//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: In Dungeons Deep 
// Story: Equestrian Earth: A Life Beyond His Own 
// by Nxegex 
//------------------------------//


“Wherever evil rears its head
Through caverns deep and dungeons old
They travel and fight in Light's stead
With strength and courage, destiny unfolds”


A half hour of game time had gone by without any luck at recruiting any more members to the party. It must have been about four or five in the real world now, and the huge influx of people that suddenly logged in after getting home from school or work forced the group to retreat out of Chariot Park to a store balcony some blocks away while they planned their next move.

Paperback had a map unrolled on the table of the Gladden Fields; the expanse they had trekked across repeatedly over the previous game day when they shut down the collection sites. He wasn't using it at the moment, but rather stared into it while he thought, to pretend that he was doing something. Next to him Sound Wave sat and idly stared into the air, playing some game with his imagination that only he could see. The two of them were waiting for Rusty's return. After the Chariot Park deal they had all gone off and sold the last few pieces of loot they had, whereupon Rusty Nail had demanded to know how much gold the two of them were carrying and then ran off to 'check on some stuff' in a manner that was quite unlike the laid back rogue that they had come to know.

The two of them thus sat with nothing better to do than to wait for Rusty at their new meeting point. Once or twice, they had looked up in interest as a flash of a green coat came into view, but quickly became bored again when the pony they spied was not that of Rusty Nail. Paperback had just gotten it into his head that he should message the rogue to see where he was, when a crashing sound came from the shop inside and Rusty burst onto the balcony.

Paperback started “Rusty, where the heck have you-” but Rusty quickly cut him off with a hoof to the mouth, and reached into his saddlebag to pull out two pieces of paper, and hoofed one to each of them.

“List. Go. Shop. NOW.” Rusty Nail said in a commanding tone that was completely out of character for him.

“What in blazes Rusty?” Paperback said, as he picked up the list with magic and quickly glanced at it. Rusty's reply was quick and forthcoming.

“We died in the dungeon because of our gear. We still are using crap we picked up in the earlier levels. I ran around town and marked what gear you both should get and what shops and stalls to find it at, along with gold prices. We meet back here in fifteen minutes. Now, GO!” With that Rusty pulled a third list out of his pack and then leaped over the balcony railing. He received moderate damage from the fall and some incredulous looks from both his friends and several passerby as he tore off down the street.

Paperback and Sound Wave just stared blankly at each other for a moment before they gave the lists a more thorough look. “Well, we do have the money. We might as well.” Sound Wave said, as he slowly stretched his wings.

“I honestly shouldn't be so surprised. When I met Rusty, he told me he was hardcore min-maxer. Guess it just slipped my mind.” Paperback said, stowing the map of Gladden Fields into his inventory.

The two parted their separate ways into the market district and followed the instructions written out for them. It looked like Paperback would be buying a completely new ensemble. First off was his bracers. They were still cheap iron ones, which he sold for a pittance of gold and swapped out for a minor upgrade of Solid Iron Bracers.

Across the street he traded his mail for an upgrade; Steel Chain of the Boar. He put on the enchanted item, and marveled at how well it fit him, and how light it seemed. Was it just him, or did he feel a bit sturdier too? The item supposedly gave him a bonus to his stamina, but he didn't know if such effects would be tangible. Quite pleased with this one, he paid the large sum of bits for the armor and moved on to the next store.

Right next door was a blacksmith that he could get shoes at. The list required him to get a pair with only an armor rating, but there was an enchanted set that would let him jump higher- only for the price of all of his remaining gold. Still sorely tempted, he followed the list and moved on.

While he was making his way down the street to the shop that sold capes, Rusty came barreling up the road. Surprised, Paperback stopped for a moment as Rusty ran a full two circles around him, presumably to check his gear. Rusty stopped suddenly and stared him in the eye for a moment, before slamming a hoof against his own face, groaning. “You're so slooow!” He complained, then continued galloping at his previous pace up the street.

Bemused at the encounter, Paperback made his way into a clothing boutique, where he bought a  Toughened Black Cape, which boosted his armor even more. It was like Rusty was building him to be a tank, which was an absolutely silly notion, since he did the most damage out of the three.

He continued on like this at another two stores and a stall owned by a player, where at these places he bought some flank armor, a steel headband, and some potions. The stall he wasn't required to go to, but he had some bits left over, and a shiny pair of rimless glasses caught his eye. They were much like his own in the real world, and they felt comfortable and familiar in front of his eyes when he tried them out.  At least in the game they had no risk of falling off of his face, and he didn't need them for his vision.

Shopping now complete, Paperback returned to the balcony where they been planning before. Rusty Nail had obviously been done for a while, and he tapped a front hoof impatiently as Paperback climbed up the stairs. Rusty was now decked out in some blackened leather that covered the front half of his body, with matching bracers and pauldrons. Sound Wave stood next to him, the pegasus dressed in a new light blue robe. The bandana around his head looked a bit different, probably enchanted now, Paperback thought. He also had a new dagger strapped to his side, and a lyre or harp of some kind on the other.

“What's with the Harp?” Paperback asked, puzzled a bit at the instrument.

“Lyre, technically. It's a bard thing where we can equip instruments to improve our spells.” Sound Wave said, as he reached back and pat the instrument with affection. “Since it's only for one class, magically enchanted instruments are rather hard to come by. This Lyre of the Sea Breeze cost as much as the rest of my purchases combined.”

“Can we please head back to Saddeworth now? We'll probably have a better chance at finding people who are on that quest there.” Rusty Nail said,  “Oh, and Paperback? You are so slow at shopping.” With that said, Rusty leaped off the balcony- again- and trotted off to Chariot Park.



Saddleworth was a bit more crowded now that it was late afternoon in reality. A bit, of course, means far too many. The open marketplace that earlier had fewer than forty ponies now held closer to a hundred and fifty grouped here and there throughout the town. There were probably no fewer than another hundred out questing, if the amount of ponies coming and going from the town was any indication. Rusty Nail looked about in dismally as the chariot landed.

“There's so many level ones and twos now... Where did they all come from?” Rusty Nail groaned, “We'll never be able to find others our own level in this mess.” He craned his neck up and put his hooves on top of a box as he tried to see over the heads of the crowd. 

“These must be all the ponies who bought the game today after they got off school or work or whatever. Well, some of them. There are three other starting towns that probably look just as much of a mess as this.” Paperback said, “Aeroslida was full of just as many low-levels, but you were probably too busy min-maxing to pay attention.”

“Well, we need to find people. Sound Wave, can you search from the air? Pretty much anyone with armor that isn't beginner gear should do. Rusty and I will look down here.” Paperback said. Sound Wave nodded, prepping for takeoff. “Check in by the tavern after fifteen minutes.”

The group split up, and Paperback went in a slow circle around town, peeking at faces and nameplates. The vast majority of people were indeed level ones and the occasional level two, but every now and then he would see a level three with the same rusty armor that he had from the tutorial quest chain. If NPC's could be happy, then Query, that old wizard, must be elated to have helped so many players understand the game. Indeed, those who had obviously completed the tutorial moved with purpose, and seemed to have a clear idea of how to go about finding quests. Paperback made a mental note to go back and thank Query someday.

There were a few players around Paperback's level, but none of them had the time to do a dungeon, or had other quests they were attending to. He returned to the inn a bit early and waited. Sound Wave and Rusty Nail arrived moments later.

“Paperback! Four ponies a bit higher in level than us just arrived on the chariot!” Sound Wave said excitedly. “This way!” Paperback of course followed swiftly.

Indeed, four ponies walked towards the road heading southwest, towards Gladden Fields. After a brief moment Paperback recognized them as the group that he saw earlier in the day as they argued around a table when he first arrived in town. He caught a snippet of conversation as he approached,, carefully phrasing what he was going to say in his head. He walked slowly though, and absorbed bit of their conversation while he carefully took a peek at their faces without making it noticeable. Three of them were pegasi, which surprised him a little.

“We almost had him that time. We at least know their base is probably in the mountains now, but if Nitro had just been more careful we would know for sure.” The speaker, a large coal-colored pegasus stallion with a crimson mane looked pointedly at a blue-coated pegasus wrapped in a black cloak. Paperback frowned at the coloration of the first pony. For some reason, a lot of teenagers thought that black coats were 'cool' or 'in style' or something, and he had seen several of the new players sporting them. With custom characterization, it was unavoidable that there would be a few, but to Paperback it would have been nicer if people had picked the coat colors they had in real life. Unless of course those really are their colors in real life, who am I to judge?

The blue pegasus, Nitro, gave a halfhearted glare at his teammate for a moment, before giving up as his face turned into a smile. “Hey, how was I supposed to know that that flock of vultures would be hostile? “ He seemed too happy. One of those perpetually joyful people that could wear out Paperback in an instant.

“The messenger avoiding them too should have been a bit of a hint.” The coal-coated pegasus said.

“The mountain lion that showed up when we rushed to help was a bit of a surprise.” The only unicorn in the group said. Paperback detected a Canterlot accent in her voice. Her coat was a rich purplish-blue color, with a styled mane that was striped cyan and blonde.

The third pegasus, with a coat of midnight black and a mane of the same color with a violet streak, nodded vigorously as she added in. “Mm-hmm! It jumped on us so fast that it got Chalice before I even realized what had happened.” Funny, Paperback thought that from her energetic movement that she would be louder.

