rammed through the sign, not being slowed in the least as she did, though it left several chunks of wood in her hair.

The chase continued for a few moments more as the other woman was obviously leading Leona to the slums, though she would not be deterred as she heaved her massive body forward. Watching intently she saw as the other woman half turned to wave at her before ducking into an older looking building. Determined to apprehend the thief, Leona ran in after her, pushing through the halls until she found a large stretch, at the other end the bard who was now mocking her “Come now,” the woman yelled “Y’can’t make tha’ jump.”

Leona heard her, and looked down to see the hole, Leona knew at this point there wasn’t much that was going to slow her down anytime soon, so instead she decided to speed up to try and clear the jump.

“C’mon, you’re goin’ ta hurt yerself.” the woman spoke worriedly

Ignoring her words, Leona continued until just where the hole ended before propelling herself off the ground and into the air over the hole, landing with a loud stomp.

“Oh, well darn.” the woman muttered before turning to run. As they continued, Leona heard the bard begin to yell “How’d ya even do that, paladins aren’t good jumpers, and you’re in medium armor.” strangely losing her accent.

‘Huh, what’s that even mean? And where’d her accent go…’ Leona thought briefly before shaking it away and focusing on her duty.

Leona began to catch up to the other woman, who was very obviously running out of energy. Smiling Leona kept at it, thankful for her superior training.

By now, the other woman had begun leading her towards the castle proper, in the royal district ‘Darnit, she’s going to try and lose me amongst the traffic.’ Leona realized, but decided there was little she could do but hope for the best.

Finally, they reached the royal district. Before the both of them was a line of wagons each moving forward through the street. In a supreme display of skill, the other woman leapt into the air onto a guard before diving over one of the wagons. ‘This is going to hurt…’ Leona thought as she decided that if she couldn’t go around the wagon, she only had one option.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!” Leona yelped as she drove herself through one of the wagons.

“My Radishes!” the merchant in charge of the wagon shouted as she exploded out the other side, accompanied by dozens of the mans vegetables.

Scrambling to her feet, Leona looked up to see the other woman stare in disbelief, before turning to, again, start running.

“Son of a biiiickersnicker!” the bard yelled, as Leona felt the trickling of blood fall down one of her cheeks.

Now, the other woman grew reckless as she haphazardly ducked into a nearby alley. Though she couldn’t see it, she could hear the sounds of someone heading up the rungs of a ladder. Focusing her vision above her, she ran into the alley and passed a building where she saw the bard on top, watching her. ‘Got you.’ she thought as she ran passed the building, turning to loop around behind the building.

Making it back to the building Leona stopped, looking up as the woman was still intent on looking in the direction Leona just was. With a smirk the woman hopped down off the building right in front of Leona before turning to see her. Leona, arms now crossed, looked down at the woman.

“Oh, yer a clever one.” the woman gulped and stared up with terrified eyes.

“I’m sorry, but, y-you have to come with m-me.” Leona said hesitantly

“ Aye, but first, ya look a wee bit tired, why dontcha sleep a bit?” the woman said before she began casting a spell, Leona didn’t have time to react as she felt the effects of magic fall on her head, only to realize nothing had happened “Huh, ah take it you’re a lot less tired than ah thought.” the bard said as she swayed to one side, looking passed Leona for some reason.

Nervously, Leona dug into her pouch to produce her manacles, having finally caught the woman “Now, just give me your arms.” she urged, and thankfully the woman seemed to comply as she produced her arms for Leona to bind

“Aye, yah caught me, ah admit defeat, but might ah ask ya for a bit’o water though, ahm a tad parched from runnin’” Reluctantly, Leona pulled her waterskin from her hip and placed it to the womans lips, allowing her to take a drink before nodding for her to follow.

Leading the way Leona watched on, proud smile on her face, paying little attention to the bustling crowd before her ‘I’m so excited, I did it, I really did it. This a good day!’ she thought

“Hey, you, what kinda music d’ya like?” The bard asked, causing Leona’s face to go pale as she realized exactly what this implied.

“Please don’t.” Leona turned with her biggest puppy dog eyes, but to no avail as the bard began her song causing the populace to mob around the paladin.

Leona knew she could force her way through after the woman, but was more concerned with hurting everyone else, so she could do little but watch as the bard slinked away behind the crowd.

Leona took but a moment to look, but knew by then the women had likely gotten far away. Leona dejectedly kicked at the ground with her greaves before balling her hand into a fist. She was getting upset, really upset. ’So close…’ she thought before losing control of her arm into the side of the building, leaving a rather sizable hole.

Defeated, Leona wandered back towards where she left her squire. Having found him, she began to walk over to his location. At first the boy was smiling, but upon seeing his knight’s failure to catch the woman, looked at the ground, sharing Leona’s hurt expression. “I-it’s ok dame Leona, you’ll get that dirty harlot, I know it!” he offered with a smile that helped to lift her spirit

“Thanks.” she smiled back, and just then, as the moment passed the world began to shift and shake wildly.

“Dame Leona, what’s happening!” the boy shouted.

“I’m not sure…” she turned to her squire to see him hold onto the side of a building that wasn’t going to last. Instinctively Leona grabbed the boy and tossed him away as the building fell down on her, sending her world into darkness...

Author's Note

There we go, all chapters should be made with this level of care. Got me a pre-read from http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Breakfateschain (Go thanks him for being a bro), I went and double checked it. I took a lot of extra time on making it shiny. Though I feel I could do better, and I probably could, I'm pretty satisfied. Anyways, have fun, and from here on out we'll be moving on with the plot. Yay plot (And not that kind ya b*stards) Oh, and as always, leave a comment, I like to hear feedback, it helps me suck less :D

Protecting New Krayan!

Twilight sparkle held in a loud yawn as she stood at the foot of her staircase, watching her alabaster friend Rarity shuffle through her books. Twilight didn’t mind her friends coming to the library, on the contrary she enjoyed it... when she was awake. When the fashionista came to Twilight’s door, much to the purple unicorns frustration, it was with a strange request, she was looking into steel smithing. Though at first Twilight had wondered why it was necessary so late at night she was met with the weak excuse of “This needs to be read while the inspiration is still fresh.”.

Twilight sighed, eyes saggy, body slumped, waiting for her friend to finish as she slowly, and meticulously, went over every single book before placing it back in the most agonizingly slow way possible. Twilight turned to the clock she had on her wall, staring up as the little hand mockingly sat over the 3. Twilight contemplated blasting the clock to bits for teasing her but shook it away and turned back to her friend, who placed a book back on the shelf with a soft “Nope.”.

A little over an hour passed, the white unicorn only moving slightly to the next row of books. By now, Twilight wanted nothing more than to bash her poor head against something to make rest come a bit quicker, but decided that was a little extreme. Soon her purple ears sprang up excitedly when she heard a cheery “Aha” come from Rarity’s direction

“You found it!” Twilight perked with a weak, tired smile.

“Oh, huh, oh no. I just found the hooffile I lost here last month, that’s all.” After answering Rarity went back to the torturous task of slowly going through the books.

Twilight cringed, a small twitch on her eye. Sure, she tried to help, offered to repeatedly, but the other unicorn insisted that she not be a bother to Twilight, and yes, Twilight could very much just go upstairs to bed right away, but that would be rude, though her propensity for politeness passed profusely.

Another slow forty minutes ticked on by before finally Rarity made another noise. “Now?” Twilight asked pleadingly.

“Hmm, now what?” Rarity asked, smiling at her purple friend

“The book?!” Twilight growled in annoyance, though the tone seemed to go unnoticed by Rarity

“The book?” she asked questioningly “Oh, yes, the metalsmithing? I found that a while ago, maybe ten minutes after I got here.” Twilight’s eye twitched yet again “I was just looking to see if anything else caught my fancy.” she placed a hoof to her chin, slowly pulling one book out then putting it back with a dainty shake of her head.

“What happened to ‘while the inspiration was fresh’?” Twilight complained

“Hm? Oh, dear me, has it been that long.” she asked, now looking up at the clock “I apologize, I had my mind elsewhere. I was thinking about how much more fabulous my outfit would look if I had realistic looking weapons to accompany them, which is why I got this book. Not to mention, it would be the piece de resistance for these outfits I’m working on, see, after our game I started to poke into some fantasy novels and to my excitement I found out one I like most, Game of Pones, was releasing a theater show, so of course I wanted to make the outfits and what would look better than steel mock weapons to add that little extra bit of pizazz.”

It was everything in Twilight’s power to smile as her friend talked, frantically pushing away every desire to send the other mare flying out of her house at mach speed, though, the desire for historical accuracy and the prospect of research did soften the blow as she herself had left poor Spike to many sleepless nights in the same vain. Sighing, Twilight released her frustration, giving a genuine smile for once that night before leading her chatty friend out of the building.

“Anyways Twilight, I’ll be leaving now.” As she trotted away she paused and turned “Oh, and remember, we’re having our picnic with Fluttershy in six hours, so make sure to get plenty of sleep.”

Twilight groaned inwardly before slamming the door shut with her magic.

The Six friends giggled madly as they walked off the train. Pinkie regaling them with a story about cheese curd, fresh mowed lawns and the meaning of life being found in a trombone. Their day had started off great, they got together, no incident, boarded the train and was happy as could be. Their giggling fit stopping when a boyish voice came from clear across the street “Twily!”

Perking her ears to the familiar sound Twilight scanned the area until she saw her beloved brother. Excited she ran over to his side and embraced him “Shining!” she shouted as they snuggled

“Hey Twily, how’s it going?” he smiled down at his sister

“Great, but what are you doing here and where’s Cadence?” She asked, slightly worried by the absence of her sister in law

“At the kingdom of course! And as for myself, I’m here to give you a gift.” he smiled at her, ruffling her mane a bit “Now, close your eye and hold out a hoof.”

The other five approached, watching as Shining Armor placed a small figurine of a wizard in purple robes into Twilight's hoof.

“Alright, open your eyes Twily.” doing as she was instructed she looked down to see a painted miniature of her character, Starstorm, before squealing in girlish glee.

“How’d you know!” she chirped wrapping her brother in her hooves.

“Now here I thought you knew me little sis, remember my friends way back in the day? We used to play Pathfinder all the time, my buddy Point Dexter made this. I’m not very good at painting miniatures so…” he was interrupted when his sister hugged him tighter

“It’s perfect, thank you thank you thank you thank you!”

“Yeah, Luna actually ran into my buddy PD when she was looking for more Pathfinder material, wondering if they put anything else out, and trust me, it’s a lot, though most of it’s pretty lost.” he separated from his sister “Anyways, Luna and Point Dexter got to talking, she brought you up, he sent me a message and, well, you can guess from there.”

“Wow, yeah, I almost forgot you played…” she looked down at the figure “You know…”

“Haha, don’t worry about it.” he pat her head “When I found out Luna was running my first thought was to come out here and see if she had some room, and she doesn’t.” Twilight frowned and hoofed the ground lightly “At least, not for your group, though we talked about her spell and she has a plan, but she wants me to find some more ponies to play. Trust me, it’ll be great, but I don’t want to spoil anything.”

“Alright, so you will be playing?” She asked with a slight tilt of her head.

“Hmm, you’ll see.” he spoke aloofly “Anyways, I don’t wanna keep you, you have a game to play, and I’m so jealous.” he smiled

“Of course, and thank you again.” she nuzzled her brother softly before they departed.

Making it to Luna’s game room, they noticed the princess wasn’t in the chair, instead she was on the ground covered with cheese puffs, chocolate covered pretzels, marshmallows and cake crumbs.

“Maybe we should take that junk food away from her, she’ll get a cavity like that.” Fluttershy muttered

“Geeze, what’s with you and cavities?” Dash replied

“She’s mentioned it all of once.” Applejack drawled in retort.

Luna, taking slight notice of the noise, snorted, choking a bit on spittle before coughing roughly then turning slightly.

“She’s certainly not like her sister…” Rarity added, waving a hoof in disgust.

“How dare thee accuseth us of being she who taketh the cookies from jar of baked treats!” the Lunar princess shouted, bolting up onto her plot, shifting her head about nervously.

“Easy girl,” Rainbow said as she swooped to her GMs side, holding her with her hooves “You’re coming off what looks like a pretty bad sugar rush.”

The other girls nodded in agreement with Fluttershy adding “You’re going to get a cavity if you keep it up.”

Rainbow and Luna looked at one another, bemused, before turning to the buttery mare “We are an alicorn princess, we do not get cavities.”

Scrunching her face, Fluttershy scrutinized her princess as the Alicorn crossed her hooves and turned her muzzle up “I should ask Celestia.” she said before turning to leave before feeling magic grab her hind leg.

“Do not tell her, she will see to it we are without sweets for a month, she already took away caffeinated beverages from us!” Luna practically begged, hoof outstretched, receiving a chuckle from the group.

“Of course princess, I wouldn’t tell on you.” Fluttershy agreed, trotting over to a chair as Luna’s face glowed the deepest purple the group had ever seen.

“So, I suppose with that out of the way we should get started?” Twilight offered, trying to keep the group from detracting any further

The rest began to take their seats as Luna grunted in compliance. “Now, as we recall…” she hummed as the room filled once more with light.

All that stood before Leona was white. Her massive frame tearing through the streets of New Krayan as she angrily pushed her way towards the cathedral. Behind her was the rest of the group, following her and looking on as the guard struggled against the monstrous horde of shadow hound-beasts. Everything was going to hell and the grand priest and head master were nowhere to be found, likely still on their way to the disturbance that probably sparked this whole ordeal. Regardless, the six had a city to protect, and protect it they would.

Though weighed down by heavy armor, the rest of the group still found it hard to endure as she did as they ran through the streets. “Would ya slow down a wee bit, wer’ gettin’ a tad tired.” Sprinkles shouted at the paladin who gave no response.

“It’s no good, she’s in one of her… fits…” Selina spoke hesitantly, shaken by her usually gentles friends rampage.

Eventually the group was cut off when three of the beasts jumped down from a nearby building onto the paladin. First they stood in awe as another flood tore through towards them from the alleyways and side streets, leaving their large friend on her own. However, their attention changed from the beasts before them to the primal shouts of the paladin ahead, followed by the soaring form of one of the beasts as it’s body was tossed over to their feet before dissapearing entirely.

While Leona was lost in a sea of shadows, the other five had no choice but to stand their ground as over twenty beasts stared them down.

“There’s no way we can handle these numbers…” Starstorm muttered, panting lightly

“We’re not getting away so that’s our only option…” Wrath Spoke, inhaling deeply before charging into the fray, blade swinging in wide, violent arcs.

“Damned if ya do damned if ya don’t…” Jessebelle spoke, drawing her boot dagger and following suit.

Wordlessly, Selina fell into step as she began to engage, followed by Sprinkles. Starstorm watched as her friends fell into a mass of steel and inky blackness, grunts and yelps coming from her friends as they fought the masses, for every one they fell another two came and sank their fangs into legs, arms, ribs, their blood raining onto the cobblestone streets.

Starstorm wasn’t sure what to do, if anything. She couldn’t fight like them, her spells would serve little use as well. She was worthless and she felt it. She could do nothing but sit there and hope for the best as her friends were slowly wore down in the dervish of steel and fangs. However, as her friends began to get overrun she could hear snarling from behind her, alerting her to the six beasts that had flanked her. She fell to her knees, hopelessness washed over her. She closed her eyes, and waited. What came next was a surprise.

Lightning struck, flames fell onto the earth, and three blades, two held by a suave man in leather the other by none other than King Ardreus tore the ranks asunder. “Darian, your little ploy worked.” the king spoke with a cocky grin over his smooth, fair face. Eye sparkling with a liveliness only matched by the shimmering of his golden mane.

“Of course, I knew they’d make a move if they thought we left, but first…” Darius through one dagger with inhuman precision, quickly tying a satchel to it as he did, hitting one of the beasts right between the eyes as it leapt at Jessebelle “Ammunition, take it girl.” Jessebelle looked surprised as she snatched the bag, smiling as she fiddled with it, trying to load her six shooter.

Soon the source of the flames and lightning came forward from opposite sides. Eramac stepped forward a serious look on his face as he began to weave magic in between his hands. “Like old times, eh children?” he spoke with a mix of seriousness and playfulness

Edona came out, eyes filled with a glowing golden energy that danced around inside of her skull as she drew a long, curved blade affixed with nine rings from her side, proceeding to open her arms wide as her form doubled, the normally petite woman now a hulking form of might, the multihued strands of her ever-moving hair now matching the beasts in length alone. “You will not harm my children!” she shouted as the blade came crashing down on two of them, billows of dust and rock escaping where the blade landed.

“Always such a show off, aren’t ya Edona… well so am I.” The king smirked as he spoke throwing the shield he was wearing off and drawing a second sword, both now glowing with golden energy as he pushed in passed Starstorm, winking at her as he did before releasing a whirlwind of attacks through the horde.

The group was astonished, four of the most powerful people in the nation stood united making the massive horde seem like only slight annoyances where the six of them barely held on for their lives. Selina broke from the crowd over to Darius, a look of confusion on his face “D-Darius, dear, what in the world…”

“Never seen the heroes of Old Krayan get together?” the man looked at her with his usual seriousness

“You… them… how, I don’t…” Starstorm spoke in awe “You mean I’ve been training under the Stormbringer the whole time!!!” she shouted in childlike glee.

“Starstorm!” Eramac shouted “This isn’t the time for acting like a toddler!” he scolded causing the girl to shrink nervously.

“I wouldn’t take you for a good guy.” Selina spoke with an arched brow, a sly grin plastered on her face.

“Good isn’t what I’d call it, can’t get paid if everyone’s dead, right?” he asked, moving passed the other rogue, unsheathing several knives from seemingly out of no where “Twenty gold for twenty eyes?!” He asked out to the King, who was effortlessly tearing forward, allowing the rest to break from the horde to have their wounds attended to by the grand cleric.

“Hmph, you sure you still got it?” The king shouted back right before a wave of daggers hit their mark without fail, causing most of the beasts to explode into blackness.

“So, awesome!” Wrathtail mustered in between gasps for air

“Let me aid you.” Edona said as she waved her hands over the magus’s several wounds.

“Thanks, but, how can you guys be the Heroes of Old Krayan, you guys look pretty spry to be dead folk.” Wrathtail spoke with a questioning glare as her wounds closed up. giving one very specific glare to the King who only turned to her briefly with a look of reconciliation.

“Some secrets are kept for a reason, though it appears ours wasn’t kept very well.” She spoke in a gentle, though authoritative tone that reminded her of something, in fact. she looked a lot like someone she knew, her hair, the glowing eyes, it gave Wrathtail a weird shiver down her spine, a feeling she couldn’t quite place.

The rest of the group, minus Leona and the King, gathered together. While their wounds were tended to further, Jessebelle spoke “Took yalls long enough to get here, anymore waitin’ and we’d have turned up dead.”

“Well, you didn't.” Darius said matter of factly.

“Where’s Leona?” Edona asked, answered when the other five of the other group looked into the crowd King Ardreus was currently cutting through. Edona’s look became one of sadness and concern as she couldn’t see her among the crowd, this the was quickly mended when one of the bodies of the beasts came flying over head, followed by strange, foreign screaming.

“I think she’s fine…” Selina spoke gently, a tinge of fear following as she gulped.

“You will die, die, all of you!” Leona shouted as she lifted one by it’s neck, squeezing until a satisfying snap was heard before the body faded into nothingness.

Ardreus finished his way over beside Leona, cutting down what little was still around her. She turned, looking at the king who smiled at her right before he felt the steel of her gauntlets slam right into his face, causing him to shift slightly, but overall seemingly doing little to him. Leona’s eyes seemed to settle as she recognized the thing before her as human. Calmed, her eyes rolled back into her head as she fell into the kings arms. “Heavy girl, aren’t ya?” he spoke kindly to her now resting form.

“What’s going on?” Wrathtail spoke, wanting answers.

“We’re under attack.” Darius remarked, picking up his knives off the ground.

“What he means to say is that we’re being attacked by…” The four looked at each other before nodding. Eramac sighed and finished his sentence “Old King Adrean.”

Wrathtail gasped slightly, grabbing the old mans robe angrily “Da...Adrean was a good man, he died fighting against the shadows of Norshire, and you’d know that if you were the heroes who fought beside him!”

“We know, and we did.” Ardreus said as he brought over Leona, cradling her effortlessly in his arms. “Wrathtail, please, believe me, I know my father.” he set her down at Edona’s feet.

Sprinkle cut in suddenly, staring Ardreus in the eye, exploring the somber look that filled his features. With a nod she turned to Wrathtail “Ah think e’s tellin’ the truth.”

“We are,” Edona stood away from Leona, satisfied that she would wake up soon

“Mother Edona, I… I know we should trust you, but it’s hard to believe he’d cause this to his people, surely this is a mistake.” Starstorm questioned, trying her best not to sound curt.

“My student, believe me, it’s very true and a secret we thought we could keep to our grave, but it appears that won’t be happening… we tried our best, but it seems we couldn’t keep the facade up forever, however it’s something I always suspected to be a such.” he sighed “I knew our past would return to haunt the kingdom… but, I have duties, responsibilities. So, that’s why I have you.” he smiled at Starstorm.

“Me!? But, I could barely help… why would I…” she was interrupted

“You are my student, and a gifted one at that. I started the school to find another with the talent to continue protecting this kingdom, and I have, and by the looks of it I’m not the only one.” He looked at Darius and Edona.

“Truth be told, I didn’t think so far ahead. Selina is just one of my… associates, though I admit, I wouldn’t have any of those other goons uphold my name.” he smiled to Selina who smiled back and nodded

“Well, I suppose that will do then, won’t it.” Selina spoke with a touch of pride.

“And you Edona?” Eramac asked, giving her a very serious look.

Edona looked down at Leona “Perhaps,” was all she muttered.

“Well, looks like ah won’t be needed with these here chosen one’s runnin’ about.” Jessebelle prepared to leave

“Chosen? No, selected, maybe.” Darius walked in front of Jessebelle “I know that look, that tone.” Jessebelle arched a brow in curiosity “You act as if all you care about is yourself and your purse, if so, then why go through the trouble of helping them with nothing more than a dinner knife?”

“Yall said it best, can’t get paid if everyone’s dead, right?” She retorted with a snort.

“Can’t get paid if you’re dead either, right?” he offered “Besides, if those three are going to run around I can guarantee there’s bigger pay days about traveling at their side.”

Jessebelle turned back to look at the group, nodding “Ah see, ah reckon that’ll do quite nicely then.” she smiled, tilting her hat down a bit further.

“Well, what are we to do then?” Starstorm looked to her teacher

“Nothing, not yet. You’re talented but young, I hoped to have you learn so much more before you had to fix our mistakes.” He spoke as if he had many regrets, but if he did Starstorm wouldn’t know anything about them.

“We can’t just sit around and do nothing, right!” Wrathtail exclaimed

“Of course, I expect you six to help run off these beasts. Speaking of which, we’ve sat around for long enough.” The King turned to his allies who nodded acceptingly to one another. “We have to go, you six take care and wherever we are, see to it you’re far away.”

Leona shifted slightly, looking up to Mother Edona then to Eramac then to the King “M’lady… m’lord?”

“Hush dear, you are safe now. I’ve mended your wounds and your friends are here as well. We must go, your friends can let you know what we’ve told them. I have a lot of hope for you, do your best, and don’t let them down, they’ll be there for you more then you can imagine.” Edona spoke as if she’d had mothered Leona since birth, and given Leona’s gentle nod one might believe it.

With that the Heroes of Old Krayan made their leave. “Ugh, what happened?” Leona asked, before being quickly introduced to all that was told to them “I see… well, we have a city to protect, we mustn’t waste time.” she stood up wearily, helped along by Selina. Upon noticing this Leona snatched herself away and moved forward.

“Right,” Selina quietly agreed and followed suit.

Starstorm and Jessebelle made their way after the Paladin and Rogue while Sprinkles ran up to Wrathtail as she stared into the direction of the other four who had aided them. “Wha’s wrong, girleh, you seem a tad upset.”

“They’re lying…” Wrathtail grit her teeth

“Ah don’t think they are… ah have a nose for these kinda’ things.” She placed a hand on Wrathtail’s shoulder “Whateva’ 'appened, your father will always 'ave been a great man.” she smiled at Wrathtail who just gaped at the bard.

“He’s not…” She spoke but was certain there was no getting around the woman.

“Ya secret’s safe with me lass.” she assured the other woman before following her new friends.

As she watched the bard leave, Wrathtail cursed herself “Damn my big mouth…” she muttered as she chased after them as well.

Author's Note

Preread as always by my friend Breakfateschain give him a check out and, if you like my stories, you can always further your viewing pleasure by going here http://mrconradtheduck.deviantart.com/ to my deviant art where I will be posting, soonish, more Beneath the Fuschian sand, give it a read. Lastly, we have a big announcement here coming soon, let's just say someone liked my story so much they're going to Youtube read it! Links will go up soon, and as always, let me know what you think in the comments below!

Retaking the Church!

The six ran hurriedly through the streets of New Krayan, bodies pushed well past their limits as the weight of the day thus far had begun to bare down on them. Watching as the guard engaged on multiple fronts with the hound like creatures, Starstorm yelled up to Leona who was seemingly running in the direction of the church “Leona, where are you taking us, what are we to do?” she asked, causing the paladin to turn and look at the other five.

Opening her mouth to speak Leona found the words lost as she began to look around herself, ‘She’s got a point… where are we going…’ she thought for a moment, taking passing glances at the crowds before directing her eyes back to her fellows. “I… I…” she shook her head “I’m not sure, I just…” she turned to look further down the road, recognizing this as one of the paths that she’d take during patrols. “I guess I’m going to the church…” she muttered

“We guessed that, but why?” Wrathtail asked, moving up closer to Leona.

Before anyone could share an answer a boyish scream came from the direction of the church, and not just any voice “Daniel…” Leona spoke softly as her eyes turned to pinpricks. She began to feel hot, tense at the thought her young ward was in danger. Her facial features turned back into one of unfettered anger as she began back into motion.

Taking Leona’s action as a sign they began to follow suit, now looking to defend the source of the scream as well as whoever else needed it. The six entered the scene, with Leona being the first, watching as the young boy, set in a breastplate and awkwardly wielding a small shield and shortsword, reeled back in pain as one of the monsters sank it’s fangs deep into his right arm, small rivulets of blood falling down to his elbow.

Forsaking her shield and sword, Leona charged at the monster, screaming intelligibly once again as she grabbed it from behind, pushing her full weight on top of it, squeezing until it let go of the squire before straddling it, laying her gauntlets into it’s muzzle again and again before grabbing it’s by the top and bottom of the jaw, pushing both halves apart until a satisfying crunch was heard, prompting her to let go before it disappeared into nothingness like the rest.

Looking up, Leona saw the boy, now on his arse as he held his arm tightly. Looking past that she saw a woman and her daughter, huddled together behind him. Suddenly her rage subsided, and a tingle of pride touched her heart as she smiled. “You did well Daniel.” she praised, prompting the boy to smile widely, awkwardly blushing.

“Oh, that, it was nothing…” he spoke modestly, rubbing the back of his neck. Though the ones he had saved wouldn’t think the same as the little girl, much younger then he, latched onto his side.

“You’re the greatest!” she shouted snuggling into his side “When I grow up I wanna marry a brave knight just like you!” she said in the most adorable way she could muster, causing the boy to blush even harder.

“Thank you so much, both of you.” the mother thanked, bowing to her rescuers.

The other five made it to Leona’s side, Sprinkles immediately moving close to Daniel, latching onto his wounded arm “Ah’ll ‘ave this patched up’n ‘o tahm.” she said.

“Miss, are you alright?” Starstorm asked to the mother who just nodded her head “Good, we’re here to help,”

“Yeah, get to the church and…” Wrathtail began, interrupted the moment the church was brought up

“Are you crazy? The church is overrun with those things and… worse…” she spoke fearfully, shaking a bit at the thought.

“The church is overrun? How, when did this happen?!” Starstorm asked in a panic

“It’s true, the beasts came from out of nowhere, literally, a… a pillar of light just appeared and suddenly we were overrun, we got as many people out as we could, but…” Daniel answered, despair clearly on his face as he looked at the ground in shame

Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, Leona tilted the boys head up “You did more than I could have hoped for.” she smiled, causing his confidence, and blush, to return in force. “You look better, can you lift your sword up again?” nodding Daniel raised his blade and shield before standing “Good, you watch these two and avoid combat if possible, me and my friends are taking the church back.” she said with a tone of determination as she stood as well.

“You’ll be needing this then.” Salina handed her her shield and sword.

Accepting her arms, she turned to the rest “Do we have any objections?” the party shook their head “Good, if we can hold down the church and stop these monsters from piling through we should be able to use it as a sanctuary for the wounded and weak.”

“That sounds all well and dandy, but how do yall reckon we pull this off? We’re barely in fightin’ condition as is.” Jessebelle pointed out, arms crossed.

“Starstorm?” Leona turned to the wizard.

Taken aback by the latest group of stares, the poor girl gaped “M-me? Why me?”

“Eramac seemed to have a lot of faith in you, and if what we’ve been told is true about the Stormbringer, then his apprentice should be just as quick witted.” Leona spoke matter of factly, arms also crossed

“I’m no apprentice, not his personal apprentice anyway, I was just another student…” she spoke unsure of herself

“She’s got nothin’ and neither do you, ah reckon this is just a suicide mission.” The gunslinger spoke almost tauntingly

“Maybe, maybe not…” Wrathtail spoke, kneeling down and beginning to draw a square into the dirt. “Look here, if what I remember of the church is correct it’s separated into basically three sections, the main area of worship, the left wing where the church keeps it’s library and where they keep the sick and wounded, as well as the right wing where they keep the living quarters for other initiates, sisters and what not.”

“Don’t forget upstairs where the grand cleric, head priests and more important pieces and documents stay.” Leona pointed out

“Right, now, from what we know these monster, individually, are about as threatening as Brenda’s beef stew, so if we separate them…” Wrathtail went on, interrupted by Starstorm

“They’ll be weakened because they can’t swarm us!” she shouted, coming to a revelation

“Exactly, and though the entrance to the main lobby is pretty open, I come to understand the wings are nothing but narrow halls and cramped spaces.” Wrathtail smirked as she finished drawing the rest of the building, placing X’s where she assumed the more cramped parts of the building were.

“Yes, but how do we get in? As far as I’m aware there’s no way in, and the windows are too high up.” Starstorm pointed out

“Damn, you’re right…” Wrathtail bit her thumb in frustration

“The larder!” Leona shouted, kneeling down and beginning to draw near the left wing “You almost forget the kitchen, underneath that is our larder and there’s an outside entrance to it.”

“And you’re forgetting about what the squire said, there’s a pillar where these things are coming through. Likely a gate spell, or something like it. If that’s the case then we could get in and place them in a choke point, but if there’s a nigh endless amount of them, then we’ll surely be outnumbered, no matter how sound our strategy.” Starstorm, barer of bad news, added.

“Then we need to take out the portal, yes? If I could get in unnoticed, I could try and disable it if at all possible.” Selina offered, drawing a spiteful glare from Leona

“Even if we are to trust someone like you, how do we know you’re even equipped to handle such a task, this isn’t a simple lock with which you can pick, it’s magic, and I doubt you have the knowledge to handle it.” Leona remarked scornfully.

Starstorm hummed in thought “I could help her I suppose, but I’m not sure how I’d get in from anywhere else, there’s no way I’m climbing so high and there’s no telling how they’ve got the front door, surely it’s protected.”

“Are these beasts even capable of somethin’ like that?” Jessebelle asked

“Maybe not, but their master is I’m sure of it. Besides, I’m not exactly the sneakiest sort, I doubt I could get in unnoticed, and if we are caught, there’s no way we can fight them all.” Starstorm ended

“A distraction, me, Jessebelle and Sprinkles,” Leona’s nose scrunched at the bards peculiar name “Could make our way in through the larder, while you and Selina could sneak in through the windows, taking Wrathtail for support if things go awry.”

‘Gee, splitting the party already… we’re doomed…’ Starstorm’s player thought worriedly.

Mulling it over, Wrathtail smiled “I think that’ll have to do, once we finish taking care of the portal or whatever, we can rejoin the fighting, flanking them and clearing them out.”

Sprinkle interjected “But ya ‘eard the lass, there’s somthin’ a tad scarier in there, from what they said.”

“We can’t worry about that now, we just have to hope it’s moved on or doesn’t notice.” Leona added with a sigh “No, this has to be it…”

“We’ve been talking for a while now anyways, if we waste anymore time this entire plan could be pointless.” Starstorm said with finality.

“Then it’s settled, me, Leona and Sprinkles’ll head to the larder, you guy wait about five to ten minutes before makin’ yer move.” Jessebelle agreed, pulling her gun to check her ammo before giving the chamber a spin and holstering it..

“And as for getting me over?” Starstorm asked, prompting Salina to smile

“I’ve an idea deary, just you wait and see.” she said with a sinister tone.

Leona gave her sword arm a few good rolls “Good, we start now.” before walking off, the others turning to give each other a passing glance as they broke off to begin the plan.

