Chapter 1: This is How it Starts
"I'll go first to show everypony how this works," Twilight stated, as she reached for some dice and used her magic to grab a pencil. "First, you choose your race. You can, of course, be an Earth Pony, a Unicorn, or a Pegasus. Each has a set of buffs, or improvements, that always apply to them." Everypony else in the room was clearly lost, "Okay, well for your first character I'll just assume you're going to be the race you are naturally.
Alright, will everypony please take a look at your character sheet. This sheet charts everything about your character. Please, jot down your race and, under the cutie mark section, detail your cutie mark, what it means, etc."
As the group was scribbling in their information when, suddenly, Pinkie Pie burst into the room. "Hi everypony! I brought the snacks!" and she had. her saddlebag was laden with many different kinds of cupcakes.
"Why, thanks Pinkie!" Applejack said gratefully.
As the group started eating, Twilight asked, "Can we return our focus to what is at hand?"
The group unanimously muttered a, "Sure." None of them seemed particularly interested, really.
"Oh, don't be glum, girls. This isn't just a normal tabletop RPG. I thought that would be too nerdy to appeal to your interests. So, I formed a spell that will allow you to run through the game as if you were actual characters. When you arrive read this." She handed Applejack the pamphlet she had drawn up, "Have fun everypony!"
"Wait! Aren't you coming, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash questioned Twilight.
"I would, but somepony needs to be the 'game master' and I don't think anyone else can do it. Like I said, Enjoy!" With the casting of her spell, her friends, as well as the cupcakes, were miniturized and turned to glass as they became a set of game tokens.
"Whew! Everypony OK?" Applejack inquired, as the rest of her friends (excluding Twilight, of course, naturally not that one) lay in a heap due to their crash landing here. Where ever here was.
"I'm okay!" shouted a bouncing Pinkie Pie.
"I've had worse landings in training. I think I'll be fine." said Rainbow Dash.
"Uck! Couldn't Twilight have been more careful! I look positively dreadful after that nasty fall!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Aw, you'll be fine," Applejack responded, of course.
"Um, I'm fine..." whispered Fluttershy.
"All right, we're all here! We should try to figure out where here is!" Rainbow Dash insisted.
"Whoa Nelly! Twilight said to read this here pamphlet when we got here."
"Well, read it then!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
"Simmer down, I gotta find it. I think I lost it in the crash."
For just a moment, the whole world seemed to freeze slightly. It returned to normal immediately but it startled the group.
"The buck was that!" Applejack cursed, she then immediately noticed the pamphlet laying on the ground a short distance away, "Oh hey I found it!"
The group quickly stopped freaking out and payed attention as Applejack began reading. "First off, I would like to thank all of you for participating in this. You 5 are wanderers from the desert in the North. You have come South from your humble village in search of glory and riches. Please, don't tell anyone in the town, or anywhere for that matter, about the fact that you aren't from this world. it could cause errors or other issues. Of course, have fun!"
"Wow.... That was SO helpful!" Rainbow Dash sarcastically commented.
"Um, I think there's a town-" Fluttershy tried to say, Applejack cut her off, however.
"I think we should look for a town!"
The ponies heeded Applejack's thought, beginning to spread out and observe the landscape.
"Um... girls," Fluttershy muttered.
"Yeah, Fluttershy!" Pinkie responded enthusiastically.
"Oh, well, it's probably nothing...." Fluttershy covered her face with her mane a bit more.
"Well, we won't know 'til you tell us! Come on already!" Rainbow Dash raged at Fluttershy's, well, shyness.
"Well... it's just that," Fluttershy began, "well it's just that there's a town right over there.
"Now how in the hay did we all miss that!" Thanks sugarcube!" Applejack gratefully thanked Fluttershy.
As the ponies trotted through the scrubby plains, the land was eerily quiet. As the group continued towards the town, they couldn't see the slight flicker of movement, nor the glowing red eyes, in the bush just behind where they had been standing.
Twilight Sparkle sat, her wings flared and her brow dripping with sweat. Dice rolled repeatedly as she responded to what the little versions of her friends were doing. Quill after quill were used to the point of snapping and were discarded.She quickly chugged a glass of water and slammed it down on the table. She had to keep up with everything that anypony picked up, the random chance of any small event occurring. For example, the minute chance that Rarities hooves slip and she gains an injury. Normally, this would be easy for her, but in real time, everything was intensely rushed. She rolled the dice for each to perceive that there was a nearby town. With a quick note, she allowed Fluttershy to see the town based on the result of the roll. As the figurines moved, she rolled the random event die. For a moment, she was preoccupied with other things. Soon she was able to check the result of the random event die. She had rolled them a random monster encounter...
To be continued...
Author's Note
If you got the reference around the landing in the new world, then you are officially awesome! I'm pretty happy with this chapter, but I'm absolutely certain there are things I could have done better. PLEASE leave me feedback. Also, I'll give you a hint for the reference. The line goes: Well of course, naturally not those 4. It regards ships and a very important pirate. I've said more than I should.
Chapter 2: Lightning Strikes
Chapter 2: Lightning Strikes
From the brush around them, a strange green creature hurled itself into the group, knocking Rarity into the dirt.
"Oof!" Rarity exclaimed as she hit the ground.