So now he knew two of their names. Oh god, how to approach them without being awkward. I hate initiating conversations what do I say I can't make it be awk- Luckily, he didn't have to say anything, because Sound Wave spoke up first.

“Hi there! We couldn't help but overhear your conversation, but are you talking about the bandit messenger for the quest from Major Dowsing?” Well, not terribly awkward. Certainly better than anything that would have come out of his own mouth.

A brief pause occurred before the black pegasus spoke up. “Yeah, we keep failing to follow him back to the hideout. We don't suppose you know where it is?”

Rusty Nail talked next, “Sure thing, mate! We actually just did that quest, and we're looking for people to help us clear the dungeon that's there.”

Nitro, who gave off the impression of a constant sugar-high, said, “Ooh! I knew there would be a dungeon there! I did one earlier with some other people, and it was a lot of fun.”

The unicorn, Chalice, chimed in, “Some help would certainly be appreciated, if they're as tough as Nitro said they were. I'm Chalice, Chalice Longshot. This one, “ she waved a hoof in Nitro's direction, “Is Nitro Rush. Over there are Night Stalker and Dilluted Livo.” Both black coated pegasi gave their own greetings when referred to. The large stallion, Night Stalker, gave a slight nod of his head while the mare Dilluted Livo waved her hoof.

“I'm Rusty Nail.” Rusty said, extending a hoof which Chalice shook. At least Rusty wasn't trying to hit on her, like he accidentally did with Sound earlier. Or, at least he wasn't hitting on her yet.

“And I'm Sound Wave.” The cyan pegasus said, as he traded a hoofbump with Diluted Livo.

Which left Paperback shaking hands with the giddy Nitro, “Paperback. Pleasure to meet you all.”

Rusty Nail took over talking again “Well then, let's merge groups, and we can head off to Major Dowsing's outpost; it's almost a straight line from there...”


------------


The integration of the two groups was far more seamless than what would be expected. The Night Stalker character was the 'official leader' of the group, but they had sort of melded together in a pure democratic mish-mash rather quickly. At first, they all stayed together on the ground up until they reached Major Dowsing; where Paperback, Rusty Nail, and Sound Wave traded in the messenger quest for the obvious one. Kill the bandit leader, and bring back his head.



Level Up!

Paperback has reached level 10!

He has gained the following skills!
~Improved Telekinesis: The range at which the Spell Warrior can effectively swing his weapon is increased, and he can lift heavier objects passively.
~Elemental Aura: Toggled. This ability, when on, consumes an amount of mana per second to deal elemental damage of the user's choice to surrounding enemies
To be shocked, scorched, corroded, or frozen. Plenty of ways to kill a pony.



He received a small congratulations for his level up, which raised him from being the lowest level party member to being tied for the lowest level. That new toggled ability of his... combined with his Elemental weapon, it would prove to be quite the damaging combination. Not to mention that it would probably drain him of mana by the end of a single fight.

The group then slowly split into two as Night Stalker and Dilluted Livo took to the air with Sound Wave, to better scout ahead. This left Chalice, Rusty, Nitro, and Paperback trotting along on the ground, keeping a brisk pace to match the pegasi flying above.

Paperback, no longer leading the group of three, fell back into a routine that was so very similar to his real life. Rusty kept a speedy tongue about him, almost as fast as Nitro in how fast he could spew words out of his mouth. Chalice Longshot, while not keeping the same verbal pace, spoke often enough that she was a regular part of the conversation. The orange spell warrior, however, stayed a few feet behind, and gave only half of his attention to the conversation. The last time he had interjected with anything was a full ten minutes ago.

“... and so it turned out that the engine pistons were so grimy that they weren't pumping right, so I had to douse them in cleaner that was strong enough to strip paint.” Rusty said, as a conversation wrapped up about technology and engineering. Nitro was some sort of tinkerer of machines himself, and the two hit it off on the spot. Chalice, who was a librarian in real life apparently, had read a book or two on the subject and was at least able to understand what they were talking about. Paperback simply nodded his head whenever it was expected of him, completely clueless as to what they were talking about.

Nitro responded with... something. Paperback had stopped paying attention again, mind lazily looking at the scenery. He absentmindedly took in the details, only for them to be forgotten bit by bit a minute later. They had reached the top of a hill, near the mountains and the bandit hideout. The sun made a slow arc through the sky as it descended behind the mountains ahead of them, bathing them in shadow. Paperback stared north, where the twilit sky danced in effervescent shades of purple, slowly replacing the smoky orange light of the sun. The hills before him lay half-shrouded by their own shadow, and what might be miles ahead a forest already blocked all light with it's canopy, leaving the floor an impenetrable midnight black.

His gaze shifted around the landscape, before he settled his vision on the forest far beyond. As he stared into the undergrowth he could have sworn that, for a moment, he had been granted eagle vision to see the trees as if they were naught twenty feet away. And in that brief glimpse, he saw two cold yellow eyes stare back at him. Two cold yellow eyes framed by tusks. It was Briarbuck, and he looked hungry.

It was at this instant that Paperback knew who his true opponent was. The overseers, the bandit leaders, any dragons and kings- all small and insignificant compared to the beast that roamed freely in the land. Briarbuck walked the realm of Equestrian Earth, hungry, mad, and smart. Those eyes had a spark, and that glare said more in a second than any conversation would. Briarbuck saw him, and would gladly feast on him, and any other adventurers, over and over again to feed his insatiable bloodlust. No puny pony could stand before his terrible wrath, he would gore and trample any who would try and resist and run down those who would dare flee him. He would see the land a barren wasteland devoid of life, simply out of sheer spite and contempt for all other living creatures. Celestia protect us all.

The eyes disappeared as quickly as they came, the shape of the beast withdrew into the darkness of the undergrowth. Paperback turned to notify his companions, but found only air. Drat! How long have I been standing here? To avoid the beast that roamed in the darkness beyond, Paperback checked his map, and started galloping in the direction of the bandit city to rejoin his group.

He didn't need to run very far, he managed to catch up to them just after they crossed into the long valley where the bandit city stood. Although the very last light of the sun did not reach in here, he could find his way around using the light of the gibbous moon and the stars. The fact that Rusty and Nitro were still talking helped immensely.

He reached the party swiftly and found the six of them scattered about on the ground, the pegasi returned to the ground to avoid losing the rest of them in the night. They were making a fairly good pace, but if any of the rest of them were talking the were drowned out by Nitro and Rusty, who were calling to each other from ten feet away as they continued their conversation on machines.

Paperback took up a spot a few feet behind and to the right of Chalice, the soft clop of his metal boots signifying his presence. She looked back at him and said, “Oh there you are, I didn't even see you vanish earlier. Where did you go?”

For a moment, Paperback wanted to warn them all. To shout at the top of his lungs that the true evil in this game was Briarbuck the Ever-Hungry, devourer of all life, and that he needed to be stopped. He wanted to, but he realized that no one would believe him. So instead he simply replied, “I stopped to admire the sunset for a bit, and lost track of you all. Glad I caught up.” It wasn't a lie, really. It just wasn't the entire truth.

Chalice nodded, and didn't pursue the subject further. They were almost to the cliff where the city lay, dug into the mountainside. Rusty and Nitro were quiet now, and every half minute or so another silent ping notified him that he had gained some experience. Nitro and Sound Wave had closed the distance between Paperback and Chalice, forming a sort of diamond shape. Rusty Nail, Night Stalker, and Dilluted Livo were nowhere to be seen, although he had a fair guess that they were sneaking ahead, taking down wandering patrols.

How would this dungeon work, with the seven of them? Sound Wave had been specialized to be a healer, thanks to Rusty's ridiculous min-maxing abilities. Rusty, Night Stalker, and Livo were all rogues, so they could easily be the damage dealers of the party. From what Paperback had read up on Rune Casters, which was what Chalice was, they made great support and crowd control casters. Nitro Rush was a paladin, and if the bulkiness of that great big black cloak told Paperback anything, it was that he was packing heavy armor underneath it. 

That just left him. Some sort of awkward, half-tank, half-damage combo. Rusty had obviously made him buy gear that increased his endurance and stamina, as well as being highly protective while not quite being heavy armor. It cut his mobility terribly though, the added weight of the heavier armor slowed him down far more than he thought it would. His damage wouldn't scale as nicely now either, and he would start lagging behind and slowing down the party.

First, the clearing. Then, the thicket. Finally, they could see the buildings of stone displayed before them. Ponies could be seen as they walked across rooftops, lit by the dim light of torches mounted on walls.

“What an incredible stroke of good luck!” Sound Wave quietly exclaimed, pointing up the road that disappeared into the tunnel that lead into the heart of the mountain. “There's the messenger coming down right now, it should be easy to nab her.”

“Night Stalker, if you would do the honors.” Rusty said, and the large black pegasus took to the skies and circled around behind them so that he wouldn't be spotted. The messenger walked to the end of the road and then spread her wings, where she quickly attained flight, about to fly right over the thicket where the party was hiding.

She never got the chance to pass by them though, because a massive black blur slammed into her from above. Her wings crippled, the messenger collapsed to the ground with a dagger in her neck, just five feet short of the rest of them. A victorious Night Stalker stood above her, who quickly retrieved his weapon, and the important quest documents. The other three who needed to loot her followed suit.

Night Stalker turned to Rusty, “So, were you planning on heading back with us to Major Dowsing while we get the dungeon quest?”

