Canterlot High's D&D Club

by 4428Gamer

(2) A Gathering of Adventurers

The dull tapping of pen to notepad was the only noise echoing across the room today. So far I was still the only one in the room and everything was now set up for the game. Or at least that's what I was trying to figure out as I kept looking back over the notepad. Typically I wouldn't need to make a whole list when setting everything up. I would just know what needed to go where. It was only due to the fact that I was building everything from the ground up that I was actually concerned about missing something.

Any important notes on the world were saved on flash drives, the cloud, and papers that were always left at home. But every idea for campaigns and one-shots were left on my laptop. Which forced me to fall back on pre-made campaigns that came with the game in the first place. That wasn't a bad thing, but it meant that I had to alter the whole story to fit into my world, which always turned into a chore.

Thankfully the girls were all set to play the second that they got here. During the week, I managed to meet up with them one on one and help them make characters. A few of them were a little harder to try to go along with the idea when more and more numbers went in. In fact to a couple of them it felt like paperwork mixed in with math. However once all the numbers were done with practically all of them took to creating their characters a lot quicker than I thought.

When I was done checking each game piece a third time to make sure I hadn't missed anything, I tore out that piece of notebook paper and threw it into the trash. If I left it with my notes than I'd be staring at it the whole game. Besides, there was one more page I still needed to look over before I started.

Player Characters

Fluttershy: "Thorn Wielder" Wood Elf. Very anti-social, does not speak well, will avoid harming animals, mismatched clothing. (Full Backstory)

Pinkie Pie: "Glemerr" Half-Orc. Always interested in a fight, friendly to most, very intimidating build, somewhat tattered clothes. (TBD)

Rarity: "Ricven Lioncatch" Forest Gnome. Charismatic, driven by wanderlust, constantly retunes violin, nicely made vest. (Concept)

Applejack: "Platick Fortuna" Human. Inquisitive, quick to act, distrusting of others, inconspicuous clothing. (Little Backstory)

Twilight Sparkle: "Vareén" Elven. Quiet, calm, keeps to herself, always keeps her hood up. (Backstory)

Sunset Shimmer: "Stostine Swordhand" Human. Cooperative, polite, falls apart under duress, natural blue robes. (Concept)

Rainbow: "Ravathyra" Hill Dwarf. (TBD)

If the game went on past today the lists were probably gonna get longer. For now all the list was going to be able to show me was one or two basic traits as well as a short phrase that helped me remember each character's appearance. For now, all it would help me with is how each character would probably present themselves or what kind of environment they would stand out in.

In terms of other notes I had made myself memorize the classes and abilities that each of them had. None of them had ever played before which meant I would need to be able to correctly explain any part of their character whenever they needed it. Thankfully they were all level 1, which meant that memorizing any of their abilities would be easy. Plus only two of them had magic to begin with. It was a good thing too; magic was the hardest thing to keep up with in this game.

It was also worth saying that since I had no clue what any girl would be better at playing, in terms of magic over hitting things hard, I decided to make a game out of it. So instead of explaining classes to them, I gave each of them a 12-sided dice and told them to roll. Each 12 numbers would corresponded with one of the 12 classes and whatever the girl rolled, that was her class. After Fluttershy and Pinkie rolled, I had the next two girls use a 10-sided dice, and the next two had an 8-sided, and so on until everyone got their class. Some of them were interesting, some fit pretty well, and one of the girls hated it so much that it took some convincing to keep her from rolling again.

Spoilers; it was Applejack. She hated her class but kept it since it was only fair. She didn't want to be the only one to choose her class.

I was honestly surprised that the trick worked so well. If I tried that with anyone that actually played Dungeons and Dragons they would probably have a much bigger problem.

As I studied over the last note and pinned it to my DM Screen, a fold out screen that hides all my notes and papers from the players, I slumped back into my chair and looked around the area. I had pushed two large tables together and left two student desks at the end to give more than enough space for everyone to fit. Not only that, but I had made sure to give myself the teacher’s computer chair before any of them could get here. Probably a dick move seeing as how they had student chairs, but it wasn’t like my back was going to scold me for being greedy.