Applejack immediately rushed over and, with a powerful kick, sent the enemy flying. As it smashed into a tree, the group could get a good look at it. It had rough, green skin that was far thicker than a pony's. It had four legs, two of which ended with gryphon-esque claws.
"What the hay is that!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as her eyes darted between the creature and the deep thicket it had attacked from.
"OOOOH, I've heard of these things!" Pinkie Pie smiled broadly. "They're GOBLINS!"
"Um, what nows?" Applejack scratched her head.
"Goblins! You know, mean hunched-over little green creatures that attack in groups and plagued travelers for centuries before the arrival of the Princesses? Duh, I thought everyone knew that!" Pinkie rapidly spoke, at a speed that put Rainbow to shame.
"Alright, well... If that's true, how in the hay is it here today!" Applejack remained puzzled at the existence of these creatures.
"Well, I could tell you that but... IT'S A SURPRISE! I can't ruin the surprise!" Pinkie bounced as she explained. The Goblin regained its consciousness, groggily opening its eyes. Upon seeing the ponies all around it, it hurled itself at them, using its clawed hands to slash at the nearest pony. Fluttershy didn't respond quite fast enough to duck the large claw that sunk itself into her back, just in front of her wing.
"AAAH!" Fluttershy sank to her knees under the force of the blow. As the goblin tore its claw from Fluttershy, the blood-covered claw dripped a horrible red. The goblin turned to the sound of galloping hooves to find an attacking Rarity impaling him with her horn, smiting the deadly creature. A trickle of blood crept down her horn as she shook, her pupils dilated and her nose flaring.
"Fluttershy! Please tell me you're alright..." Rarity ripped her horn from the monster, leaving it to die with a literal hole in its heart.
“I... Ah! I think I'll be ok," Fluttershy responded as she shakily rose from the ground. She flapped her wings to give her enough lift to get up.
“Will you be alright ‘til we get to the town sugarcube?” Applejack inquired.
“I... I don’t know... I might be able to use some of the leaves for a makeshift bandage but... I don’t know...” Fluttershy began to gather some leaves. “Would you get me a bit of bark... um... if you don’t mind...?” Rarity floated a bit of soft bark over to her. Fluttershy quickly wrapped up her shoulder using the bark as string to hold the leaves in place.
"Hey Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash edgily watched the brush around their feet. "Didn't you say these things attack in groups?"
"Yeah, they do!" Pinkie replied.
“Then why was there only one?” As if on cue, three more goblins leapt from the brush, springing at the ponies in a moment of weakness. Or, so they would have if not for Rainbow thinking of the implications of Pinkie’s knowledge. As such, they were prepared. Pinkie herself neatly sidestepped her assailant and laid him out with a light tap to a point on the back of the neck. The motion was surprisingly elegant for Pinkie, but the other ponies all attended their own urgent matter. Applejack wasn’t able to avoid sustaining a slight scratch across the chest before she bucked the goblin into the distance. Rainbow Dash was able to loop around her target and lift it into the air. It managed to lightly scratch at her muzzle, but its armor prohibited it from doing any real damage. It, quite suddenly, realized that there was no longer anything to scratch at. Its scream was cut short by a loud crack. Blood spurted from the goblin's broken neck, as the ponies tastefully avoided the refuse from the battle.
“We should get to the town! I don’t want to fight any more darn goblins!” Rainbow Dash fluttered down a bit as she shouted to the other four ponies.
“Yeah, we’re goin’.” Applejack scooped up the grounded Fluttershy and led the ponies galloping towards the town they saw in the distance. Soon, Rainbow Dash caught up to them, her shoulder burdened with a newly acquired piece of armor.
“OOH! Nice shoulder-pad Dashie!” Pinkie bounced along the trail in her own unique way.
“Thanks, I grabbed it from one of those goblins! I figured he wouldn’t need it anymore.” Rainbow Dash flew just behind the group.
“Now, normally I would demand you replace that item and stop committing such atrocities as looting, but I’m not sure we have a choice. If this was just a day-to-day occurrence then the practice of such atrocities may become necessary for us to survive.” Rarity glanced back at Rainbow Dash, a look of indignation barely suppressed by her impressive self-control. “I still think we should try to avoid such things, as they wouldn’t be fit to you anyway. Thus they’d be much less effective anyway.”
“Thanks for being so practical Rarity,” Applejack thanked Rarity.
“Well, when the ladies take to war, such pompousness has no place, as it cannot be afforded,” Rarity spoke intelligently.
“Um, what?” Applejack was lost by the string of complex words.
“It means I must give ground to you in such times of conflict, as there is no room for those like me in a war-filled world,” Rarity explained.
The ponies continued their frenzied charge toward the town. As they ran, the sun began to set...
Twilight Sparkle was more able to adjust to the role of Game Master, and continued the constant dice rolls. As she worked, she took the time to construct the townspeople as well as a few early game dungeons. She settled into her new role nicely, observing and gently guiding the little ponies to exactly the story she had planned...
To be continued...
Author's Note
I'm not sure if this is going to need a "Dark" tag. Please tell me what you think. Also, Thank you everyone who reads this. Without the community support, I doubt I would be able to make time for this. Thanks for letting me do one of my favorite things each day! :3