Rusty shook his head, “Nah, the three of us will stay here and farm. We're all close to leveling up again, so that way we'll be closer to you guys. Although, I saw something here last time that might make your trip just a little bit faster... Give me just a moment.”

Rusty sped off towards the city, where he quickly disappeared among the stonework. A few seconds later, there was a silent ping as everyone in the party gained experience, and then Rusty could be seen again. He appeared to have hitched himself onto a chariot, which he pulled back to the group in a sort of awkward lopsided angle, since the chariot was meant to be pulled by two ponies.

Once he got back he said, “Here you go. One chariot, so that two of you can carry Ms. Chalice there and back without having to walk all the way.”

Chalice looked dubious, “That... Is incredibly convenient. It was just sitting there?”

“Well, it was guarded. Was.” Rusty said, putting a bit of emphasis on the past tense word.

Nitro Rush was helping Night Stalker and Diluted Livo into the harnesses for the Chariot, which Chalice hopped into when they were finished. Night Stalker said, “We'll probably be back in about fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. Try not to get killed?”

“Don't worry, I won't tackle any overseers off of towers.” Rusty replied, which gave the four of the other party confused looks as they took off to the northeast. Sound Wave hushed a chuckle into his hoof at their bemused expressions, while Paperback gave a roll of his eyes that ended on his friend.

A quick grinding session ensued, that was in no ways organized or methodical at all. The three of them had a level above the highest mobs outside the dungeon- save for one or two leaders- and they used that as their only advantage as they raced up and down the buildings, sweeping aside anypony who stood in their way. Most mobs came in groups of one or two, and the often didn't see the trio of warriors in the darkness before they crashed down upon them like a silent wave. Spells were flung, skulls were bashed, and quite a few ponies were sent hurtling to their deaths off of the buildings-  something that Rusty Nail got good at rather fast. Sound Wave got more time in for practicing with his dagger, and he remarked that he found close combat exhilarating. 

Not having the other four in close proximity meant that the original trio was gaining more experience again, and it wasn't long before Rusty Nail and Sound Wave leveled up, making Paperback the lowest level party member again. Shortly after, they received a ping in the party chat, asking them where they were. Night Stalker and the other three had returned, and they were wondering where all of the bandits had gone.

“I sent them on a little trip.” Rusty Nail said, choosing the most overused pun ever, and made Paperback roll his eyes inconspicuously.  They left the chariot where they could easily find it later, and entered the swirling mist that signified the entrance to a dungeon.


----YOU ARE NOW ENTERING BANDIT CAVERNS----


The blue portal that led into the instance could only be described as... Squishy. Uncomfortably squishy. The barrier offered a yielding resistance which was equivalent to the feeling that one had when they pushed their face into a bowl of pudding. Not that Paperback would know from experience, of course. Paperback instinctively closed his eyes as his face met resistance, but his breathing was unimpeded. The invisible gateway seemed to cling onto him, slowing down his movement until all of his body and tail were through and he was abruptly let go.

He opened his eyes now that he found himself free of the squishy, uncomfortable portal. He knew this area. He had been here once before, although he didn't make it past the first wave of mobs. The first room of the dungeon was a hallway, which led straight and level to a large gate room of some sort, where bandits awaited. The stonework here was smooth, leaving the walls with a glassy surface. The floor was comprised of misshapen marble tiles, cemented together in a jigsaw pattern which the group's hoofbeats echoed off of. 

Nitro Rush was point leader, Paperback following close behind as an off-tank as they approached the first room. They could see the light of hanging lanterns before they reached the room, staying just out of sight of the guards that Paperback knew were waiting there. Four archers, two rogues, and the most obnoxious warrior wielding a warhammer. Rusty and Night Stalker were ironing out a plan on how to take them.

“Alright, so we have Nitro and Paperback tanking the big one, while the three of us-” Rusty said, referring to himself, Night Stalker, and Dilluted Livo, “Rush around and keep the archers from getting off too many shots.”

Night Stalker nodded, and turned to Chalice, “You were crafting runes all the way to the camp and back, right? Snare one of the melee fighters so that they don't bug us or the tanks as much.” He then addressed Sound Wave, “Keep your heals focused on the tanks, that hammer looks like it packs a punch.”

“I know from experience.” Sound Wave said dryly. On their first attempt, warhammer had gotten a lucky critical hit and managed to smash Sound in a single blow. The party Bard was not enthused.

“Well, that's it then. Your turn, boys.” Rusty Nail said.

Nitro grinned excitedly and hopped up and down, making his heavy armor underneath his cloak  clink against itself. “Our turn! C'mon Paperback!” The excitable Paladin charged down the hallway,  while he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out- of all things- a massive scythe which he somehow gripped in his mouth. Accursed game physics. Paperback thought for a moment, before he broke out of his stupor and ran after him, mace in midair.

The bandits were surprised to see them, to say the least. Nitro roared with a voice of thunder between his teeth and the scythe, an impressive feat. The other bandits reacted, archers quickly knocked their bows. The two- no, three rogues? Oh well, one more wouldn't make a difference. Warhammer was the slowest, however, he gazed in open mouth awe until Nitro leaped into the air to swing his weapon around in a cleave.

That certainly got his attention. Paperback though as he swung his mace back and forth, getting the aggro of the melee fighters by knocking two of them in their skulls. The rest of the party was right behind him, and the third melee fighter was already caught in vines that sprouted out of the floor. Three shadows jumped around him and knocked into the archers- a moment too late in his opinion, because he now had two arrows sticking out of him. The soothing relief of a healing spell washed over him moments later, far more powerful than Sound Wave's previous ability. Guess that harp was something special.

His morningstar let out stray bolts of crackling lightning as he dueled the two bandits. Whenever he parried a thrust from a dagger, the other got him in the side. It was slow going, but their health decreased steadily, and as they flanked him for damage again he swung around and planted a powerful buck right into one's face, which ended that tactic.  He turned to help Nitro with the Warhammer- oh, no, the rogues have that handled.

Now that there wasn't immediate combat in occurrence, Paperback allowed himself to get a better look at the room. It was quite large, and high enough for three ponies to stand on top of each other. Along the walls to the sides four pits into nothingness could be seen. Empty mine carts were in the room, so it could only be assumed that these holes were where they dropped their ore off for... whatever they were doing. On the opposite side of the room where they entered from there was a gate leading into a hallway similar to the first.

“Well, that was easy enough.” Rusty said, as the bodies were looted. As easy as it was going to get, anyways. The party continued on and left behind the entrance hall, which led them into a slowly descending hallway which curved ever so slightly to the left, a gentle corkscrew into the earth. The walls were crafted like above, smoothly polished stone reflecting the light off of lanterns placed along the wall. Artistic reliefs were present on columns embedded into the wall every twenty feet, but most of them were defaced by graffiti or rubbed out.

“So the bandits didn't make this place then.” Paperback thought aloud. He didn't think so, they showed no signs of the craftsmanship or the patience required to make something this artsy and stable.

“What was that?” Diluted Livo said behind him, her quiet voice barely vibrated off of the walls. The party was arranged in an arrow, with Nitro at point and Paperback just behind him to the left. Behind Paperback was Rusty, who constantly peeked behind him for patrolling mobs. Night Stalker and Diluted Livo were on the other side, sandwiching the two main casters in case of a surprise attack. Unlikely in a beginning dungeon, but it was agreed that this would be the standard party formation from now on.

“Oh, just commenting to myself. The bandits didn't dig out these tunnels, they're far older than that. They simply found this place and moved in.” Paperback replied, deigning to give an explanation even though it wasn't required.

Chalice spoke up from the back of the arrow, “What makes you say that, then?” A gentle voice, like a teacher talking to a student, asking him to show how he reached the correct answer. She probably already knew the evidence.

“The walls. They're polished until they glisten, but some spots are gritty and have a lot of irregular bumps in them, probably erosion from dripping groundwater. Then there's the pillars. All of them were artistically designed, but most of the reliefs are unrecognizable either from age or the bandits scribbling all over them. I highly doubt bandits have the patience to make these marble floors or carve reliefs into the wall.” Paperback said. He realized that he just said more words all at once than he had in the entire time that they had all been a party together.

He looked back to catch Chalice giving him an approving smile. His mouth half-attempted a grin, but he never could smile quite right. Inside though, he was beaming with inward pride as teacher put a gold star next to his name. A little private victory of knowledge, but he would take it in stride.

Night Stalker perked his ears up, “Bandits ahead. Encounter number two, same plan as before.” Architectural musing time over, Paperback charged with Nitro Rush into the fray.


------------


The curvature of the path grew ever-wider as they went downwards, descending at a gradual pace. Quite a few mobs patrolled up and down the hall, but they were small enough as to be quickly dealt with before any serious time was wasted. Eventually, they reached a door on the left wall that would lead into the center of the spiral. The door was ornate, with more reliefs on it that were long since erased by time. Perhaps if Paperback paid more attention in history he would know which of the old pony cities this place belonged to. Probably one that consisted of earth ponies and unicorns; he couldn't imagine pegasi being at home down here.

The group readied themselves for combat, then Nitro Rush and Paperback charged through.

The first thought that struck Paperback was that the pony standing in front of them was absolutely massive, at least a pony and a half tall and overshadowed even the large Night Stalker. The second thought was about how much the hammer that the giant wielded would hurt. Thought number three was actually a question in the form of; how the hell can we hit him with that much armor?