“Alright, everything’s set up.” I leaned back in my seat and tossed a notepad on top of all the other papers and cards that were hidden behind the screen. I couldn’t let any of them see any of this stuff after all. "Now all I’m missing are the girls…”

I looked towards the door, then the clock, tapping my foot the whole while. “3:02...” They weren’t actually late. I did say that the group meets a little after three. “I should’ve been clearer.”

Knock Knock Knock

I rolled my eyes. “You do not have to knock!” I said it more out of habit than anything else, but when I saw who all came in I smiled nonetheless. “Hey girls.”

“Heya Story!” Pinkie Pie was the first one that came in, followed quickly by the others. “Wooooow! What’s all of this stuff?!” She immediately bounded for the tables I had set everything up on. “Hey, where’s the dragon?!”

As the others started to come in and look at the set I started to chuckle. “Something tells me that Glemerr’s not ready for a dragon just yet.”

“Hey, don’t you dare doubt Glemerr! Glemerr can take on anything!” She flashed me a determined look before heading over to the chairs. She was one of the girls who was most looking forward to playing this game the most. Apparently she was already in love with the idea of acting like a character. She even went as far as to compare it to one of her Nightmare Night parties that she was so happy to tell me about. Three times in a row. It was still a funny story though.

“Well I certainly hope so. In the meantime, find out wherever your character sheet is. If you don’t wanna sit there, feel free to trade with anyone else.” Behind her were a few of the other girls. They weren’t all here yet, so I decided to dig out a few extra things that I might have needed.

“Oh, Story Spinner?” Once she found her seat, Twilight held up her hand for a second as if to be called on. “I went ahead and read up on the adventure that you said we were going to be doing first. I know you said that you didn’t want me to, but I thought it’d be better to read up on it in order to understand the concept of how the game worked.”

I nodded along, bearing a neutral grin on my face. “Yeah, I figured you were gonna do that. Which is why I told you the wrong adventure on purpose.” The grin remained the same as she froze in place.

Then, almost as if my response had a delayed reaction, her eyes began to widen. “What.” It almost sounded more like a command than a question.

“Aw, come now Twilight.” Applejack gave her a sad smile. “If ya read the whole story then you’d know everything that happens.”

For a second I could have sworn Twilight was twitching behind her glasses. But thankfully the crises was averted as she gave herself a second to do some kind of breathing technique. Once that was done she turned to look toward Applejack. “Yes...I suppose you have a point.”

Note to self; false information makes her break formation. “Well.” Once I saw Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow take up the rear of the group, I gave a dry clap, earning everyone’s attention. “Glad to see that all of you still wanted to come back. Thank you. Seriously.” A few of them returned my gratitude with a chorus of "of course," and "no problem's".

“So, um, since we got everything set up already, were there any questions before we get started?” I reached for the pack of markers and pulled out the ones needed while one or two of the girls rose their hands.

“...Okay,” My face met hand as I allowed myself to keep a sad smile. “Please, don’t raise your hands. I’m not a teacher ya know.”

“Oh, uh, right,” Applejack cleared her throat, and lowered her hand before going on. “So there was one thing I wasn't quite sure of. Well, a few of us I suppose. We were worried 'bout how much a' everything we gotta keep up with in this story. You said it was a whole adventure, so is this like some kinda Harry Potter level of complex err what'?"

“What do you mean?” I blinked a few times with a brown marker in hand.

Rarity decided to jump in next. “I think what Applejack means to ask is that when you were explaining the whole game, you had mentioned several different, erm, events that happen within said game. So we were just wondering if we’ll have to try to—”

“Remember the name and issue of every person, town, monster, and twig that you find in this game?” Finally catching on to what they were asking, I leaned forward and began to draw a simple rectangular floor plan on the vinyl mat that was laid out in front of everyone.

“That’s...A blunt way to put it.” Sunset cocked an eyebrow towards me.