-----

Making their way to the larder, Leona, Jessebelle and Sprinkle began their part of the plan as Leona pulled open the wooden doors that lead down into the depths of the building. Taking the lead the paladin walked down cautiously, perking her ears as she slowly tread downward, the creaking of the wooden stair complimenting the steadily darkening interior as her companions followed close by.

Reaching the bottom the Paladin scanned the area currently lit by a single torch that hung besides the ladder that lead up into the kitchen. Looking, Leona noticed one of the hounds patrolling the basement, thankfully not noticing her. Leona, preparing to move in, was stopped by Sprinkles and Jessebelle who took the lead instead. Sprinkles pulled her whip, inching her way to the beast while Jessebelle pulled her pillow from her bag, slowly making her way as well.

Once in range, Jessebelle turned to Sprinkles and nodded, causing the bard to lash out, coiling the weapon around the creature maw, preventing it from alerting it’s fellow monsters over head before Jessebelle ran up beside it, shoving the pillow to it’s skull, followed by the barrel of the revolver before pulling the trigger. As the suppressed noise of the weapon died down the creature fell limp with a whimper before fading into smoky darkness.

Satisfied they went relatively unnoticed, the two turned to Leona, waving her over after making sure the larder was secure “Nothin’ but bags, barrels and boxes” Jessebelle pointed out. Once all signs of the creatures was deemed not present, Leona began her ascent into the kitchen from the ladder, with the other two climbing after her

Finding the kitchen fortunately empty of the enemy, Leona motioned for the other two to follow. The kitchen was as you’d expect, stone stoves, shelves and counters lined the wall complete with an assortment of pots and utensils mixed in with a variety of foodstuffs all about. Finding the door straight ahead Leona moved over, slowly pulling it open. Looking out into the hallway she noticed it too was devoid of anything besides the few torches and long stretches of rug that was always present, at least as far a she was aware. To the left of her position was the infirmary which, as she recalled, was housing a part of the city that recently had fallen ill just a few days ago, to her right the library where most initiates were to study and learn in the name of the church and dead ahead was the main hall where Daniel had described the pillar of magic he’d seen before escaping..

Slowly inhaling Leona brought her shield up, turning to her compatriots with a nod, before banging her sword against it, yelling “I am the sword of Mia Morey, come and face me now or flee like the cowardly dogs you are!”

As she continued to make noise, one of the beasts poked it’s head from where the infirmary was, a petite, feminine human arm caught between it’s fangs, blood dripping gently down onto the marble flooring below it. Operating on pure reflex Jessebelle pulled her gun and let a single bullet through it’s head, dropping it immediately with a loud bang. Soon, more and more began to pile out of the various doors, coming from all sides. “This is it, we either fight and win back the church, or we die here.”

With a grunt, the three agreed and readied themselves for the worst…

-----

At the sound of a bang, the three woman who had been halted at the other end of the church began to move. Selina, having been holding her grappling hook, tossed it up, was given a clinking sound in return before pulling on it roughly. Satisfied she began to climb up followed by Wrathtail, who turned to the Wizard that stared up in trepidation

“Come on,” the woman said annoyed “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights.”

“Not afraid per say, just careful of them.” she replied with a nervous grin

“Quiet you two, no need to make their distraction vain, yes? Now, I can get her up here, so just hurry.” Salina scolded.

Accepting the rogues words, Wrathtail followed up to the ledge, and that’s when they were met with a problem. “Er, how do we break this without making noise?”

“Leave that to a master.” Selina smiled as she quickly began to pull out a long string, several large sheets of parchment and a bottle of some strange colored liquid. Opening the liquid she pulled out a heavy paint brush, dipping it into the jar before lathering a portion of the window with it, happy with the coat she stuck the center of the string to it before layering over it with the parchment. Giving it a few moments she pulled out a small cushion and a hammer, handing the string ends to Wrathtail, before placing the cushion over the window and bashing against the window. She did this for about a minute until a good, wide circle was made with enough room for the girls to get through no problem. Putting her tools away she then turned to Wrathtail “Gently pull the strings if you would,” following her command, Wrathtail did just that as the glass was pulled out, completely stuck to the wall of parchment. Taking the parchment and glass Selina set it to the side of the ledge before pulling out one more piece of parchment, scrawling something on it before crumpling it up and tossing it to Starstorm.

As Wrathtail watched the rogue in action, she stared on in blind infatuation, thinking ‘Has she always been this hot…’ before watching the woman toss the paper down.

Bopped by the paper, Twilight quickly picked it up and read it. Nodding, she quickly picked her end of the rope up and tied it tightly around herself. Tugging to let the others know they began to pull her up. Once up, they then eased the Wizard down the other side before rehooking the grapple so they could follow.

Now on the ground they became well aware of the tower like mass of energy that stood in between the pews of the church. Looking around, the rogue made sure the area was safe, ducking behind a pillar as another batch of hounds ran opposite of them from the energy, surely to where the other half of the group was. Seeing no more of the beasts, she waved the other two over.

As Starstorm walked, she failed to see the holy book beneath her, half way slipping on it as Wrathtail caught her in her arms. Hearing a soft growl from around one of the nearby pillars Selina pulled one of her dagger, hurriedly throwing it in the direction of the noise just as one of the beasts poked it’s head out, catching it in the skull, causing it to fall over dead. ‘Ok, I admit, that was without a doubt, as my friend Rainbow would put it, awesome.’ the player squealed internally at her latest series of amazing acts.

Now together, and truly alone, the three ran over to the portal. “Now to get this disabled.” Selina spoke, eyes falling over it.

Waving her hands, Starstorm conjured a spell before pulling away after a few seconds of study “This things being anchored by something else in the room,” she stated “Wrathtail, help me find it.” Wrathtail nodded and the two began to walk over the area. Moments later Starstorm called to the others and ran over to the head of the room, standing behind the podium where the grand cleric would do her services “Look here.” she said as she pointed just inside of it to a glowing white rune.

“I see, stand back girls, this isn’t just a mere cantrip we’ve got here, if I mess this up…” she gulped, looking back at the portal then to the rune again “Well, the backlash would be… unpleasant.” she said as the other two began to back off. Taking her knife out, the woman began to look over the rune, looking for the tiniest of flickers or pulses. Taking nothing to chance, she spent the better part of the last three minutes in heated concentration before she finally lifted her knife to it, tapping against the etchings. Inhaling and exhaling, the woman made the cut and was greeted not with her immediate death at the hands of a massive arcane explosion, but instead with the sound of fading magic as the portal swirled out of existence.

“Holy shit, we’re still here!” Wrathtail quietly announced as Selina stood, dusting herself off.

“Of course, I am rather good at what I do after all.” the woman replied, a cocky grin forming over her face.

“No time for patting yourself on the back now,” Starstorm said, looking over in the direction of her friends.

“Yeah I can pat you wherever you like later, now, we’ve got a church to finish retaking.” Wrathtail said with a devious smirk.

-----

How many was it now, ten… twenty? Leona had lost count of the beasts she’d downed in the heat of battle. Though Wrathtail’s idea was working, the beasts were definitely in a choke point, Leona had taken more than a few wounds over her now bite riddled body. The pink haired woman behind her had long ran out of spells and Jessebelle was doing all she could to thin the numbers out behind the one that was currently trying to maim her.

Jessebelle watched as the paladin began to falter, bobbing wearily as her strength was rapidly being drained from her. Seeing an opening the beast before Leona had lunged, being cut off inches away from the paladins throat by a bullet that exploded out the other side in a spray of black.

Lifting herself up just in time to block the next attack, Leona swung wearily at her next opponent, missing completely as she did.

“Just a bit longer, ahm sure the others are on their way.” Jessebelle ensured, but the paladin didn’t seem to notice or care.

Sprinkles cracked her whip against the next creature, wrapping around one of it’s legs before pulling it down, prompting the large woman near it to thrust down into it’s neck.

Just as the next came to take it’s turn it’s head peered into the distance behind it as a yelp cut through the snarls and growls of the others. Down the hall were the other three, Selina had just snuck up behind one of the beasts, pulling it up by what felt like it’s fur before cutting it’s neck, followed by Wrathtail who dragged her blade against the ground, causing a spray of sparks as she pulled right up the middle of the next.

Emboldened by the well timed reinforcements, Leona caught her second wind as bore the hilt of her blade down into the skull of the next, splitting it quite loudly before she lifted her leg up to kick it right in the jaw, causing it to fly back a bit before disappearing.

The six, slowly but surely continued to cut their way through the rest, thinning the horde with due haste. Upon slaying the last Leona fell to a knee, blade in the ground as she panted violently.

Strolling up to Leona’s side, Jessebelle offered her a vial of red liquid “Drank, it’s safe ah swear.”

Nodding she took the potion from Jessebelle, looking to it before looking to Wrathtail who had managed to tear most of her robe and leg flesh through the fight. Stumbling over Leona shoved the potion in Wrathtail’s face, who simply took it with a confused look as Leona fell over onto the ground with a crash.

Shaking her head, Jessebelle sighed, grabbing the woman by the wrists “Someone get her ankles.” she commanded as Selina did just that as the two dragged her into the main hall.

Making a quick realization, Starstorm turned to Sprinkles who was starting to jot down something into a journal “Hey, the infirmary's nearby right? The church surely has curatives, let’s go and find them.” with a smile and nod Sprinkles lead the wizard into the hospital room.

Opening the door eagerly her smile quickly turned into look of shocked horror as the mangled, half eaten corpses of the sick now lined every inch of the overturned room. Unable to face the horror for another moment she pulled the door shut, turning her back to it, now gazing at the ground with wide, unsettled eyes.

Noticing this, Selina walked over “It’s ok dear, you two go tend to the rest, I’ll look.” she smiled, causing the shaken bard to nod halfheartedly before her an Starstorm walked off

-----

Few moment had passed as Sprinkles finished applying bandages to the wounded Leona. Just then, Selina returned, a small bag at her hips that wasn’t there before. “I found a small stash as it were.” she smiled and set the bag down on a pew and started passing out the potions

“You checked them, right?” Starstorm asked, replied to by a shaking head. Taking a moment to weave a spell, Starstorm quickly identified them before assuring the others to their safety.

Taking one of the potions, Selina walked to the unconscious paladin, pressing the vial to her lips before letting the liquid flow smoothly down her throat. Moments passed as the paladin coughed, choking slightly before opening her eyes. “You really ought to take better care of yourself.” Selina smiled at her

Looking around, Leona noticed everyone holding onto the vials, as well as the familiar bag that was now sitting on a pew “You stole these.” she said weakly.

Selina frowned, as did the others “I’m sure your friends here would agree that us not dying trying to take their church back counts as a time it’s perfectly alright to steal a few things.” she replied, getting a grunt in return.

Suddenly, sense returned to Leona as she bolted up “What are you doing!” she shouted “This is no time to be sitting around, we’ve taken the church,” she began to bark orders, straining her tired body to do so “Wrathtail, go get Daniel and bring him and the girls here, Starstorm and Sprinkles, you two block the larder so nothing can get in, Salina, Jessebelle, you two…” Leona hesitated for a moment, balling her fist in an attempt to withhold her anger as it faded into a somber sigh “you two… go clean out the infirmary.”

Accepting the orders, they began to spread out until a deep chuckle came from nearby as, from behind the doors behind the podium, emerged a large, black beast, easily three times the size of the others, whose eyes shone with an intelligence that betrayed what they knew so far. The flickering, shadowy form slowly stepped forward as the women pulled themselves back into fighting positions.

“Oh, you won’t be doing any of that, no, indeed not… in fact, I think it’s here you die.” the maw of the beast turned into a toothy smile, his massive form slowly but confidently baring down onto the position of his prey...

Author's Note

Herro, it's been a short while but here it is, the next chap. Remember, like, fav, follow, whatever it is you do to express you like me. And if you hate me then die *dum dum dum* nah, actually if you don't like me I hope you get a paper cut :P anyways, if you see any major errors you let me know and, uh, if you have criticisms let me know, I like improving mmk, and remember to thank my dude http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Breakfateschain becuase he's bee very helpful

The Pack Lord

The Church of Mia Morey, a place of love, compassion, and charity. People, sick, weak, and down on their luck would come to find refuge in the halls of the lands youngest goddess. Founded over a hundred years ago when Mia herself ascended to the throne of gods, the religion had based its principles on a few simple words “Love in those around, and in those around you find love.” though the philosophy of the goddess is far deeper than that, the idea is the same. To share and spread happiness.

The church of New Krayan was built after the building of New Krayan itself, when the scars of the war with Norshire was still fresh. When the land had fallen into despair, it was the church who banded together and with their Grand Cleric Edona, brought both the hope and spirit of their faith to the people in mass.

Made of the finest white marble, and crafted by the lands greatest fifty artisans, the halls of the church is one of extravagance, beauty, and pure artistry. As you open the large, pink wooden doors you’re welcomed by two perfectly crafted statues of angelic figures, arms open in loving acceptance. Solid white marble pillars flank both sides of the gold trimmed pink carpet that leads up between the oak pews to the podium where the clerics give their sermons. At the head of the church is a statue of the goddess herself, a woman with short frizzy hair, a gentle smile and an outstretched nine-ring broadsword in her hand. They say the beauty of the church is amplified tenfold on a bright summers day, when the lights and colors of the painted mosaic windows kiss the entire room with bright pinks and purples, causing all in it to stare in the wonder of their beloved deity.

Now, the sacred halls of Mia are stained with blood, thick with the scent of death, the few scattered remains, the uneaten bits of the faithful rotting in between pews and splattered across the now tainted marble. Instead of beautiful lights that would normally fill the room was an eery, oppressive darkness spawned from the cruelty of the hellish hounds that sought to prey on the people of the city. It is in these defiled grounds, a massive beast of corporeal shadow stands, the black dancing delicately from his enormous form.

“So,” the beast said, looking down at the six, foolish woman who dared enter his new den, each glaring daggers at him in return “Do you think to fight me? With what, those puny arms?”

Gripping onto her blade tightly Leona readied herself, noticing this the beast gave a throaty chuckle “Oh? Is that it then? Will you stand in fear, stuck in place by your own lack of courage?” he taunted “Come now, surely you must want my death, foreigner? I was told of you by my pack, your anger, your violence. Surely, you have wish to kill me. Come, will you not avenge your sisters, those I’ve consumed, laughing as one by one their bodies were dragged down and feasted upon? Surely that burns you up inside.”

Leona’s face pulled into a wide, toothy flourish as her eyes filled with an intense rage that strained her face. “Ignore him, he’s trying to provoke you!” Starstorm warned

“Provoke her? Perhaps, though I’m sure she’d want to know of the fate of her sisters, or maybe the innocents in the infirmary? You know they screamed, and begged in the goddesses name, only to be forsaken.” If capable, the beast would be wearing a smile now, the cracking of wood echoing from the now broken handle of Leonas sword “Excuse the pun, but they tasted, hehe, divine.”

In an explosion of rage Leona charged the monster, screaming at the top of her lungs, all rational sense draining quickly from her thoughts as her mind was muddied with only scenes of watching the thing before her torn apart, piece by piece as it begged for mercy. As if prepared for her outburst, the monster latched it’s fangs into the woman's body, bearing down with full force, puncturing the metal and digging into her flesh, shaking her from side to side before tossing her through a pillar, causing it to collapse down upon her..

The others watched as Leona lie, unmoving, certainly unconscious. The group, overcame by shock and despair, began to back away from the monster as it neared them, voice now given way to a soft growl. “What’s wrong? Afraid now your beloved knight has fallen before me?”

Filling her blade with magic, Wrathtail pointed it at the approaching beast “We’re not going to let you have your way here.” her teeth bared as her eyes betrayed her false bravado.

“Oh, and you’re going to stop me?” The monster asked.

“No, we are.” Jessebelle backed up the magus, pointing her gun at the hound

Roaring, the shadow that draped over the body of their adversary began to grow and become erratic and violent “Fine then, come, Teronidus feasts tonight!” he roared and charged,

Teronidus’ first target was the Magus, baring his fangs he lashed out, tearing away a small tuft of hair as she rolled away from his attack. Taking aim, Jessebelle threw herself back, unloading a shot into the mass of the creature, watching as the bullet phased passed the body of it and traveled into a wall.

Gathering magic Starstorm threw out a bolt of pure force that crashed into the beasts side causing it to slightly lose balance. Returning to her feet, Wrathtail dragged her blade as she charged, lifting it up just before the creature, feeling the satisfying tug of flesh as she connected, causing it to grunt in pain.

Finding it’s flank, Selina took opposite of Wrathtail, thrusting full strength at the creature, missing as it’s flickering form was passed through harmlessly. Finally brandishing a more practical weapon, the bard took a dagger from her pack before beginning an empowering dance.

Turning his attention to the magus once again, Teronidus began to shiver and shudder, a very obvious mass of energy gathering between his jowls right before he launched it at her, knocking her back through several pews, each one breaking with loud crunches before she finally stopped short of the next.

“Wrathtail!” Jessebelle yelled, turning back to her now injured friend. “Damnit we needed her…” Jessebelle muttered “Ahm not goin’ down so easy!” she spun her guns cylinder, stopping it mid spin before unloading a bullet that went straight through the creatures side, this time with the familiar sound of metal ripping through a solid form.

Roaring in pain, Teronidus turned to Jessebelle, eyes now furious and bloodshot

Starstorm began to summon magic once more, preparing an incantation as Selina made her way opposite of Sprinkles who also moved into flanking position as they both began to attack, each one feeling something solid as they struck. “Damnit,” Salina spoke as she moved back “I can’t see where his body actually is among all the shadows.” she complained.

Taking action against the stranger and her foreign weapon he leapt at her, pinning her down, being held at bay only by her struggling arms as he continued to snap at her face.

Pulling her self from the pile of broken wood she was laying in, Wrathtail scowled as she moved her way back over to the beast as her bloody body ran heavy from her several wounds. Jessebelle, now held down by the animal, had no choice but to try and force it off to no avail as it stayed steadfast over her.

Finishing her spell, Starstorm summoned a dog that shimmered lightly with magic, bulging heavily with muscles, far bulkier than any dog they’d seen. “Now it’s your turn to get bit!” Starstorm shouted with a smile as the dog did, indeed, do just that, howling at the creature before sinking it’s fangs into Teronidus’ leg, causing him to yelp.

“Ahm about to become dog chow and you summon another dog!” Jessebelle yelled, arms still jutting out into her attackers muzzle.

Running in unison, Selina and Sprinkles grabbed Teronidus from behind, pulling back with the dog in an attempt to pull him off of their comrade.

Lashing out, Teronidus’ sank his fangs into Jessebelle’s arm, violently tugging at it in an attempt to pull it right out of it’s socket, causing her to scream loudly.

Now on her feet, Wrathtail followed her friends in grabbing at the beast. Jessebelle, aided by her friends, tried in futility to push the large monster off of her , but it’s fangs were in too deep as their continued tugging only sent more and more pain into her.

Awoken by her friends screaming, Leona lifted her head up from beneath the rubble, looking wearily out as her friends all tried desperately to move the form or Teronidus off of someone, that someone being Jessebelle. Latching onto a stone, she gripped it in her hand, shattering it in frustration. Leona, angered by her position, stretched her arm out defiantly to her friends.

Thinking it the least she could do, Starstorm ran to her compatriots side, applying what little strength she had into aiding her friends in pulling away the beast. Now, in unison, the four slowly pulled the monster away, heaving as hard as they could, straining every inch of their body in pulling him back.

Having had enough of the heroes and their attempts to stop him, Teronidus began to shudder once more, gathering something into his flickering form, small beads of black flooding in from outside the church. After a long while the energy stored began to pulse out from him before exploding violently, causing the group to go flying wildly into pews, shelves, and pillars, the conjured dog disappearing on impact. Free of them, Teronidus screamed “You insolent fools, you dare to oppose me!?” his words, though aggressive, were painted over by weariness “I am the pack lord, given birth by his might, I refuse to be taken down like this, not by a group of pitiful mortals such as you!”

Picking herself up from the floor for a second time that fight, Wrathtail spit at the ground before scanning the area, noticing her friends weren’t moving. Huffing tiredly, she re-brandished her blade, staring the pack lord dead on “You won’t… take us… that easily…” she said before hacking up a small puddle of blood onto the marble beneath her.

“Heh, and what are you going to do to stop me.” he smirked at the magus, slowly closing in on her “Your friends lie scattered, your body barely stands on it’s own, and you and I both know you cannot take me alone, and you honestly believe you have a hope, a prayer? Why? Because you are in this church? Does this weak figure of supposed love really give your kind faith?” he scoffed “Well, when you meet her, let her know we are coming for her next. As for you.” Teronidus loomed overhead, unaware of what was happening to his side.

Anger refueled, Leona stood to her feet, body gasping desperately for air. Laying a hand over her chest she exploded with light while the monster was busy with Wrathtail. Revitalized, she charged the beast again, throwing the entirety of her strength into latching onto it, pulling it tight into a hug. “Wrathtail, finish this!” she yelled as the monster kicked and growled angrily.

“Gladly,” Wrathtail spoke as her blade began to crackle with lightning “Die you ugly son of a bitch!” she screamed as she impaled both the beast and Leona at once, flourished by an explosion of electricity that shot out of Leona’s back like a lightning bolt.

Silence fell over the room as both Leona and Teronidus slid backwards off of her blade and fell slumped onto the ground, blood pouring out from beneath their broken forms. Falling to her knees, Wrathtail dropped her blade, breathing heavily, broken bones and a damaged lung making it a difficult task. “It’s over.” she said with a sigh. Slowly her eyes shifted to the right, looking over the now unmoving forms of Starstorm and Sprinkles, she turned to her left to see Jessebelle in a broken, charred pile, Selina a few feet away, lodged beneath a broken pillar and the ground. Biting her lip she looked in front of her, staring at the lifeless forms of Leona and the so called Teronidus. “Damnit…” she whispered to herself weakly, straining back welling tears “Wh-what am I supposed to do now…”

Heart heavy, expression empty, Wrathtail sat in silence, wishing for an answer to her question, pulling out one of the small potions from earlier out of her belt pouch “I think they have one each…” she let herself have a slight smile at the thought, knowing she could potentially save them ‘if it’s not too late anyways’ she thought tiredly. As she steadied her breathing to stand she felt something creep over her, that’s when a sudden thought peeked into her thoughts ‘They disappear when they’re killed… right?’ she thought briefly as she lifted her head in raw fear as the massive creature stood over her, fangs bearing down viciously, Teronidus lived.

“Die!” Teronidus shouted as he lunged, in that moment Wrathtail’s heart stopped, eyes wide in terrified horror as the realization that she failed swept over her, tears now leaking down her face.

‘But… we’re the heroes…’ she thought, hopelessness filling her soul. The world went dead, blackness fell over everything and for a moment, Wrathtail thought it to be over, however, something happened. Opening her eyes, she saw the maw of the beast mere inches from her face, it’s eyes wide in distress.

“Don’t touch my friends!” Leona’s voice screeched in fury as her body, now latched onto Teronidus again, began to spin, once, twice, three times before she released him, sending him flying into the the outstretched arm of Mia Morey, pierced through by the stone nine-ring broadsword grasped in the statues hand.

As the beast struggled against the weapon, small pools of inky black began to spill like blood down onto the ground below, his wide furious eyes straining against his head as he locked onto the woman the had still been standing “No! This can’t be, I deserve to rule over this city, over you weak willed, weak minded animals! I can’t die, no, I can’t… I can’t…” Teronidus’ voice dulled to an animalistic whimper as his form began to break apart like shattering glass his flailing coming to an end as he fell limp, body dispersing slowly into shadows.

Looking at her hand, Wrathtail stepped forward a bit and stretched it out towards him “Fuck you.” she said as a bolt of magic slammed into him, causing him to burst apart fully. “We did it.” Wrathtail turned to Leona who was kneeling over Selina, a pained expression on her face.

Staring down, Leona let loose hair fall into her vision as she stared at the unconscious form “Selly…” she whispered to herself. Putting a hand to the woman's head she knelt down further to place an ear to her chest, feeling and hearing the weak thumping of her heart. An expected flood of relief fell over Leona, despite the emotional confusion it brought her. Lifting the rogue from the rest of the rubble she pulled her closer, cradling Salina in her arms, humming a light tune, probably a religious hymn. Wrathtail perked a brow, wondering what in the world Leona was doing before remembering her friends were in need of her help. Turning to watch Wrathtail run over to the side of Starstorm and Sprinkles, Leona placed her hand on Salina’s chest, letting light flood her as her body rose sharply with a breath.

Eyes fluttering open, Salina looked out to see herself floating, no, in someones arms. turning a bit she saw the face of the paladin, resolute, serious and unflinching “L-Leo?” she gasped, her throat scratchy and sore.

Leona looked down at the rogue, her eyes narrowing down almost angrily, the look only lasted a moment as Leona kneeled to place Selina alongside her other wounded friends, each now conscious after being administered a potion by Wrathtail.

Starstorm, Sprinkles, Jessebelle and Selina lied quietly as Leona sat upon a pew to catch her breath. Finally, one of them gathered their strength and lifted themselves up, that one being Jessebelle “Ah think ahm about to retire sometime soon…” she muttered tiredly.

“Ya bes’ save it fer after we get’er reward, aye?” Sprinkles retorted, forcing a chuckle that only proved to cause more pain as she began to cough.

Breaking away from the rest of the group, Leona had walked over to the statue of Mia Morey. Looking up, she waved her hand over the blade “Hmm…” she hummed as Starstorm and Selina made it to her side shakily, Starstorm fighting for balance as she clung to the much better off Selina at her side..

“Something wrong?” Starstorm asked, looking up at the statue as well.

“I feel… off...” Leona replied quietly.

“Drink a potion then let’s go, we didn’t go through hell taking this church back only to sit around in it. Like you said, we gotta start getting people in here, right?” Wrathtail complained, arms crossed as she huffed up at the statue.

“Yeah…” Leona's voice trailed off as she walked towards the entrance. The others watched as she moved, not making a single sound as she pulled the doors open and left.

“Ok then, anyways, me and Jesse can hold the church, you three go start getting people here, alright?” Wrathtail offered. Accepting the orders the group dispersed to do just that…

Suddenly, reality began to fade back into view, their humanoids forms slowly fading into their familiar equine bodies.

“Woah, intense.” Rainbow Dash mumbled quietly, the harshness of the campaign finally breaking through.

“Yepper deppers, but… I didn’t like that room, it makes me feel sad.” Pinkie admitted, affected by the horrors the moon goddess could conjure up.

“We apologize dear Pinkie, but we demand a level of authenticity and have no desire to shirk on our duties to preserve the integrity of it.” Luna replied honestly, though with a tone of concern.

“Yeah, it’s not real, try not to think too much about it.” Twilight urged

“Indeed, try and think about how much fun we had! Surely you enjoyed it as much as I have.” Rarity chirped, smiling as she spoke while toying with her hair.

“Heck yeah, like, the way we went through those dogs, all like, hiyaah and suwaaah! It was awesome, and that big one at the end, Tero-whatever, he was tough and all, but anyone feel like he got beat too easily?” Rainbow pondered, stroking her chin with a hoof.

“Are you crazy? That thing nearly killed the entire group! Especially me!” the purple mare opposite of the princess argued.

“Yeah, ah could barely even hit that thang! The bullets kept goin’ raht on through!” Applejack complained, huffing annoyedly

“Yes, the creature had a touch of concealment, which is also why Selina couldn’t sneak attack it.” Luna pointed out.

“Oh, so that’s what happened, I don’t like that. Not that I’m particularly violent of course, but things are so much more difficult to deal with when you can barely hurt them.” Said the alabaster mare with her usual primness.

“Talking about handling things, what in the hay was that trick with the window? Are you, like, some kind of super spy in real life? Is that why I never see you that often, are you really a cat burglar?” Rainbow peered over at the fashionista who laughed into her hoof.

“Now darling, it’s nothing of the sort, I merely did a little research on the art of breaking and entering, I may not be Twilight, but I prefer being well informed.” she giggled a bit, waving her hoof flamboyantly as she spoke

“What about you Rainbow? You sure did pull off a bit of thought into our little plan back there.” Twilight pointed a hoof at the cerulean mare playfully

“What? Hey, I think sometimes, I just don’t do it for uncool reasons, and this game is definitely cool.” She crossed her hoofs and pouted slightly “Besides, what about Fluttershy!” she pointed a hoof accusingly “She’s gone completely nutso! Seriously, you’re beginning to scare me.”

“Oh, sorry, being scary is… scary…” the timid mares voice turning into a light whisper near the end

Stifling a laugh, Luna decided to clear the air “We admit, though these feats and aspects were of your own accords, it was my magic that provoked these bursts of… character, let's put it” she explained ‘You see, by applying a light enchantment, We’re able to pull certain traits from a pony to better suit their character, but it’s never enough to exactly change your personality or the likes.”

“Fascinating, well, it is harmless and it does make me feel like Starstorm.” Twilight smiled happily as she ran her thoughts over the spell in question.

“So, Fluttershy’s not really a screaming monster?” Rainbow asked, brow perched

“Considering the Grand Galloping Gala? We’d accept arguments.” Luna’s snarky remark caused the shy mare to sink into her hair in an attempt to hide

“Either way, we should get going, it’s getting late. Come on girls.” Twilight helped usher the girls away as Luna sat back into her chair

Looking at her notes, Luna’s face curled into a wicked GM’s smile. Just then, Celestia walked in to see how her sister was doing, just missing the Elements. Upon seeing her sisters smile one of her own creeped up “I know that smile sister, tell me, how bad is it?”

“Oh, you have no idea sister, but it will be… fun…”

Author's Note

Well, that was a wait. Sorry about the delay, and stuff. Anyways, hope you enjoy as always, if you like my writing I (try to) post on deviant here http://mrconradtheduck.deviantart.com/ and if you have any comments, criticism (constructive plox), or you just want to point out some mistakes feel free to leave all of that below :P

War on the Streets of New Krayan!

Outside of Sugarcube Corner, three friends enjoyed a piece of strawberry cake each. One friend, the persnickety Rarity, was going on and on about some sort of magazine interview she’d landed and was incredibly eager to share her insight into dressmaking. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash fiddled absentmindedly with a small hoofball as Twilight Sparkle listened intently to her fellow unicorn.

“So, I was thinking of preparing a little something for the interviewers, really help them see and feel with their own hooves and eyes the sincerity of my work!” Rarity spoke before levitating a small piece of cake to her mouth.

“I’m sure they’d love anything you make for them Rarity.” Twilight assured before levitating her entire cake slice and diving right into it without a hint of grace, munching happily, causing her more snobbish friend to reel back for a moment.

“Yes, well, ahem, like I was saying I-” Began Rarity before a sharp yelp was heard across the table.

“Rainbow, is everything okay?” Twilight asked worriedly, motioning over to her.

“No, I think Pinkie put a rock in my cake or something.” she whined, massaging her jaw with a hoof.

“Now, why ever would she do a thing like that?” Rarity question with a raise of her perfectly kept brow.

“I don’t know! She’s probably pranking me or something.” Rainbow went on, eyes darting back and forth in hopes of finding the treacherous pink mare.

“Let me see.” Twilight said, prompting Rainbow to open her mouth wide to let the purple mare look. “Oh my.” Twilight muttered

“Whu i’ i wiwight?” Rainbow asked with her mouth still wide open.

“Oh, wow…” Twilight whispered to no one in particular.

“What is…” Rarity began after having got next to Twilight and Rainbow, only to pull away like a vampire in the morning sun, hoof clasped over her snout “Rainbow, dearest, you need to brush your teeth.” she said before daring to look again to see, at the back, three rotted, black teeth that looked ready to crumble into dust “Darling!” Rarity shouted aghast.

“Darling is right, Rainbow what have you been eating!” Twilight asked as she began using her magic to prod the rotting teeth until Rainbow yelped again, quickly shutting her mouth closed, though this was a terrible idea as as soon as she did she screamed even louder from the sudden force of her bad teeth slamming into one another.

“Nothing,” Rainbow moaned “Just some chocolate pretzels, chocolate covered chips, cookies, ice cream, cake, pie, A LOT of cider…”

“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity scolded “I’m surprised with you, are you telling me all you’ve eaten was junk and sweets, why, that’s no way for a lady to take care of herself at all!”

“Lady shmady, I’m fine!” Rainbow announced with a ‘too cool for school’ hoof cross’, however, her cool act crumbled when a shocked, and surprised yell was heard from one pink haired mare not too far away.

“Rainbow Dash!” shouted Fluttershy, an uncommon trait for sure as the buttery mare marched over to her fellow pegasus “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Uh, gotta go!” Rainbow Dash darted away, or rather, she tried to before Twilight snatched her tail with a bit of magic “Ugh, let me go, come on, she’s gonna take me to the dentist or someplace else lame!”

Fluttershy briskly trotted over to Twilight, a very disappointed look on her face “Thank you Twilight, this little missy has been avoiding me all week.”

“No problem Fluttershy, need help taking her to the Dentist?” Twilight asked, however a devious little grin formed on Fluttershy’s face

“No, you can let her go.” much to every pony elses surprise.

“Darling, she really does need her teeth checked out immediately.” Rarity, filled with concern, informed Fluttershy

“I know, but I can’t make a grown mare do something she doesn’t want too.” Fluttershy answered.