Nitro, unabashed, by the size of the enemy, rushed forward into the massive room to tackle the pony head on. Unlike the brute in the first room, however, this pony had sharp reflexes. Quick as a whip he bit the shaft of the giant warhammer by his side and brought it swinging around. It smashed into Nitro in mid-air, and launched him into the wall.

With his ally down, Paperback charged the massive pony who was named Steelweather, from his nameplate. A gold border embellished it, indicating that Steelweather was an elite monster. It would certainly explain how a single blow took out half of Nitro's health. Before another few moments had passed, he had three rogues bouncing around Steelweather with him. Luckily, the massive hammer was capable of being dodged. While it did have the momentum to keep moving, it didn't change directions easily and the rogues used their speed to full advantage.

Paperback however seemed to be completely out of luck. His new heavier armor slowed him down considerably, and after just a minute his stamina was almost completely drained from dodging and rolling. He soon received a full smack from the hammer and was sent sprawling back with a crippled leg and a seriously depleted health pool.

Now Nitro was back up though, and this time he completed his charge into Steelweather, which knocked him off-balance and momentarily halted the deadly whirlwind of the warhammer. That opening was all that the three rogues needed, and they jumped on top of him relentlessly. Daggers struck in the opening between armor plates, and Steelweather finally fell.

The division of loot had already begun by the time a healing spell washed over him, two holographic windows opening up in his vision displaying loot to be rolled for. The first of which was the Forepony's Greathammer, which no one in the party but the paladin had any proficiency in. Nitro passed on it though, and so it went to Night Stalker to sell. The second piece was Steelweather's Helm, a surprisingly stylized closed steel helmet with miniscule decorative horns.  It was better then the Iron Band he had, so at the urging of Rusty he took it.

To have a helmet on for combat disturbed him greatly. First off he had to take off his glasses to wear it, which triggered mental reactions in his brain that he needed his glasses. Yes, in the game they were for aesthetic purposes only but he did rather like having them. Secondly the closed helmet cut off most of his field of view, which irked him to no end. If he wanted to see anything happening to the side of him he would now have to turn his head in whatever direction he wanted to look. It was magically enchanted to raise his strength though, which would help his struggling damage output.

“Now you look like a fearsome warrior, mate.” Rusty Nail said, as Paperback equipped it. Fierce? He didn't feel fierce. He felt foolish. Like he was about to run into something.

“Because of how that hallway curved, we got turned around a bit. This hallway will take us directly beneath the mountain.” Chalice said, as her horn glowed with a spell. She seemed to sense Paperback's inquisitive look- now mostly hidden behind the helmet- and continued, “There's more spells besides combat ones, I spent the gold to learn a few of them. Quite useful.” Of course there would be more spells to lean besides Shocking Grasp and Burning Hoof. Why didn't he bother with getting some of them? She probably used Know Direction, or the MMO equivalent of the level zero Dungeons and Dragons spell.

The party began their descent further down into the dungeon. This new hallway was carved in a manner similar to the one above, but this one had corridors branching out on both sides every twenty feet. These corridors traveled a very short distance to rooms where ponies evidently slept. Sleeping rugs, and even a few beds were here- as well as more ponies who weren't so pleased to see them. There was gold scattered in various places though, so going into each one was worth their time. In one room, there was even a lone pony sleeping. Before anypony could say anything, Rusty had quietly snuck up and dealt him a killing blow. 

This hallway continued for another thirty feet, and began sloping downwards again. The corridors to rooms stopped, but now there was two openings that directly entered some sort of common area, where there was a large group of bandits in each room.

“Try and sneak past or take them out?” Night Stalker said, and the debate began. The majority were in favor of gaining the extra experience (Paperback favored sneaking past, while Chalice was ambivalent). So, the group sneaked towards the left common room.

It was at least twenty feet wide and forty feet across, with a woven rug covering much of the stone floor. A fire blazed at one end, making Paperback wonder where the smoke went. Four gruff ponies were playing cards at a table, the noise a constant squabble punctuated by curses. Another two ponies, one of them a unicorn, were engaged in a game of checkers, much more silent than their counterparts at the other end of the room. It was strange to see bandits behaving this way. They seemed normal, like the everyday ponies he could meet on the streets of Los Pegasus.

His mind darkened with cloudy thoughts. Is the purpose of this game just to murder ponies who probably don't deserve that? Are the developers just sick fiends who wanted to make a game where they could slay creatures at random without guilt because they were digital?

Then one of the bandits turned and saw the group as they charged. “Oi! Intruders! Knife em!” Oh well, so much for the pleasant dream of bandits being 'innocent.' The developers weren't evil, they were just people trying to test the bounds of technology and create a story. He'd had crazier delusions than that.

...No, Briarbuck being an insidious evil mastermind of a boar who was out to devour the world and leave it a barren empty wasteland was not a delusion. He was quite sure of that. Murder was in that boar's eyes...

Back to the virtual reality at hand, the group met the charging bandits head-on. Literally, in Paperback's case. He smacked one bandit aside with his morningstar then rammed his newly protected skull into the next bandit's head. That one fell onto his flank stunned, he would be out of it for a few seconds. Just enough time for him to deal with his first opponent. A rapid combination of Strike, Lightning Grasp, Corrosion, and Burning hoof took a decent quarter of his mana away but dropped the rogue like a stone.

A shout from behind made him turn around, just in time to see Chalice and Sound Wave get jumped on from behind. It seemed that the rogues in the other room heard what was going on and decided to join the party. He ran back to them and gave a mighty stroke of his mace which dislodged the bandit on Sound Wave's back. A skid on his side slammed him into another bandit that was about to leap onto Chalice.

At least he wasn't restricted to wielding a weapon in his mouth like these five newcomers- not like he'd be able to in a helmet anyways. The two casters backed up as he stood his ground, using the shaft of his weapon to parry blows and smashing with his head whenever someone got too close. In this manner he managed to hold off his foes until the rest of the party finished up behind him and surged forward like a wave to deal with the next group.

More loot and room searching, then back to the main hallway. They were now presented with a double door, about two ponies high and made of a solid wood with iron bindings. A moment of deliberation, and they pushed the door open...

There were many words to describe the place they just entered. 'Large' would not be one of them. 'Large' was a ridiculous understatement for the sheer size of the cavern. A better word perhaps might be 'massive' or perhaps 'colossal'.

It was indescribably gargantuan. The cavern stretched so far across that were it not for the torchlights marking paths on the other side, one would not be able to see it. Their own entrance put them on a pathway that was carved into the wall, descending slightly as it curved around the cavern. Built into the walls were carved surfaces that must be more buildings; they had window slits with light pouring through. Before them over the edge of the path stood nothing. A gaping pit that stretched across everything and emptied down into the darkness below which no light could pierce, not even the shining of the moon from an opening in the ceiling. The moonlight gave a blue glow over all of the paths that crisscrossed over the chasm,  which connected the various passages that came out of the walls. It was a staggering sight.

“Wonder what's at the bottom...” Rusty Nail muttered, peering over the edge. He took a dagger out of his inventory and dropped it, turning his ears to hear when it hit bottom. One second... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine. Was that a clang? “That's...” Rusty looked up in thoughtful concentration as he attempted to calculate the distance. “Deep,” he said, “very deep.”

Master elocutionist, that one. Paperback thought, observing what lay before them on their current path. It twisted to the left, carved into the wall of the cliff. Assuming the cavern was roughly circular in nature it probably covered a decent fifty degree arc. There appeared to be two separate mob groups patrolling back and forth, and near the exit leading back into the mountain there was a bulge in the path where a group of warriors rested.

“It's simple.” Rusty said, looking back at the party. “We get the pegasi to carry us to the final path that leads to the boss room.”

“And which one is the final path?” Chalice said, pointing out the obvious flaw in his plan.

“Err... uh...” Rusty floundered for a moment as his brain caught up with his mouth. “Oh. Right.”

“Let's move on then.” Night Stalker said, pointing down the path that they were already on. The party kept to the same formation that they were now accustomed to, with Nitro in front and the rogues plus spell warrior flanking the spellcasters. They rammed into the first patrol group with enough force to quickly overpower them. The second group was more prepared. Having heard the fighting above, they managed to get off a spell and some arrows before the melee fighters closed in, but still were ruthlessly mowed down by the group of seven. The last group who were positioned on the bulge in the path was larger than the other two, and it was here that what could possibly be considered a fight took place, albeit a short one.

Night Stalker and Diluted Livo, in what looked like perfect synchronization, unfurled their wings and charged two archers in the back row. The result of the charge (which Paperback knew only too well from the times that he had been assaulted from the air) sent the archers sprawling backwards, but with no further floor to land on they hurtled to their death at whatever lay at the bottom of the pit.

Nitro and Paperback meanwhile slammed into four melee fighters who were organizing themselves. The holy wrath of the Paladin and arcane might of the Spell Warrior kept them at bay, which let Rusty Nail slip past and disrupt the two unicorns who just launched their first wave of spells.

The fight unraveled shortly after that, as the damage dealers took out the remaining archers and mages. All seven members of the party then converged on the lone warrior remaining, which brought him a pitifully quick death.

The door led them away from the massive chasm and into a large room that was high enough for a pegasus to comfortably hover. It was carved in the same manner as the rooms above, with smooth walls and pillars. They entered into the middle of the room, with a hallway branching out on the right side. On the left there was a massive pile of rocks underneath a hole in the ceiling, which Paperback immediately assumed was ore dumped from the first room up above. Light was provided by torches on the back wall, and tiny windows high on the fore wall that let in the minute amount of reflected moonlight from the cavern just outside. Barrels were placed haphazardly in clusters around the room; upon closer examination it was revealed that they were full of ore that was sorted and ready to be carted off. 