“Right, sorry.” With a chuckle I started to make little tally marks where the windows and front doors were. “But in all seriousness, you don’t need to remember much of anything. I’ll try keeping everything in check for all of you since it's your first game. So, while everything goes on, go ahead and just consider me a glossary for everything. Of course, if you want to make some notes on the side, you can. Heck, I’ve heard of people just using doodles as notes.”

“Way ahead of you!” Pinkie held up a piece of paper with her and a giant grey human-esque figure, otherwise known as Glemerr, holding hands. And despite the huge amount of differences between the two, they both had the same happy smiles on their face.

It took all I had not to snicker at it. “Right then. So, if that’s all the questions we got,” A quick scan of the room and I could see none of them had any objections. “Then let’s get started.”

Once the building itself was drawn I started to draw in a bar counter. “To begin; each of you have a set of dice in front of you. 4-sided dice, 6-sided, 8, 10, 12, 20, and 100.” With the bar counter done, I put a few lazy circles for bar stools before jumping back behind the screen for a moment. “Go ahead and pick up the D10 and D100. Once you got those, roll ‘em.”

It took them a few seconds but, eventually, they all got the right dice and started rolling on their own.

“I got a sixty-three!” Pinkie cheered before going back to the picture.

“Eighty-one.” Sunset rose her hand for a second.

“Fifty-seven.” “Oh! Ninety-six.” Twilight and Rarity spoke at the same time, but I caught the numbers regardless.

“Forty-six.” Rainbow and Fluttershy called out before locking eyes with each other.

“Really? Hundred different numbers and y’all get the same ones?” Applejack turned to me. “twenty-two.”

I wrote down the last one and tossed the pen aside. “Alright, cool. Applejack? Can you roll a D6 for me?” I picked the marker back up and started to draw up a set of stairs to the right of the bar followed by drawing in tables to finish up the map.

“The normal one, right?” Earning a nod from me, she tossed it up in the air. “Two.”

Checking the post-it note I had beside me, I nodded. “Okay. Fluttershy, you’re next. Roll me a D4.”

She held one up. “The triangle one?” After another nod from me, she tossed it forward with a curious look. “Um...Also two?”

After one more check of that paper, I turned to Rainbow. “Okay, Rainbow?” She looked up at me with a straight face. “Roll me...A D20 and a D6. Then add them together.”

“Okay...” She sounded guarded, but picked the two dice up anyways. “So why are we rolling all these dice now? We haven’t even started.”

“I know. But what your rolling is important.” I watched as she rolled the two with a blank expression.

“Eleven, six—Seventeen.” She looked up.

“Seventeen people. A busy bar for what time it is.” As I finished marking their numbers down, I looked up to their confused expressions. “Allow me explain; you all just rolled a bunch of different sets of dice. Each of you rolled a percent roll, the D100 and D10. The top four numbers were the people whose characters would start out the game. Meanwhile, the lowest three numbers then helped create the setting. Applejack made the scene, Fluttershy, the time of day, and Rainbow rolled for how many people will be in the area,” I finished.

“So then what did we win?” An interested look was playing on Rarity’s face.

“Not too sure.” I shrugged with a look similar to hers. “That’s for me to tell and you guys to find out. So…” I opened the small white box I had since labelled “Player Races” and kept it at my side.

“Let’s start a story.”

        Within the kingdom of Leodaav, two standards act as the foundation of every day life. The first was wealth. From the Drakehead, the mountains of the east, to the peninsula of coasts from the west, merchants and caravans would travel across the land and back with a purpose. Each of them selling different materials, resources, and supplies for the highest coin possible. Currently, wealth was the kind of standard that anyone could achieve. Or at least, the standard they could achieve given they had the right luck.

The second standard was much less accessible. Nobility. Thirty years ago, a great war between kingdoms came to an end with dozens of veterans earning titles as proof of their service. From these titles, the newer nobility helped greatly widen the gap between commoners and upper class. The result was the new bluebloods now buying land and employing businesses to work under them. Today, society has created a rat race that would only fuel the standard of wealth which in turn would fuel the nobility's race. A seemingly endless loop if you asked the short-sighted.