“Sweet, so I’m totally off the hook!” Rainbow cheered, tail now free of Twilight’s magic.

“Yeah, you’re free. Anyways, I was also looking for you Twilight.” Fluttershy said, smiling at the librarian.

“Me? What’s wrong?” Twilight questioned, unused to having Fluttershy need her for much.

“Well, I have these tickets for the Wonderbolts, and…” as quickly as Fluttershy had began, Rainbow burst into the conversation, eyes wide, hoof raised, and wings flapping.

“Oh, I wanna go!” Rainbow said with all her might.

“Oh, so sorry Rainbow, I wanted to take you, but I just can’t, you see, these aren’t any tickets, but backstage passes for after the show, and, well, with the cavity, your breath is just so icky I didn’t want to offend any of the wonderbolts.” Fluttershy said with feigned sadness

Rainbows mouth fell agape, the putrid smell of her rotting teeth leaking out just a bit “But, but, but…” she repeated until Fluttershy began again

“I would just hate to upset the Wonderbolts, so I had no choice but to ask somepon- aah!” Fluttershy ended with a yelp as Rainbow snatched her up

“Come on, I’ve got a dentist appointment!” she shouted as the two flew off in the completely wrong direction.

“Well, it seems our dear Fluttershy is far more cunning than we thought.” Rarity noted after taking another ladylike bite of her cake.

“Uh-huh.” Twilight pushed out through another mouthful of cake

“Well, with her teeth getting checked out, I think we could move to another unladylike problem…” Rarity offered.

Twilight gulped down the rest of the cake, frosting smeared across her face as she smiled and replied “Oh come on Rarity, Applejack’s not THAT bad.”

Outside the train station, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack were patiently waiting for their airborne friends to arrive, chatting casually amongst one another.

“Gee, I wonder what’s taking them so long?” Twilight mused cheerfully

“Oh who knows,” Rarity hummed while caring for her hooves “They’re probably getting some last minute preparations done.”

“Like what exactly? Not like they’ve got much t’brang wit’em.” Applejack pointed out

“Maybe they’re washing their manes, or shining their hooves?” Rarity offered, but Applejack just gave her a bemused stare “Well, maybe Fluttershy is washing her mane and shining her hooves.”

“Ah reckon her manes gotta get pretty funky, what with the varmits that are constantly staying up there.” Applejack said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with a hoof.

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s thought of that.” Rarity mentioned with a giggle “I know if my mane was as naturally luxurious as Fluttershy’s, why, I wouldn’t dream of letting an animal crawl around in it.”

“Y’all wouldn’t dream of it now.” Applejack mentioned.

“Yes, well, my point remains.” Rarity huffed.

“That y’all think Fluttershy has a purty mane?” Applejack teased, jabbing a hoof in Rarity’s direction “Ah have ta agree really, ah mean, it’s so thick and vibrant,”

Rarity squinted at her orange friend before scoffing and tossling her mane “Whatever are you playing at Applejack.”

“Oh nothin’, ah jus’ reckoned ah’d be mighty upset if ah spent hours upon hours a day on mah mane just to have somepony else just stroll on by with an even purtier mane and absolutely zero time in managin’ it.” Applejack offered coyly, doing her best to hide her amusement as Rarity opened and closed her mouth in exasperation.

“I, well, uh,” Rarity cleared her throat and turned away “A lady does not get jealous Applejack.”

“Oh, ah know sugarcube, ah know.” Applejack snickered

A few silent moments passed, over the duration Rarity became slightly fidgety before turning to Applejack “Are you sure she doesn’t use any product? At all…”

“Iffen she does, ah haven’t seen it, it’s not in her bathroom or bedroom that’s fer sure.” Applejack stared off into the sky as she spoke.

“Aww, Twilight…” Rarity turned to her friend with a whine.

“For the last time Rarity, there is no ‘Super Illustrious Mane’ spell.” Twilight turned to Rarity, who, post answer, began to bat her eyes “And there’s no spell that’ll make your hoofs permanently shine or make your eyelashes grow that long for real.” Twilight huffed and walked away

“Talkin’ about eyelashes, ever notice how long and beautiful Fluttershy’s are? Ah bet their real…” she hummed as she walked off toward Twilight.

“It’s not fair!” she yelled in her overly dramatic way as she pulled a couch to her side from seemingly no where “Why doesn’t the universe like me!” she began to sob into the pillow of her couch as Applejack began to laugh quietly next to Twilight.

“Applejack…” Twilight moaned.

“Oh, alright, maybe ah went a bit far, but in mah defense…” Applejack snickered

“In your defense what?” Twilight asked.

“In mah defense, ah thought it was pretty darn funny.” she began to laugh loudly, holding onto Twilight for support.

“That’s a terrible defense, I swear, you’ve been spending too much time with Rainbow Dash.” Twilight muttered as she moved to let Applejack fall to the ground.

“Ok, ok, ah’ll apologize. “ Applejack said, getting to her hooves to move over to Rarity. Just as Applejack was about to speak they heard Pinkie Pie begin to shout

“Oh, oh, they’re here!” as she flailed about to get the rest of the mares attention.

Side by side the two walked, Fluttershy her usual self with a pleasant smile on her face and Rainbow, well, her cheek was swollen, really swollen, her mouth was bandaged and she seemed to have something stuffed in her mouth, to top it off, she seemed to be in a fairly dour mood.

“Oh… mah… Celestia…” Applejack said aloud

“Ugh, don’ yew dur.” Rainbow said through the cotton in her maw.

“Now, let’s all be nice to poor Rainbow, she had to get a lot of work done and the Dentist said it’d take a while for her mouth to heal. Until then, she doesn’t get any snacks besides the pudding and yogurt I have in my saddlebag, so if you catch her trying to eat something she shouldn’t let me know.” Fluttershy explained gently

“Maybe she shouldn’t go if her mouth’s this bad.” Twilight mentioned, but Rainbow sprang up at the thought and took an aggressive stance

“Heh, ahm gon e fah, ah wood’n mish thish fer thu worl” Rainbow replied, though, whatever she said no one really picked up on, however by her body language she seemed rather set on going.

“Well, alright then I guess… are we all set?” Twilight asked, the girls all agreed in unison before boarding the train off to Canterlot

“Pffffffft, ahahahahahahaha!” Luna, in a mad fit of laughter, fell to her back, rolling on the royal blue floor of her gaming room.

“Our kand and benevolent ruler ere’ pony.” Applejack announced, pointing a hoof at Luna.

“We...we… ooh.’ Luna struggled to catch her breath “We apologize, we should not have been so rude to our subject, but… did Fluttershy not, as you say, call it?”

“Oh shu ub.” Rainbow hissed, or, tried to anyways, at the princess before taking her usual seat and crossing her legs.

“Princess, I’m ashamed of you, taunting poor Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy scolded, quite brazenly in fact.

“Oh, we are sorry, truly we are, ohoho, at anyrate, shall we begin play?” Luna asked prompting the mares to take their seats around the table “Excellent, now before we begin, snacks?” Luna said, jutting a bowl of hard candy right in Rainbow Dashes face, unable to contain her smile.

What followed next was the attempted assassination of a princess by a premier flyer as several guards were dispatched to tame the wild blue ball of rage. The noise and screaming from Rainbow was so intense even Celestia had shown up in the commotion. Once she was given a thorough tongue lashing by her older sister, Luna had stopped her teasing, Rainbow had stopped trying to murderize the Alicorn, and the group returned to their regularly scheduled game

“eh il i’ mesh u de gam?” Mumbled Rainbow questioningly

“Oh, good question Rainbow.” Fluttershy said in such a way that, if said by anyone else, would seem like she was talking down to them “Will her little problem affect the game?”

“Not in the least, we are more than powerful enough to translate her thoughts into word, and as funny as not doing that would be, we take pride in the quality of our game.” Luna explained “Without further ado,” she lifted her, mostly pointless, GM screen an inch up and tapped it a few times against the table“Ahem, well, as you may recall, you’ve all just taken back the church and Leona struck out on her own…”

Outside, Daniel and the two girls were sitting next to a building, quietly talking to one another, though much conversation was made by the mother as she cooed her child. The three grew quiet as Leona approached, her entire body was splattered with blood from head to toe, much of it having already dried by then. The three looked at the paladin nervously as to what information she may provide, each hoping for the best as she made her way over. Leona stopped short, and extended her arm out as a shadow beast leapt at her from in between buildings before she crushed it against the ground, wowing the trio. Leona then looked to them sternly “You two, get to the church, you’ll see my friends inside, they’ll protect you. Daniel, you’re with me.”

-----

In an instant, the spell keeping the game up was dropped. Confused, the mane 6 looked at their GM with turned heads and perched brows. What they saw was Luna, with a mile long frown, glaring at Fluttershy with eyes of burning rage.

“Umm, is someth-” Flutters began right before several loud thwaps were heard as a book encased in magic came crashing down on a green and black D20 that sat before Fluttershy. Once satisfied that the die was lost forever, she hovered a new one from her saddlebag and placed it in front of the now terrified mare.

“You may have ours.” Luna said, smiling as if given some sort of sudden relief.

“But, umm, that was y-your dice…” Fluttershy muttered causing the frown on Luna’s face to grow only longer than before.

Rainbow began a mad fit of laughter behind the cotton in her mouth, followed by accompanying chuckles from the other mares. Angered, flustered and embarrassed, Luna recast her spell in an attempt to save face.

-----

“Oh, thank you Ser Knight, you are a blessing, thank the goddess.” the mother spoke hurriedly as her and her child ran to sanctuary.

“Of course m’lady. Where to?” The squire asked, eyes burning with anticipation.

“We’re going to get as many citizens as we can back to the church. The others should be at it as well, so we must not waste time. “ Leona commanded as she drew her blade again and marched further away from the church

“Of course!” the squire said, drawing his own blade and following suit.

-----

On the other end of town, Starstorm, Sprinkles and Selina had just engaged a small group of hounds along with a group of town guards. The fight was short lived, however, as the obviously tested veterans pummeled the enemy with ease. The soldiers settled for a moment as Starstorm ran over to the man who seemed to be in charge, a man of short stature with short blonde hair and stern blue eyes who seemed almost of her age, however, despite his youth he seemed rather hardened. “Ser Knight, a word please.” she approached respectfully.

“Of course, what do you need mage?” He replied, cold eyes staring at her.

“Ser Leona of the Order of Mia Morey, along with us, have freed the church of it’s assailants. My fellows Wrathtail and Jessebelle are keeping it secure, we request you send some men there as well as any civilians.” With perfect etiquette, the wizard had made her request, though the words came at a surprise to the knight before her.

“Y-you what? Impossible, word had it a massive beast had taken control, I’ve already sent two of my best units in.” he spoke in disbelief, though the look in the woman’s eye didn’t betray her story, “Surely, someone must have accompanied you.” the man paused “And, and you said Wrathtail was there too, is she ok?”

Silently taking offense, Starstorm brushed the insult aside and spoke again “If you don’t believe me, send a scouting party to confirm what I say. And yes, she’s fine.” she retorted

“Hmm, I will go myself. Elric, you and your brother are in command until I return, continue the push as I’d ordered. Roberts, Anderson, you two ride with me.” he commanded, ending by whistling, calling a warsteed to his side which he promptly mounted, outstretching an arm to Starstorm “Come, you’ll be with us, can your fellows support my men?” he asked, turning to watch Selina and Sprinkles reply with a nod each.

Taking the mans arm, Starstorm mounted the horse, gripping tightly onto the knight before her as the four charged off to the temple.

The journey was short but quiet, only the rhythmic sounds of the horses hooves dulled the otherwise oppressive silence ‘This feels weird, a little wrong too… I hope the poor guy’s ok… though he is kinda cute… this is weird.’ Starstorms player thought in reference to the horse she was now mounted on as they approached their destination.

Riding up to the main doors, the three knights dismounted and burst through, weapons drawn only to see a rather bored looking Wrathtail and Jessebelle playing a game of cards “Three aces baby.” Wrathtail smiled

“Royal flush.” Jessebelle replied as she pulled over a pile of copper to her side.

“Uh, h-how, wait, Wrathtail?” the blonde man asked, prompting the girl to turn and look

“I said she was here, didn’t I?” Starstorm huffed, arms crossed.

“Uncy Caspen?” Wrathtail tilted her head a bit questioningly

“Uh, er, please call me Captain in front of the men Wrathtail.” he asked as he looked around, taking note that, despite the large amounts of filth and remains, the building seemed free of the beasts “You really cleared this place out, but, what about the giant hound that I heard about.” he spoke as he walked over to the girls in the center who had stood to meet him.

“Him, yeah, we killed him. I mean, it was mostly me, but y’know, they help.” The boastful Wrathtail said, chest puffed, head high and arms crossed

“Uh-huh,” Caspen, shockingly, didn’t believe his niece, but decided now wasn’t the time to worry about such things. Turning to the men who had come with him, he began calling out more orders “Roberts, I want you to tell the men to send the sick and injured here as soon as possible along with some of the regiment to reinforce the location. Anderson, gather the heralds and see to it they make it known the church has been secured.” saluting their captain they returned to their mounts and rode off. “Now, I was told Leona was with you, yes? Where is she now?” Caspen asked, only given shrugs in return.

-----

Elsewhere, a small group of soldiers were backed into an alleyway, trying hopelessly to defend their position from the onslaught of the pack that now cornered them. “Men, it’s been an honor fighting with you this day.” a man with long red hair said, his body encased in thick, bright pink full-plate, a nine-ring broadsword clasped in his right hand and a shield on his left “May Mia be with you.” he spoke as the horde grew near.

As if an answer to a prayer, the sound of yelps were heard from around the corner of the alley, causing hope to be reignited in the men. “Reinforcements, perhaps we won’t meet with the goddess this day after all!” one man shouted.

“Or perhaps we meet with her now? Regardless, hold out until they come for us.” the man in the pink said as he wielded his shield steadfast against the horde.

Nearby, Leona had followed the strongest mass of evil she could find. Cutting her way through several hounds alongside her squire who had, for the most part, supported her rather than fully engage. “I’m proud to see you’ve learned much during our training.” Leona said as she drove her blade down through one of the beasts necks

“Thank you, hearing you say that means the world to me dame.” the boy said happily as he accompanied his knight.

“Come, I hear fighting nearby.” She ordered as she and the squire ran to the corner to see the group of men backed into a wall, recognizing one man in particular, causing a nasty scowl to grow on her face “If only he were alone,” she muttered as she stomped her way forward, swinging down at the distracted hounds. Recognizing his knights suddenly more aggressive stance, he shifted a bit further back to bring up the rear, just in time to engage one of the hounds.

In a combined effort Leona and the men had managed to turn the tables, forcing the monsters into flanking, striking down the horde as they were thinned out rapidly. Once the last had fallen, the man in the armor smiled mockingly “Look, the southerner’s came to help. You do good job, tonight you get much meat.” he said with a mirthful laugh.

“Is that so? I suppose getting much meat implies I won’t be spending anytime with you then.” Leona’s biting retort caused the man to scowl, oppositely the men he was with chuckled.

“Please, as if I’d choose to waste my time with a woman who barely resembles her sex.” he spat.

“I -must- be more of a man, where you were no doubt getting your men slaughtered, I took back the church, which you can all feel free to head to, to recover from your wounds of course.” her attention slowly turning to the other men

“Y-you did what?!”

“Amazing, Leona, many praises.”

“Thank you so much.” the men all quickly cheered for their savior.

“Don’t believe her, this southerner is probably why these hounds are attacking in the first place.” the other paladin remarked.

“Or maybe it was because Commander Marius was too busy pinching bottoms at the inn to do his job.” she scowled “A shame really, if we had someone worth his salt, this accident might’ve been prevented.”

“How dare you blame me for this!” Marius now clearly enraged.

“And I thought I had a temper, perhaps you and I aren’t so different after all.” With that Leona turned to head elsewhere, stopping to turn “Oh, wait, I actually win my fights. So I suppose we really are different, huh.” she smiled back at them and continued off, hailing her squire before moving on.

Once clearly out of ear and eyeshot of the group, Leona’s smile grew three times in size “M’lady, you certainly put him in his place, though, shouldn’t we hurry to the aid of the people.”

Smile instantly wiped away, Leona nodded “I apologize, he’s just…”

“I understand dame, but for now, let us see to the cities defense, and when we’re done I’ll pour oil into the linings of his armor when the other squires aren’t looking.” Daniel smiled, getting a giggle from Leona “It’s good to see you in good spirits.”

“Huh?” Leona hummed inquiringly but Daniel only shook his head and the two moved on to continue the defense of the city.

-----

“Come on, hurry everyone!” Wrathtail urged as a group of women and children were ushered into the church, a small pack of hounds at their heels. Once the last had entered, Jessebelle slammed the door shut and shot one of the beasts in the head simultaneously “Damnit, it’s been almost an hour and I haven’t heard from Leona, Sprinkles or Selina, you think they’re ok?”

Letting loose another shot, Jessebelle snorted “Beats me,” she replied, shoving an elbow into the side of a guard who was stationed at the church “What are yalls standin’ for, gonna let a woman get into the fray first.” she motioned to Wrathtail who had just had just electrocuted one of the beasts with her hand.

Taken aback, the guard turned forward “Men, into formation!” he ordered as the group got arm to arm and pushed forward, shields out.

“There yall go, I’ll cover yer rear.” Jessebelle added, taking aim. “Though, ah wish the rest would return… more importantly, where’d the Captain take Starstorm…”

-----

“Captain Caspen, where are we headed!” Starstorm asked over the sounds of fighting and hooves tearing across the cobble below them.

“To the castle, I was there when this happened, I locked a few civilians in the pantry back at the castle larder! I need your help getting them out!” he replied, dipping slightly to sweep his blade across the back of one of the hounds.

“Alone? How, what am I to do!” the wizard obviously taken by surprise.

“Well, when I locked them in, a court wizard sealed it. I haven’t seen any others since, so I need help getting it open.” He answered

Silently accepting, Starstorm decided to fade into thought. As they approached, the two were caught by surprise when a massive black fist came crashing down from out behind one of the buildings, causing the horse and those on it to tumble harshly onto the ground.

Shakily recovering from the sudden attack, Starstorm looked up to see a massive, muscular creature that stood and moved as a man and was cloaked in shadows, it’s features weren't in detail, what she could see was it was huge and it’s glowing yellow eyes were focused on the pair “What on the good earth is that!” she shouted in response to her situation.

“I don’t know, I’ve heard nothing about this!” he looked back at her with a mix of fear and surprise, scrambling to his feet all the same

“This is bad, so, so bad.” Starstorm stepped back, mind rapidly trying to come up with something to get them out of their situation, anything if possible. Looking around, Starstorm noticed a nearby tower. “Keep it occupied, I’ll be back!” she shouted as she ran at full speed toward the tower doors.

“Don’t be long!” he replied as he held his shield up.

Opening the tower doors, Starstorm hurried up the stairs, quickly growing out of breath as she did “Stupid low con…” she muttered under her, now exhausted, breath. Bursting out to the top, she was met with the sight of one of the hounds who was gnawing on a human femur until it noticed her fumble upon it “Uh…”

Snarling, the beast slowly moved over to the wizard who began to back pedal. Letting the beast follow a bit more, she waited until it was on the stairs before she began a spell. Noticing the sudden movement, the beast lunged, stopping short as the magic washed over it, causing it to fall unconscious “Ugh, I’m almost tapped...” she muttered. Moving over the sleeping beast she did what she thought was necessary, she pushed it off the stairs, causing it to plummet to the bottom of the tower “Jerk” she said smugly as she finally made it to the top, seeing exactly what she wanted to see, a big beautiful beast of a ballista “Good.” running to the side of the tower she yelled down at her ally “How are you doing!”

Having just rolled out of the way from the creatures massive arm as it crashed into the city streets, Caspen simply replied “Awful!”

“That’s good, don’t die, I have to look at my book real quick!” she said as she sat down and began to study her spell book.

“Seriously!” he screamed right before lifting his shield up to meet the beasts latest attack. Surviving that he parried with a strike of his own, slashing the creatures arm, causing it to grunt a bit in pain.

Reeling back for another attack, Caspen thought it wise to avoid it as he ran under the legs of the creature, slashing at it’s ankles. Roaring in pain, the beast turned to swing again, intercepted by his shield just in time to stop the blow. Regaining his balance, Caspen swung again at the creatures leg, causing it to fall to a knee before he used his shield to bash it in the face. Now enraged, the creature came full force as it kicked it’s leg into Caspen, sending him back a few feet. Quickly rolling to a stand, Caspen turned to the tower “Now please!”

Closing her book, Starstorm smiled “One more moment!” she replied as she ran over to the ballista that was unfortunately on the other side of the tower, though it was on rails and simple enough to move. Pulling a nearby lever back, she heard the lock on the weapon unlatch. Taking that as a good sign, she then grabbed the, thankfully, loaded weapon and slowly pushed it over to the side where the Captain and the monster were fighting. Now in place, she pushed the lever again, locking it down. Now fully readied, Starstorm cast her spell, letting the magic take hold as it gave her extraordinary focus, every inch, every movement in such slow and vivid detail as if to disorient her. Grabbing the weapon as best as she could figure, she pointed it at the creature, letting the spell guide her. Satisfied, she let the bolt fly, just in time to stop it mid-swing, it's body flung by the force of the bolt, instead nailing it to a building nearby. Screeching it clawed at the bolt in it’s chest before falling slump and fading into nothingness.

“Took her long enough,” Capsen huffed tiredly.

“And now I’m out of spells!” she shouted down at Caspen, who merely sighed.

-----

Bursting through a door, Selina quickly scoured the small home she had heard screams from. Noticing a hound barking at a closet that felt weirdly familiar, she whistled to grab it’s attention “Over this way boy, come on, come get it.” she urged as the hound did just that, rushing the rogue who sidestepped it’s attack and thrust down two daggers down onto it’s back, causing it to poof immediately. Moving to the closet, she said “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

“You!” a feminine voice spit out from behind the door as it was pushed open “You’re that girl who knocked me out and took my house!” she shouted

“Oh... it’s… you…” Selina replied, rubbing the back of her neck nervously “Well, you see, about that… Sprinkles help, use your spell!” she shouted as Sprinkles kicked in the door and dropped the magic she had prepared to back up Selina with right on the angry woman, knocking her out.

“Did ah get’em?” Sprinkles asked looking around wildly

“Oh, yes, you so got them.” Selina lied as she carried the woman out

“Oy, ya tricked me!” Sprinkles, knuckles on her hips, declared.

“Yes, I did. And I’m very sorry about that.” she offered half heartedly.

Taking the woman to one of the knights nearby, she told him the woman had passed out and that she needed to get to the church. Selina and Sprinkles then returned to the men in charge Edwin Elric and Alfred Elric “Ey, we’re back, what’s next lads?” Sprinkle’s asked

“Hmm, oh, yes you two, we actually need something done you might be able to help with,” Alfred, a young looking blond man with short hair said with a grave look on his face “We’re close to what we believe to be another point where the creatures are funneling out and we need someone to stop it if possible.”

“Ah, yes, you suspect this point to be in the sewers, yes?” Selina asked knowingly, recognizing how close she was to the thieves guild base of operations.

“Yes, and considering who you are, I can only suspect you know where I’m talking about.” The man said with crossed arms and a smirk

“Ooh, er, well certainly my aiding of the city is more important than my, uh, past transgressions, yes?” she smiled wide at the guard who chuckled

“Don’t worry, you’re relatively harmless. Besides, Leona’s pretty much in charge of the situations dealing with you anyways.” he replied absentmindedly

“I, what?” she asked in wide eyed confusion

“Yeah, she’s commissioned to handle your crimes specifically, under order of Edona as it were. We've no choice but to let her either, apparently had to pull a pretty big favor. but I assumed you already knew that.” he finished “Anyways, now isn’t the time for chit chat, you should get to it, and be careful, you two need to head in alone on this while we clear out things topside.”

Wordlessly Selina nodded acceptingly and took off towards a sewer entrance frequented by her compatriots “I can’t believe…” she muttered as the two walked together.

“Wha’ tha’ your childhood frien’ still goes outta her way to protect ya despite the fact ya stabbed her in the back by joinin’ the one thing she hates most?” Sprinkle hit the nail on the head causing Selina’s mouth to gape momentarily.

Sighing, Selina rubbed her arm and nodded “Yes, well, I suppose that’s the best way to put it… I just…”

“No need, ya should let that friend of yers know what you have to say, not me. No matter wha' ahm sure she still love ya lahk a sistah'” Sprinkle offered with a smile, prompting Selina to smile as well.

“Well, thank you Sprinkles. Anyways, we’re here.” she said standing before a sewer hole in the center of an alleyway.

“Tha’s the most conspicuous thang ah thank ah’ve seen eva’.” Sprinkles commented at how obvious the entrance is in hindsight

“Yes, well, regardless of that little oversight, this is indeed the place. So, let’s go shall we?” she finished pulling the sewer plate open before climbing her way down on the wooden ladder.

The girls, now in the sewers, turned to one another and nodded, with Selina taking point. Stalking through the sewers together, they tiptoed around several different packs of the hounds, pausing so often to allow some to pass as they ran by after thieves guild members and anyone dumb enough to try and use the sewers as an escape. As they continued, the two stopped right beside a false door where Selina knew would lead to where she believed the possible summoning location to be.

Turning to the bard, Selina put a finger to her mouth “This will take just a moment, it’s been locked, likely because of this entire fiasco, meaning it’ll take me a while to open, especially considering it was made by thieves to keep thieves out.” accepting the rogues words Sprinkles waited patiently as Selina began to fiddle with some tools against the stone wall.

Humming to herself, Sprinkles was completely oblivious to the inky black tentacle that was slowly wrapping itself around her ankle until it was too late and she was pulled down onto her back and lifted up into the air. “Ah, ya bloody, shrimp eatin’, ink squirtin’, pile of tentacles, let me go!” she shouted defiantly, hand desperately pushing her kilt up to her knees, as Selina turned back to see her friend caught in the clutches of a tentacled creature covered in shadows similar to the hounds they’d been dealing with all day.

“Oh sweet Mia why!” she yelled in shock.

“Ah don’t care wha, jus’ ge’ meh outta here before people start drawin’ inappropriate things about meh!” she complained, free arm flailing wildly.

Drawing her daggers, Selina planned on doing just that, despite not knowing exactly how to make that happen. “Ignoring the fact we somehow missed this thing completely, I have no idea how to take this thing down!

“Kill it, kill it until it’s dead!” the bardess screamed with increased flailing

Sighing, Selina shook her head “Of course, why didn’t I think about that? Oh, because I wanted something helpful!”

“This blows!” Sprinkle replied curtly

“You’re right it blows… blows, oh, idea!” Selina turned back to the fake wall and jiggled one of her tools just a bit more until it popped open, running inside.

“Ya are the worst partner eva!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as her friend ran into the darkness without her.

Running as fast as she could, she passed about eight of the hounds who were idly chewing on bones until they noticed the purple haired woman charge by. Now chased by more than she could possibly handle on her own, she continued on her chosen path as she came to a stuttering stop in an attempt to turn before running down another hallway. Once she’d reached her destination she noticed right before the door to their supplies was a large, almost serpent like shadow creature that stood on four legs and looked as if ready to swallow the woman whole. Caught between a rock and a horde of angry dog monsters, Selina decided her only option was to slide under the thing before her and dash into the room “Now to put it into practice.” she said as she did, in fact, slide beneath the monster, opening the door and slamming it shut behind her.

Fighting to catch her breath, Selina darted about in search of “Yes!” she shouted as she found ten barrels of black powder, “Good, and now…” she said as she began to dig about until she found a couple flasks of alchemist fire. “Well, now to get out…” she turned to the door and sighed before tilting over one of the barrels and rolled it over near the door, all the while the monsters outside were busy trying to knock the wall over. Psyching herself up, Selina prepared one flask and the barrel before opening the door, yelling “Fetch!” as she tossed one of the fires onto the ground causing the creatures outside to step back in fear before rolling the barrel over the flame and closing the door.

A few short moments passed as the clearly non-intelligent creatures continued pounding despite the burning explosives before them. The pounding came to a halt as the barrel blew, instead being replaced by an unbearable ringing in Selina's ears that dropped her to her knees and forced her to cover her head in acute pain, accompanied by the flying bits of wooden shrapnel that screamed passed Selina as she deftly avoided each dagger like chunk despite her now incredible headache. Shaking the ringing away and satisfied the lot were gone for good she took more flasks and another barrel of the black powder, rolling it as fast as she could back to Sprinkles. However, halfway there she’d picked up a few more friends who were now hot at her heels. Knowing she'd never push the barrel fast enough to escape, Rarity instead leapt up onto it instead, rolling it with only small hindrance as she rushed ahead of her pursuers. Once she passed the fake wall door she leapt to the side, letting the barrel fall onto the monster before desperately tossing a flask of alchemist fire at it.

“And for the final step.” she announced as she threw a dagger at the tentacle hold Sprinkles, causing her to drop, thankfully, onto the sewer walkway “Get the hell away!” recognizing the black powder spilling from the barrel Sprinkles sprang to her feet like ants were crawling up her legs. Just as they ran they turned to see the hounds that were trailing Selina slide into few, the creatures slipping on the now wet floor as a few plummeted into the water besides the tentacle... thing. Only a moment more passed as the barrel blew, causing a few violent cracks to form overhead.

The two comming to a stop, Sprinkles looked to Selina then back the now soot covered ex-home of the monster, then back to Selina“Tha’ was yer plan!?” Sprinkles yelled

“Well it worked, did it not?” Selina casually replied as she looked disappointingly at a cracked fingernail

“Ya nearleh blew meh...up!” she shouted back

“Well, I didn’t.” Selina replied with a huff.

Grumbling the bard accepted, letting the rogue take her deeper into the area, passing through several fake walls and passing by several hounds until they made it into the training grounds of the guild, at it’s center a familiar pillar of light “Good, we’re here. Not my first choice for an evil summoning portal, that's for sure, lacks a certain villainous je ne sais quoi. *sigh* Anyways, all we need to do is find the source of the spell and disable it.”

“How do ya expect us ta fahnd it’ this place is huge!” Sprinkles threw her arms out wide to emphasize her point.

“Hmm… I think I’ve got it…” Selina said tapping her chin with her finger.

Several minutes, and many back and forth trips later, eight barrels of black powder was spread across the room, put against the walls and all rigged with a line of black powder.

“Uh, isn’t this a wee bit overkill?” Sprinkles asked with a nervous chuckle as Selina lit the line

“Nope.” the rogue answered with all the enthusiasm one would show a hole in their least favorite pair of shoes. As the trail of black powder crackled behind them, the girls ran as fast as possible towards their point of exit.

“How long til’ they blow?” Sprinkles asked, answered by the first wave of explosions that trailed behind them “Ya coulda made the trail a little longer.”

“Well excuse me for not knowing how long it takes for flames to travel up gunpowder, I’ve never used it before ok?” she spit annoyed. “Just run!” she finished, picking up the pace.

As the explosions echoed throughout the sewers, the two noticed the walls of the underground complex begin to crumble “This won’ take tha sewers down will it?” Sprinkles asked

“Oh heavens no, not in the least. Just the thieves guild base at most.” Selina chirped as they burst through the entrance of the base and continued their way hurriedly to the nearest ladder. Scurrying up it’s length before slamming the plate down behind them.

“Ya thank anybody heard us?” Selina stared angrily at the bard for her fairly stupid question.

Sighing, Selina replied “If they didn’t then they must be quite deaf, I must say.” Selina began to brush herself off “Anyways, I don’t think we hit the seal, otherwise there would have been-” a massive magical explosion caused the ground to shake violently as the enveloping noise burst from beneath the city causing a massive collapse of city streets that, thankfully, were at the time unoccupied “Oh, well then.”

Sprinkles just stared at the collapsed street with her mouth agape in utter shock “Are ya crazeh!”

“Hmm, no, or at least I don’t believe I am, but I didn’t want to risk a magical explosion with us down there, suffice to say the town can be fixed, people, no, not so much.” her answer was selfish, but honest and well thought out all things considered “Anyways, problem solved, no more hounds coming from there, and the destruction of the thieves guild base should be thanks enough for Leona, don’t you think?”

“Are ya sure? Wouldn’t this get ya’ in some kinda trouble?” the curious bard inquired, arms crossed over her white blouse now stained with gross sewer water.

“Probably, anyways, let’s get to that Elric gent, we have to report the, uh, success of our mission and see what else is to be done.” Selina smiled at her pink haired companion before strutting away happily.

-----

Inside of the New Krayan castle, Starstorm and Caspen had just felt the shockwave of the explosions, deciding it wasn’t relevant to their current problem and hoped it would be resolved soon. “Here we are.” Caspen stopped right in front of a door covered by several runic seals. The door was in the center of a wonderfully decorated hallway with a long royal blue carpet, several art pieces atop fine oak tables all along the way.

“Hmm, give me a moment to study the signs.” Starstorm pulled out a small book, different from her spell book, and began to jot down the several seals she noticed. “Hmm, I believe this to be a contingency spell, combined with something, but I can’t put my finger on it.” she pushed her arm out and pushed lightly on the door, though her hand seemed to stop just short of it “Wall of force, of course.”