A quick search around the room yielded a little loot of ore, and some gold tucked away in a pot in the corner. Hoofbeats that sounded from the hallway cut their search short, and another battle commenced as the two tanks slammed into the front line of the bandit patrol.

A swift finish to the fight set the seven of them moving down the hallway, which had the slightest curve to it before the party reached a doorway. 

“It's probably another boss fight; the door is similar to the last one.” Rusty Nail noted. A stone double door with faded reliefs eroded by time, which would most likely swing away from them

“Well then. Give me a moment to give you all a buff or two and then we'll move on.” Chalice said, as her horn glowed and she began to work her runic magic.

After their minute of preparation, Nitro and Paperback pushed on the doors, forcing them to swing aside and let the party through.

A blast of warm air buffeted the party when the crack between the doors was large enough. Before them lay a massive central forge, pouring out molten ore into various containers. Anvils and other such devices were being hammered upon by blacksmith ponies of all races, forging weapons and armor of all sorts. On a platform up above, a unicorn overseer raised himself onto the railing, where he peered down at the new interlopers.

All work in the forge ground to a halt as the doors continued to swing of their own momentum until they banged into the wall. A short stare off occurred then, neither party making the first move.

Paperback had actually been growing steadily more fidgety as they progressed through the dungeon. He had been hiding it well, but the continued agitation of dead silent waits between battles had given him an itchy trigger horn. Combined with the fact that he was already acclimatized to the fighting of the game made him absolutely despise this face off. With a menacing roar- although inside he was giddy with nervous excitement- he swung his mace as he charged the nearest foe.

Half a second behind him was Nitro Rush, scythe spun in a deadly twirl as his body pinwheeled in the air, kept aloft by his wings. The scythe rent one of the blacksmiths for massive damage, and those on the ground floor converged onto the two tanks. Night Stalker and Dilluted Livo flew into the air, where they soared over the machinery and straight over to the unicorn, who lobbed a fireball before they reached him.

Chalice was snaring some of the blacksmiths to keep the two tanks from being overwhelmed, while Sound Wave took an air position where he could heal anyone who needed it. Rusty Nail sprinted around the room, where he took down any ranged units in quick bursts with all of his abilities.

Paperback sucked in a breath a a burning sting smacked him in the side. Many of the blacksmiths wielded half-forged swords, still glowing hot from the fire. They dealt quite a bit of damage even when the hits glanced off of his solid pieces of armor, but at least then the heat from the blow was dispersed evenly throughout his body. 

Now surrounded, he toggled on his Elemental Aura to deal with the enemies. He felt a slow but constant drain on his mana begin as his body crackled with electric power. Stray arcs of energy shot up and down his coat, attracted to his metal chainmail. Then as if a switch was flicked on, the arcs multiplied in number, shooting off of his body to strike the bandits around him. He spun around with his mace, and struck all who got near him. Combined with the passive energy he was imbuing into his weapon, the power that radiated around his body quickly felled the lesser minions. 

Above, the two pegasi rogues were having difficulty with the boss. The unicorn had no difficulty casting in combat, and was deft and nimble enough to dodge their attacks while he charged up spells. Another fireball blasted into Night Stalker, who couldn't dodge the speedy missile at such close range. Rusty Nail, finished with the periphery bandits, leaped up the path to the platform. Now faced with three rogues, the wizard was cut off from dodging so easily, and he would be quickly taken care of while the three down below finished off the minions.

A minute later the party slowly shuffled around the room as they looted bodies and searched around the forges. A fair amount of loot was had, which included a Runed Cape and a Pendant of Mana Restoration dropped by the boss. The cape, which gave some armor and a boost to intellect went to Paperback, while the Pendant went to Sound Wave.

The exit, which was behind the boss on the platform, made a sharp turn and brought them out into the grand cavern again. They could see the pathway that they were on before a good hundred degrees around the circle, where the grand stone door which led them here still stood open flanked by torches. The arched path in front of them led straight over the chasm, a seeming miracle of engineering that held without any support in the middle, where it dropped into the deep darkness.

“What's down there, anyways?” Sound Wave said, as he stared into the abyss. Paperback had to wonder if the abyss stared back. Some great monster, perhaps? 

“Well, we have wings. We could fly down and check. Would only take a minute or so.” Nitro said, whereupon he flapped his for emphasis.

“Us unicorns need to regenerate our mana a bit more before we take on the mobs on the other side, so you're more than welcome to.” Chalice said, resting so she could drink a mana potion. Paperback's mana was still only half full as well, but he would be fine for the next fight. “I'll admit, I'm a bit curious as to what's down there myself.”

“Well, I wouldn't mind flying down. Let's go grab a couple of the torches by the entrance and fly down.” Night Stalker spoke as he took to the air, quickly followed by Dilluted Livo and Nitro. A slightly hesitant Sound Wave took off a moment later, following the three other pegasi down to the depths below.

The two torches were held in hoof by Night Stalker and Nitro Rush, and the light dimly reflected off of the cavern walls for what must have been two hundred feet down before they were swallowed in darkness. 

The wait began, a patient Paperback and Chalice Longshot rested while the uppity and energy-fueled Rusty Nail fidgeted as he paced up and down the near side of the bridge. Paperback had removed his excess agitation during the last fight, so he did not feel the itch of the trigger horn bother him. 

A minute passed in silence. Almost imperceptibly, the earth gave a quiet shake and some loose dirt dislodged itself and fell to the depths below. The three of them twitched their ears in unison; something was wrong.

Paperback opened up the display that detailed the statistics of all the members in one's party. Sound Wave used in mid-combat to see who needed healing the most.

Chalice had done the same thing evidently, because she repeated the same thought that echoed in Paperback's head. “Night Stalker is dead.” She said in a hushed voice.

Rusty Nail turned to her, “What?” He too opened up his display, only to frown at the information that confirmed what she said. Night Stalker had died, and they hadn't even heard it.

Another tremble of the mountain, and Nitro Rush's health bar immediately dropped to zero, confirming another pony down. “What is happening down there?” Rusty said impatiently, as his fidget grew worse.

Paperback thought he heard something echo up the chasm, but it was so quiet and distorted that it was impossible to tell if it was a real sound or something eerie his head created. “Did you hear that?” He asked the two of them. Chalice nodded her head, while Rusty just continued to glare into the darkness below. His only movement the occasional twitch of an ear, like an antenna trying to get a signal.

Not thirty seconds after the first shudder, a third one came. Sound Wave's health bar grayed out, another pegasus claimed by whatever was picking off the party that went down below.

Ten seconds passed. Twenty seconds. Thirty, and no fourth shudder of the earth. Night Stalker had respawned by now, and Paperback had sent him a ping which he would hopefully respond to after he got his bearings together.

Another noise echoed up the cavern, still imperceptible, but a much higher pitch. It seemed muted, so the speaker must be much closer. Dilluted Livo had survived, and was slowly making her way up out of the abyss.

Nitro Rush and Sound Wave had respawned by the time that the trio on the arch could see Dilluted Livo slowly winging her way up the cavern in a circular motion, too tired to fly straight up. Unless the atmosphere of the cave didn't allow that. Paperback didn't know how wings worked. Night Stalker had sent a message through the party chat, but it just said “Flying back. Should be there in fifteen.”

Dilluted Livo finally reached them, where Chalice and Paperback helped her onto the arch where she collapsed, stamina depleted. She breathed deeply for a minute before she could even attempt to talk again, but it was obvious she was still a tad hysterical about whatever attacked them down below. Chalice managed to coax her to slow down her speech so that the rest of them could understand what happened.

“Well, we got a few hundred feet down,” she started, “When Night Stalker said he thought he saw the bottom. We got a bit closer, and found a huge stalagmite formation that was clustered there. We hovered above the floor just close enough so that we could just see it, and right next to the stalagmite cluster was an underground lake.”

She stopped to take another breath, this was obviously where they were attacked. “Night drifted over lake while the rest of us hovered around Nitro's torch, looking at the cave floor and wondering how something this massive was formed. The entire cave shook, and the light from Night's torch disappeared. We looked around and he was gone, just a tiny splash in the lake. The three of us floated to where he was to look for him, but we didn't see anything.”

Another breath, which marked where Nitro was nabbed. “We panicked, and drifted out a bit further than we should have from each other, looking for him in the darkness in hope that he didn't get grabbed into the lake. Then the light from Nitro's torch was gone before we could even turn around and see what got him, just another splash in the water. We were flying blind now, and both of us screamed. I tried to fly towards the exit when Sound Wave's scream got cut off, and I panicked.”

Chalice laid a comforting hoof around Dilluted Livo, who closed her eyes and lowered her head to the ground, still tried from her ordeal. The rest of the time they waited for the rest of the party to return was spent in silence.

Night Stalker, Nitro Rush, and Sound Wave returned, flying through the open door and soaring over the chasm to reach the other four. Night Stalker and Dilluted Livo shared a small embrace before he turned to the three who had remained behind. “Did she tell you what happened?”

Rusty Nail replied, “Yeah. So something is down there, and we don't want to mess with it.”

Night Stalker nodded solemnly. “I was dead the moment it grabbed me. Didn't even see where it came from.” Nitro and Sound gave echoes of 'me neither'.