“Can we get through at all?” he asked, also putting a hand over the door.

“We could, if we can meet the contingency, whatever it is. That’s just it though, without knowing the man who sealed the door-”

“Hello, is someone out there? W-we’re trapped in here, help us!” a mans voice came from behind

“Sir, I need to you calm yourself. This is Captain Caspen of the town guard with a wizard of the New Krayan College.” Caspen spoke calmingly, his sense of presence and authority more then enough to put the others at ease.

Putting the lie about her being a wizard and not just an apprentice aside, Starstorm appreciated the man’s charisma. Regardless, she had to figure a way through the door and with no leads it would prove difficult. Kneeling down Starstorm could peek through the keyhole and smiled “I’m going in.” she said as she blinked from her current location into the larder. Taken by surprise the people backed away from the materializing wizard as she regained her head “Ugh, unpleasant.” she muttered, rubbing her head lightly

“W-who are you?” a servant girl asked

“I’m Starstorm, I’m here to help you.” she said, hoping no one would recognize her. She didn’t hope hard enough

“Starstorm? Is that you?” a short, weasley man in a robe poked out from the crowd, hunched over and perpetually rubbing his hands together. His hair a gross, greasy dirty brown and his eyes a beady green that never stopped shifting from side to side

“Great, Snidely, yeah, it’s me.” she replied, causing the man to move in right next to her, pressing his face close to her before sniffing

“Oh Starstorm, you smell good as always.” the perverted little troll of a man said with a sigh of infatuation

“I’ve been fighting all day, I’m literally caked in sweat and blood.” the now aggravated wizard glared down at him

“Oh my sweet, are you hurt, did those mean old hounds hurt you.” he grabbed her hand, looking up to her compassionately.

“Uh, yeah, so…” she snatched herself away from him and turned to one of the others “Can you tell me who put you in here? Rather, who put the spell on the door, if I know I might be able to fulfill the contingency.”

Before any of the civilians could speak Snidely had repositioned himself in front of her, smiling with his crooked, yellow teeth “Oh my sweet, it was magi Baldwin of course.”

“From evocation class? Yeah, that makes sense, this is a pretty solid wall of force. “ She hummed to herself for a moment, thinking about the man that was Baldwin. He was a younger teacher down at the college, he had thick black hair, just enough stubble to be considered fashionable and always dressed in fine clothing. Of his favorite things his most favorite were evocation spells and women, Starstorm knew about the last bit from many a pinched bottoms coming from the perverted man. ‘If that creep wasn’t in charge of a grade I’d tell him what for…’ she thought, shaking it aside to try and free these people.

“Baldwin didn’t mention the contingency requirements by the way.” Snidely offered to the center of his creepy little affections

“Of course not, however, knowing Baldwin, it’s one of two things… I dread my second idea, so let’s go with my first. Snidely, what spells have you prepared today?” she asked, causing him to coo happily

“Oh, well of course Starstorms Perfect Bust.” the man replied with a wide, unsettling smile.

“Oh dear, he’s made a spell of me…” pinching the bridge of her nose she annoyedly asked “Maybe a magic missile?”

“No, but I have alter wind!” he chirped “Wanna know why I have it prepared?”

Inhaling sharply from her nose, a mistake as Snidely had neglected to bathe since the one time three years ago she touched his hand -on accident, she replied “I’d rather these fine folks beat me to death, or you, I won’t try and stop them, honest.” she looked to the scared citizens, hoping they’d oblige. They didn’t. “What did we say about preparing useful spells.”

“But these are useful!” he insisted “Without alter wind, how else could I smell you from a greater distance, Afterall, you made me promise never to be within five feet of you without good reason, despite my insistence that smelling you is a good reason.”

Shuddering, Starstorm tried to push the conversation somewhere less disgusting “Do you have any evocations spell prepared?”

“Oh, yes, I do.” he replied.

Grabbing him by his shoulder, Starstorm said “Great, let’s see it!” she urged

“Hehe, ok.” he snorted a bit before waving his hand in invocation as a perfect, perky pair of breasts made of pure force were made before him.

“You have a mole miss Starstorm?” one of the villagers asked as he looked at the spell.

Eyes twitching, face red, and mind screaming internally at a volume that made Starstorms ears physically ring, she used every ounce of willpower she had to continue talking “U-use it on the door.” all the while thinking ‘Why in the hell does he know I have a mole!’

Following the commands of his beloved, Snidely moved the floating breasts to rub themselves against the door until the sound of fading magic ringed out. Now trying the door, Starstorm found it thankfully un-enchanted and let the people go.

“The worst part is I’ll never know if the answer was evocation or breasts…” she mumbled to herself dejectedly.

“Did I do good, my sweet?” he cooed up at her.

“Yeah, so good that I want to look at your spell book, if you don’t mind.” she replied, a wide, equally creepy smile on her face.

Eager to please, the man gave her the book quickly, and just as quickly she threw it on the ground, stomping on it all the while screaming “DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE.” at the top of her lungs, even going as far as to take Caspens sword from its sheath, baring it down on the book repeatedly, ending by pulling out her flint and steel and setting it ablaze, laughing maniacally as it burned, all the while Snidely looked on in horror as his work had been destroyed before him

“Are you done Starstorm?” Caspen asked, hoping for his weapon back.

Clearing her throat Starstorm stood back up and handed him his sword “Yes quite. Anyways Snidely,” she bore down on the the other apprentice, very clearly enraged “If you ever, use, think of, or try and recreate that spell I will poke out your beady little eyes, fill the the empty holes with hot tar and shove you in an iron maiden, got it?” she finished, teeth grinding. Terrified of the woman, snidely nodded wildly until she pulled away “Good boy, now, if we can, we’ve places to go.”

Walking behind Starstorm as she made her exit, Caspen turned to the boy and put his arm over him “Son, let me tell you something about women,” the boy nodded, interested in what the older man had to say “No one ever suspects them of committing murder.” and with that he left as well.

-----

“My dame,” Daniel spoke from behind Leona who had just forced down the door to a house where she’d heard activity “I know you’re doing your duty, but…” Daniel was looking over the woman, by now she was more wounds than not, cuts and blood everywhere armor wasn’t, and the armor itself was covered with bite marks, punctures and hundreds of scratches.

Looking at the boy, Leona sensed the worry in her wards eyes, frowning Leona cleared her throat ‘I know I'm hurt, I'll stop soon I promise. Just a little bit longer then we'll go. Now, I heard the noise from upstairs.” with that the burly woman took to the insides of the building, quickly finding the stairs and stomping her way up them to find a pair of hounds yapping at a closet door. The fight, however, was short lived as she threw one out the upstairs window and brought the next across her knee with a sickening crunch.

Pulling the door open, Leona found an injured women cowering in fear. “M’lady, you’re fine now.” Daniel said, causing her to look up and latch onto her savior

“Daniel, my bandages.” Leona ordered

“This is the last of them my dame, we’ll need to rest and resupply soon.” He told her, handing her the empty remains of a medical kit.

Nodding to her squire she quickly wrapped up the woman’s bloodied leg “We’ll accompany her back to the church and-” she was quickly cut off by the loudest roar she’d heard since Teronidus had attacked her. Rushing to the window she spotted a massive bipedal beast cloaked in darkness chasing after a small detachment of guards “Change of plans, Daniel get her to the church, I’ll help these men fight.”

“Leona…” muttered the young squire uneasily. Knowing his dame would have none of it he accepted with a nod and helped the woman limp away.

Rushing outside, Leona had re equipped her shield and sword and had made her way to the mens aid “You four, I’ll distracted it, I want you to surround it, take it’s flanks.” she commanded, and since she was the second largest thing here they accepted, making their way around the creature as Leona held its attention.

Readying herself, Leona lifted her shield against the beasts first swing at her, holding up the massive arm as it bore down on her. Lifting up, she threw it off balance and brought her blade across it’s stomach. Meanwhile, the guard had finished their movements and were beginning to take swings at the creature with their weapons, peppering it’s legs with several small strikes. Ready to block again, Leona lifted her shield only for the beast arm to sweep across her front, knocking the shield away and forcing her on the the ground. Rolling away from the monsters crashing foot she stood her self up, catching it’s arm as it came down to strike at her once more. Holding it’s arm still with all her might, she dug her heels into the ground and began to pull back on it, bringing it close enough for her to reach a hand to it’s head, reaching out she caught a firm grasp as she climbed upon it’s back, wrapping both arms over what she was sure to be it’s neck as she began to squeeze to stay on. The beast began to ignore her, re-engaging the men despite her attempts to choke it, with that she lifted her self until her legs were around it’s neck, reaching down she placed a hand on it’s chin and head and in one violent motion she twisted, given a surprisingly satisfying crack as both her and the creature both toppled down onto the ground.

“What a beast of a woman!” one of the guards shouted

“Thank you dame Leona, thank you!” another man shouted, helping the exhausted woman back on her feet.

“Of course, please make your way to the church for safe haven.” she offered, meandering over to her shield as she spoke. Bending over to grab she stopped short as a sudden rush of dizziness flooded her senses. She gasped, falling to her hands and knees, panting violently. She began to hear voices, though much of it was muddled, she could make out something

“Leo…?” the voice was soft, innocent, like that of a child “Leo, are you ok? Leo, you don’t have to fight anymore…”

“S-selly…” Leona muttered breathlessly before giving into to weariness and falling into unconsciousness on the New Krayan streets...

Selly

“Leona? Leona! Leona, wake up silly!” A young, familiar and comforting voice roused Leona from her slumber, tired eyes opening slowly as she was brought to the sight of an adorable bronze skinned child with deep purple hair and equally beautiful azure eyes “Come on, you’ve been asleep all day!”

“Huh,” sputtered the large girl as her tired haze slowly cleared, wiping a bit of drool from her cheek before speaking. “Sorry Selly,” Leona pulled herself into a sitting position against a tree. Upon inspection Leona remembered where she was, beneath an oak in a forest clearing not far from New Krayan. “What time is it?” she asked

“Time to get up!” Selina answered, followed by shoving a bright, juicy red apple right into Leona’s face “Eat!”

“How’d you get it?” Leona furrowed her brow and asked, peering into the other girls face. Noticing the way Selina lightly brushed at her hair, Leona pushed it away “We should take them back.”

“Aww, but why, who cares, it’s not like the vendor needs all of his apples.” Selina huffed, still grasping onto the apples.

“They’re not ours, if we want something to eat we have to earn it.” Leona stated matter of factly “We'll take them back and find some chores in town. And, the sisters said they'll be passing stew out at the church for everybody, so we'll have food.” Selina frowned once the church was mentioned though Leona didn’t seem to notice “Actually, they usually have a bunch of work. We should go there first.”

Looking for a way out of going back to the church Selina smiled to herself as she recalled a conversation from earlier that day “Actually, I know something better.” Selina offered, though the other didn’t seem convinced. So, with a fair amount of skepticism Leona crossed her arms and glared at Selina “I talked to a man earlier, he said he can give us two whole gold pieces!”

Two gold pieces was a lot, especially for two hungry children like them. Knowing this, Leona naturally knew to ask “What does he want?”

Selina began to rub her arm uneasily with one of the apples, twisting her ankle a bit nervously “Well, we just need to get him something, that’s all.”

Leona’s eyes closed to slits, forcing their way into Selina pervasively until the brown girl sighed in defeat “Come on Leona, two whole gold pieces! It’s better than the copper we could get from the church.”

“The church offers honest work and we won't get yelled at for doing it, or worse Selly.” Leona insisted, but the eastern girl huffed defiantly to no avail

Taking an offensive stance, Selina began “It doesn’t matter what we do, everyone will always hate us, we might as well make some real money, it’s not like the church cares about us anyways!” she argued, but Leona shook her head.

“Please Selina, trust me, Mia Morey will help us I know she will.” she offered. Selina, still unconvinced, didn’t press the issue further and gave into her friends wishes.

“Here, you can have the rest of mine.” Leona offered the rest of her apple to Selina, more concerned with her friends health than her own grumbling stomach. The two had returned the apples, though were given a vicious tongue lashing alongside several threats for it. The two had then took to the church, sweeping, cleaning and washing the bed clothes of the entire temple. When they were done they were awarded several copper before rushing out to pay the apple vendor who, despite his annoyance, accepted their money.

Now the girls were below a tree in their favorite spot, the same clearing Leona was resting in before.. Selina, though hesitant, accepted the rest of the fruit, biting into it slowly. “Thank you.” she muttered softly, balled up next to Leona and leaning into her

The gentle breeze of the day washed over them delicately, the rhythmic sounds of both nature and Selina’s chewing ringing out softly. The two girls sunk closer into one another, Selina herself giving a few small yawns as she chewed, each enjoying the others company as they always had. As time passed by, Leona turned to the sky, an endless sea of blue, not a single cloud in the sky to mar it’s beauty. Thinking to herself about things, far too many things for a girl her age she’d later grow to admit, she turned down to her small friend with something particular in mind.

“Selina…” Leona began, the other girl replying with a soft hum “What do you want when you grow up?”

“Food,” she half joked

“No, I mean, if you could have anything in the whole world, or be anything in the world, what would it be?” she asked, staring back into the sky dreamily.

“Huh, hmm… I’d wanna be a princess.” Selina answered honestly, caressing the half eaten apple between her palms.

“A princess? Why a princess?” Leona had to ask.

“Because, then I wouldn’t be hungry and everyone would love me, and I’d have a bunch of adoring subjects and then I could marry a big, strong brave knight who’d always be there to protect me and make me smile.” the young girl raved tiredly, her words beginning to blend into one another as she slowly began fading into sleep after a hard day of work.

“You know… I could be a knight.” Leona blushed, looking out the corner of her eyes down at the half asleep girl next to her.

“Mm-hm.” Selina hummed, drifting off with the half apple still in her palms. Once the soft snores of the girl began to fill the clearing, Leona turned away, resolutely staring into the heavens.

“In fact, I will...I’ll be the greatest knight in the land, and I’ll protect you from all the bad people forever… I promise” Blushing and smiling down at Selina, Leona shifted a bit to make her friend more comfortable before falling asleep beside her.

“Selly!” Leona shouted, looking around for her friend at the clearing, carrying two bowls of stew in either hand “Selina, I’ve got the stew! We have to take the bowls back when we’re done so we should hurry and eat.” she looked around the clearing, trying her best to find her friend only to come across something that made her chest tighten furiously. Blood. She looked down and saw the blood leading deeper into the forest, and as if running on primal instinct she dropped the bowls, running full force into the trees and greenery until she was met with the sounds of screaming and grunting of her dear friend.

Running further, Leona came upon something that caused her eyes to shrink, and her heart to begin wildly beating. There she was, Selina, her best and only friend,covered in bruises, eyes blackened, blood running down her form, all the while surrounded by several young boys, only a few years older than they by a small body of water. The boys taunted her, calling her an ‘Eastern Freak’ and a ‘Brown skinned outsider’ as they laid kick after kick into her huddled being

Suddenly, the world went dark. Leona, though younger, was bigger than the boys, and they quickly learned that when she had grabbed one from behind, strangling him violently as he spasmed in her iron-like grip, ears ringing from the bloodcurdling screams that she unleashed. The other boys grabbed onto the girl, completely helpless to free their friend. In a panic, one picked up a particularly large stick and broke it against the back of her head, leaving her unphased. The boy in her grip gasped and flailed and shook, and upon finding his strength no match for the girls, he opened his mouth, hoping to get out a single plead or cry for mercy only to gurgle painfully. Throwing her weight in one direction, the boy in her arms stopped his screaming with a sudden and earth shattering crack as she left him to flop to the ground, dead. In a panic one boy picked up a rock and tried much the same as the boy with the stick only to be stopped by the girls fist as it broke his nose on impact and sent him back a good foot.

Blood thirsty and angry, Leona turned to the next boy as he backed away, broken stick in hand. The boy turned to run, desperately trying to escape, however, before he could move he was grabbed by the back of his shirt, his skull bashed against by her elbow before she dragged him over to the pool of water, forcing his head in as he struggled, flailing violently to bring himself back to life giving air, throwing all of his weight into breaking free only to splash some water around fruitlessly. The boy cried, his breath slowly being replaced by water as his lungs began to take in the liquid, but eventually the bubbles stopped as the boy went limp, no longer of this world as he drowned. Unsatisfied, Leona turned her unforgiving rage back to the other, wide stretched mouth dripping with drool as she bore down on the last boy, roaring like a wild beast as he sat in sheer terror.

The boy felt his heart beat quicken, fear began to tear at his young chest, he looked to the boy whose head was in the pool of water then, then to the boy on the ground who’d been strangled, then back to his attacker who continued her roars down at him. With no other choice, he begged, pleaded, slowly kicking away like a worm beneath the eyes of a hungry raven “P-please… I’m sorry, it’ll never happen again, please I beg you, I didn’t mean it, I don’t wanna die, I want my mommy, m-my daddy!” he cried, tears and snot staining his face as he shook furiously “Daddy… mommy!” he yelled out “Someone, help me, I don’t want to die, please!” but his words fell on deaf ears as Leona’s humanity was snuffed out by her rage. She latched onto his shirt, lifting him up against a tree, bashing her fist into his face over and over again, blood violently splattering against her entire frame, all the while her face steadily creeped into a wild smile complete with manic, unsettling laughter. Before long the boys skull gave way with a gross crack, and though dead, she continued her assault on the clearly lifeless body for several minutes until the skull was not but a mangled mess of flesh and bone, she’d grown tired of beating him eventually, letting his now headless body flop to the ground unceremoniously.

Her prey torn apart, she looked in hopes of finding more to hurt, still smiling before releasing a loud, animalistic howl in victory, however, her madness was quickly broken by terrified shuddering from Selina, the sound of which seemed to break her violent trance. Brought back to consciousness, Leona turned to her friend, slowly inching her way over, only for the other to grip her ears and seal her eyes, screaming to block out what she’d just seen. Looking back at the carnage that surrounded her Leona gaped, and for a brief moment she felt ashamed, but then her head began to race with thoughts, the thoughts cheered her on, congratulated her victory, praising her as a hero. The thoughts crept in, each one justifying her actions ‘They deserved it.’ one said ‘Yes, they were monsters, you were protecting your friend.’ another spoke ‘It was right, they were evil, they died for their sins’ slowly any sense of regret she felt was buried beneath self righteousness as she accepted her acts as being truly for the best “They were scum…” she murmured to no one in particular. Looking at her huddled friend she sat beside her, reaching an arm over her “It’s ok, they can’t hurt you or anyone else ever again.” she whispered gently, stroking the girls rich purple hair.

“A-are they…” Selina mumbled, asking despite knowing the answer.

The two fell into silence as they held each other until dark. For hours they stayed, unmoving until eventually someone came looking for them “Girls! I know you’re here! We’d like our bowls back! Come with me and we can get you into…” the priest stopped dead in his tracks as he walked into the horror of the scene. Three boys, all dead, one whose face was completely unrecognizable from an untold number or blunt wounds, the next who laid face first into a small pool of water, and the last whose neck was bruised and throat was crushed. .

Looking up in terror, Selina found her voice lost in her throat, swallowing desperately to try and make sound but to no avail, however Leona was different. Her eyes stared not at the man, but through him, not in fear, but in an empty, dead stare that filled him with an unknown chill. As the man looked back at her he felt his chest began to knot, and even that his own voice was lost inside of him. Slowly, Leona’s lips begin to move as she let out in cold, unloving monotone “They hurt her…”

“Hang her! Hang the whore!” one woman, tears falling down her cheeks, screamed “She took my son away from me!”

“May the southern filth rot!” a man this time shouted, tossing a stone that bruised Leona’s cheek

Leona wasn’t what you’d expect from a child about to die, instead of a crying sniffling mess, she was steadfast, eyes looking down at the crowd with bitterness, with hatred. Leona's hands were bound by rope, much like her neck as she stood atop a wooden platform with a trapdoor beneath her feet. Moment by moment she drunk in the crowd, the people around her and felt a weird mix of pride, fear, and hatred as they voiced their loathing. “They were only children!” one screamed. ‘Children… like me? Am I not a child… was Selly not a child? Is it because they were children? Or because I’m not from here…” she thought, mouth now slightly agape as all feeling slowly drain from her head.

After many more stones had been laid into her, a man stepped onto the stage, dressed in fine clothing, with a long mustache and beard but no hair. The man turned to the crowd and motioned for them to calm themselves down.

As this went on, Selina was cloaked in the crowd besides a roguish looking man with a stern, serious look on his face, the rest of him hidden beneath a cowl. Selina was crying of course, scared for her friends life. She turned to the man who turned down to her in return, they looked at one another before the man spoke “Like I said, it’ll be fine.” he assured her. Nodding at him, Selina turned back to her friend on the platform.

“Today, we gather to sentence this monster for murder on three accounts, for one Dick Todd, one Jason Drake, and one Tim Grayson. She has accepted her fate and admitted to these acts and has shown no remorse for her crimes, for this we have no choice but to rid our streets of her evil.” the crowd went into an uproar, cheering for the death of the child “So, without further ado, we will hear her last request, so, what will it be girl?”

Looking up , Leona said loud enough for the crowd to hear “I have no request, I only want to say… Your bastards deserved to die.”

With an angry glare the man pulled a level, causing the door beneath the girls feet to open up, dropping her down until the noose was now strangling her. She spasmed violently, hacking, coughing, desperately trying to find breath as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness, her eyes raced through the crowd, inch by inch until her gaze fell upon a cloaked Selina, smiling Leona thought ‘I’m sorry, maybe someone else’ll be your knight…’ tears began to drift down her cheeks as her vision went black and that’s when she felt everything fall, her endless sinking felt as if lasting an eternity as her form freely rushed towards the and ever deepening pit. With a crash Leona inhaled sharply, her eyes funneling in the days sun as she quickly came to lucidity The crowd stood in awe as the girl hit the ground, hard, conscious, but in pain. Suddenly, what noise the crowd made was completely snuffed by the appearance of a woman with multicolored hair, ablaze with life as it moved on it’s own accord.

“People,” her voice was strong and authoritative, demanding the attention and respect of those around her, clearly the voice of someone with great power and wisdom “I have come here for the girl,” the crowd went into an angry roar at this, many questions thrown, each ignored as with but a single motion everyone went silent “From this moment on, she will be under my care, to do with as I see fit. If any of you even dare raise a hand against her, all I can say is may Mia have mercy on your soul.” the crowd went dead, not a single person willing to challenge the words spoken

While that was happening a pair of priests had gotten to Leona’s side, lifted her up and began taking her away into the crowd, a crowd that, while angry, wouldn’t dare defy their grand priestess.

Selina looked on in awe as everything happened before her, head darting up to the man at her side and back to the woman “What’s going on, isn’t she going with us?”

He shook his head “No, she’s not. You have your own path to walk, and so does she. Be happy I pulled such a great favor for you.” he said coldly before turning away and walking “Now come, you have much to learn.”

Body shooting up, Leona cringed at the sharp pain that exploded with her sudden movement. Falling back to a resting position, the women grit her teeth and inhaled sharply. “Was that…” she pondered the reality of her day thus far, but was reminded that it was all too real when the sounds of battle rang from the city around her, accompanied by the tightness of many bandages that clung to her body. Leona was out of her armor and dressed in her bed clothes, laying down in her quarters at the church. Feeling the strain of the day build rapidly Leona sighed, letting herself have the moment of rest.

As Leona lie on her bed she received a knocking at her door a few minutes later, lifting herself back up, painful as it was, she answered “I’m awake.”

As the door pushed open, Leona was annoyed to see Selina walk in, her body covered in bandages as well “Hello dear, I hope I didn’t wake you.”

Turning her head away Leona replied “No.”

“Oh…” Selina looked down at the ground dejectedly but decided, despite Leona’s defiance, she’d continue the conversation “So, are you doing well?”

“Fine.”

“Oh… do you need anything?” Selina asked, doing her best to look as kind as she could

“Nothing from you” Leona spat, making it a point to be as hostile as possible to the other woman.

Selina turned to the ground, eyes half lidded as she fought back tears “I just… I mean…” Leona said nothing, nor did she turn to the person speaking to her “I didn’t know what else to do…” she admitted shakily.

Leona, curious, turned to Selina, though remained silent “I mean…” Selina left her mouth open for but a moment, closing it and rubbing her arm anxiously “I just wanted to…” her voice trailed to a faint whisper.

Leona’s face went awash with a smug smile “To what, spit on your parents grave? To betray me?” her voice was unloving and cruel, deliberate in hurting the other woman

“No, that’s not-” Selina began before being cut off

“Oh, that’s not what now? Cause if you were to say that it wasn’t true you’d be a much a liar as you are scum.” Leona face now twisted into a scowl as she directed it at the other woman who, despite her best efforts, began to shed several tears, hand clung onto an arm as she backed away “Oh, are you running again? Lying, cowardly scum, oh, and let’s add murdering whore while we’re at it.” every word seemed to run it’s way through Selina’s chest as she began to shiver. “What were you hoping for, I wonder? Did you expect me to play nice? Did you think I’d be impressed because you did a few good deeds to try and make up for your crimes? To save your own skin? You sicken me,” Selina had never felt smaller next to Leona, by this point her face was covered in tears as she froze, wanting nothing more than to run but feeling unable to move “Just get out of my face before I arrest you, you’re not even worth talking to.” Completely broken Selina turned, bursting out the door, nearly toppling a young,brown haired boy who’d been carrying a silver platter with food.

Concerned, the squire pushed his way into the room, “Leona, are you ok?” he asked

“Fine,” she turned away from the boy

Swallowing, the boy set the tray on a nearby desk “I, um… I don’t think…” he began, but it didn’t seem like Leona was listening “M’lady, uh…” Leona turned to the boy, and she looked distraught, sad even “Leona?”

Sighing, the woman curled into a ball on her bed. The two stood in awkward silence, neither willing to move or make a sound.

Finally, gathering his courage the boy sat beside Leona on her bed “I, I um…” he gulped “I think you need to apologize!” he finished, instantly flinching in preparation for what he assumed to be an upcoming tongue lashing

“I don’t think I can.” Leona spoke, avoiding eye contact

“Why not?” He asked

“Because I’m still mad.” she sighed and curled up tighter

“What did she do? It must have been pretty-” he was cut off

“Nothing…” the room was silent again, the boy shifted uncomfortably “It’s not proper for you to be on a bed with a lady.” Leona muttered, causing the boy to jump up off the bed

“I-I just, I mean… ugh, excuse me if I’m out of line, but, that’s stupid.” The boy said, his remark replied to by a chuckle

“Yeah, I know…” Leona looked tired, yet she wore a smile, a smile that spoke volumes to the confusion she was feeling “It’s hard for you to understand I guess…”

“What is m’lady?” He inched closer

Slowly Leona’s smile faded into a dead gaze “Being me… perpetually filled with so much anger… so much… you know, I killed three boys… a little younger than you. I was young too, younger than they. They were attacking her… Selina I mean, and I just lost it, I barely remember much besides this overwhelming sense of life. I reveled in it, killing them that is, the way they screamed and begged, the way they slipped into death, never before had I felt so real.” Leona paused to gather her thoughts “I still want it, that feeling. I want to hurt people, I want to kill, and before I thought it dealt with, but in all of this I realize I need it more…” Leona slowly eased herself onto her feet as she spoke. Moving over to the door she placed a hand on the knob, stopped as the boy quickly followed suit

“Leona, where are you going?” he asked, knowing full well he couldn’t stop her physically

“I’m going to go back out there, it’s where I need to be,” her grip on the knob tightened, hair lining it with cracks

“Don’t you think you should finish resting before…” Leona just shook her head

“What’s the point… better die in battle then live a shame of a life, eh?” she smiled back at the boy who just gaped at her.

“Leona…” he whispered, gritting his teeth he pushed himself in front of the door, blocking it “You can leave when you’re better.”

Leona just looked at him “You know you can’t stop me.”

“I can’t just let you kill yourself…” he said resolutely

“Hmph, since when did you begin to defy me?” she asked, still smiling “It doesn’t matter,” she said, returning to her bed

The boy remained at the door, almost expecting her to get back up and try again, but, he calmed himself, his nerves on pins and needle. “Well, that was nerve wracking.” he said gratefully

“Hehe, Daniel, why don’t you bring me that platter.” Leona asked, causing the boy to perk up, quickly retrieving the food and placing it before his dame “Thank you, also, one more thing?” she waved for the boy to get closer, as if she was going to whisper something. When the boy was close enough she grabbed him by his shirt, flipped him over and onto the opposite side of the bed with a thump “When dealing with someone dangerous keep your guard up.”

The boy, now rolling on the ground in pain muttered “Of course, thanks…” he coughed before getting back to his feet. “You’re all over the place today, you know that?” he complained

“Maybe, I’m just glad I’ve done such a good job with you.” she smiled at the squire once again, provoking a blush from him “You’ll me a great knight before long…” she began, looking down at the platter of steak and potatoes “Is there enough food for everyone in the church?”

“Oh, uh, of course, the clerics are creating food and drink downstairs.” he replied

“Good,” cutting a piece of steak she brought it to her mouth, but just as quickly a feeling rose in her chest, a sudden fleeting moment, and in that moment she flung her tray off her lap and dove onto the boy, collapsing onto the ground as a bolt of energy tore into her window, causing debris to fly every which way.

Bursting in through the door, Starstorm and Wrathtail looked hurriedly to check on their friends “Are you two ok?” Starstorm asked as Wrathtail moved to help the two up.

“Fine,” Leona brushed herself off before moving to the opening to see a horde of shadow hounds, large menacing humanoids and what looked like men, some in armor some in robes, and in the far back was something she’d never believe.

“What’s going on out…” Wrathtail began as her eyes fell upon the large, wolflike form of Teronidus, followed by Starstorm and Daniel who both saw him immediately

“Teronidus lives again!” the massive beast roared, now twice his size from before “And you wenches will die tonight for defying me!”

“Daniel,” Leona spoke, eyes still locked onto the marching enemy forces “Get me my armor and run.”

"But…” with a sigh the squire gave in “Right away m’lady.”

Author's Note

Another chapter done. Let's all give a thank you to good ol' dependable http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Breakfateschain ain't he a swell guy?

Standing Fast Part 1: New Hope

“M-M’lady” Daniel muttered under his breath, his back turned to Leona as she changed into her armor.

“What are you still doing here?” She asked coldly as she reached behind to attach the front and back plates.

“I want to-”

“No.” She said sternly “You will be better served helping the people evacuate… we… we’re not close to the strongest among those in the city… but besides a few we’re the best the city has.” her tone was deadly serious, almost macabre “Protect the people, and if we fall… lead them somewhere safe.”

“But you won’t…” he said hopefully

“Daniel…” she muttered softly as her eyes wandered down to the ground

“You can’t!” he shouted, the room falling silent as the two stood unmoving, Leona turned only briefly, catching a glimpse of the boy before turning away once more. With a soft sigh Leona looked down at her hand, it was bruised, cut up and even now stung. Her eyes traced each mark, almost as if she was trying to pass time. A few moments passed, the fighting outside and the movement downstairs being the only noises to be heard, that was, until a soft sobbing began to ring out from behind Leona

Turning to the boy Leona looked at him as he sniffled into his arm, small trembles washing over his body. 'You're still just a boy aren't you?' Leona thought, smiling briefly to herself. “If we don't win, you may be one of the last of the New Krayan order Daniel, you have to live on to teach our ways, and warn the neighboring towns of the impending danger. I'm certain this war won't end here, regardless of who wins and since we can't get word out...

“I don’t care!” he shouted, his arms reaching around Leona's waist as he clung to her back “You have to come back… you have to… you…” he paused to gather his strength as his sobs became frequent “I don’t want to be alone again.” he ended, gripping tighter around her.

“You’ll find yourself alone more often than not. It won’t be the loneliness that breaks you, it’ll be remembering the times you weren’t lonely that hurt the most.” Leona spoke softly before turning to hold the boy back “I’m sorry I saved you only to leave you hurt like this. So sorry.”

“Leona…” the boy wiped his face and looked up to her "You... we could... I could..." he tried to speak, but each time the words fell dead in his mouth. "I-if we're going to have any chance, shouldn't we all fight, together? I should be here to help!" he spoke adamantly, the boy putting on a strong facade as he stared at her.

Leona ended the embrace and rested her hand on his shoulder “I know you want to fight, and one day you'll get the opportunity but now you're just too young. If we can't make it back, someone will have to remember us, our stand, to rally the people and fight back against these... things. You're not just my squire, you're," Leona turned away as if searching for the word "You're... my legacy. I put everything I have into raising you and training you. I love you Daniel, and I need you to have a future. If not for yourself, for me."

Daniel looked down briefly, swallowing roughly before looking back up to Leona. Clenching his fist he stared her dead in the eye, and upon seeing the way her eyes looked upon him, with such gentleness and care, he felt his frustration melt, and his resolve hardening "I understand. But, if I get word that things have changed, that we're winning I'm coming right back to help you. To help my city."

Leona smiled at the boy, an overwhelming sense of pride welling in her chest as she wrapped the boy up in a mighty hug "Only then." she whispered "Now go Daniel, do what you can to get away."

With a nod they ended their embrace, Daniel turning to leave, only looking back at her one more time, eyes held overlong as he wanted to remember her face, her proud smiling face, no matter what were to come.

“I forbid this!” Caspen shouted as he stood between Wrathtail and the exit of the church.

“Forbid whatever you want, I’m fighting.” she answered back seriously, whilst glaring daggers at the captain

“No, your father-”

“My father’s caus…” Wrathtail bit her tongue and turned “I just… I’ve got to fight.” hands clenched, knuckles a stark white

“You need to leave, if your brother fell today you’re the last of the royal line.” Caspen spoke in a hushed tone.

“As if anyone would believe that. Even so I’ve only half the blood of royalty, if you don’t recall I’m the daughter of a tribeswoman, these people would never accept that.” she retorted

“You’re in no condition.”

“And you’re in no position.”

“This isn’t a damn joke!”

“I’m not smiling am I?” she crossed her arms and frowned harder than before.

“Damn it!” he cursed, turning to look out at his men who stood in position before the church “Can’t you see, we’re just a distraction, we’re only here to hold them off… our men… our men have already said goodbye to what family they could find here. It’s a suicide mission, and you’re so young, you might be able to return one day and save New Krayan but for now you have to leave.”

Wrathtail shook her head “Nah, not happening. Here your royalty run but the tribal leaders always stand. If I am the last, than I’m dying like the people who raised me… like they did…” she finished pushing passed her uncle

“I’m sorry brother, she would not be persuaded…” Caspen smiled to himself “She is your daughter, damn your own reckless behaviour for being inherited.” Caspen turned “I won’t argue with you about this any longer, I have a battle to fight. Please, just try and escape once we’ve fallen.”

“You know, about that.” Wrathtails hand began to crackle with electricity “I’m feeling particularly cocky, so don’t be surprised when I cut their giant mutt down myself.” Wrathtail spit at the ground “This bastards killed a lot of my friend and mussed up my favorite pub, so excuse me if this gets personal” and with that she left to join the front lines

“Leo…” Selina muttered to herself in the temple larder, huddled up against the corner of a wall, sniffling in silence. A few moments passed before a light rapping near the door caught her attention

“Hey.” Starstorm said gently as she walked in “You, uh, okay?” she gave the weeping woman a forced smile

Though Selina hadn’t answered this didn’t dissuade Starstorm as she sat beside her “I, uh, heard everything. I’ve actually heard a lot of things about you two.” Starstorm rubbed the back of her neck “Considering your actions I’m not inclined to believe them all.” an awkward silence hung overhead as Starstorm poorly attempted to console her “Er, I mean… Remember that time you tried to steal the Headmasters spell book?”

Selina picked her head up from between her knees to look at Starstorm “When you touched the book and it began barking at you, why, you’d looked as if you’d been afflicted with ghoul rot how white you were. I was ready to magic missile you right then and there but Eramac, he just smiled at you, grabbed his book and handed you some gold. And when you ran off he said “Starstorm, not everybody gets to live with wealthy parents from a well established family and sent to train in a prestigious school. People suffer, and though you don’t understand their suffering doesn’t mean you should dismiss it.” and at the time I didn’t understand it really, but, I think I do now."

Selina drew her knees closer to her chest “Leona yelled at me when I brought the gold back… even though I told her it wasn’t stolen…” She muttered sadly

“Sounds like she yells a lot.”

“It’s because I mess up a lot.”

“You know who else yells a lot? Eramac, and though I didn't realize it before, looking back, he only yelled at me. I had always thought myself just another student, but to him I suppose I was special. I wasn’t just being trained, I was being mentored. And when we met him and the king, the high priest and your master that's when I truly realized that.” Starstorm stopped to moisten her lips “I would often see you and her in the city and wonder things. 'Why don't they leave if they're not wanted, why does nobody like them, have they always been alone?' I'd think to myself. Heck, part of me wanted to… I don’t know, help or say something. Instead I let rumors and misinformation get to me, I stayed away. Than when I saw Leona up to hang I felt bad. Like, every time I decided to keep my distance was a time I could have… done something.”

“It’s not your responsibility…” Selina interjected

“Maybe it was. I feel the same way about Wrathtail, she just kept getting into trouble, kept messing everything up and I felt like I knew why. She had no friends, quite the opposite really. Like you two, loathed for nothing more than being born, and I wanted to say or do anything but I was just too much of a coward too. Maybe I could’ve kept her from being kicked out. Maybe, I could have kept you from getting hurt and Leona from…”

Silence filled the room as well as a tinge of dread as Starstorm felt a lump grow in her throat, she looked at Selina who turned away a glimmer of sadness in her eyes “I heard it was… bad.”

Selina pondered for a moment, her gaze turning glassy and lifeless for but a moment, as if she was trying to distance herself from the memory “It was… surreal. It's hard to describe really. I suppose, in a way I loved Leona. I suppose in a way I still do. I'd see Leona, her faith, her kindness, her resolve and sense of honor. Even as children I knew she was meant to be more. I looked up to her and relied on her, but I always knew I'd never be her, she was this... thing that I couldn't touch and I idolized her. I put her on a pedestal and looked up in awe, she was strong but sweet, ready to fight and help at any moment. I wanted to be there for her, to care for her like she cared for me. Sure, I'd often do it in ways she wouldn't approve but I just couldn't do anything else. I wasn't like her, I couldn't be like her and though she'd berate me I knew she did it because she cared about me. She wanted me to do better, but when times got desperate...

"There were times, mostly in the winter, when things would be at their hardest. It would be cold, food and work would be impossible to come by and, well, the church would get full and because of what we were we would be denied. In those times, she wouldn't fight me. Not entirely. I'd steal fire wood, but she wouldn't use it, I'd steal food, but she'd have me eat it all, I'd steal blankets but she'd bundle me up and do without. She couldn't bare to see me hurt but she couldn't bare to neglect her morals. I hated it. It wasn't fair, why should she be cold when I was warm, why should she be hungry when I wasn't. Why did she do so much for me when I only disappointed her? The worse part was that I was too scared to try and change. I wasn't her, I was weak so I needed the extra warmth, I was to weak so I needed the extra food. When we got sick I was just too weak and needed all the medicine we could scrounge up. How am I not supposed to idolize her when she could survive so much, do so much, be so much."

By now Selina had been talking for a moment, Starstorm just looked on and let her speak, even when the original point had been lost she remained attentive and even invested, a sense of awe building in her as the woman at her side spoke the praises of Leona "She may have worshiped a god but I worshiped her. She made me feel safe, cherished, loved. That's what made that day so surreal. If you truly got to know Leona, you'd know who she really is. She's very calm, patient and thoughtful. She'd do whatever it takes to help people, she's kind like that. But on that day there was no kindness. I'd never been more terrified in my life, I just watched on in disbelief, the anger the violence the unrepentant and unabashed slaughter. I was certain I was dead and in hell, because that person, that thing I saw couldn't be the same Leona who'd cared for and nurtured me for so long. But it was. I was looking at something primordial and terrible, like a monster trapped beneath a mountain, freed at last to wreak a terrible vengeance. And the thing that haunts me most to this day is her smile. The wide, manic terrifying smile that spread across her face as she did it. My god became a devil before my eyes and revealed to me just how wrathful the heavens could be. The way she stood there, a victorious beast blood dripping from her body as she screamed her animal cries. And when it was done she looked at me, and I was scared for my life. Next thing I know she was cradling me, hushing me..."

After a time Selina had grown quiet, Starstorm sat beside her in the silence as she soaked in everything that was said until a question came to her lips "How do you feel now? About Leona?"

Selina pondered the question a moment, ultimately speaking as if she knew all along "I feel... obligated." Starstorm looked at the rogue quite curiously "Everything that happened, everything that occurred was my fault, because I was weak. Leona became a monster for me, she'd sacrificed everything for me, she was ready to die for me over and over again and I gave her nothing."

"So you left?" Star asked

"I didn't want to, but I had to. I made a deal with Darius to get her into the care of the Church, and in exchange he'd..." Selina paused, a look of realization on her face, shaking it away she continued "Anyways, I was resolved to make things right."

"By being a thief?" Star asked incredulously

"By doing what I was good at, and by being so good at it I'd never have to see Leona like that again." Selina's face grew serious, eyes gleaming with a deadly sense of focus "I'd be strong, fast, cunning. I'd be untouchable, someone that couldn't get hurt. Then..." her expression grew soft and confused "I don't know." she grew silent again her resolve melting away as she stared at the ground "For so long I told myself I'd grow strong. I'd get revenge on the man who got my parents killed, I'd become the leader of the thieves guild and control the city. I'd be the best. It's what I want."

"And how does Leona fit into all this?"

"That's the part I haven't figured out... hell does it even matter now? I just don't know what I feel anymore. Truth is I've hired people to spy on Leona for me, this morning I received another update. She was fine, no problem, bought some new clothes because the old ones were torn breaking up a street fight." Selina shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position before beginning again "When I think of her, I feel obligated. But more then that I feel warm and happy and safe and scared and frightened and mortified. I still look up to her, but I know she hates me. I want to believe I love her at times, that I could go back to her and say it and for it to be true. But I'm not sure, I don't feel obsessed, I feel like I barely think about her at all like shes just a thought in the back of my mind, tertiary. Maybe I'm afraid nothing has changed, that we'd just be the same people again, maybe I'm afraid we've strayed to far away and could never want to be together. But I have to do something, be something, anything for her. I'm only here because of her, I've only come this far and lived this long because of her. I don't know what do you think?'

Surprised that she was even asked, Star sat in extreme thought for several moments until the perfect words came to mind "No idea."

Smiling at the mage, Selina chuckled and sighed "Sounds right." she leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling "Sorry for talking your ear off. I don't usually get like this, but she makes me... emotional I suppose."

"It's fine, I just hope it helped a little." Star smiled back

With a sigh Selina smiled softly off into the distance "Not at all. But, thank you regardless."

Frowning disappointingly Star muttered "Any time." dejectedly

Sensing her disatisfaction Selina giggle "Sorry if my emotional turmoil wasn't solved by a chat with a stranger."

Star blushed furiously, shaking her head frantically "I-I didn't mean it like that!"

Poking the mage on the nose Selina smiled playfully "No need to get so flustered darling." standing up Selina brushed herself off and looked at the other woman who looked up wide eyed "Now that I've finished my whining there's an ugly pile of... fur? Anyways, I've got the distinct urge to stab him many times until he stops moving and I have a feeling my estranged friend shares this feeling."

Nodding, Star smiled as she stood up beside Selina "Yeah, let's get going."

“Quite th’ quandereh if ah say’so m’self.” Sprinkles spoke as she popped up behind Jessebelle who had secluded herself behind the church as she polished her gun. Annoyed at the western woman's lack of reaction Sprinkles crossed her arms

“Ah reckon so,” Jessebelle checked the barrel for what seemed like the third time that hour

“Cannah collect on a dead girl, can ya?” Sprinkles added playfully as she snatched the gun from Jessebelles hand

“Gimme dat back!” Jessebelle stood from the barrel she was seated on

“An’ if ah don’ ah reckon you’ll ‘ave ta’ do sometin’ abou’it?” she teased

“Ya lead me this far only ta’ get yerself killed over a country that’s not even yours, of all the no good thangs ta do.” Jessebelle complained

“Cannah be all dat bad. We ‘ad a laugh din’t we, ah’d jape, you’d ge’ mad at meh, catch meh an’ ah’d jus’ break out and be gone again.” Sprinkles spoke as she pulled over a barrel for her to sit on beside Jessebelle

“Yall had a laugh, ah was just pissed yalls escaped again and forced me all the way here, at all the times to get caught and surrounded by… whatever those thangs are.”

“Ya, well lemma ask you sometin’ den. Wha? You ‘ad your chance to give up a ‘undred tahms an’ you din’t.”

“Yall didn’t see the contract, enough zeros on that thang ah could settle down for life.” Jessebelle sat back down before leaning against the wall behind her barrel

“Is tha’ what you want? Some shiny baubles an’ some false sense of satisfaction? Come off it, we both know you love this kanda lahf, the chase, the thrill, than.”

“Hmph, yalls seem a might sure o’dat.”

“Because ah know ya, din’t take much ta see it though. ‘ell, when we ran inta one anotha ah was confused when ya din’t tell’em who ah was or anythin’” Sprinkles leaned back and kicked her feet up

“Din’t do me a lotta good the last two tahms, reckoned it wouldn’t matter.”

"Well?" Sprinkles asked with a perky smile

“Well what?” Jessebelle asked back

“Are we doin’ dis or are ya runnin’ away?”

“Ah reckon yer intent on stayin’?”

“Wha wouldn’ ah be? Whole lotta good dat money does ya when yer miserable. Ah’d rather in some beasts belleh than forced back into some stuffy dress gown and paradin’ about lahk some kinda show piece, than.”

“Yalls got yer answer than. Ah said ahm takin’ ya back and ah ahm, condition won’t matter too much. Reckon ah can drag you back with ya still breathin’.” Jessebelle snatched her gun back out of Sprinkles hand “And what was that all about?”

“Hrm?”

“Them dresses? Ah thought yalls was some kinda warrior society or somethin’” Jessebelle asked as she went back to caring for her firearm

“Even a warrior princess is a princess. Ya think mah people only run aroun’ tryin to figure out who’s ‘figurehead’ is bigger? Nah, there’s still politics, lotta good that does. Y’know, ah once dunked a dignitaries ‘ead into bowl of drink because he pinched mah bottom. Got a tongue lashin’ fer that one ah did.”

“Princess ya say? Ah reckon ah coulda asked for more.” Jessebelle replied as she looked down the sight

“It’s jus’ a sayin’, high noble sure, bu’ mah point remains’ doesn’ it?”

“Reckon it does.” Jessebelle stood and holstered her gun before kneeling down to mess with her boots.

“Wha’ about you? Reckon’ ya oughta tell me a bi’ abou’ yaself before we go an’ kick tha bucket.”

“Ah should?” Jessebelle turned to the woman with a perched brow

“Yah ya should, ‘ere ah am pourin’ me heart out and you’re jus’ gonna go and leave me in tha dark? Ah thought we ‘ad a real bond ‘ear.”

“Fillin mah bra with ants isn’t somethin’ ah bond over too much.”

“Come now, if yer gonna’ be an arse about every lil’ thing than what’s tha point of livin’?”

“Not gettin’ covered in ants is one.”

“Seriously, is dat it than?”

“Ah shoot, ah reckon ah can share, iffen you gimme a drink.”

“Ah, you want some more of dat bitter from last time do ya?” Sprinkles smiled and she lifted her kilt to reveal a small flask on her inner thigh. Taking the flask in hand Sprinkles twisted the top off before taking a drinking, sighing and shuddering in satisfaction “ ‘ere, ‘ave at it than.”

Taking the flask Jessebelle mimicked the bubbly girl at her side and took a nice long swig from the drink before sharing the same reaction “T’aint whiskey, but ah reckon’ it’ll do.” Jessebelle proceeded to throw back another drink

“Well?” Sprinkles questioned as she watched Jessebelle slowly but surely drain the flask.

Releasing the flask from her lips Jessebelle wiped off her mouth and handed the near empty container back to it’s owner who shot her an annoyed glance briefly. Sighing contently Jessebelle leaned further back on the barrel “Mah pa…” she started, staring passionately at the sky as she began to reminisce “Ah hated that man.”

Sprinkles tilted her head and leaned in, urging her friend to continue “Maybe ah shouldn’t, maybe he knew somewhere in his heart…” she frowned and shook her head, gripping the sides as if overcome with a headache “Ugh…”

Worriedly the springy bard took to Jessebelles side “Are ya alrigh’ girleh?”

“Ngh,” Jessebelle grunted as shadowy visages began to flood her head, a dance of swirling blacks and whites occurred within her vision, suddenly the words came from her mouth slowly “He killed me.” sudden silence consumed the two as Sprinkles blinked in surprise “Ah was eight, he pulled the gun, than the trigger.”

“Ah...ah don’” Sprinkles began

“The floor was so cold, but ah felt so comfortable…” Jessebelle shuddered and breathed deep but once, exhaling through her nose

“Are ya okay?” Sprinkles asked as she gently rubbed Jessebelle’s shoulder

“Ah met death than, and he said to me ‘Girl…” Jessebelles eyes glazed over, dulling to a lifeless gray “ ‘Yer not your own, you never were.’ “

“Woah…” Sprinkles breathed lightly, taken off guard as Jessebelle shot to her feet

“Ah… ah need ta go.” she muttered hurriedly before rushing back into the church.

“She can’t… could she?” Sprinkles thought to herself a song, a slow song written in a dead language composed of entirely string instruments and a haunting Soprano “Deathtouched…”

“Ya wanted me?” Jessebelle asked as she entered a small meeting room in the church, noticing that Sprinkles, Selina, Leona and Starstorm were already present. By this point it had been an hour since the horde arrived and from all corners of of the city friend and foe alike had began pouring towards the church, either for it’s defense or destruction.

The atmosphere was a dreary one, a single candle sat in the center of the room atop a table the others had been seated around, every window boarded up so tight that no sunlight could spill through. Jessebelle took a moment to look over the room, noticing the increasing hostility pouring through Leona as she ever so often glanced at Selina. Selina, on the other hand, was dripping in anxiety as her downcast gaze did everything in it’s power to avoid causing attention from Leona. Starstorm, seated between the two, had acted as a silent mediator, smiling at the two once in a while. Sprinkles, whether by choice or lack of sense, remained unattentive of the rooms mood.

“Come on in.’ Starstorm offered kindly. Nodding towards the spellcaster Jessebelle took hold of a seat, spun it around, and sat with the back end against her chest. “Excellent.”

“Ah reckon Wrathtail is goin’ ta arrive soon.” Jessebelle questioned

“Yes, but she rushed off to the battle field and we’re unable to find her amongst the chaos at the moment.” Starstorm answered calmly, though worry did find it’s place in her tone.

“Why are we being kept back? We can handle ourselves.” Leona complained, a stern look etched onto her face.

“I understand, but the captain said we’d have a different part to play soon.” Starstorm again answered as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“And if ah don’t want ta play this part?” Jessebelle said as she perched a brow.

Leona glared at the woman, motioning to the door “Than leave. Get in our way and…”

“Leona!” Selina interrupted only to be brought down with a single glare. The glare only lasted a moment before Leona stared at the ground, her angry expression turned to one of inner turmoil.

Starstorm frowned, her thoughts beginning to race rapidly Just than the door burst open as Wrathtail hobbled in with her arm and left eye covered in bandages. “Hey.” she spoke shortly before taking a seat and kicking her feet up on the table, wincing in pain as she did forgetting the large gash that was just mended only moments ago “Fuck” she spoke under breath

Sighing, Startorm conjured a small hand of magic and pushed Wrathtails feet off, much to the womans annoyance as she again winced “The fuck Starstorm?” she cursed

“I should ask the same, are you insane going in out of formation. It’s this behavior that got you removed from the academy.” Starstorm scolded causing the rowdy woman to stand up again

“Fuck you, you think you’re so special because you get to stay in your pretty little school. I’m tired of you thinking you’re so much better than me!” she yelled threateningly

Leona quickly stood to Starstorms defense motioning in between the two. Gritting her teeth Wrathtail yelled “Why the hell are you taking her side? We’re the ones her kind enjoys kicking around remember?” the room got awkwardly quiet for a moment before Wrathtail blushed and sat down rubbing her head “Ugh, no, sorry, I’m just…”

“We know.” Starstorm smiled causing Leona to take her seat as well. “Look, things are getting serious out there and Captain Caspen wanted us to, er.” Starstorm drew back nervously

“You don’t know, do you?” Wrathtail perched a brow and leaned in, placing her elbows on the table

“Ok, look, I don’t” she answered bluntly “He said we’re supposed to figure that out.”

“Than we should march out there immediately and fight.” Leona announced

“Hell yeah we should!” Wrathtail slammed her arm on the table only to remember that arm was bandaged and, now, in quite a bit of pain.

Shaking her head Leona stood and moved to Wrath’s side to heal her arm, causing the other woman to purr happily “So good~” she hummed and smiled causing the large woman to blush and partially hide behind her hair, Selina secretly pouting in her corner of the table.

Once the healing was finished Wrath released her arm and began to roll it around. Content they were done Starstorm spoke “Good, now that that’s done, let’s discuss not blindly charging in.”

“Ah reckon iffen yer wantin’ mah help might as well make me a good offer.” Jessebelle spoke, sniffing loudly as she finished her sentence

Leona's face pulled back into a scowl as she looked about ready to kill the strangely dressed foreigner "People are dying and all you can think about is lining your pockets? Does being this disgusting take practice or were you born a bitch?" the others drew back as they sensed the hostility coming from Leona

"Listen here, where ah come from, taint no one else's life yer problem but yer own. Botherin tryin ta help others only gets ya killed or worse. If ya wanna spout yer self righteous crap be mah guest, but if ahm riskin mah hide ah'll at tha very least need sometin to make this worth the effort." Jesse retorted, not an ounce of sympathy, or anger, found on her face

"Fine, I'll personally pay you from the church funds after this is done. Then, kindly leave my city with your pay, goddess knows we don't need any more bandits for hire around here. " Leona spit, falling back into her chair and crossing her arms.

"Leona this isn't the time for us to be fighting, we-" Star began as Jesse interrupted

"No need fer all dat now, if ah disagreed with'er ahda said sometin'. Truth is she's raht, ain't nothin' but a selfish bitch." putting her elbows on the table and leaning, Jesse tilted her hat up "Listen, ah know from experience people lahk you, all good and what not, somewhere down tha lahn, that goodness, all da shit in this world. It gets to ya. And in the end, ya die hated by everyone you love." Jesse finished by leaning back into her chair "Atleast this way... no one can say they ain't see it comin' iffen ah turn mah back on'em" she crossed her arms and looked away.

Star coughed nervously, smiling to everyone in the room, smile fading away when she turned to Selina who had her hands on her daggers, a look of murder in her eyes. 'This is all going to hell." Star thought as she put her hand on the rogues, smiling again just hard enough to get Selina to stand down... for now. "Look, I can see there's a bit of hostility... or alot of it, but please, we have to work together, I'm begging you."

"We've been fighting since the morning Star, everythings gone to shit and I really wish I was drunk right now. Kind of hard to play nice when you're angry and derpessed at the same time." Wrath pointed out

"I know it's been a stressful couple of hours, I feel like my heads about to burst, but we need to just focus alright?" pleaded Star as she rubbed her temples quite vigorously. The group silently agreed, easing the tension in the room as Starstorm began to talk again “Alright, look, we’re losing and badly, our only chance is to maybe take out Teronidus again.” she explained only causing the girls to look on in irritation

“Look, darling, we tried killing him and it didn’t work. I would suggest trying to find more of those gates that keep letting their army into the city.” Selina suggested

Shaking her head, Wrathtail spoke “No good, the enemy is surrounding those locations too densely to even try and the only thing keeping their hordes thinned out, our most powerful spellcasters, have been silent for a while."

“Can’t tha clerics ‘andle dat?” Sprinkles spoke for the first time since Jessebelles arrival

“They’re busy with the wounded. I say we clear a path out of the church and through the city before taking on the horde without worrying about defending the citizens, there’s not much left after the first few evacuation efforts.” Leona offered

“No good, they’ve got us outnumbered ten ta one, we’d get eatin’ alive out there.” Jessebelle pointed out “But maybe iffen we reunite with some of our sectioned off forces we could prepare a counter attack.”

“It’ll never work, we’ve gotten word that they’re all surrounded and guarded.” Wrathtail mentioned, gritting her teeth in thought “But damn, having the mages support the front lines from atop the roof would be great.”

“Not just the mages, I know were more of my, er, groups men might be. I can gather them and get them in the fray.” Selina suggested only to be attacked by a condescending scoff

“You and your kind would never take to a righteous battle unless you plan to pillage the day and make off with the spoils of war unearned. You lawless mutts wouldn’t be much use anyways, you lack the capability of thought or compassion.” Leona ranted, an unforgiving scowl on her face.

Selina, hurt, turned away and began to shudder as if about to cry. The others shot Leona an angry stare. Leona, amongst the angry eyes felt her face soften as she turned away, a trembling all her own taking over.

As if a bat out of hell Daniel burst through the door panting and sweating “I’ve got news!” he shouted gasping for air

“Daniel, what are you doing here!? You were to be with the first caravan out!” Leona looked fit to burst with rage

"I know I know, but we've got reinforcements!" the group reacted with shock, moving to hear the boy better "Right now two independant groups are in the city fighting with the horde. On top of that, Westmarch has sent a huge detachment of soldiers to us via teleportation, but their magics were blocked off and they were left at our front gates."

The girls looked at each other, sharing hopeful smiles, however before they got too excited Leona spoke "Daniel, where are those other groups? Who are they?"

"The Hands of Gaia, they returned from some goblin hunting recently and have engaged the monsters." Daniel said almost hesitantly, looking to Leona pleadingly

"Damnit, those kids don't stand a chance." Leona balled her fist as she looked at Daniel "I know they're your friends but..." Daniel looked as if ready to cry as Leona spoke. The rest of the group looked to Leona.

"You really going to make the kid sit around while his friend get offed?" Wrathtail interjected, causing Leona to grit her teeth

Looking at Daniel, Leona hesitantly nodded before adding "You find them and get them here, nothing else."

"They're near the mages tower. They're dead set on freeing them." Daniel added "And so am I."

"Absolutely not, you wait for us to-" Leona stopped when Star put a hand on her shoulder

"We need them, and the kids have an amazing record. You have to trust him sometimes, right?" Star smiled weakly "Besides, you were doing just as much at his age."

Standing up defensively Leona argued "He's not me, I was twice his strength, size and skill at that age!"

Sizing the kid up, Wrath smiled and nodded at him "Kid's got it in him, he just needs your blessing."

"Eeyup, reckon he's ready ta get out from unda' mama birds wing." Jesse added

"But..." Leona deflated, a solemn look on her face

Unable to stay quiet any longer Selina muttered "If you keep protecting them, they can't grow..." when she spoke the room grew even quieter then before.

In a fit of anger Leona brought her fist through the table, shattering it to uselesness, the others unmoving as she did. Trembling Leona looked at Daniel, who only stared back with overwhelming determination. After some time she sighed "A paladin keeps her word. Go Daniel, I expect to see you back in one piece."

Nodding Daniel added 'The other group, ms Star-"

"Please no." Star muttered, reading the boys look like the answer was on a flashing neon sign

"Is Tristana's Troubadours, and they sent word they're breaking open a thieves guild safe house that's been surrounded since the attack." Finishing his report, Daniel didn't wait for a reply as he dashed out the room.

"Ugh, damnit!" Star threw her arms up "Why her!"

"Agreed." Wrathtail sighed "But, her group's technically proficient so we'll need them, now more then ever."

Standing up from her seat Leona drew her blade "Then we're cutting our way to the gates. If even one of us succeeds we have a chance, if all of us succeed... we can win."

"Damn straight we can, and once we get those men in the city, we're putting that mutt down for good, personally." Wrathtail drew her own blade, flourishing it

Silently Selina stood as well, followed by Jessebelle who spun her barrel "Reckon ah ain't fenna see hell today, reckon that's a good thang."

"Ye, we're gunna give'em 'ell t'day!" Sprinkles cheered excitedly

Stepping forward, Star looked upon her new found allies and smiled "Let's do this."

As the world around them faded into another, the mane six realized two things, One, the game room was a lot bigger then before. Wait, no, it wasn't the same room. The second thing they noticed was they weren't the only group here. Among them were three overly energetic foals known locally as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the very mare who almost got Ponyville destroyed, one Trixie Lulamoon. Prince Blueblood, a favorite to be sure, the angry and aggressive Spitfire, the angrier and more aggressive Gilda the Griffon, some stranger she's never met and, thankfully, the smiling face of her foalsitter Cadence and assistant Spike.

Confused and disoriented Twilight looked at all of the other faces surrounding her and cleared her throat "Luna,"

"Hmm?" Luna hummed

"What's happening?" Twilight asked calmly, though her twitching eye would suggest she was anything but

"Oh, well.we just got word our schedule will be lightening and we just love GMing so much we decided to run more games." Luna said as if nothing was unusual.

Before anyone could say anything more a group of voices broke the silence "Cutie Mark Crusaders Roleplayers, yay!"

“Applebloom?” Applejack yelled

“Sweetie Belle?” Rarity yelled

Silence filled the room for a minute, Rainbow Dash leaning back in the weird new chair as she casually picked her nostril before being elbowed by Pinkie “ooh, uh, shcootsh?” she asked lazily through her cotton filled muzzle

Pinkie leaned in and glared at her “Worst, surrogate sister, ever.”

“I’m also here.” Spike mentioned

“He’ll be taking over Daniel from here on out.” Luna mentioned

“Hmm, what’s taking Trixie’s friend so long to say hello?” Trixie complained and crossed her hooves.

“Oh, sorry, I’m just…” Twilight began

“Hey Twi!” A green and pink maned unicorn mare waved and smiled, her fur a light bright brown

“Who are-” Twilight sputtered

“Uh, let’s not get into it now.” she said sheepishly with a smile

“I believe introductions are in order? I'm-?” An orange and yellow maned pegasus mare spoke seriously

“Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh…” Rainbow strained to speak as she gawked at her idol

“Ugh, she’s about to go full on hero worship again” A griffon rolled her eyes in annoyance

“Gwhia? Wha…” Rainbow drew back in surprise

"Nice dental work there dweeb." Gilda taunted laughing at the mares swollen face

“Sunshine sunshine.” Cadance, the large pink alicorn, sang with a smile

“And what, I’m just chopped liver?” The vapid voice of Blueblood spoke up

“Yes.” Rarity added

“Stoooooooop!” Twilight screamed and stomped her hooves on the table “What in the absolute buck is happening!?”

“Ok, so, we wanted to run some more and this brown pony, uum, Someshed Simmers, showed up and filled us in on something interesting so we’ll have plenty of time to think of stuff and work on many campaigns. Though we could easily work with more we decided three groups would serve us best. Group one, of course, is you girls. Group two is Trixie, Gilda, Spitfire, Someshed Simmers, Cadance and token male Blueblood?”

“What Auntie?” Blueblood asked

“We wanted Big Mac but this wasn’t his thing we suppose.” Luna smiled sheepishly once more but it was clear the mane 6 weren’t happy with the explanation.

“Ok, ok, Listen, we were approached by Someshed, she told me something interesting and I realized I had more time to myself. With that time, we decided to run more campaigns. At first they were just isolated ideas, however, what could be more interesting than this! With our ability we can interweave a most epic story!” the girls began to nod and agree, smiling amongst themselves

“Ara prpesh waffer a sha.’ Rainbow sputtered incoherently

“Trixie was never welcomed by her supposed friends! Hello?” She shouted

“Ugh, can it blueberry, no one cares.” Gilda huffed

“Well that’s not very sunshiney.” Cadance muttered

“Ah will literally pay ya in any amount of blood, money, or mah soul to never say that again.” Applebloom offered with a perfectly straight face

“Ditto.” Scootaloo agreed.

“Twilight, frieeeeend!” Trixie whined, desperate for the purple mares attention “Trixie has a lot to talk to you about. Oh the adventures she’s had! Acknowledge me!” her whining growing more and more shrill

“Oh, well that sounds lovely Trixie, but it’s only been a month since I last saw you…” Twilight pointed out to a now shocked Trixie

“Erm, well… Trixies life sure is exciting after all, hehe…” Trixie faked a cough as Twilight's bright, innocent, if not a tad awkward, stare dug into her

Meanwhile, Rainbow meekly approached Gilda who she hadn’t seen in quite a while “heh grr"

"Pfft, I’m done here so if you don’t mind, I’ve got important stuff to deal with. Later losers.” she spoke curtly before taking off out one of the large windows in the room

“Psh wffer er guh cerer fre anwa!” Rainbow spit, literally, as she made several rude gestures at the departing griffon.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Cadence said tilting the rainbow maned pagasi’s head up to her “She misses you just as much, it’s just a hard transition is all.”

“Yes, she does talk alot about you.” Blueblood added “A shame, when she should be talking about the most interesting pony she knows, me!” he said with a slimy smile

“No one would want to talk about you even if you were on fire.” Rarity quipped as her muzzle turned up away from the prince

“Hehe, it’s been fun, but I really must be going.” Someshed spoke as she began to leave

“Awe, but we just met you.” Twilight spoke after her

“Oh yes, why don’t you stay, um, if you want to I mean…” Fluttershy added meekly

“Oh, I will be, erm, soon, yes. It’s complicated and I’m sorry ahead of time.” the mare smiled briefly “We’ll talk soon, sooner than you think.” she mentioned before trotting out of the room

“Who needs her when you have me, Trixie! Here to ravish you with her tales of wonder!” Trixie boasted as she levitated a scrapbook from seemingly nowhere and placed it on the table “Where shall we begin.”

“Umm…” Twilight hummed nervously, looking to her friends who each giggled and waved as they left.

“Ooh, I just love Trixies stories. Did you hear? She’s beaten an Ursa Major all by herself.” Blueblood giddily clopped his hooves together as he sat on the showmares other side.