“We don't have to go down there for the dungeon, so we should just continue on to killing the leader.” Paperback said, eager to put the messy experience behind them. “It's probably just a flavor element thrown in that at the same time keeps us from digging around down there. Sounds like something I'd do.” The rest of the party agreed, and they moved onwards. While he said his words with honesty, he couldn't help but have a few internal doubts as to the presence of... something... lurking underneath this dungeon that could easily kill them all. Something like Briarbuck, but worse.

The next few rooms after the bridge brought them into more bedrooms, all chock full of bandits which the group struggled with; mostly because just when they thought one fight was over a patrolling group would wander in and attack them. So far, at least, they hadn't suffered any battle-related deaths; but they had come perilously close a few times when any of the rogues acquired too much aggravation from the bandits.

They followed the chain of rooms as it brought them back into the cavern again, slightly above where they entered before and another fifty degrees around. An archway that crossed the cavern forty degrees further took them to a set of storerooms, where there was enough loot to fill everyone's saddlebags.

“There's quite a lot of weapons in here...” Paperback said. It had taken him a while, but he was comfortable enough to speak to the rest of the party normally now, compared to his silence when they first joined forces.

Rusty gave a chipper affirmation as he scooted back and forth across the room. If the game's mechanics didn't make all of their bags store things in a seemingly extra-dimensional way, Rusty would have probably collapsed from the weight of his lucre.

Chalice on the other hoof understood his line of inductive thinking. “More weapons here than bandits we've seen in this dungeon.” She said. “Enough weapons to equip a small army.” The implications of that were actually quite startling to think about.

“I suppose it's a good thing that we're taking out the leadership then, huh? No need to have a bandit army mucking about the countryside.” Paperback replied. All of the weapons in the room were of low quality though, not better than what he was using now. He didn't bother to fill up his bags with them, because there would surely be enough to stuff them with any mobs they might yet encounter.

The next room was to the right, and held foodstuffs that a growing army might need. The bandits in this room were quickly dispatched, as well as the ones that came down the stairs to see what their ruckus was about. The party continued upstairs, which held more weapons and armor, along with several barrels that Paperback and Rusty immediately recognized.

“Blasting powder.” Paperback said, when asked what it was.

“Yeah, we had a helluva lot of fun with this stuff in a cave once.” Rusty continued, and earned a glare from Sound Wave.

“By 'fun' they mean they nearly blew the three of us up.” Sound Wave said, obviously distasteful of the memory.

The other four wore faces that ranged from shocked to dubious, with Nitro giving a grin that bordered on amusement. “Nearly blew you three up? What happened with that?”

“Sound Wave was perfectly fine, he was practically out of the blast radius. As for how it happened...” At this point, Rusty Nail told the brief story of how they needed to deal with seven bandits in a room using what materials were available to them, with a few interjections from Paperback whenever an important detail was skipped.

“..anyways, so we have some barrels here, I was thinking why not try something similar? We do have a boss in the next room. Probably.” Rusty finished, gesturing over to the stone door that was similar to the previous two that preceded a boss room. 

“Don't do it. He'll get us all killed.” Sound Wave said dryly, his eyes fierce enough to shoot daggers as he burned his gaze into Rusty Nail's head.

“We probably shouldn't. Just to be on the safe side.” Night Stalker said. Rusty's idea was quickly shot down, with not even Paperback's support (although he wasn't opposed to the idea either). With that, the team pushed open the door, and faced the next boss.

He was one ugly sonofabitch, that was certain. Unkempt, scarred, and warty were just three of many adjectives that could describe him. The fight itself was straightforward, he had four guards around him that were hard to keep aggro on; and more than once Paperback had to run around and tackle one who split off to attack Chalice or Sound Wave. Eventually the boss fell, and Paperback earned himself a nice set of shoulderguards.

This room led outside to the cavern again, directly above where they had entered before. There was an arch that led to the other side from here, crossing over the one they used earlier in a perpendicular fashion. On the other side they found even more rooms full of bandits trying to kill them.  What would feel like tedium if it was being described was actually nonstop excitement and wonder to Paperback. The entire dungeon was beautifully crafted, with each room unique in it's own way. Combined with the adrenaline of constant fighting and he was kept well entertained.

The next series of rooms were a miscellaneous menagerie of war rooms and the like. Minions here were fewer in number but far stronger, the bandit leader's elite forces. The loot was better too, and Rusty looked morose as he discarded some of the weapons he picked up in the storerooms to fit his share of the treasure which would sell for far more than cheap iron swords.

Finally, they reached what could only be the final room. Before them lay a set of stone double-doors much like the previous ones, except they were twice as large and wide. A guard was set outside, four elite bandits who had quite some fight in them before they went down. One of them was holding a fancy hammer, which Paperback eagerly traded out his morningstar for. The Runed Hammer, strictly speaking, was slower than the morningstar since there was a particular surface that he was supposed to strike with, but the increased output in damage made up for it threefold.

“Alright, the final room. At least, it must be because if it isn't then I'll throw a fit.” Rusty Nail said. His bags were full and his temper was short, he had seemed close to exploding when the group shot down his suggestion that they all go back to town to sell their loot so that they would have empty bags to collect everything else.

“Has to be the final room. We've been in here for a couple of hours and it's only the first dungeon.” Night Stalker replied. The logic behind that was fallible; who knew how long the dungeons were in this game? Still, Paperback sincerely hoped he was right.

“Alright then, are we ready?” Night Stalker continued, playing the part of team leader.

“No! We are not, hold on. I have to buff you all. I've been saving the runes for this occasion.” Chalice said, deftly using her telekinesis to reach into her bag and pull out several of the focus materials that were the heart of her more powerful spells. Although a low level, Chalice still had a buff for each member of the party, depending on their role. The rogues got damage buffs while Nitro and Paperback got health. Sound Wave and herself received boosts to their magical ability.

“Now we are ready to proceed.” Chalice said in a very ladylike manner, after she finished the last of the buffs. She still had several more runes at the ready to be used in combat, hung loosely on a sash where they could be grabbed easily by her telekinesis.

The team, now in formation, pushed open the door.

Before them lay a massive table, covered by a map of Equestria as it was. Chairs were lined up on the sides of it, each one holding a pony that looked more grizzled and bloodthirsty than the last. There was only one chair at the table that faced the door, and in it lounged a bored looking unicorn, the leader of the bandits.

A tufted shadow gray coat adorned his body, with a dark straw-color mane that was slicked back  down his head. Light orange eyes regarded them with a cold sneer, like a cat who just found a mouse. He put down a cup that he had been levitating, before he calmly put his front hooves on the table and pushed himself up. On the table they could see him better, armored in a cyan chainshirt with various pieces of steel adorned on his shoulders and hooves and a greatsword sheathed on his back.  Now centered on the table, the Bandit Leader gave the seven of them a good long look before opening his mouth, a chuckle escaping his lips.

“So... You all are the ones that have been causing all of this ruckus.” He said. His voice had a tenor pitch to it, and oily, with words that slithered into Paperback's ears and disgusted him. “I imagined you would look more... Oh, I don't know, ferocious. Something that I might actually be afraid of.”

Paperback already hated him. It wasn't hard, this was a stallion that probably gave off an aura of loathing. He wasn't done speaking yet, though. “Since you've marched all the way down here I might as well tell you my name before I kill you. The entire world will hear it soon enough. I am Hark Steedwell, King of the Bandits and someday all of Equestria.”

Arrogant, cocky, smug. Paperback was going to enjoy knocking this one down a peg. He considered making a snappy retort, but Night Stalker started talking. “I'm afraid we have no intention of dying here, but we'll be sure to pass your name along with your head when we give it to the Major. That way they know which gravestone is yours.”

Hark's chuckle turned into full blown laughter, a cackle that reverberated off of the walls. “You think that you are a match for me and my inner court?” The other eight ponies that were sitting down stood up, weapons and spells being readied. “A foolish mistake, and it will be your last!” Hark then unsheathed his greatsword in his telekinesis, a breath of frost started running up and down the blade as he did so.

So, he's a Spell Warrior then. Paperback mused, having recognized the Elemental Weapon ability as it was activated. That would make Hark the first significant Spell Warrior that he had encountered since he started the game.

“The only way you'll be leaving here is with your head in my bag.” Night Stalker replied, and the party readied their weapons as well.

“Fine then. Bring it.” Hark said, and the groups charged. The Bandit King leaped, clearing the rest of the table and barreled into Nitro Rush, scythe and greatsword met together in a clash. That left Paperback with the council then. He split to the right, with the intention to take on the four ponies that were there, while he saw the three rogues split left to take on the four on the other side. One of the fighters that he faced suddenly found himself grappled by vines that burst form the floor, and rendered him immobile for a few precious seconds while Paperback engaged.

Paperback's first step was to charge the mage that was on his side of the table, where his hammer dealt a crushing blow across his side. As the other two battle-ready combatants closed in, he toggled on Elemental Aura, and his body was coated by flickering flames that shot out and scorched any who were near him.

Across the hall, Rusty Nail, Diluted Livo, and Night Stalker were doing well against their four opponents. They had all focused their most damaging abilities on the most powerful of the four first, and he was already almost down, while they activated their crippling abilities to weaken the rest of their opponents as they finished off the weakened one.