“Great…” Twilight huffed

“Teehee, that was fun, we’ll get our Role Playing Cutie mark in no time.” Sweetie Belle squeaked excitedly

“And what are yalls gigglin’ about? Why wasn’t ah notified about this. huh?” Applejack, alongside Rarity, eyed the trio.

“Luna said not too, and she’s a princess.” Applebloom explained “Besides, Granny and Big Mac said it was ok.”

“Well. ah reckon if they said ok…” Applejack muttered

“And you young missy?” Rarity perked a brow at Sweetie Belle

“I asked mommy and daddy and they said I could.” She spoke cheerfully

“Well, alright than. And I assume Scootaloo has permission as well?” she said turning to Fluttershy

“Oh of course she does, right angel.” Fluttershy scooped the orange pegasus in her hooves and began to nuzzle her

“Ugh, mom, please stop…” she groaned struggling to be free from her grasp

“You’re just the cutest little thief, aren’t you.” Fluttershy giggled and continued to nuzzle

“Mom, I’m a ninja thank you very much, that’s why I’m cool.” Scootaloo said with a too cool for school nod

“Anyways, me and little miss fussy pants are gonna go to bed. She gets so cranky when she doesn’t have her nappy.” Fluttershy snuggled Scootaloo more as she hovered off the ground, the orange filly groaning

With a roll of her eyes Scootaloo hugged back and was flown off.

"And this is when Trixie awed all of Manehatten" Trixie spoke with majesty to a bored, but polite Twilight and engrossed Blueblood

"Oh oh, tell her how you made the bridge float!" Blueblood urged

Clopping her hooves together, Cadance giggled "Aren't Blueblood and Trixie the cutest little couple to be?"

"Oh sweet Celestia don't let them procreate." Rarity said with a terrified look on her muzzle.

"Be nice, Mr. Bluebloods not nearly as bad as you make him out to be." Sweetie pouted up at her sister

"Yeppers, they're awfulyl cute! Super duper sunshiney!" Pinkie cheered wrapping her hooves around the three.

"Ugh, Applejack let's go afore ah bash mah head on tha table." Applebloom muttered as she wandered toward the door

With a shudder of disgust Applejack muttered "Eyup." as they left together

"Rgh apdhfon dfohaj alkjhjvosdh oha oua." Rainbow went on before she flew away

"Let's go Sweetie Belle, early to bed and early to rise and all that." Rarity began, passing one more look at Trixie and Blueblood, dreading their obvious future union.

"I should get going too. Shiney's got to be bored to death waiting for me." Cadence smiled and waved as she left.

Without a word Spitfire also left, instead opting to nod straight faced at Luna before soaring off. With many words, many of which were ignored, Pinkie also made her exit, stage right apparently. Turning to Spike, Twilight teleported to him and scooped him up "Well, it's been fun, but I must get him to be before he gets cranky. Baby's and all that." she offered with an unconvincing smile, but by this point Blueblood and Trixie were to busy starring bashfully into each others gaze.

"Uh huh, that's fine Trixie's friend, take care of your son or..." Trixie's voice trailed off into a giggle as she was engrossed by Blueblood's talking

"He's not my..." Twilight and Spike looked at each other before shrugging rather uninterested in pursuing the idea further before leaving together

After that, all that was left was Trixie and Blueblood who didn't seem to notice that were alone. Not really caring, Luna simply said"Well, bye." as she left, turning the lights off on the two.

Author's Note

I'm back? I mean, I wanna be. Buy attentions span is

Stendeeng Fist Port II: Da Mist Dongerest Port [Filler]

Author's Note

So I started working on the next chapter, got stuff plotted out, but uh, this happened for the inbetween pony scenes and it just... escalated, like, real bad. Sooooo fudge, it stays. I'll get the next real chapter out shortly but I'm throwing this up as a "Filler" chapter. To explain, what happens in this is obviously not too relevant and unedited (because I'm lazy Q.Q and it's no important). It may be lightly referenced for funsies, but it's skippable. I may clean it up later though. So, anywhose I'm never sorry. Enjoy! Or don't and wait, up to you.

Stendeeng Fist Port II: Da Mist Dongerest Port [Filler]

“Ugh, what are we waiting for anyways?” Rainbow Dash groaned as her and her friends sat around the palaces throne room, each atop their own personal chair “We haven’t played in forever! And now these guys are taking forever!”

“Forever!” Pinkie Pie popped up behind Rainbow Dash, hooves flailing as she spoke the words ominously.

“Right…” Rainbow deadpanned before flitting up “Can’t they come on their own time? I mean, between your wings, and beating Tirek we’ve had no game and it’s killing me.” Rainbow complained some more.

“Good, now the readers know where we are in the timeline. Right after Tirek, and before Starlight! Great exposition Dashy!” Pinkie Pie bounced and smiled, patting Dash atop her rainbow mane “You forgot to mention we’re waiting here because our other gaming friends are coming! You know, Trixie, Cadance, Spitfire, Someshed, Gilda, the Cutiemark Crusaders and Spike! The only reason I didn’t mention Blueblood is because he lives in Canterlot and doesn’t need a train!”

Everypony stopped to only briefly glance at Pinkie, Rarity yawning as Twilight mustered a fake “Oh.” of surprise, almost as if the group had collectively waved off their friends antics as the usual. Legitimate enthusiasm sparkled in Twilights eye as a light rapping came to her door from below. With a flash she appeared down to the main hall in front of the door before opening it up to see Trixie and Cadance walking side by side, the Alicorn smiling and giggling as Trixie continued with a tale of greatness she surely fabricated. As the door finished parting Trixie ended her sentence and turned to Twilight, rushing past the pink mare and squeezing poor Twilight half to death “Trixies friend!” she yelled gleefully

“Y-yes Trixie, it’s me…” Twilight groaned from the lung crushing pain she was in

“Oh Trixie is so happy to see you…” she spoke aloud, tilting her head to the side to mutter “And absolutely jealous of those wings…” she grumbled

“I can…” Twilight stared just as she looked to cadance who shook her head “Um, why don’t you go on up and see the others?”

“Trixie’s other friends!” the showmare shouted “Good good, servants take Trixies things and show her the way.” she spoke out into nowhere, nose up and chest out. Moments passed before she opened her eyes to see only Twilight and the princess she’d arrived with “Umm…”

“Oh, right. Um, I don’t… have any, erm, servants…” Twilight smiled at Trixie who only blinked in confusion.

Confused and annoyed she hoofturned to the princess of love at her back “Trixie’s other princess friend, why does Trixies first princess friend not have any servants!” she yelled annoyed “Trixie’s friend needs servants, Trixie demands to speak to Trixie’s friends manager.”

Brow raised Cadance shook her head “Aren’t I technically your first princess friend since I was a princess first? Also, we don’t have a manager, Twilight just didn’t feel comfortable living in a building full of ponies dedicated to her protection and every whim.” she answered quite bluntly

Gasping Trixie grabbed Twilight and put their heads together “Is Trixie’s friend sick? Quick, Trixie will make Trixie’s mom’s soup to heal her of her ailment!” she yelled, horn flashing as the two disappeared

“Huh, so she can teleport now. Neat, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know where the kitchen is…”

Now on the castle roof, Trixie swayed in a sickly fashion before falling stomach first “Urp, Trixie feels… dizzy.” she muttered shortly before leaning of the edge and losing this mornings haycakes

Light in her eyes Twilight picked the mare in her magic and pulled her over “That was… was… INCREDIBLE!” she shouted as Trixie blearily blinked at the ecstatic alicorn “You’ve really improved, oh I’m so proud of you!” she shouted more and she spun around with Trixie still grasped by the magenta aura of the young princess

“Urp, ugh, please put Trixie down, she wants to keep some of her breakfast before we go to the game…” stopping as she heard this Twilight released Trixie who hit the ceiling with a thump

“Sorry.” she smiled sheepishly “I was just… amazed. I’ve never seen you use magic that strong, not on your own.”

“Oh…” Trixite groaned a little more before standing “That is nothing, Trixie has performed, urp, dozens of great feats.” stumbling about she pointed her horn to a cloud “Watch as she, ugh, doubles that cloud!”

“Um, maybe you shouldn’t…” but before Twilight could finish the unicorn had begun her spell, wrapping the cloud in her aura as it’s form began to split. But instead of becoming two smaller forms the cloud had a perfectly identical copy of it at it’s side.

Completely drained Trixie said “See, this is the result of Trixies… result… of her…” she faded as she went plummeting to the ground, being quickly saved by Twilight's magic

“Probably shouldn’t do such complicated magic so much…” Twilight smiled at her friend before looking up at the clouds “Huh, she can duplicate a cloud… that’s… incredible.” she hummed briefly before looking down then back up “She has got to teach me how she did it! To think all along Trixie was so talented, the research, the study, to pull this off…” she stopped short as she heard another knocking downstairs.

With another flash of light Twilight was now besides Cadance who was on her stomach engraving a small heart with a C and S in the center flanked by smiling flowers, tongue sticking out in concentration as she focused . Passing Trixie over to her ex-babysitter Twilight spoke “She, uh, tired herself out. Why don’t you take her up and I’ll get the door.” Twilight paused than noticed the carving “What is-”

“Yo, dog, I am tagging this bitch. Crystal Side.” Cadence playfully interrupted before she placed Trixie on her back and skipped away.

Twilight smirked, shaking her at the elder ponies antics as she opened the door “Ugh, finally.” Gildra complained “Ew, barf, this place is so ugly. It’s like a rainbow farted in here.” she rudely pushed past Twilight, who briefly contemplated how Gilda would adjust to life as a large orange, before turning to the the other guests, both with a fiery head of hair and only one Twilight was surprised to see.

Spitfire, the first to speak, walked in with an annoyed look on her face “One minute, 13 seconds. I expected better time from you. Perhaps Celestia was right about that private training she recommended.” Spitfire perched a brow at the now sweating Twilight

“Oh, well, uh, would you look at that, a surprise guest. Sunset… what are you doing in Ponyville?” Twilight was quick to changed the subject

“I was informed Twilight was quite intelligent.” Spitfire muttered to Sunset

“Must be a wisdom check.” Sunset joked prompting a rare giggle from Spitfire who continued in

“Wisdom check? Hmmm…” Twilight was deep in thought for a moment, surely processing some complex algebraic formula in her head… or offering the gerbil lunch. “You’re Someshed, wait, huh?!”

“During my plans to overthrow Celestia I tinkered with the time travelling spell Starswirl made. I’ve only gotten as far as sending pre-generated illusions. Who you sat with was a pre-recorded message to Luna who was running my character. My future self sent me an image that I would be joining so she sent you an image to prepare our… you know. Magic, can I come in?” Sunset summarized the somewhat sily sentence as she walked passed the dumbfounded Twilight

Before she could finish closing the door in strode an angry Spike with the tails of three fillies encased in industrial glue in his claw “Sorry I’m late, I was promised gems. Turns out, the girls just wanted to get their cutie marks in ANNOYING ME!” he shouted and turned as the fillies wiggled what hooves they had exposed in a wave “By the way, Filthy Riches house was one fire before I got there, and before you ask, yes, Mayor Mare is also in there, no she will not be joining us, yes she’s already agreed that, again, I had nothing to do with Filthy’s burning house.” the pouty dragon ended as he marched on past

“You can just walk away Twilight, no one can stop you.” Twilight mused before a loud ‘Do and your dead.’ echoed from Canterlot's direction, a mix of the Royal Sisters voice being the assumed reason “That’s why everypony thinks you two eat too much cake…” Twilight muttered as she closed the doors and turned just as a scroll comes flying in, hitting her face

“For you.” Spike said curtly before returning to the main room

Opening it the letter merely read “Tonight, you.” in Luna’s handwriting.

“Awesome.” Twilight muttered before heading up for the rest of her friends.

If one assumed a train ride composed of the 15 most insane individuals in Equestria would result in chaos, they were right. Between the groups attempts at freeing the trapped crusaders, Cadences insistence on talking ‘street’, Gilda’s unbridled anger and Trixies unbridled ego, the 5000 word song Pinkie wrote, the 101 apple fact Applejack was dared into sharing, Rainbows unbridled ego trying to eat Trixies unbridled ego in a display Twilight was sure she shouldn’t let the fillies look upon, Spikes sudden urges to burn everything that annoys him and the twelve headed swamp thing that decided to attack the train they were passing on, the group had had enough. By the time they’d left a monster sized crater with a giant crystal sign made by Cadence that said ‘Buck wit’ me and mah boyz an ya get domed, dis is pony territory., the entire train had basically abandoned their car and resigned to packing those safe from the than burning, freezing, electrocuted madness that was where the soon to be gamers had taken their seats.

“And stay out!” the Train conductor yelled as he physically tossed the group on their rears, any respect for the two princesses D.O.A.

“You can’t disrespect Trixie’s friends this way!” she yelled as she readied a spell aimed at the now moving train as Twilight stopped her

“You did turn his co-conductor into a plate of spaghetti.” Twilight reminded

“Trixie was aiming for the blue one.” the showmare argued

“I thought you were aiming for Gilda.” Rainbow muttered

“I was hoping she was aiming for me.” Gilda complained

“There you go, all clean.” Fluttershy said as she snuggled with Scootaloo. Just as she had finished the two found themselves quite conjoined at the hip

“You know, let’s just give up and try again tomorrow.” Scootaloo suggested

“Hey, is it me or does anyone smell meatballs.” Gilda asked sniffing into the air

“No clue what a meatball smells like, but I smell food.” Pinkie replied with a rumble of her stomach

“Trixie was unaware that Pastafarian magic was so potent.” she said as she watched the train leave on meatball wheels.

“I also smell bacon.” Sunset said from the back just before Gilda pulled a strand of her hair out and ate it

“Hah!” Gilda laughed as she continued eating the bacon-hair, Sunset in a panic as she ran back and forth

“Oh no, she’s eating her. And than she’s going to eat us, oh my Celestiaaaaaa!” Pinkie screamed, hoof pointed at the griffon

“So I’m to assume that since her hair is bacon, that the feeling of burning on my head is a hilarious visual pun in which I’m actually on fire.” Spitfire asked, the group nodding in unison, a look of worry on their features “Dash, fetch me a rain cloud and a medic.”

Rainbow saluted and dashed away as Trixie strode up “Oh, are you hurt?” she asked

“No, the medic is for you.” Spitfire replied calmly before leaping at the unicorn, hooves wrapped around her neck.

“And lastly, did you know the crabapple is the only apple native to Equestria!” Applejack finished with a big smile on her face, a look of genuine pride gleaming in her eyes

“Sis, that’s fascinating. Also me and Sweetie Belle are trapped in a Giant Crabs mouth.” Bloom deadpanned as Sweetie screamed her lungs out

“Away from my sister you fiend!” Rairty yelled and pounced the vile crustacean.

“Twilight, say the word and I can burn them all.” Spike offered, a cruel glint in his eyes as he stared into the group as if looking into their souls.

Before Twilight could reply Cadence brushed herself off and spoke “I don’t see what the complaints are for, nothing happened to me.” and as she did everypony stopped in place, a piece of bacon hair falling from Gilda’s beak, Spitfires hair still smoldering as she gripped onto a now purple faced Trixie, Dash over top the two with a cloud and doctor in both legs, Sunset in mid run and Pinkie in mid terrified scream, even the crab had stopped in surprise as he too stared at the alicorn whose head was now upside down, and whose face was still right side up in a horrible twisted display.

“This is too much, I’ll show myself out.” the crab spoke as he spit out the fillies and scuttled away.

“What?” Cadance asked as they all stared in abject horror

And from afar Luna and Celestia looked upon the madness, Discord behind them with an ice cream cone in paw “We have no one to blame but ourselves. And by ourselves I mean you Luna.” Celestia spoke

“We instantly regret all of our life choices.” Luna replied

“You know what, I wasn’t even really scheduled for this chapter, I think I’ll just… not.” Discord said with a snap of his fingers, opening a giant ‘Nope!’ like a door and leaving

“And as an act of parliament, I, Celestia and the other princesses of Equestria of sound body and mind, ban all uses of Pastafarian magic on public transportation. Furthermore, we have deemed that “Shut up it’s my power to abuse.” is not a valid excuse for any of the following. "Burning half of Canterlot,” Spike crossed his claws “Charming half of Equestria with love magic to, quote ‘get home boyz to hooflix and chill.’” Cadence crossed her hooves “Bringing an Ursa Minor in to lure an Ursa Major to prove your strength, using the Wonderbolts as an elite strike force because ‘They’re all idiots.’, using dark magic to make everything beautiful in an ugly situation and also because Blueblood sucks… okay maybe I agree with the last point,” Celestia sighed as she continued down the scroll of crimes recently committed “Use you and your friends super filly cuteness to overthrow the current power structure in an attempt to gain your cutie marks for ‘World Domination’, use the power of spontaneous song and dance to confuse the populace into waging war on the Yaks,”

“They know what they did!” Pinkie remarked from the crowd

Celestia shot a death glare at Pinkie who sat down a harumphed “Ugh, bring forth Applegeddon, summon the Bunnyacolypse, unleash Rainborak, convince the griffon government that we stole a precious artifact, Teleport Canterlot into the ocean, and dropping a celestial body onto the planet… or both of them. Me and Luna apologize for that last one.”

"We apologize for nothing." Luna muttered

“And.” Sunset Shimmer glared up at her former teach

Celestia rolled her eyes “And anyone who so much as mentions that Sunsets hair looks like bacon must serve seven days dungeon.”

From their spot on the stands Luna’s gaming group looked on confused, Luna saying “We will arrange different transport methods.”

The group nodded in agreement as Celestia finished addressing the agitated populace. Just as things were winding down Trixie, with a book labeled Pastafarian Spells and Tricks, said “Oooh, THIS is how the spell goes!” as her horn began to light

In a panic the group turned to her ‘Trixie n-”

Standing Fast Part 2: Old Wounds

Author's Note

Whooo. I worked long and hard on writing, and editing this one so here's hoping. And, to any long time readers URGENT READ URGENT READ If you've been following for a while, you must know Standing Fast Part I has undergone significant change as the story is completely different from what you might have read last time. Please go back and read it to ensure you're up to date and not getting super confused! For more info, there's a change log available on the fics main page so please read that to know what's up! Anyways enjoy, leave any comments down below and please let me know what ya think! Til next time.

Standing Fast Part 2: Old Wounds

The group, in the ruins of canterlot castle surrounded by construction work, stared at the soft blue showmare who only hung her head in shame. They had to cancel last month's game after what the press was calling The 3rd, and then 4th great war respectively and it was all Trixies fault. Lifting her head Trixie spoke softly “Ok, so Trixie may be in part to blame,” the glares intensified “Mostly to-” the unicorns, and alicorns horns began to glow “Ninety-” Trixie could swear Pinkie Pie and Rarity each pulled out weapons. After careful consideration Trixie softly muttered “Trixie is sorry.”

“Well, after you caused the destruction of… everything, we think thou shouldst be sorry.” Luna pouted

“We all may have had a hoof in the… incidents.” Twilight admittedly sheepishly

“Not me.” Sunset shimmer said, hooves kicked up in a relaxed position.

“Wouldn’t be so bad if somepony hadn’t destroyed the castle.” Luna stared dead at Fluttershy who ducked behind the table

“I just don’t know what got over me, there was just brimstone and hellfire, I just felt so… in control.” Fluttershy admitted

“You’re lucky my sister likeths thou so much…” Luna muttered and sighed “Look, let us forget about last month and begin the-” she stopped to stare at Trixie, the group following suite, as the showmare furrowed a brow down at a book labeled ‘Pastafarian Advanced Conjurations.’. Within moments a chair, encased in Luna’s magic, flew into Trixie, knocking her into the wall unconscious as half the group rushed to the book and began stomping on it, hitting it with a bat, and even crying at times.

“Don’t blame the book, sweet Celestia don’t blame the book!” Twilight cried as the book was turned to shreds, not even a scrap allowed to survive with any form of readability.

Dealt with, the group returned to their seats, Twilight weeping over the senseless violence against the written word as the elder princess proclaimed “We are beginning now.” an angry flash of light overtaking the group

“I see…” upon exiting the small meeting room the group called to meet with Caspen who, after having received the same news they had, was preparing a group to go retake the city gates. While selecting men for his mission he was approached by the girls who had expressed their desire to be the ones to make the attack. Caspen, fingers rubbing his chin in thought, sighed and looked back at them “Considering how you managed taking back the church I’m honestly considering it, but…”

Taken aback by his sudden back peddling Wrath retorted angrily “But what?”

“But,” he began “Your group, if we’re really so inclined to call it that, have exactly one accomplishment under yours belts and we can’t deny the possibility of you just being lucky.”

“That’s bull!” Wrath took an aggressive stance towards the man, teeth bared as she growled not unlike a dog

“Yalls can chalk it up ta luck fer these folk, but ah ain’t never been lucky in mah lahf.” Jessebelle replied from behind the group

“Hmm, remind me to invite you out for cards.” Caspen half joked, earning a small grin from the woman “Look, I know I can’t dissuade you, and honestly, I’m inclined to keep my best men here to ensure we maintain our position. So instead of tell you no and have you leave anyways, I’ll make sure you’re prepared.” Caspen turned to one of his men and shouted an order for them to fetch something. A few moments passed as the man returned with a large box “These are some rare items we’ve recovered from the castle proper before coming here, spread them amongst yourselves and get going.”

“Hell yeah,” Wrathtail knelt before the box, unsheathing her blade and using it to crack the crate open “Oh baby, what do we have here.” She spoke excitedly as she pulled out a long flowing golden cloak.

“I’ll take a look.” Starstorm offered, receiving the cloak from Wrath before going over it “It seems to protect the wearer somehow, I believe it will protect one from harmful effects.” Next Star was handed a rather heavy dagger “It’s magically infused to provide superior balance and cutting power.” Taking to Wraths side she pulled something out on her own “These boots infuse the wearer with superior speed and this ring acts as a sort of barrier from attacks.”

“Woah, hey this wand has healing magic in it.” Wrath shook the stick for a moment before scoffing “Meh, can’t use it. Sprinkles you might be able to.” She handed the wand to the bard who waved it about as it began to glow with some magic.

“I’ll take-” Selina begun before Leona interrupted

“The ring.” She muttered, averting her gaze when the group looked at her “We might need her to disarm traps or enter sealed locations, if she’s dead we’d have no way in.” she answered with a light tinge of red on her face

Blushing herself, Selina looked at the ground “I was thinking the dagger, I don’t foresee anyone else being as proficient with it is all, and it’s only fair if we each, um....”

Rolling her eyes, Jesse reached into the box and pulled out a very plain white shirt “Uh, explain?”

Taking the garb Star hummed “It seems it grants the wearer a burst of speed, probably only once. Could be used to move into position or something of the sort.”

“Hey Star,” Wrath caught the mage's attention, tossing Star a small pearl causing the woman's eyes to light up “That’ll restore some essence if you find yourself out.”

“Excellent, and I take it you want the boots?” Start offered as Wrath took the boots and was already slipping her feet in them

“This shirt works fer me.” Jesse muttered as she threw off her duster and began pulling off her clothes

With a devious grin Wrath kicked herself up next to the undressing foreigner “Aw yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”

Blushing, Leona covered her eyes and turned away causing Selina to pout childishly “You could have changed elsewhere.”

Throwing the shirt to the ground revealed that beneath it was another made of interlocked chains followed by another, smaller shirt beneath it “Yalls really thought ah had nothin’ on under there?”

Grunting in disappointment Wrath sat on the box, balling the cloak up and tossing it to Sprinkles “You take that and we can let Leo take the ring.”

Daring to peek through her fingers Leona looked at the magus as she held the ring out to her “No thank you, someone else should use it.”

“Com’on girleh, we each go’ one.” Sprinkles said as she affixed the cloak to herself, twirling briefly as it fluttered behind her.

“I’m fine, it won’t serve me much use, my faith protects me.” She stated as Jesse snatched the ring up

“Iffen she ain’t wantin’ it-” Jesse began

Snatching the ring back, Wrath growled “If anyone gets it it’ll be Star.”

“Me, but I’m not that helpful anyways, besides, if I hide behind you guys it won’t be of much use.” She said to dissuade the group

Extending her hand out behind the rogue, Leona pushed Selina towards Wrath before walking off without a word. “Hmm… uh…” Selina offered awkwardly

“Technically her ring, if she wants you to have it than it’s yours.” Wrath put the ring in Selina's hand who took it with a sigh before slipping it on “Looks like we’re good here.”

“Not yet,” Star opened her pouch and presented Wrath and Sprinkles with a few rolled up parchments“These are some scrolls I’ve been sitting on for a long time, take’em.”

“Hey thanks,” Wrath took a pair of the scrolls as Sprinkles did the same “When did you get time to go get’em?”

“Oh, um, I may have, uh, had them the entire time?”Star smiled nervously, her voice rising in pitch as she spoke as the other women deadpanned at her “I’m sorry.”

“Here,” a man dressed in military armor approached the women and handed them each a backpack and canteen “There’s a pouch with 3 vials of healin’ sauce fer each of ya.” The man said before quickly being off

“Nice!” Wrath hissed as she threw the backpack on, suppressing a chuckle as Star attempted much the same before tipping over followed by breathing as if running a track race.

Picking up the bag, Leona threw it and her own on, snatching Selina’s just as she’d reached for it before effortlessly adding it to her load, causing Selina to again pout “Let’s go.” Leona said moving for the door.

Elbowing Selina, Wrath smiled brightly at her “Let’s get to it.” Before following Leona out.

Outside of the church, the girls crouched in a circle staring into a map “Alright, so from here to the gates would normally be a straight shot just by following the main road, however that’s obviously impossible. However, if my guess is correct the Hands of Gaia are approximately here from our last report and, uh, Tristana’s group is here. Caspen will use his men to create a diversion here at the church by moving his men forward, in doing so, combined with the other groups movements, this creates an opening just large enough for us to move through relatively safely.” Star marked their movements on the maps with an invisible pen.

“This actually leads us through, or at least by several guild bases and safehouses. We’ve employed a few spell casters to keep them safe and sealed save for to us who have a passphrase for each. I know them well and, if you’d like, can lead us through each safely as they have connecting tunnels underneath we can use to avoid conflict.” Selina offered, using a very much visible pen to mark the locations

“In addition,” Leona took the pen from Selina “I’ve kept up with other movements and I hear a group of various people are pinned here in the old barracks. There are people fighting but not many. We should free them and have them take our opening to return here and help as they can.”

“Seems lahk a waste of tahm.” Jesse spit at the ground

“Tough, I second Leona’s plan.” Wrath insisted, pointing a thumb at herself to emphasize the point

“Agreed, and it’s also near my house, I have even more scrolls scattered about and my familiar inside.” Star marked her house's location

“Your house is on the main road, it might not be worth hitting.” Wrath pointed out

“We’ll see as we progress.” Leona looked up at the others “We ready to do this?” The group nodded “Then let’s give the captain the signal.”

Standing to her full height, Leona flashed the captain a few hand gestures prompting him to nod at her “Five minutes, get ready to run.” The six took up a position due south of the church, their heartbeats and breaths slowing to mere crawls as they let time pass over them. Wordlessly, they each locked onto the various hounds and soldiers scattered about their path, watching their movements with intense focus. Eventually, a loud horn burst through the air, the men that were engaging the beasts repositioning as the men at the front of the church ran forth with bloody screams. Taking notice of this the shadowy creatures yipped and hissed and began running toward the center of attention leaving the path clear “Go!” Leona commanded as they all began sprinting full force.

The girls ran as far as their legs would take them, their heavy footsteps passing right by several groups of the hounds and various, new creatures that littered the streets, the rushing of movement blinding them to the horribly mangled corpses and splatters of blood all about as they focused on their first agreed upon stop. With her new boots, Wrath easily outpaced them all, blade brandished as she dragged it across the sides of several of the straggling beasts while Jesse cracked several shots at others that were beginning to poke from the sides of houses and outdoors, even pointing back to kill a few that were chasing them. “Break left.” Selina ordered as she dropped a small handful of smoke bombs at their back before tossing a rock at a trash bin in the opposite direction, diverting the enemy's attentions. “There, the wore out one with the old banner in front of it.” Selina pointed out.

Running, the girls were halted as a large pack who overheard them slid into view from an alley way, forcing them to turn away from the building. Continuing their spirit they began to takenotice as more rolling, writhing shadow began to form around them, almost as if the creatures were birthed from nothing. Distracted by this, Star was unable to notice the pouncing beast leap from behind a trash bin, it’s fangs digging deep into her shoulder as it knocked her down. Noticing this, Jesse turned to shoot the beast only to be met by clicking “Damnit.” She cursed, about ready to stop and engage the thing with a knife. Fortunately, from behind Leona planted a kick that echoed out with a dreadful pop as the creature's spine burst in its body before it disappeared. Picking Star up and pushing her forward, Leona moved to continue just as one of the beasts latched onto her leg, followed by another and another until they brought her down onto her back.

Star turned to help right before she locked eyes with Leona who shouted “Go!” As more of the beasts began to pile on top of her, digging their fangs into her armor, causing small splashes of blood to hit the ground beneath her. Fully loaded, Jesse began to shoot the hounds off of Leona’s back as she struggled to push them away. Turning fully, Selina, with both blades drawn, had began to cut through the creatures, a vicious sense of focus in her eyes as she pierced one's head, than with body twirling one pounced at her, missing completely and instead finding itself cut in twain. With a bloody roar Leona was able to force the beasts off her back, their bodies exploding off of hers as she rose to a stand, the rush of adrenaline sending her into a fury as she turned and began to lay fist after fist into the approaching monsters, one being knocked back with such force that it hit another with enough momentum to shatter both of their spines. Taking to Leona’s side, Selina had both of her blades in hand, however she was picked up and swiftly tossed away from the encroaching enemy. Running in front of the rampaging woman both Sprinkles and Star weaved a spell each, from Star a burst of radiant colors that caused many to fall over as if paralyzed and from Sprinkles a wave of magic that made several wobble tiredly before falling over asleep

Safe to proceed, Leona Star and Sprinkles returned to a full sprint forward. Just as the others began again, Wrath turned back to notice her friends were gone, eye twitching as she realized she’d ditched them. “Damnit!” She yelled angrily, causing a few more hounds to lurk from the darkness. Deflating, she readied her weapon, cleaving through the first two effortlessly before scorching the last three with a powerful wave of flame that burst from her hand. As those were dispatched she noticed the others catching up behind her “Let’s go!” She yelled and began to run ahead again. A few more moments of running, the girls finally looped back around and were approaching the building.

Sliding to a halt in front of the door, Wrath’s head darted back and forth as she leapt to slash another approaching beast as it crept up from the shadows. “Come on, get in.” Wrath spoke as Selina effortlessly flipped over the small railing the stood at the side of the stairs leading up to the door before muttering some short incoherent phrase before pushing the door open, holding it for the others to enter with Jessebelle the last to move in as she loosed a few more shots into the enemy. Door shut behind them, they soon heard the scratching of the hounds at the door as they yipped and growled for entry but were completely blocked.

On the ground huffing as if moments from death, Star struggled to as much as stand “I *gasp* no *gasp* move *gasp* again *gasp*.”

Huffing herself Wrath lazily kicked the downed mage “This *huff* is why *huff* we exercise.”

Hobbling on her leg, Leona began to walk further in. Alerted by Leona’s movement, Selina yelped “No!” As she tackled the woman to the ground as a poison tipped arrow sailed overhead. “Thieves base, remember!” She yelled, staring at the woman before realizing she was straddling Leona, a furious blush creeping on her.

“Get off.” Leona muttered meekly much to Selina's surprise as she quickly came to her feet.

“Oi, yer leg’s all inna tizzeh, lemme and ol’ ‘appy sitck ‘ave at ya.” Sprinkles offered, moving to Leona and applying the magic from her wand to Leona.

Ready to protest, Leona was halted by Star “Let her, you should save your power while you can, it’s more effective in combat anyways.” Realizing what she meant Leona nodded acceptingly and let the bard get to work.

“You know, um, I’m going to, uh, get to work on disabling those traps.” Selina spoke far too eager to get away as she moved further in.

Finally settling down, the group was able to look on into the room which seemed completely untouched. Over on one side was a table and several chairs with a a set of playing cards on top. To the other side was a large couch that looked very soft right now to their weary eyes. Beyond that there was a door leading into another room and a set of stairs leading up.

“All betteh.” Sprinkles announced as she moved to treat Star’s bleeding shoulder.

“Wooh, ah ain’t run lahk that since…” Jesse looked at the bard who smiled and shrugged much to the group's confusion

“I suppose you know each other, she gave me a similar workout this morning.” Leona spoke as she began to walk about.

“We should wait until Selina gives us the ok to move.” Star mentioned to Leona who ignored it and instead began to look around the room.

Leona started at the table before lifting up the cards to notice a few too many aces in the set “Of course.” She muttered

Plopping down on the couch, Wrath sank in with a loud yell before announcing “We made it!”

“Onleh so far, we’ve go’ alot more ta go.” Sprinkles reminded

Coming from up the stairs, Selina returned “All clear.” She said, taking a seat at the table

“Shouldn’t we get going?” Leona asked, only to receive a groan from the room

“Come on Leo!” Wrath complained “This is the most comfortable I’ve been all day.”

“We just started.” Leona stated “We can rest when we’ve saved the city.”

“She’s right, we should move on.” Star agreed, despite her own burning ribs

“Follow me.” Selina said, leading them into the next room over, seemingly just a very simple bedroom. “Leona, could you move that bed?” Without a word Leona picked the bed up and tossed it away “Leo!”

“Oops.” Leona feigned as she knelt to the now revealed trapdoor, hand stopped when a dagger struck beside it

“Traps, Leo.” Selina spoke before leaning down and fiddling with the door. After a short moment she pulled it up and slid down into the darkness below “Oh it’s awfully dark, Star do you have a light?” Casting a bit of magic Star dropped a glowing stone that landed with a thump “Ow, Star the hell?” She yelled up as she was seen holding her head

“Sorry!” Star apologized to a huffing Selina.

Picking up the stone Selina continued forward “Follow behind, I know where the traps are so if you don-”

Eyes narrowing to pinpricks, Jesse caught a feint movement heading for Selina“Selina move!” She yelled down as Selina turned just as a pitch black sword pierced her chest causing her eyes to go dull as she fell down onto the ground lifelessly

Before anyone else could react, Leona leapt down with an animalistic roar, running to Selina’s side “Damnit Leona, stop!” Wrath yelled as the shadowy blade appeared again and slashed Leona across the chest, causing her to stumble back as blood trickled down her armor.

Pointing down, Jesse began to shoot at the shadow whose movements she barely followed behind the veil of darkness. Leaping to the bottom, Wrath took to Leona’s side followed by Sprinkles who began to heal Selina’s wounds. Again from the darkness the blade struck again, this time bouncing off Leona’s armor, a bright spark revealing the shadowy creatures form more completely as it resembled a person in a hood and mask dipped in moving shadow, “Listen, it seems to be striking and moving back, if we-” Wrath began only to notice the large woman was in a wide eyed rage twitching violently with any semblance of rationality lost as she roared again before running into the darkness.

“Fuck!” Wrath cursed, turning to Star looking for advice

“We… we should get Selina up if we can and follow with a plan.” Star spoke hesitantly, knowing it to be the smart answer if not the preferred one.

Jumping down, Jesse and Star joined the others with Selina gasping back to consciousness after a few moments under Sprinkles care “Yer alright girleh, jus’ breath.”

“Yalls got blind sided.” Jesse added

“Whatever that thing was, it was projecting an area of darkness that was swallowing up my light spell.” She began to chew her nails

“Do you have magic missile?” Wrath joked with a shrug

“Haha,” Star scoffed and began chewing more

Noticing Leona was nowhere to be found Selina muttered “She ran in didn’t she?”no one answered her, there was no point

Running on pure instinct, Leona followed the creature in for close to a minute, pausing when it’s own running seemed to halt. Blind and shaking with raw emotion, Leona’s head darted at every sound it could until she felt something scrape against her armor. Reflexively she swung at it but only felt the cave wall chip beneath her fist. Again another scrape as she swung wildly at it, connecting with nothing. This time, Leona focused on the direction of the attacker and just as she felt a new scrape she swung her leg feeling something as the sound of tumbling was heard before her. Certain the enemy to be somewhere in front of her Leona began to wildly punch at the ground the echoes of her gauntlets against the stone ringing out until she felt the satisfaction of her fist strike onto something fleshy, a pained screech released from it’s body. Hearing the sound of moving away from her Leona charged forward, swinging wide as she felt another direct hit as whatever it was crashed into the wall. Last hearing it against the side of her, Leona entered another flurry of punches into the wall but failing to connect with anything. Her pummeling of the stone lasting a few moments until she felt a terrible pain as a blade entered her kidney and pulled away in a single movement.

Vision blurring with pain, Leona filled her palm with magic before touching herself as the energies began to rapidly seal her own wounds followed by her pulling out one of her potions and chugging that as well, throwing it in the enemy's general directions when she was finished with it. Now in utter silence again Leona waited and this time when the blade struck her armor she reached out with both arms, body draping over the unseen form. The thing in her grip stabbed at her again and again, the weapon scraping against her armor uselessly as she dragged it to the ground, straddling it as she felt it up until her hands found it’s throat, or what she assumed was a throat, squeezing and squeezing all while howling angrily until finally she felt it disappear in her grip.

Leona remained for only a short while longer, gasping for breath as each intake scraped against her sore throat. Suddenly her trembling returned, breath growing in pace as tears stung her eyes. With more screams she began to strike the the ground again and again, the grinding of the stone against her gauntlets sending ripples of pain through her fingers. During her blind assault she began to shout words from her native tongue into the air.

Coming from around the corner, the light of Stars magic revealed the rampaging brute as she screamed violently. “Leo?” Star attempted to get her attention, though that didn’t stop Leona who continued as if possessed

“Erm, someone should…” Wrath muttered anxiously

“Ah sure as hell ain’t gettin’ near her like dat.” Jesse refused, keeping a safe distance from the rampaging brute

“Any idea what she’s saying?” Star turned to the others, all of which shrugged save for Selina who began to approach.

‘Don’t touch her. Never touch her.’ Selina repeated Leona’s words in her head as she slowly inched her hand to Leona’s shoulders ‘I’ll kill you, I’ll kill everything.’ She finished mentally as her hand landed upon her childhood friend, the other woman turning and swinging at Selina who leaned back away from the attack. Realizing what she was looking at, Leona’s expression softened to a hollow stare. Reaching her hand to touch Leona’s face Selina began to whisper “It’s ok, I-”

Leona knocked her hand away “Leave.” She ordered

“The hell?” Wrath growled “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Leona turned, clearly not wanting to look at the others, or have them look at her “She’ll just get in the way.” She answered

“Leona calm down, it was one-” Star began but Leona had a reply ready

“Twice.” She said “This is twice. We don’t have time or resources to waste on her anymore.” Leona spoke coldly

Enraged, Wrath approached shouting “The hell gives you the ri-” as she spoke Leona’s head whipped toward Wrath, her glare alone sending a chill of fright through Wrath who stepped back, sensing intent to kill in Leona’s eyes.

“Yalls need to get yer head outta yer ass, yalls got about as much say on the matter as ah do.” Jesse added with her back against the cave wall.

“Do yourself a favor and shut up.” Threatened the now trembling titan

“Make me.” Jesse replied, a known mistake as Leona rose, eyes glossing over into a manic glare as she approached. Realizing Leona was serious, Jesse began to reach for her gun, hand pinned to the wall by an expertly placed dagger from Selina whose own frigid stare spoke volumes “Tch, as long as ah get paid.” She muttered causing Leona to back off.

Moving to Jessebelle, Sprinkles pulled the dagger out “Let meh ge’ that.” She spoke weakly, she herself shaking nervously.

Drawing her sword, Wrath readied herself, aimed at Leona who turned and stared back “Maybe you should leave, you’re just a fuckin’ bully like everyone else.”

Lifting her fists, Leona looked intent to fight Wrath who would have continued had Selina not drawn her blades as well and stared at Wrath with equal violent intent. “Enough!” Star screeched with enough force to send a deafening wave over everyone as they gripped their ears in sudden pain. Panting, Star looked over the others as they stood hunched over stunned “You need to stop this right now, this isn’t helping anyone, you’re not helping anyone,” she pointed and Leona “Can’t you see she doesn’t want you protecting her all the time?” Star raved

The cavern went quiet for a moment as Leona and Selina just looked at each other sadly. The silence could only last so long until Leona grit her teeth and began walking away “Like I care.” She said heading further in “She doesn’t mean anything to me anyways, just another thief.”

Shaking, Selina yelled back “That’s fine why would anyone care about a monster like you anways!” Before running back towards the hideout.

Scoffing Jesse began to stretch “Whateva, at least we can get sometin’ done now.” She spoke before walking in Leona’s direction.

“Screw you!” Yelled Wrathtail as she began running after Selina

Biting her nails until her thumb nail chipped, Star ran in front of Jesse “Wait here, I’ll go talk to Leo.” before running off as well

Rolling her eyes Jesse put her back against the wall again “What a waste’a tahm.” She muttered

Sprinkles and Jessebelle stood in the cavern completely unmoving and silent, nothing but the dull shine of magic keeping them company. However, as Jesse began to slip into a soft nap she heard something speak, but not in words she understood. Reflexively drawing her gun she looked for the source of the words until she turned to Sprinkles, or she would have if she were still there “Ah… huh?” Jesse muttered, looking around to see only blackness. Confused, she looked down at herself and was able to see her own body in full view despite the deep, endless black.

Not risking movement, Jesse focused her hearing, trying to find the source of the words from before until a chuckle echoed out from behind her “Lookin’ fer somethin’?” It asked in a terrible, familiar voice that made Jesse’s confidence shatter in her chest, eyes laced with terror “Why tha long face, ah reckoned you’d be excited ta hear yer ol’ man again.” It taunted as a single white pulse formed in the blackness that moved as fire and beat like a heart. Soon around the single spark formed a thing of shadows outlined only by its constant movement, it’s shape like that of a full grown man in boots, a duster and a large western hat with only a single eye glowing from it’s grinning face “Howdy.” It spoke in a deep, raspy voice as if it came from the throat of the dead

Despite the terrible thumping in her chest, Jesse raised her gun once reality sunk in, but the absurd speed of the figure caught her off guard, grabbing onto her arm with enough force to cause mild bruising. Suddenly she felt small, weak, the terrible sight of the man drawing in flashes of the same figure as a normal man with whiskey on his breath as he pulled far too roughly on a little girl's arm. “What’d ah say, iffen yalls wanna put yer old man down, yalls need to be better’n that.” it mocked before laying it’s knee into her chest, air forced from her lungs as it brought her to her knees “Come now child, why look so scared? This is a touching family reunion.” He spoke before throwing her to the ground a few feet away, the gun sliding beside her.

Arms shaking, Jesse reached for her firearm, vision growing blurrier by the second. Just as her fingertips brushed the piece a foot came crashing down on her arm causing a shriek of pain to erupt from her throat as she began to squirm beneath the man “You’ve always been worthless.” He said before laying a kick into her side, pushing her away from her weapon “No good like yer mah.” He stomped on her chest, causing her to gasp and gurgle helplessly “Ah did ya a favor by killin’ ya once. Now wah’d ya have ta go’n ruin that?”

“Ah… ah…” she struggled to speak as blood now ran down her chin

“What?” The man leaned down to look her in the face a she spoke

Once close enough Jesse spit into his face, her blood now splattered on his face “Ah hate you.” She finished, a defiant grin on her face

Finally pulling a long, black revolver from his belt he pointed it down at her, her eyes catching the words Maria on the side of the weapon as his own eye flickered briefly, a cold look on his near featureless face “Night kiddo.” He said before pulling the trigger.

“Leo wait!” Star huffed as she run up in front of Leona, hands on her knees as she gasped for breath “W-Wait *huff* oh gods *huff*.” Leona looked away, mostly out of embarrassment for the woman's poor health “W-Why…”

Leona mulled the question over for a moment, shrugging “It doesn’t matter.”

Looking up to Leo, Star stood straight “Of course it matters. Please, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She said coldly, still avoiding eye contact

“It’s clearly nothing Leo.” Sighing Star crossed her arms “I know I don’t understand, but I’d like to you know, just talk to me.” She smile kindly up at Leona who seemed as if overtly interested in the stone wall.

Grinding her teeth for a moment, much to Stars disgust, Leona looked to her than back away “I…” shaking her head of the thought Leona muttered “It’s nothing.”

Grunting annoyedly Star held the bridge of her nose “Leona please, just give me anything.”

Sensing Stars frustration Leona began to rub her arm “I’m fine, it doesn’t matter, no one cares.” She spoke weakly

Looking up in surprise Star frowned “I care. Even Selina-”

“She clearly doesn’t” interrupted Leona who anxiously shook and fidgeted

“Leo, no, of course she does. She was just upset is all.” Star,having to reach her hand all the way up, rubbed Leona’s shoulder comfortingly “Is that what’s bothering?” Leona shrugged not unlike an emotionally confused child “If that’s why you’re mad at her-”

“No!” She yelped surprising Star “I-it’s not why…” her voice trailed off softly

Holding her hands to her lap Star tilted her head confusingly, leaning in closer to look at Leona’s eyes as they seemed to shimmer gently. Humming in thought Star drew back “Than, why are you mad?”

Leona’s mouth hung agape, her expression softening “Why?” She repeated the word as thoughts flashed to a smiling Selina when they were kids playing out in the forest “Why?” She repeated again as she remembered holding Selina warmly at night “Why?” Her eyes began to well with tears, a soft sniffling coming from her as she saw Selina disappear into the crowd, not to be seen again for a long time “Why?” Leona held herself as she began to shake, tears falling down heavy on the stone floor, her voice trembling as she whimpered weakly “Beacause… because…”

Star watched as the woman began to breakdown more and more, heart beating anxiously as she saw Leona shudder like a starving dog “Leo?” She spoke softly reaching for her face

“Because she abandoned me!” Leona yelled, falling to her knees as she began to sob loudly, head buried into Stars robes as they were quickly stained with tears

Holding back her own tears, Star knelt down next to Leona, gently cradling her and rocking gently, hushing her as best she could “I-I don’t think…” she offered weakly

Now gasping and sniffling uncontrolably Leona dug her face as close to Star as she could “W-why di-id sh-she go? I-I l-looked everywh-ere a-and she w-wasn’t an-ny-where a-at all! I w-was so s-scared. Sh-she c-could of g-gotten hurt a-and I w-wasn’t th-th-there! Sh-she never m-messaged m-m-me a-and n-never t-to-old m-me i-if sh-sh-she was o-o-o-k-k-kay.”

Star held a little tighter, her own tear dripping gently down onto Leona’s hair “I-I’m sure she was fine…”

“But I wasn’t there!” She screamed into Stars chest, her massive frame balling up as tightly as it could “W-why did go?” She whimpered weakly “D-does sh-she hate me?”

Biting her lip, Star wriggled weakly “No… she- I’m sure she-”

“She h-hates me doesn’t she? Is it b-because of h-how I look? H-how I am? Sh-she hate m-me cause I-I’m an u-ugly w-orthless f-f-freak!” Her bawling was out of control, is was obvious to Star at this point that years of pent of fears and turmoil came gushing out in a single moment of complete weakness.

“Don’t say stuff like that, i-its not true.” Star couldn’t stop herself from bawling at this point, roughly wiping at her face with her robe sleeve

“I-it is, I’m stupid a-and worthless. She hates me, you hate me, everybody hates me! It’s not my fault, I don’t wanna be like this, I don’t I don’t. It’s not fair why does everybody hate me why? I just wanna help I do! It’s not fair. I-I-I hate m-myself, I hate how I look I hate how I am I’m so stupid stupid stupid.” She began banging her gauntlets against her had, quickly drawing blood that ran down her pink mane

“S-stop, don’t” Star grabbed onto Leona’s head, wrapping it up to protect it from Leona’s violent fit “D-don’t say stuff like tha-”

“I wish I was dead!” She screeched, hands gripping into Star so hard her robes began to tear

Heart beating like a drum, Star tensed as it became painful to watching Leona this completely miserable. Wiping her tear stained face in Leona’s hair, Star blurted out “She doesn’t hate!” She began to breath heavy as she spoke “She doesn’t! She doesn’t hate you and she didn’t abandon you!” Her yelling so loud that it began to strain her voice “She only left because she had to, she had to, i-it was to keep you safe!”

Leona gasped, her crying seeming to cease as she pulled away to look at Star “W’what?” She asked meekly

Realizing what she said Star gulped loudly and nodded “Y-yeah, she promised to work for Darius and in return he’d get you into the church.”

Leona was dumbfounded, her heartbeat was wild and her thoughts raced and despite all the thoughts and feelings the ran through her, her face scrunched up as tears began to stream with renewed vigor as she buried her face back into Stars chased “She doesn’t hate me, she doesn’t hate me.” Was all she could say in her irrational, emotional state as she sobbed sloppily into Stars clothing even more

“Y-yeah, that’s right. Neither do I Leo, a-and if everyone else does that’s their problem because you’re the nicest person I ever met.” She spoke through her sore throat, though she was sure by now anything she said wouldn’t register with Leona.

Tired and distraught, Star resigned to just let Leona cry helplessly into her robe, cradling her and stroking her hair while humming quite off key but still pleasant enough to get the point across. In time Leona’s bawling turned into soft sniffles and whimper until finally she just lie there comfortably, a placid look on her face as she sank into her friend's lap and felt the gentle stroking of Stars delicate hand. However, no matter how bad she wished to just lounge under her friends gentle care Leona sat up, fully realizing how she’d been behaving “I-I should go make things right so we can get back to it.” She stood up, picking Star up with her

With a smile, Star nodded cheerfully “Let’s get to it!”

Humming softly, Sprinkles sat somberly while doodling musical notes into the dirt under her. Slowly she began to smile, cheering herself up as the tune came together in her head. Happily she turned to Jesse “Oi, ya think everythin’ wil- Jesse?” She looked up at Jesse who seemed unmoving and unbreathing. Standing Sprinkles gulped as she touched the woman's hat “Jesse?” She asked again, lifting the hat to reveal Jesse’s eyes were closed but both they and her mouth were leaking blood “Jesse!” She shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking in a panic “Wake up, wake up!” She screamed shaking the woman as hard as she could

“Poor Beatrice, as helpless as ever.” A voice echoed from a little down the cavern “Why must Geppetto's puppet misbehave so, strings breaking like so many hearts, both tossed into the fire and left to burn.”

“N-no…” she whispered as strong masculine arms wrapped around her, hands forcing themselves onto her crotch and breasts. “Don’t touch meh!” She yelled, struggling against the arms holding her

“Why not? We spent so many lovely nights together, two lovers dance the lovers dance beneath a night sky filled with stars, sole audience to the enduring proclamation of their eternal bond.”the man stroked her more perversely, dragging his tongue across her ear before digging his nose into her curly pink locks and sniffing greedily

Freeing herself from the grip, Sprinkles ran forward before turning only to see nothing there. Reaching for her whip, she drew her hand back when she realized it was gone “Looking for something my love?” The voice asked, wrapping the whip around her throat and choking her, her hands clawing at the leather bound weapon, face turning a bright red as she gasped desperately for air. Mouth up to her ear, the man spoke “I thought we liked the rough stuff?” He giggled before nibbling her ear with enough force to cause a dribble of blood to roll down to the lobe. Gagging out muddled words, Sprinkles shook and fought “Hmm, what’s that my dear? Oh, you’re choking are you?” He let go of her as she flopped to the ground, drinking in gulps of air as hard as she could

Inhaling deeply, the man spoke “Isn’t it great, the blood, the death, mm, like we always wanted, right my love?”

“Oi,” tears and fear overtaking “Oi never wanted this…”

The man began uproariously laughter, hand over his stomach “You stupid bitch!” He shouted “What did you think would happen? There’s a reason such things are left buried!” He began to approach Sprinkles, stopping to look at Jessebelle “My what a darling little thing we have here.”

Turning back, Sprinkles watched as the man dragged his tongue against Jesse’s chin, lapping at the blood before kissing her, forcing his tongue into her unconscious body “S-stop tha’!” She yelped, latching onto the mans leg

“Jealous? Oh don’t worry my love, she’s cute but my friend has already staked a claim on her.” He teased “Though, I little taste can’t hurt.” He said pulling a blade and beginning to cut the woman's vest open

“Don’t ya dare touch’er!” She screamed, grabbing the knife and trying to wrench it away.

Smiling the man slapped Sprinkles, putting her on her back before keeling over top her, eyes glistening with sadistic pleasure. Now with no choice but to look, Sprinkles stared at the shadowy form of the man, body dressed in the fine clothes of a nobleman, a long head of hair reaching down to the nape of his neck with two stark white eyes. Placing the knife to Sprinkles chest he began to cut not only her clothes, but her skin as her blood began to stain the edges of the fabric “I’ve been thinking about you, you know. Your supple body, you pleasant touch, your screams of terror and delight. I could get intoxicated on the thought alone.”

“Y-yer sick… yer should be dead!” Slapped the man across the face, knocking the smile off of his face

Frowning, the man dropped the knife and instead opted to begin strangling her, his hand prints joining the rough red marks on her throat “Come now my love, let’s not fight, we wanted to change the world and it’s going to be changed! We’ve worked too hard to let this day be ruined. And here I thought you’d be happy that I was back.” Sprinkles kicked and flailed but was powerless beneath his grip, her vision slowly slipping into darkness as she was brutally choked “Oh what am I doing!” He let go again “It’s no fun if you don’t squrm, now is it?” The man broke out into more laughter as Sprinkles turned and began dragging herself away “Oh, I preffer this position!” He screamed forcing his full weight on her “Let’s have some fu-”

With a violent scream Leona struck the small, shadowy gremlin like creature with a violent kick, knocking it off Sprinkles who had been screaming and crying since they arrived. Eyes now open, Sprinkles began to shake violently, balling up into fetal position. Weaving a blast of magic, Star struck the small creature that was currently on Jessebelle, knocking it off and bringing Jesse to consciousness, her body crumbling almost immediately as she began to hack up blood that had been building up in her throat and lungs. As the thing that was on Jesse began to run Leona quickly stomped on it full forcing causing it to disappear like the last.

“Leona, help Jesse I’ve got Sprinkles.” Star spoke as she rushed to Sprinkles side, observing small streaks of blood falling from her eyes and mouth “It’s alright I got you.” She said gently holding the shuddering bard “Here,” she handed a potion to Sprinkles who took it and quietly drank it, the sharp pains that were running inside of her body dissapearing.

At the same time, Leona had physically fed a potion to Jesse who was too weak to stand at that point. As the magic of the liquid worked Jesse began to move around more naturally “Ugh, one hell of a nightmare.”

“Hmm, whatever these creatures are they appear to kill you in your sleep, and from the sounds of it also create some type of hallucination.” Star observed, pulling out a small journal and writing into it “I’ll call it an Umblin, a mix of Umbra and Gremlin, on account of their appearance.”

“Reckon you intend on keepin’ track’a these thangs?” Jesse muttered weakly

“Oh, well, it only makes sense to right?”Star replied cheerfully, every so often looking down at Sprinkles who looked rather distant and scared.

Kneeling beside the two, Leona began to look over Sprinkles “You going to be ok?”

Looking up at the often terrifying paladin, Sprinkles was relieved to see a very kind, tear stained smile on her face. Nodding weakly she muttered “O-otha’s.” Understanding what she meant Leona turned and began running towards the thieves den.

“Selina?” Wrath asked poking her head up from the trap door, immediately spotting the woman sniffling in the corner “Hey.” she greeted weakly

Scoffing, Selina turned her head away “Oh joy, another pep talk.” She complained

“Er, uh… sorry?” Wrath offered softly, finishing her way up the ladder.

Sighing Selina shook her head “No, it’s fine. But really, you should all be focusing on the task at hand.”

Kicking at the ground with her hands in her pockets Wrath shrugged “Well, shit I know. Just, uh, didn’t wanna ditch you here.” She shifted uncomfortably about, clearly out of her element

Chuckling, Selina looked up at the woman “Well, aren’t you thoughtful.” She teased causing Wrath to blush and rub the back of her head. Patting at the spot beside her, Selina offered “Sit.”

Smiling Wrath did just that, plodding next to Selina “So, uh, you ok or something?”

Giggling more, Selina replied “Or something.”

Blushing harder Wrath cleared her throat “I-I mean, ya know…”

“Darling, don’t quit your day job. I fear for your patience were you to take up a psychiatric job.”she teased loosening up a tad

“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m a great motivational speaker.” She jerked her thumb in her direction, head held up proudly

“Oh I’m sure you are, and I’m actually a goddess, this is all an act and you’re really asleep in your bed.” She retorted

Pouting, Wrath glared at the woman who continued to laugh at her expensive. Slowly Wraths expression lightened as she stared at the woman in awe, she was pretty, quick witted, and graceful; certainly a gem. Swallowing roughly Wrath looked away while scratching her face absentmindedly “Y-yeah, well, uh I’d believe it. Y-you being a goddess part.” Blinking, Selina tilted her head at Wrath, a confused look on her face “I mean, uh, nevermind.”

“Ok…” Selina replied awkwardly, still smiling at Wrath though it had become rather forced. She waited for Wrath to begin speaking, expecting something nice or generic or even remotely comforting to come out but from the way the woman looked about the room you’d imagine she forgot where she was “Ahem.” she cleared her throat

“Oh! Uuh…” Wrath stared blankly at Selina who couldn’t help but smile and giggle more

“Darling, I believe you came up here to cheer me up?” She reminded the adorably confused swordsman

“Oh yeah! So, like, Leona’s dumb.” She spoke matter of factly

Giggling more Selina just shook her head “Oh, don’t mind her. She’s just… a little emotional is all.”

“Emotional? She was going to smash my skull like an acorn! She’s insane is what she is.” She complained, though this only seemed to dour Selina’s mood “I mean, monster is right, that oversized freak needs a leash.”

“Darling, I’ll request you speak more kindly of Leona, or you may find yourself having a bad time.” Her word were like daggers dipped in venom, her glare causing Wrath to gulp roughly

“I-I mean, uh, like she doesn’t have to act like that is all…” she sputtered weakly

Sighing Selina drew her knees back in close “I know, she does it for me though so I suppose I shouldn’t complain.”

“That’s bull though, she treats you like your helpless or something!” Wrath argued

“Maybe I am?” Selina offered weakly, a soft sad sheen to her eyes

Taking offense, Wrath grabbed Selina by the arm “Don’t say that, you’re totally not.”

‘Totally?’ Thought Selina with a blink

“You’re all, like, cool and, like… hiya and junk with your daggers.” Selina blinked even more as if Wrath were speaking a completely different language “Ugh, what I mean is, like, you’re super not helpless.”

‘Super?’ Selina questioned

“Like, the way you handle those mutt things and, and, the way you do your thief junk, which I’m totally cool with by the way, it’s really cool.” She urged and though only half the words seemed to register with Selina the point did come across

“I suppose, I like to think what I can do I’m competent at.” Selina shifted awkwardly “I don’t know, I just don’t feel good enough around her I guess. Every mistake just feels so crushing when she sees it. I want her to look at me like I look at her, impressed, in awe… “Selina blushed, shaking the thought away “Bah, that’s stupid.”

“No it’s not!” Wrath disagreed “I think it’s totally cool-”

‘Where does she get this dialect from? Here I thought Jesse and Sprinkles spoke oddly...’ She wondered

“That you look up to someone, you just, you look up to a jerk and a bully is all.” Selina frowned “Like, all she does is tell people what to do because she’s bigger than them or something, she thinks she’s so much better than ever-”

“You’re wrong!” Selina argued “You don’t have to like her but don’t you dare talk like you know her!” Wrath withdrew, forced back by her vengeful diatribe “She doesn’t think she’s better than anybody, quite the opposite in fact, I wish she’d look at herself as more than just an oversized freak! She’s kind and sweet and only tells people what to do to protect them. All she wants is to help people, even you, and sure she has a temper but that doesn’t mean she’s not trying her best! She can’t help it sometimes, ok, it’s not her fault, everyone else made her that way because they just wouldn’t leave her be so she has to act that way to keep us safe!” Somewhere during her rant Selina began crying, tears rolling around her angry scowl

Blushing, much to her chagrin, Wrath nervously began scratching the back of her neck “Jeeze, sorry…” she replied causing Selina to blush herself and move back to her seat

Selina and Wrath resigned to sit in awkward silence after that, the latter thinking furiously on what to say next, hoping to lighten the priors mood. “Look,” she began “I don’t know what you two have been through-”

“No, you don’t.” Selina huffed

“H-hey lemme finish! Jeeze. But, that doesn’t mean she has to be that way you know. It’s not cool. Like, I wouldn’t treat you like that. Or anything.” Wrath was blushing even more furiously now

“Well, that’s a nice sentiment bu-” inhaling sharply, Selina looked down to see Wraths hand holding hers

“You’re, like, really cool and…” her grip tightened “And you should maybe be with someone who’ll treat you better.” Wrath turned to look at Selina, both of their faces a deep red as they stared at each other's eyes

“Uh, um, Wrath darling I appr-” Running on pure hormones Wrath pressed her lips to Selina’s, her other hand reaching to hold Selina’s waist tenderly. ‘W-what the hell is she thinking?!’ Selina thought as she was gently eased into the kiss, and to take the situation awkward to awful, as Selina’s eyes darted about the room in shock they ultimately locked with Leona’s, who stood on the ladder of the trap door, in a shocked stare. Slowly Leona’s eyes narrowed as she grit her teeth, tears falling immediately as she began down the ladder again without as much as a word. Registering what was happening Selina pushed Wrath away, angrily glaring at Wrath who simply looked confused just as a bitter slap fell upon her face before Selina stood and darted down the manhole “Leona it’s not what you think!”

In silence Wrath just stood there holding her cheek “But…”

“

Create thy Character!

"Hello my little ponies, I see thou are all here! Wondrous occasion as I am most excited to begin play of an old favorite!" Luna’s voice, the calm kind voice she'd been careful to keep track of since her visit to Ponyville last Nightmare Night, rung out in delighted glee. She shifted slightly behind a large, wooden table painted a deep midnight blue with the lunar goddess’s cutie mark painted in the center. Atop the table were several large, thick looking books decorated with bright colors and pictures of, what they understood to be humanoid warriors, doing battle against dragons or casting spells of some sort. Around the table were midnight blue wooden chairs with soft, silky seats made of a midnight blue fabric and decorated with Luna's cutie mark. The room itself was bland, but large. The walls were the same blue as the tables and chairs, themselves decorated like a mural of stars. The floor was comprised of a surprisingly soft carpet, again midnight blue, and the ceiling much the same save for the silver chandelier dangling down and providing the little light that filled the room.

"Yeah, it was difficult to get Applejack and Rainbow on board; it took a bit of convincing on my part." Twilight spoke with a self contented tone of success.

"Crabapples. Y’all just begged and hollered 'til we said yes and you know it." Applejack pointed out, her annoyance clear on her face.

"But it still worked. Trust me, from what Luna told me, this is going to be good fun." Twilight smiled and sauntered over gleefully to the table and took a seat.

"Yeah, I bet..." Rainbow Dash muttered sarcastically "Why couldn't we take my suggestion and just watch the most awesome mare in Equestria practice her stunts?"

"Because nobody wants to sit around fer hours on end watching you toot yer own horn." Applejack pointed a hoof at the cyan mare, shooting her an agitated glare

"Yes, well, as fun as watching you perform sounds, I agree with Twilight. I actually welcome this little game; this role playing game as she put it. It sounds intriguing." Rarity chimed in, a white saddle bag with diamond designs sitting on her back "I even made myself a little costume, look!' Rarity's horn began to glow with its usual blue. Simultaneously, the bag’s latch glowed with the same blue shimmer as what seemed to be a leather chestpiece was pulled out. The chest piece in question was decorated in dark blue sapphires that did well to compliment her eyes and hair. Following suit was a long flowing dark blue cape that was trimmed with gold and a dark blue vest, similarly trimmed with gold, to be placed over and around her faux leather armor.

"Oh my Rarity, that looks... nice..." Fluttershy squeaked out from the very back of her friends.

"I know, isn't it? I've never had much reason to work with fake leather before but now that I have, I actually appreciate the material; it's really quite soft when done right, and fairly warm too." Rarity spoke as she trotted to take a seat beside Twilight, the outfit floating along with her as she moved.

"Excellent, it seems thou are getting most into the game. From the looks of it, it appears as if thou wish to play a rogue." Luna smiled as she observed the fashionista’s outfit

"Oh yes, though at first the idea of sneaking about seemed unlady like, the subterfuge, the suspense, the finesse: both socially and physically, sounded far too interesting to pass by!" Rarity's voicing growing in excitement as she eagerly awaited the game to come.

"And what of the rest? We know that Twilight hath placed great interest in the Wizard. What have the rest of thee been thinking of playing?" Luna asked, her excitement quite apparent as she hadn't had the opportunity to play in quite some time.

"Oh, well, Twi' did mention sumthin' about a gunslinger, right?" Applejack turned to Luna, actually showing a bit of interest once the idea of classes were brought up.

"Oh, yes, the gunslinger is most fun, however it can be... difficult, but fear not, for we have more than enough knowledge to assist thee!" as Luna spoke her horn shimmered with a midnight blue aura that lifted a light blue book with a man in eastern style armor leaping up against a large white beast on the cover and sending the book on its way to the end of the table before opening it up to the aforementioned Gunslinger.

"Umm, well, what can fly?" Rainbow asked, quickly prompting an annoyed grunt from Twilight.

"I told you Rainbow Dash, nothing can fly at first level, and if you want to get flight you'll probably have to play a spell caster." Twilight stated matter of factly with a touch of aggravation.

"Ugh, this sucks. How is there no flying?" Rainbow crossed her hooves and sat on the ground with a discontented pout. "And you're telling me the only way to get it is to be... an egghead?"

"Well," Luna tapped her hoof on her chin in thought "We do believe there is something else that can gain flight." she sat in thought for a mere moment before Applejack spoke up.

"Umm, what's touch AC?" she asked aloud "In fact, what's AC at all? And what's this base attack bonus?"

"Don't worry, we'll get to that soon." Twilight nudged Applejack whose eyes were still staring down at the book in front of her.