Nitro Rush wasn't faring too well against Hark. The pony's speed was uncanny in his armor which should be slowing him down. He nimbly sidestepped the swings of Nitro's scythe, taking glancing hits from what should have been decapitating strikes. Meanwhile he mercilessly retaliated with his greatsword, which rent into Nitro's armor several times. Behind him, Sound Wave was doing his best to heal the party tank, barely keeping him floating at around half health. Nest to him, Chalice Longshot was casting all of the offensive spells she had to provide support to Paperback, who couldn't receive any healing backup.

The fight continued on this way for a minute, at which point Paperback had finished one of his opponents and injured the others indiscriminately. The three rogues had killed two of their opponents, and just as they finished off the third Hark Steedwell roared, “You have no idea of the limits of my power! This world will be mine!”

Paperback felt a tingle in the base of his neck. Hark was doing something, but what? He looked over, and his mouth dropped in shock.

A rain of fire, centered over the three rogues, had opened up and was dropping head-sized fireballs on them. It scorched their fur and armor, and even those that didn't hit them directly splashed on the floor and exploded. Dilluted Livo was the first to fall, a whimper as a fireball impacted her, and then she was gone. The bandit that was still over there was next, for he was not immune to his commander's spells.

Frantically Sound Wave tried to switch his healing over to the rogues to save them, but this left Nitro without any assistance, and Hark finished him off. Rusty Nail and Night Stalker, who had left the rain of fire at this point, were split up from each other and were thus unprepared when Hark charged into Night Stalker, who was mercilessly ended. Hark paused for a half moment as he decided who to go after next. Rusty Nail was on the opposite side of the fire rain, and cut off from the fighting unless he ra around the table. He charged the casters in the back next, and what happened was nothing short of slaughter.

Rusty Nail, a moment too late, leaped onto the Bandit King's back as Chalice Longshot dematerialized. Paperback didn't get to see any more, because he fell at that moment too, unable to keep the three bandits that remained at bay.


----YOU ARE NOW LEAVING BANDIT CAVERNS----


We were damn close too. Paperback thought, as his mind touched the white space. For a moment he felt himself stretch towards infinity, but just as quickly it was gone, and he opened his eyes to view the walls of the respawn house. A quick glance around spotted five of his party. Dilluted Livo was leaning onto Night Stalker's shoulder while the rest stood and recuperated from their defeat. Across the hall, Rusty Nail materialized and shook his head.

“That was unpleasant.” Chalice commented, hoof subconsciously rubbing where she had been slashed. It seemed an almost nervous tick that everyone responded to in this game; rub the spot where you should have died, but here you are.

“I'm not really sure how we're supposed to beat that.” Night Stalker said, as he put a hoof around Dilluted Livo's shoulder's.

“Yeah, a fire rain? Way too much AOE damage. 'Nerf Hark!'” Rusty Nail said, and yelled out the last part in a mock rallying cry.

A bickering argument commenced between Night Stalker, Nitro Rush, and Rusty Nail on how to defeat Hark Steedwell. Rusty favored everyone attacking him at once, but Nitro pointed out the obvious flaw that then there would just be too many adds for them to handle, and then they would still all be in one place if that fire rain got thrown down again. Nitro wanted everyone spread out as much as possible, but Night Stalker countered that then no one would be able to help each other of they got in trouble; not to mention Sound Wave's healing ability had limited range.

As they took their conversation outside the argument only got louder. Paperback thought back to the fight, looked over every detail in his head. How would they defeat the Bandit King? And then, he thought up a brilliant plan. Sure, some of it was based on guesswork, but he had always been rather good at inductive reasoning.

“You three! Quiet! I've figured out how to beat him.” Paperback said, in a much more commanding tone than usual. His sudden outburst made the other six turn to look at him, and he gave them all his most serious face. “I paid attention to everything during the fight. This is how we'll do it...”


----YOU ARE NOW ENTERING BANDIT CAVERNS----


It was a risky plan, to say the least, but it had the best possibility of success. After explaining it to them, Paperback had sent Night Stalker and Dilluted Livo to pick up the cart that they had left outside and bring it to Aeroslida to taxi up him and Chalice. The cart could only carry two ponies so Rusty, with the highest speed and stamina, would be carried to the ground by Sound Wave and Nitro Rush and then run to the mountain, to save as much time as possible. In the meantime, Chalice replaced the runes that she had used up in the last fight, with a few changes as per Paperback's plan

Only twenty minutes later they were inside the dungeon again, hurrying down the winding passageway to the gargantuan cavern. The pegasi carried the landbound races to the top archway, where a short sprint found them outside of the final door again.

“Alright. Chalice, buff us. Everybody, healing potions attached to your bag.” Everybody shifted uncomfortably at that last part. True, one could tie a healing potion to the outside of their bag to make it easily accessible, but it was also not protected by their inventory's magic, and could be smashed by an enemy.

Chalice went about casting her runes that she prepared on the way over to the mountain. Damage runes for the rogues, magic boosts for the two casters, and fire resistance for the tanks. A paltry amount of resistance at low levels, but it should be just enough. Now prepared, they pushed open the door.

Hark sat there, coy and weaselly as ever with his eight bandits around him. “So... You all are the ones that have been causing all of this ruckus.” His voice called across the room as he moved to the center of the table. “I imagined you would look more... Oh, I don't know, ferocious. Something that I might actually be afraid of.”

It was up to Nitro to give the signal. C'mon. Don't make us listen to the entire thing all over again. Paperback thought, just about ready to start the encounter himself, his own planned be damned. “Since you've marched all the way down here I might as well tell you my name before I kill you. The entire world will hear it soon enough. I am Hark Steedwell, King of the Bandits-”

“Yeah? Well I'm the king of getting all kinds of impatient!” Nitro roared, not going to give Hark the satisfaction of finishing the entire speech. Nitro jumped onto the table, scythe already out and swinging. Paperback and Rusty Nail ran to the right while Night Stalker and Dilluted Livo moved to the left, to intercept the bandits as they rose from their chairs. All five of the primary attackers moved back; the bandits followed, until they were all clumped at one end of the table. Even Nitro as he dueled Hark on the table.

“Now!” Paperback roared, and the three rogues, the spell warrior, and the runecaster all focused their spells and abilities on a single target as Paperback marked them. One bandit fell. Then two. Then three. One by one the fighters paused to drink their potion before it was broken or too late. Then, with one final swing they together smashed a fourth bandit, which prompted Hark to stop fooling around.

“You have no idea of the limits of my power! This world will be mine!” The Bandit King roared, horn aglow as fire started raining from the ceiling. This was the second cue. The four in melee range grappled with their opponents, forcing them to switch places. Now the bandits were squished into a box with the party on the outside. With a mighty sweep of his hammer Paperback struck two of them and pulled their aggro onto himself. He jumped back into the fray as the three rogues backed away, even as fire rained from above.

Paperback swung and rammed and kicked, anything to pull attention to himself and force all four of the remaining bandits to stay with him as the first sheet of fire reached them. With his rune of fire resistance, the damage became just tolerable for his hitpoints, while for the four bandits it was a preview to hell. Two turned and tried to run, but the rogues quickly cut them off and finished them, weakened by the fire as they were.

Still, Paperback was critically injured and about to fall, which enacted step three. Nitro Rush jumped back to disengage from Hark, and avoided enough swings so that Sound Wave could refocus his attention to the near-dead spell warrior. Two Soothing Chords was enough to keep Paperback on his feet, while the two bandits who were attacking him fell to the fire. This triggered the fourth phase of the plan, and everyone jumped onto the table to take down Hark Steedwell.

The Bandit King fell, offering the final words of “All... hail... the... king...” before his eyes closed, defeated by the victorious adventurers.

Glorious loot lay to be divided amongst them. Paperback won the cyan chainshirt, which turned out to be made of mithril. Besides being heavily enchanted, it was incredibly light, and he felt far more maneuverable in it than he did his previous armor. There were other items that the bandits dropped, and just about everyone got an item upgrade, if not two. There was also a chest in the room, which lay filled with bits, giving them all a hefty amount even after being split seven ways. 

Also on Hark's body they found a key, which unlocked a door that was hidden in the back corner of the room. It led up a staircase to Hark's personal chambers, where another staircase spiraled upwards towards the surface. The key unlocked another door, where before them they could see the shimmering blue mist that signaled the exit to the dungeon.


----YOU ARE NOW LEAVING BANDIT CAVERNS----


How far up did that last staircase take them? They were on some sort of balcony, probably Hark's personal bolt-hole if things ever turned nasty for him. Although it was dark still, the light of the moon shone over the northwestern expanse. The rolling hills of the Gladden Fields stretched out farther than the eye could see, and to the north lay the woods where before Paperback had seen Briarbuck.

The party followed a small natural stairway which winded down the mountainside, and placed them just outside of the bandit city. Bandits could still be seen patrolling the walls, unaware that their leader was dead and that all seven of them carried a copy of his head.

They retrieved the chariot. It was an extraordinarily useful commodity, the pegasus chariot. Even if they couldn't find a place to store it for further adventures they could at least sell it to another player for a nice amount of bits. Instead of flying back though,the gorup agreed that it would be a nice change of pace to walk.

During their journey, conversation broke out about Paperback's planning ability. “I don't know how you came up with such a masterful plan, but it certainly worked.” Chalice spoke.

Paperback merely shrugged. “Well, we had to die once for me to figure it out, but usually I can figure things out intuitively like that.”

“Well, I certainly wouldn't mind if you did a lot of the planning from now on. You seem to have a fairly good idea of what your doing.” She continued.