"Hmm," Luna hummed before coming out of her thoughts "Well, we believe the barbarian can fly eventually, ooh and if you don't wish to be a complete, egghead, as you put it the Magus has access to spells as well as martial prowess."

"Huh, what's a Magus?" Rainbow questioned as she flew over to hover just behind Luna's shoulder.

"It's a personal favorite: a battlemage of sorts that blends magic and combat skills." Luna's horn shed her familiar glow as she brought up an orange book with the picture of a pale humanoid male with pointed ears and a brown humanoid female with cloudy white eyes standing in some sort of pose while casting magic. After having revealed the book she flipped it to the page where the Magus was.

"Huh..." Rainbow stared at the book for a moment with an arched brow "So... I can shoot fire and stuff AND be a cool warrior type?" Rainbow asked with genuine interest "Why didn't you tell me about this Twi'?" she turned and asked her purple unicorn friend.

"Erm, well, spell casting is a lot of bookkeeping according to the princess and..." but before she could finish Rainbow had already swooped in close.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" spoke the already irritated Rainbow Dash growing more aggressive.

"Before, you thought reading made you uncool. I just-" Twilight began.

"I stand by what I said: I'm just so cool I can get away with it." Rainbow interjected before Twilight continued.

"Like I was saying... I don't think it'd be the kind of busy work you'd be interested in." Twilight finished before Rainbow Dash became invasive, getting close enough to Twilight to touch snouts and shooting her an irate glare.

"Calm down there RD, yalls know she's got you pegged." Applejack said, eyes still scanning over the book.

"Hmph, well, I wanna do that one!" Rainbow said with finality as she snatched the book up and took a seat opposite of Twilight.

"Yes, well onto thou Fluttershy." Luna turned her attention to the buttery mare who had done her absolute best to go unnoticed up until then "What did thou..." Luna began before looking around "hold on, hmm, it seems Pinkie Pie is... not with thee?" she asked

"Oh she's with us..." Twilight mumbled with a genuine tone of annoyance.

"She's, uh, gettin' her equipment." Applejack added in.

"One could say she's as eager as I when it comes to getting into character." Rarity gave a soft, demure chuckle.

"I'll say..." Rainbow said, with a roll of her eyes, midway through wracking her brain over the several new concepts presented to her in the book.

"We feel as if we would be better off not knowing..." Luna shook her head and continued "At any rate, Fluttershy, what would interest thee? We are sure thou would enjoy most the Druid!" Luna levitated the core rule book and brought it to the Druid class but Fluttershy replied by hiding behind her hair and shuffling uneasily "Is... something wrong?"

"Oh, no, just... I don't want to be a Druid... i-if that's ok with you, that is..." She spoke softly and nervously, her statement catching Twilight's attention

"R-really? But, you can have a pet, and you can even be a tree! Are you sure?" Twilight questioned.

"Oh, umm... yes..." she shuffled again, nervous of the added attention of Twilight.

"Oh, then perhaps the Cleric has given you the most interest, healing your allies is most-" Luna began before a soft voice squeaked from the other end of the room.

"No..." Fluttershy muttered.

"Erm, then the Oracle..." Luna began again before Fluttershy shook her head. "Then, what is it thou wish to play?"

"Oh, umm... Paladin." she muttered her eyes beginning to sparkle with interest.

"Oh, well, the Paladin is a fine class..." Luna said hesitantly as her expectations were quick to be dashed.

"You, a paladin?" Rainbow spoke up mockingly "You do realize that the Paladin is supposed to hit stuff, right?"

"Yeah, Paladin doesn't exactly sound like you Fluttershy." Twilight spoke with a mix of concern and interest.

"Oh, well... see, it's just that... Paladins are strong, and nice, and not afraid of anything and maybe if I play one I'll be... less afraid." Fluttershy spoke honestly, eyes shimmering softly as she spoke.

"Pfft." Rainbow Dash, at first attempting to stop herself from laughing, quickly lost the will to resist before falling over in uproar "You? Not afraid? I bet we don't go two minutes before you start to have a panic attack!"

In reaction to Rainbow Dash's laughter Fluttershy quickly sunk down and hid behind her hair "Oh... ok then..."

"Don't listen to her sugarcube, Rainbow's been a might bit of a jerk this entire trip, ah honestly don't know what got her actin' so negative but it's goin' too far." Applejack -eyes now off the book and instead glaring daggers at Rainbow Dash- spoke reassuringly to Fluttershy.

"Yeah, I think you'll make a great Paladin." Twilight chirped with a soft smile.

"Yes darling. Though of course, according to how Twilight put it, me and you might have... a few disagreements seeing as I may or may not make it a habit to... borrow things without permission." Rarity put delicately.

"Oh Rarity, I'm sure as long as you're not being mean it'll be fine." Fluttershy smiled softly as she started to pull out from her hair a bit more.

"I'm heeeeere!" A familiar voice echoed out from behind Fluttershy as a stack of instruments waltzed in loudly atop two pink hooves. Among the instruments were a flute, drums, a lute, a harp, a violin, a viola, a cello with the name Octavia etched on the front, an accordion, tambourines and a harmonica.

"Ah, Pinkie, I suppose thou art playing a Bard then." Luna asked as she began to magically aid Pinkie by moving the instruments around in a more orderly fashion, leaving Pinkie standing on two hooves with a massive grin.

"Uh-huh, I'm super duper excited, I get to sing, dance, play instruments and then I can cast magic and put people to sleep, or charm them, and I can also know a WHOLE lotta stuff, like nobles, and magic, and religions and..." eventually Pinkie's rambling was tuned out by everyone inside the room as they went about looking through books and constructing characters.

Three hours had passed, three hours of reading, long explanation, several examples, sarcasm, arguing, incoherent babble by Pinkie, and what was to be the worst headache of Luna's immortal life, after those three horrible hours they had finished. Each book had been thoroughly searched multiple times by each party as they had poured through the limitless selection of Feats, Races, Special Abilities, Traits and whatever else have you. Finally the calculations were all made, the proper dice were pointed out, explanations on how each class worked and how they could, theoretically, work together and the sheets were approved by Luna.

"-and then I said, Oatmeal? Are you crazy?" Pinkie finished as everyone looked up to her

"Ugh, don't tell me you didn't get your character ready!" Rainbow groaned in annoyance.

“Yes, darling. You couldn’t possibly have been talking this whole time.” Rarity looked on with confusion at the pink mare.

"Huh? Oh, I brought her with me." Pinkie reached back into nothingness and pulled out a completed character sheet seemingly out of nowhere.

"Huh, but how..." Twilight began before remembering previous questions that revolved around the pink mare that resulted in a series of blunt force, head related injuries from the accident prone Derpy Hooves "Well, um, we're done I guess." she finished, completely dropping her previous sentence.

"Excellent! It seems we are done for today!" Luna said eager to get the mad bunch of ponies on their way home to ease her aching head.

"Huh? We're not playing today?" Twilight asked disappointed

"No, today we constructed characters. And we must say you all made... interesting choices. At any rate, we would like to thank you for coming and we await the next session where we can finally begin."

"Oh, well, ok then princess. Next month then?" Twilight asked with a small smile.

"Yes, yes, of course. We will have our sister send word to you." Luna smiled nervously before enshrouding the finished sheets in magic "I will be holding onto those if you don't mind." she brought the sheets up and over to her "At any rate, we'll finish for now."

"Alright then." Twilight bowed slightly "Until next time." and trotted out the door.

"Yeah Princess, catch ya later." Rainbow said half heartedly and followed suit.

"Yes, it was a lovely little get together, I simply can't wait to play." Rarity full on curtsied before making her way out of the room as well.

"Yep, yalls take care now." Applejack drawled as she made her way out.

"Yepper deppers, it was super duper, extra fun even though we didn't play." Pinkie said with an extra large smile "It's ok if I leave these here, right?" she asked in which Luna responded with a nod before Pinkie bounced out cheerfully

"Oh, umm... bye..." Fluttershy, the last of the six to leave, squeaked out as she followed close behind Pinkie.

Just as the last had left Luna slinked deep into her chair "What have I gotten myself into..." she sighed heavily "Well, they are the Elements of Harmony... let's hope they act as their namesake..."

Author's Note

Update: 4:35 2/4/2014 - Edited by NecroLeprechaun, find him here http://www.fimfiction.net/user/NecroLeprechaun he's a pretty cool dude, edited my stuff and stuff, I give him like, 12 hooves outta 10.

Attack! Shadows in New Krayan!

Light and Darkness swam in Leona’s head. Sounds, far too distant to be understood, tickled her ears. Her entire body felt heavy, lifeless. ‘Hello...’ the woman called out ‘I...I need help…’ she called again. Suddenly, as if her prayers were answered, something hit her in the chest, something that forced wind back into her empty lungs and brought vision back to her fading sight. Bolting upright the paladin looked about feverishly. She was still in New Krayan, in the royal district surrounded by other women, a few she recognized. As Leona struggled to force more air into herself, questions began to stream through her mind.

“She’s awake!” Sprinkles shouted joyously as she wrapped her arms around the hulking woman.

Leona blinked twice, scanning the others around her to see that strange woman with the hat and leather overcoat, the blonde one with the freckles. Looking some more she saw some town locals, to be specific, her friend Starstorm and her acquaintance Wrathtail. Lastly, she saw a face she recognized, one that brought back a few bad memories, however there’s a face she didn’t see “Wh-where’s Daniel…!” she shouted in a panic

“You’re safe darling, as is your young ward.” Selina spoke, a gentle smile stretched across her face.

Hearing the woman speak caused Leona to frown “Starstorm, Wrathtail, what’s happening, where’s Daniel, is he ok?” she asked as Wrathtail brought her up to her feet.

“I’m not sure, I went to see Eramac but he was nowhere to be found. As for the squire, he’s safe and sound at the temple, we had him go when he came and got me and Wrathtail” Starstorm replied

“Yeah, when he found me I was already at the temple anyways lookin’ for you, but then I was told to find you by Mother Edona.” Wrathtail added.

Leona nodded, relieved to hear her young ward wasn’t hurt. Taking a brief moment to think she turned to Selina “I don’t suppose you’ve stolen some information?” she said with a touch of resentment.

Selina, as well as her player, were taken aback by the coldness she was given “I-I… no, I know nothing.” she replied, looking awfully hurt.

“Well, we need answers.” Leona spoke before turning to the freckled woman “You, stranger.”

“Ah reckon ya have a question fer me?” She asked from her position near a building, leaning against it with her hat well over her face.

“You’re not related to these thieves are you?” She said, turning only partly to look at the bard and rogue.

“Just met’em, why?” Jessebelle answered honestly

“Good, then me, you, Wrathtail and Starstorm can go find out what's happening."

“What, are you kidding me!” Wrathtail complained “Those -thieves- dragged your sorry arse out of the rubble and healed you!”

“Probably hoping to get a favor from me no doubt, I’ll at least promise to leave them be until more pressing matters are dealt with. It’ll give them enough time to slink away.” Leona said with a sternness far away from how the shy pegasus playing her was in real life

“Leona…” Starstorm muttered, knowing full well why the paladin was so bitter. Starstorm hated seeing her friend like this, she was usually so gentle and kind, but even she wasn’t able to look beyond her own past. On the other hand, where the character was trying to keep in said character, the player could only think ‘Jeeze, overselling it don’t ya think Flutters?’ though she supposed it was fine, since it was -in character-

“I know we have… differing opinions in life, Leona, but don’t you think it’d be smarter to work together, at least for the time being? There are civilian who need all the help they can get, and I for one want to help.”

“You mean help yourself to their hard earned coin?” Leona retorted spitefully

“Ah reckon tha easterner’s gotta point, need’ta use what we can fer the good of the people. Right?” Jessebelle surmised

“Beside, the only people I’ve seen her take from were those snooty nobles.” Wrathtail added

“So you’ve seen her commit crimes and didn’t report it?” Scrutinized the paladin

“I, uh… jeeze, what’s got into you?” Wrathtail asked, brow raised and arms crossed.

What had gotten into Leona, maybe she was just bothered because she’d had a rough day, thanks in part to one of the said thieves. “Y-you’re right…” her frustration began to subside, as much as she disliked criminals they did help her “I *sigh* I apologize, and thank you for your aid.” Leona bowed to the two begrudgingly

“Oh, it’s ok, ah suppose ah shouldn’ta given’ ya such a hard time earlia’” Sprinkles offered with a smile, the eyes of Jessebelle locked on her causing her to return the look with a teasing smile.

“It’s fine, really, we were friends once after all.” Selina smiled at Leona, but only got an empty stare

“Yeah, once.” Leona said with finality “Anyways, I’m guessing you’ve got some ideas Starstorm?”

“Huh, oh, well… I’m not sure what to make of this.” The wizard spoke before turning to look at the light piercing the sky “Let’s face it, that’s not ok.”

“Hell no it’s not. I was thinking if we got close enough we could study it.” Wrathtail added, pulling her spell book out to begin jotting some notes down “I’ve gotten just enough magic residue from the flash to determine it’s some sort of conjuration magic, but that’s all I could identify.”

“That doesn’t help us,” Starstorm sighed, wracking her brain for something they could do “It’s just, this would be easy if we could get a hold of Eramac, I’d even like to talk to Edona, but…”

“But what?” Leona asked anxiously

“Oh, well, on my way here I saw the mother heading out of the city surrounded by guards.” Starstorm answered “She looked, well, concerned.”

Leona gulped, turning slightly to the spiral of magic “If Edona is involved we should just secure the town, whatever it is, it’s far above us.”

“Welp, unless there’s gonna be coin involved in all dis’ ah reckon yalls can have fun.” Jessebelle pulled away from her position and began walking, deciding her character was a selfish mercenary type.

Chewing her nails relentlessly, Starstorm tried to not only figure out the anomaly nearby, but how she was supposed to get that spell ready for Eramac, when it hit her “The spiral!” she shouted, getting the attention of those around her.

“Have you an idea Star?” Selina sauntered closer, curious.

“Well, not about the problem itself, I just really want to go study it.” The absent minded mage revealed with a nervous chuckle

“You’re not the only one, huh? I was thinking of making my way out there, maybe we can share notes?” Wrathtail offered, much to the surprise of her fellow spellcaster

“Well, I guess that might be fine, but the plains are dangerous for just two people to go alone…” Starstorm shook the idea away “No, we should just stay here.” sounding slightly disappointed.

“Come on, think of it as… field study! The college won’t mind if you go to take a look.” Wrathtail tried to tempt the purple haired woman

“Well, the data I could gather would be fascinating just for documentation purposes, but, we just don’t have the manpower.” she sighed again “Besides, I don’t know if a flunky would be much help.” she added quite thoughtlessly

“What’d you call me,” Wrathtail growled, arm raised threateningly

“Sorry, but, I don’t know if I should trust your input, you didn’t exactly graduate from the college.” She spoke in a clear, factual tone, too bad for her all the temperamental magus heard was a flurry of insults, which wasn't her intention but the outcome

“I don’t exactly see you with a wizards cap on your head and credential on your person, how long have you been in the school anyways?” she spit venomously at her ex-classmate

Taken aback by the verbal attack, Starstorm blushed as she realized just what she'd said and was prepared to apologize before Jesse began to talk “As much as ah love hearin’ ya’ll two bicker, ah heard college, and I know you fancy college types usually hire on extra muscle during field work.” Starstorm was moments away from asking the freckled woman what she meant before she continued “How about ya’ll go rustle up some gold and ah’ll take ya.”

Starstorm pondered it for a moment. While she was pondering, the word gold reminded Wrathtail that she needed to yell at someone among them “You!” she spit towards Selina, who pointed at herself playfully “Yeah, you. You… you harlot, give me back my coin!”

Chuckling nervously, Selina fiddled with her fingers “Oh, uh, was that you?” she smiled far too wide for her own good.

Just as fast as the finger was pointed Leona had already placed herself over the eastern woman “Did you steal from her?” she asked, eyes down turned as if to drill through Selina's soul

“Well, you see, steal, it is such an ugly word…” Selina touched her hair as she spoke, however, before she could finish the thought

“If you say -I prefer the term borrow- then you’re not only a cliche, but a bad one!” Wrathtail added quickly

“Fine, fine,” Selina pulled out the other woman's pouch and tossed it her way “Take your gold back! And you can return my undergarments.”

Blushing furiously, Wrathtail pulled the colorful underpants from under her robe and handed it back to the other woman who snatched it away with a glower.

Hand placed over her face, Leona shook her head and sighed “I don’t know who I’m more disappointed in right now.”

While the series of odd, and sometimes hilarious scenes unfolded before her, Sprinkles was already hard at work, writing down every detail, a knowing smile on her face showed her preparedness to write an epic about the soon to be heroes around her. Only if they could stop saying, and start doing so she had more interesting things to sing about them other then how Wrathtail liked to take other women's undergarments, and that she flunked out of college “Ooh, ah should write’a comedy while ahm at it!” she yelled before getting back to her note taking.

“Alright, I think that works. Let me go see how much money I can borrow and the three of us can be off!” Starstorm announced, giddy enough to jump for joy at the though of studying the magical fount.

“Make tha’ four! After all, this story’s sure t’be one’o them doozies, it’s already got romance, mystery, treachery aaaand comedy!” Jesse eyeing the woman cautiously whenever she spoke

As if psychically linked, the magus and the rogue yelled in unison “Romance, with who, her?” they pointed at one another almost accusingly.

“Oooh, ah didn’ even have to say anythin’!” Sprinkle gave them a toothy grin before jotting something down.

Composing herself, Selina spoke “Actually, make that five, I want to look into this little situation myself.” hand placed on her hip as she looked as if forming a plan

Starstorm squinted at the rogue “I don’t know, what if you steal our notes and try and sell them to a competitor of the college? Or worse…”

“Oh come now, I wouldn’t do that to a friend…” Selina sauntered seductively over to Starstorm and began to twirl the mages purple locks in her finger “I just want to make sure there’s not problems ahead for me is all.”

“Oh, well… ok.” Starstorm agreed with a smile “Also, did you get it?”

Selina blinked and gave the wizard a blank stare “Get what exactly?”

“What was in my hair?” Starstorm replied, her own confused look plastered on her face. This supreme lack of social observational skills caused half of the group to chuckle at Starstorms expense

“Wow, you really are oblivious…” Selina muttered, eyes shifting away from her.

“I don’t…” Starstorm was about to begin, but was cut off by a certain southern drawl

“As much fun as it is to watch yall bumble about, ah reckon we should hurry and get mah gold so ya’lls can get ta studyin’ that… whatever it is?”

“Point taken miss…?”

“Jessebelle, not that it matters much.” She finished for the hapless wizard

“Oh, well nice to meet you Jessebelle, I’m…” Star began to extend a hand but it was brushed away

“Starstorm, ah know.” Jessebelle spoke curtly before walking a bit away “So, let’s get to it.” ‘Ah sure hope they don’t think ahm bein’ too much of a jerk…’ Jessebelle’s player thought nervously “Oh, raht, ah need ammo iffen ahm ta do’ anythin’ “

“Ammo fer yer gun roight?!” Sprinkles asked, a knowing grin on her face that made the gunslinger squint with anger for some unknown reason.

“Yeah, you know somethin’ ah should.” she asked

“Not personally, but Selina does~!” she spoke in a sing songy voice.

Turning, Jessebelle gave a nod to Selina ‘Oh, yes, well…” she turned to look at the paladin who was still staring daggers at her “Um, er…”

“I already know about your involvement in the thieves guild, if you have a connection use it, and only because I’d hate to see them go ill-prepared.” Leona took the trouble of distracting her away from Selina who sighed

“Yes, a few members have taken a liking to firearms and have been getting a few imported to look into. We have plenty of, um, bullets were they? Yes, we should have enough for you to get your fill. Though, since I’ll be effectively fencing for you, there’s the matter of my fee.”

“Ahm a bit short…” Jessebelle muttered.

Sighing, Leona chose the safety of her friends over her obligations to the law “If you can wave the fee, I’ll overlook your recent activities.”

“Well, I could wave my fee but, I doubt my associates would appreciate losing their supplies without… adequate payment.” Selina stated “I’m sorry, but there’s not much else I can do…”

“Well, once I requisition the expedition funds I suppose we could buy them off of your, associates was it? Shouldn’t be a big deal.” Star ensured them.

“Then let’s hurry, ah wanna get this started so ah can get mah pay.” The five who planned on going on the little expedition nodded to one another before Starstorm turned to Leona

“Now I know you’re not going to let me go without you?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

Leona paused to look at the company assembled so far, and her hopes weren’t exactly high. She could trust Star and Wrathtail, and if that Jessebelle was as she claimed, so long as she was paid she should be at least be loyal relative to said pay. However, it was the other two that bothered her, a couple of thieves with unclear goals. Sure, perhaps Sprinkles in all of her estranged behavior could honestly be after just her chance to write and perform an epic, but Selina, she was untrustworthy, and to protect her friends she’d go merely to watch her. With a nod Leona confirmed her response.

The group began after the college, which considering their location wasn’t far off since it sat peacefully on the border between the royal and market districts, where they could purchase supplies or fend off bureaucratic nonsense without much walking required. Surrounding them, as they traveled, were a variety of people who were going through panic and hysteria, a few screaming about the end of days, no doubt prompted by the anomaly. The guards and the remaining sisters of Mia Morey were trying their best to keep the peace with moderate success as they were able to organize the panicking populace and explain how they had everything under control, regardless of whether or not the statement bore any truth to it.

Eventually the group reached the doors of the massive, stone building that was the college, however, a very terrible discovery was made on arrival “No one’s here…” spoke Starstorm with a sense of dread.

“How can ya’lls tell?” Questioned Jessebelle

“Look at that board near the door.” Wrathtail pointed to a small, crystal plaque which had the number zero plaster over it

“So, yer fancy college has a magic board to tell yall when it’s got people in it?” Jessebelle asked, questioning the colleges choices on how it spent its time and resources.

“Well, it’s to keep unwanteds from sneaking in and taking objects without permission, usually there’s a guard posted here as well. His job would be to take note of everyone going in and out of the school, and considering our school had a fairly decent number of students getting home was a headache after classes were over.” Starstorm exposited

“Well, surely they’re just home raht now.” Jessebelle offered as an explanation but was responded to with several shaking heads.

“The college always has staff on hand, in case of…” Leona turned to look at the spiral of magic

“Then they’re at tha thang.”Jessebelle said irritated.

“No, they’re not.” Sprinkles answered worriedly “Someone should be inside keeping a chain of magical communication between the expedition team and the city, even if that wasn’t the case there’s to be a guard here at all times…”

“Indeed, otherwise me and my men would have made this place a target a while ago.” Selina added.

“Exactly why the spell was cast.” Leona muttered, but no one seemed to notice.

“Star, you said you were just here, yes? What were they doing when you showed?” Asked Selina

“Well, they wouldn’t say, however… something was odd…” Star began to recollect what she’d been met with when she arrived “The guard wasn’t one I’d ever met before, and when I arrived he seemed oddly hostile. When I asked for entrance he denied me, told me the school was being prepared. And when I asked about Eremac he just smiled and told me he wasn’t here…”

Just then, the board begin to shimmer as the numbers began to raise at a steadily increasing rate.

“Uh, is that normal?” Jessebelle asked, hand slowly reaching for her near empty weapon.

As if hit like a freight train Leona held back what felt like an urge to throw up. Quickly, she began to scan around her for evil auras.

“No, it’s definitely not…” Wrathtail muttered uneasily.

“M-maybe they’re back…” offered the young wizard with a weak smile.

“No…” Leona muttered as she drew her shield and pushed the companions as far away from the door as possible. Just as that had happened a purple spiral of energy tore out of the ceiling of the building, causing several chunks of debris to rain down on the local populace before the door burst open with a wave of energy, sending the paladin careening backwards into a nearby cart.

Before any explanations could be offered, a bulky, almost canine form stalked its way from the entrance of the college, body cloaked in wisps of inky black, eyes glowing a dull grey as what appeared to be it’s jaws pulled open before the creature unleashed a terrible, bloodcurdling howl. As it finished what almost sounded like a war cry, several more skulked out behind it and, if the numbers on the board were any indicator, there were nearly a hundred left inside as the enchantment shined a terrifying ninety-three.

Already at her emotional threshold, Leona had drawn her blade and charged the firstmost beast, attempting to cleave the monster, missing her mark as the beast leapt away, followed by the scattering of the rest. The party turned, pulling their backs together, watching as dozens of the creatures swarmed from the building, jumping out of windows and doors before running off in a random direction, each giving off these high pitched yips that reminded Leona of a hyena.

Now Surrounded by twelve of the beasts the party of six had already drawn their weapons.

“Damn, ah won’t be much help without bullets…” Jessebelle told the rest, eyes never leaving the slowly circling beasts.

“Leave this to me.” Wrathtail smiled as she kicked off, blade glowing a bright blue as she brandished it at one of the beasts. The
katana released a bright sheen right before Wrathtail swung with absolution. An animalistic howl was heard as the creatures flopped to the ground before disappearing into a mosaic of darkness.

Drawing her own blades, Selina smiled as well “I’m not to be outshone.” she said as she too charged one of the beasts, the one in particular seemed to still be off center ‘Perfect’ Selina thought as she examined the creature ‘Go for the kill’ she thought as she twirled, driving the blade through the side of the beasts skull, causing it too to flop lifelessly to the ground.

“My turn, my turn!” Sprinkles giddily cheered as she flourished her whip before twirling about cheerfully, and dancing over behind Wrathtail.

Somehow encouraged by the bards shenanigans, Jessebelle reached into her boot and drew her dagger tossing it at one of the beasts, catching it right in the eye.

Howling in primal fury the beasts began to react, rushing down the nearest targets of Wrathtail and Selina. They approached their targets with a series of pounces and lunges. Keeping her cool Selina ducked beneath one jumped over the next, and rolled with the lasr as she swiftly swept her blade through its side, causing it to land less than gracefully with a thud as it careened into another of the creatures.

Determined to show off, Wrathtail let the creatures comes, blade in hand as her eyes darted around frantically to trace the movements of her attackers. The first tried to sweep her leg with its fangs with which she replied with a simple side step, the next leapt at her throat, as if slowed down, Wrathtail flourished her blade before delivering an unnaturally fast slice with the weapon, causing the monsters split form to land on either side of her. The next two attempted to flank her. Keeping her calm she waited as both circled to her front and back before jumping at her, with a quick split of her legs, she fell beneath their attack as they collided midair right before she raised back to a standing position to slice them both, flicking her blade as if to remove blood that wasn’t there before sheathing it right before the beasts hit the ground, disappearing into darkness. ‘That… was the most AWESOME thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of doing.’ her player giddily cheered inside, barely keeping in her enjoyment

As if trying to avenge itself, the beast with the dagger in it’s eye ran passed its pack to attack the gunslinger. Smiling, the woman accepted the challenge as lunged at her with a series of bites, only for the last to end with the gun jammed in its mouth, preventing it from opening or closing it’s muzzle as the woman snatched the dagger back from the creature.

The last of the beasts charged Leona, two leaping at her full speed before being flung off her shield and onto their sides. The next, with surprising quickness caught Leona by the leg, digging its inky black fangs into her calf before trying to drag her down only to find the massive form would not be moved right before feeling the hilt of her blade bash against its skull, causing it to back off. The last came as a surprise as, instead of lunging at the paladin it attempted to pass her in favor of the weaker Starstorm. Unwilling to let a single hair get out of place on her delicate friend she tore her blade right through it with incredible force as it burst into shadow just as the blade finished following through.

Finally catching too, Starstorm ran passed her friend over to Selina before muttering an incantation, as she spoke the final words her hand burst into a torrent of color, causing two of the creatures to freeze entirely before falling over.

The battle continued only for a short amount of time as the six tore through their opponents with incredible ease, Wrathtail coming out with six of the twelve beasts felled by her hand alone. The group heaved as their battle was not won without some injury as Selina was bent over, holding onto a particularly nasty bite mark on her shoulder. “Blasted monster… it stings…” she complained ‘Lunaaa, did you have to make the pain real too, I could of done without thank you very much…’ she whined to herself internally

“How’s everybody holdin’ up.” Jessebelle asked, looking at her gun which she reclaimed moments after feeding it to one of the creatures right before using it to dispatch one of them ‘Three shots, damn...’ Jessebelle thought to herself.

“I’ve still got a few spells, but once I’m out I’m out.” Starstorm answered.

“Haven’t used a single spell, or taken a single hit. I’m still ready to go.” Wrathtail spoke, blade pointing outward as she readied herself for the next attack.

“I could use a bit of help.” Selina admitted before wincing.

“Oh, ah have a spell that’ll help tha’.” The mad, whipping bard said excitedly before rushing to her companions aid.

“I’m fine,” spoke Leona as she finished applying bandages to her leg

“Ah could,” Sprinkles began before being stopped by Selina, who just shook her head.

“Ah reckon ahm fine too… we need ta get back to it, can’t make a profit iffen there ain’t a town to profit from.” Jessebelle spoke, deciding her character wasn’t entirely heartless

Suddenly, Wrathtail, Starstorm and Sprinkles shuddered as if hit with a sudden chill before turning to see several more spirals extend into the sky. In wide eyed terror Sprinkles began to mutter the locations of each “The Temple of Mia Morey, the Guards Barracks, the Thieves Guild base… *gulp* Castle Krayan.”

“No!” Leona screeched, “Don’t you dare!” the womans voice growing a tone deeper as she was already charging for the temple
As the six recuperated something strange happened, the game stopped!

The six quickly found themselves pulled out of their fantasy world and instead of the hands and feet of their human alter egos, they looked to see their hooves back in place, their pony bodies feeling slightly off-putting after having lived as a human for so long. “Sorry for the cliffhanger girls, but we believe this is the time we agreed to end our sessions?” Luna pointed at a small, moon shaped clock up on the wall.

“Awww, already, but we just got to the fun stuff!” Rainbow immediately complained.

“What’s that? I thought the game was going to be dumb?” Twilight teased, taking her victories with the rainbow mare where she could.

“Ok, I admit it, that maaay have been the most AWESOME thing I’ve done, after the sonic rainboom of course.” the egotistical mare admitted

“Yes, indeed that was quite enjoyable, even I got a kick out of that little fight at the end there, and oh the questions raised! Where’s the wizards, what are those creatures? I’m giddy for answers.” Rarity spoke, half wanting to whinny in joy.

“Ah have to say, that was fun, but why’d ah only have four shots?” Applejack asked, confusedly looking at her character sheet.

Giggling Luna replied “Because,you didn’t buy any, giving you four was me being generous.”

Blushing, the farm pony scratched the back of her head “Oh…”

“The hay, you shoulda had a bunch of cash then.” Rainbow pointed out

“Ah spent it, but it was to a good cause, ah got some emergency potions.” Applejack said as if her idea was the greatest one since sliced bread.

“Great, now when you’re getting mauled because you have nothing to fight with, you’ll at least last a little longer!”.Rainbow taunted

“Well, atleast ah got some… besides, Sel, I mean Rarity, gosh that’s confusin’, anyways, the thieves guild got some bullets raht?” The mare turned to her white friend

“Yes, and judging by the fact it’s base is currently spitting out magic purple death, it’s likely filled with the same beasts we just fended off, and though we made a good show of it, we don’t have the resources to deal with many more.” Rarity spoke as politely as possible while still trying to get her point across

“Ah guess, darn…”

“It’s ok AJ, I’m sure we can rustle you up some bullets soon, Luna wouldn’t let you go too long without them right?” Pinkie said before she turned, smiling at the princess who just gave a nonconsequential shrug

“At anyrate, as sure as we are you all wish to discuss the game, it is that time and you have a train to catch in the morning, yes?” Luna smiled at the little ponies who agreed, feeling the need to sleep creeping up on them.

“She does have a point, let’s go girls, we can talk all about it on the train ride home!” Twilight urged as they all funneled out the room, each giving a joyful goodbye, with Fluttershy the last to exit, however, she was stopped before she could catch up to her friends.

“Fluttershy, may we speak to you?” Fluttershy nervously accepted and slowly made her way to the princess.

“Did I do something wrong?” The nervous mare asked

“Of course not, in fact, we quite enjoyed your performance! We wanted to tell you earlier, but we really enjoyed the detailed backstory you sent us, it has given us much inspiration!” Luna said approvingly

“Oh, that’s good, I was afraid you’d hate it…” Fluttershy blushed, the praise causing her to hoof at the ground bashfully

“Not at all, in fact, we like how you included Selina in it! Did you and Rarity talk?” She asked, curious as ever

“Oh, yes, but only briefly, I really only asked her if it was ok and she agreed.” Fluttershy smiled at the larger mare.

“Either way, we hope the others show interest in backstories like yours, we’d love to involve them more into what we’ve written. Alas, we shouldn’t keep you any longer. Enjoy the rest of your night.” with that the two split up, as the six went on to happily talk about the endless possibilities of their next session of Pathfinder...

Author's Note

Again pre-read by the awesome http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Breakfateschain so that was cool, he even pointed out a horrible discrepancy on my part *cough cough forgot the squire exists* but, uh, you know let's be thankful he's such a bro. Anyways, if you liked it let me know, if you hated it let me know why. If you don't, I can't suck less. :D