“I don't think I'd mind it either.” Night Stalker said, and a moment later Paperback felt an invisible ping as the power of being the party leader was slid over to him. First the leader of three, and now seven. He would try his best not to let them down.


------------


The group continued it's chatter as they made their way back to Major Dowsing. Even though it was the night cycle in the game, there was still quite a few players about. It was about nine or so in real time, so plenty of ponies were retiring for the night, putting on their headsets to join the land of Equestrian Earth.

They occasionally stopped to trade information with players, all of which were- without exception- lower levels than themselves. Being the first group to clear a dungeon had it's benefits, and their levels had all jumped up by quite a bit, hitting the mid-high teen range. Most of the people they encountered were in the seven to nine range, and trying to figure out where the collection sites were in the dark. Paperback was more than happy to point a lost group in the right direction, and even give a little bonus help as to what they could expect there.

Every so often, a group would tell them a tale about how they encountered the demon boar, Briarbuck, who stood three ponies high and shot smoke out his nostrils. While Paperback silently clung to his belief that Briarbuck was an intelligent evil entity who was out to consume the entirety of the world leaving it a barren empty wasteland, he did think that these players were exaggerating just a bit.

Major Dowsing was of course ecstatic to see them, he talked their ear off for several minutes and heaped them with praise. Magic items were rewarded to them, and Paperback chose a set of lower body armor that covered his flank entirely, but was still light enough for him to maneuver in. There was a fine line between protection and speed, and he saw the power that resided on it.

They continued on their way back to town, now on the main road rather than traversing the countryside. They ran into other ponies even more frequently, including some who say they saw Briarbuck. The change of conversation to the boar was inevitable, so Paperback thought it as good a time as any to speak up about his experience earlier.

“Y'know, I saw Briarbuck while we were all traveling to the Bandit hideout the first time.” He said casually.

“Oh? Where?” was the general response he received.

“Right before we entered the valley, I stopped and looked northward. The sun was setting, but I saw him thrashing about the undergrowth in the forest way out there.” Paperback said, recounting his experience.

“Really? His range extends that far? I knew that he traveled around but that is just ridiculous. We probably should have warned some of those other players.” Rusty Nail said.

“The chances of them running into him are slim. Besides, we don't need to scare them about the fact that Briarbuck is intelligent and inherently evil and wants to devour the world.” Paperback said, the last part all in a single breath. He continued on like it was nothing, but the rest of the party had to stop and give him a double take.

“Are you quite sure about that? You might just be overreacting a little bit.” Chalice said, and looked at him as if he was unwell.

“I saw Briarbuck, and he saw me. He looked right into my eyes and I could tell right then that this was not a normal boar.” Paperback replied.

“From miles away...?” Dilluted Livo whispered in the background, in as much disbelief as the rest of them. Great. He just had to go and say everything. Only a half hour of being the party leader and already everyone thought he was insane.

“If you don't want to believe me, that's fine. Let's just drop it.” Paperback muttered, sliding into an irritable mood.

The conversation quickly shifted onto other things, which Paperback paid little attention to. His mind was focused on Briarbuck the Devourer again, and there was very little chance of him changing his mind anytime soon. They were nearing the town, just another fifteen minutes off. Up ahead they could see the cluster of hills where Paperback, Rusty, and Sound had their first adventure together In the mine.

Night Stalker stopped and swiveled his ears, head perked up and alert; the chariot he was helping to pull quickly rattled to a halt. “Do you hear that?” He asked the rest of them.

The rest of the party lifted their heads up to listen too, and indeed, they did hear something. “It sounds like... screaming.” Chalice said, “And it's getting closer.”

Livo and Stalker unhitched themselves from the chariot, ready for battle. “We should go help them!” The quiet pegasus said, wings flared in a manner much unlike her tone.

There was a thicket of trees to the left of the path where they thought they heard the screams coming from. Momentarily abandoning the cart, they rushed through the thicket to see the clearing that was on the other side, looking over an expanse of hills before the next forest.

Three ponies ran out of the nearby woods, towards the thicket in their direction. They still had a good six hundred feet to clear; the party wouldn't even be able to see them if it wasn't for the moonlight. 

From the forest behind them came the sound of a roar, and trees buckled and broke as a boar easily four times the size of a pony crashed through them. Smoke billowed from it's nostrils, eyes mad and yellow glowing in the moonlight. Out of the mouth of the beast came the most horrendous voice as it rumbled in a voice that shook the earth, “FEAST!”

Paperback was the first to react. He turned around and faced the rest of the party, took a deep breath, and in the the most serious tone possible said, “I. Told. You. So.” Another pause as the rest of the party was still too stunned to move. “Well!?! What are we waiting for, let's move it! Nitro, you're with me!”

That snapped the rest of the party back into action. Nitro unfurled his wings and shot forward like a dart, quickly catching up to Paperback who got a head start. The other five members were not far behind. “Nitro! Help me ram it!” The Spell Warrior yelled. Nitro, manic on an adrenaline high, was only too happy to oblige.

The two passed the fleeing ponies and charged the oncoming devourer. As the beast lowered it's head to gore them, they gave a might jump and leaped over the oncoming tusks, instead colliding straight with it's face. Paperback made the first impact with his helmet-protected head. Nitro, unprotected, landed second and brought the beast to a standstill.

The tanks disengaged, dazed from their impact. Briarbuck was as well, and moaned as it shook stars out of it's eyes. The rogues caught up, and darted around the beast, slowing and crippling it wherever they could. Briarbuck had transformed since they last saw him, in some places shards of something similar to bone were jutting forth from his hide, deflecting strikes and blows. Nitro received the first healing spell from Sound Wave, having taken damage from the collision. Paperback was already up, hammer in his telekinetic grip to smash Briarbuck in the face over and over again, as much as necessary until the beast died.

Briarbuck was up now as well, wildly swinging his head to catch the rogues that were darting about him with a tusk. A lucky strike connected with Rusty Nail, and he was sent sprawling across the grass barely clinging to life. “Oh no you don't!” Paperback declared as Briarbuck tried to move in for the kill. With a leap, Paperback jumped into the air and brought his hammer down on the beast's right eye.

If Briarbuck was angry before, it compared nothing to his fury now. Back legs shot out in a kick and connected with Night Stalker, dazing him for a moment before he could return to the fight. A tusk scraped across Paperback for massive damage, staggering him until he received a quick healing spell. It wasn't a Soothing Chord though. Looking around for the source he saw one of the ponies that had been trying to escape holding a staff above her head.

He grinned and dove back into the fray, a directed Strike from his hammer chipped a tooth of the beast. Rusty Nail had rejoined the fight with Night Stalker, and they repeatedly sliced their weapons into Briarbuck's side. Surely it had to be close to death? With six characters on him? With synchronization, Paperback weaved out of the way, letting one of Chalice's spells hit the demon boar, sapping it of some of it's strength.

Now with reckless abandon, the team closed in for the kill. Dilluted Livo was on top of it, slashing at any weak points she could find beneath the bone armor. Paperback burnt through the last of his mana, and had to grip his weapon between his teeth as the hammer fell out of his telekinesis.

Nitro leaped into the air, determined to deal the finishing blow. His scythe glowed with holy energy as he brought it down in an arc. With the strength of the gods, the Paladin's weapon cut clear through the neck of the beast, and Briarbuck was no more as the head was decapitated from the body.

The deed was done, the monster vanquished. The body, now without a head, stumbled around blindly before it too collapsed. At least the game was low-gore, because otherwise they would all be soaked in boar juices. Jubilant cheering erupted from the throats of Paperback and his comrades, including the three ponies who's lives they had saved.

“Ooh! I found a dagger! A rare one! Obsidian!” Dilluted Livo exclaimed, as she ceremonially looted the corpse.

“Don't take it yet!” Paperback yelled. “Put something else back on him so that the body won't disappear.”

“What are we going to do with the body?” Nitro asked, as he leaned a hoof on the severed head.


------------


The sun slowly rose over the town of Saddleworth. It was crammed with players, both those new to the game and those who had been playing all day. Rumors abounded about the great beast that wandered the wilderness, and many adventurers had given up on going out after being eaten for the third time and instead frequented the tavern. Briarbuck was on all of their minds, either cursed or feared, or a combination of both. Reportedly, two people had already complained about the game difficulty after getting eaten and had logged off saying that they were returning the game to the store.

Down the western road, a group of adventurers was spotted and upon hearing their number it was regarded a miracle by many that they hadn't attracted the beast and been eaten. A pegasus flew over to get a better look at them, and flew back excitedly, shouting the good news. Within minutes, a crowd had formed outside the entrance to town, wanting to see if it was true for themselves. As Paperback and company pulled up with their chariot in tow, everyone mobbed about to see their prize that they were carting back.

Word spread through the town like wildfire, and the head of Briarbuck was planted onto a post and raised outside of Saddleworth. It seemed the entire village had moved out to the road to celebrate the death of the beast and the skill of the heroes who slew him. The wilderness was safe once more, and players were already preparing to head out and begin questing again.

I think I like this game. Very much indeed. Paperback thought, as he waved to the crowd. I wish I could stay here forever.



Level Up!

Paperback has reached level 15!

He has gained the following skills!
~Improved Telekinesis, rank 2: The range at which the Spell Warrior can effectively swing his weapon is increased, and he can lift heavier objects passively.
~Elemental Weapon, Rank 2: Toggled. When on, this ability consumes a small amount of damage every attack to deal bonus elemental damage.
The wrath of the elements is at your disposal.