Towards the center of Leodaav sits the small city of Dreiweg. What was once a bustling outpost between trade routes became a city full of shops and street vendors with dozens of merchants coming through daily. And just like any other day, it was full of energy.

As the sun stood high above the streets of Dreiweg, a young gnome made his way down the street with a violin bow between his fingers. He paid no mind to the locals of the city. Instead, he would be whistling a new pattern of notes to himself. The violin would then repeat these notes for him. But upon every note the gnome would not agree upon, he would force himself to stop, tune his violin ever so slightly, and repeat the last few notes until he was satisfied. And then he would continue.

“Wait a moment. Is that—”

“Your character? Why yes it is Rarity. Yes it is.” Story confirmed. He made note of how the girls were now paying much more attention than before.

When Story noticed this, he quickly scribbled something down on a blank sheet of paper:

"Beginning needs work. Less exposition?"

The gnome would continue down this path for another minute or two until he would recognize something. Just the other day, the gnome was given a set of instructions to navigate his way through the city. One of the landmarks being a smith made to look like a barn. With the rhythmic sound of a hammer to anvil, the gnome made note of several stacks of horseshoes all ready to be loaded onto a cart.

"Huh. Charmin'," The gnome spoke with a southern sophisticated drawl to him. "The Iron Outback? There's gotta be some sorta story behind that."

The gnome turned down the road to his right as he was instructed, muttering under his breath one or two of his own made-up stories behind the smithy's name. A few of them sounded pleasing in one way or another. But, ultimately, it served only as background noise as his true imagination was attempting to find a good cadence to pick up from.

While the gnome continued turning onto the new road, another figure was walking much further ahead at a brisker pace. This one was nearly twice the height of the gnome and stood more than above eye level compared to the other human women around her. She walked as this sense of respect and purpose followed in her wake. This was something that would not go unnoticed by a few of the men who walked by. Which, in turn, not going unnoticed by the women that were walking with said men.

On most days she would try to avoid this type of attention and chose instead to take the alleyways and shortcuts less traveled. Although since she had never been to Dreiweg before she didn't have the option of taking the quiet alleys. So, she was forced to go the route her dwarven acquaintance had told her to take.

As she walked along the edge of the street, her bright golden eyes scanned the small merchant stands she passed by. One of them was a very attractant stand with a beautifully designed piece of tapestry depicting the vibrant colors of the Veil Lights. However, not three stands down, there was a small indoor shop with small cages full of rats and other vermin.

The human woman studied the more desirable of the two stores before deciding it was in her best interest to walk up to it and glance around a little more closely. The store itself had only one half elven man running the store and while everything seemed organized, the store seemed more casual than professional.

"Excuse me," the woman spoke suddenly. Her voice seemed very precise, as though she had chosen each word with the upmost care. When the man looked up, she continued. "I am sorry to bother you, but have you a price for the thing right there?"

She pointed toward a small oval-shaped object placed upon the higher shelves in the shop. As the elven man looked up toward it he gave an entertained chuckle. "Ah, the little thing caught your eye, huh?"

The woman only smiled and nodded.

"Well, your in luck. Despite it's rarity, it's only 25 gold pieces."

The woman's smile was caught short. "That much?"

"Aye, I'm afraid so. That's the lowest I can do, especially given the trouble it took for me to get it."

"I see," The woman stated sadly. "Well, if I ever come across the gold to spend I will certainly consider it if I ever come by again. Thank you." As the woman said her piece, she gave a small wave goodbye before walking away from her desired store.

"Come back soon then," The man warned. "That item will be off the shelves sooner than you may think."

The woman made a note of this and began to walk once more at her usual brisk pace as more glances were directed toward her. One of these glances originating from the very gnome that was now only a few feet behind her. For a time, neither seemed to notice that the other truly existed. However, as both individuals spotted the same landmarks, taking similar pauses to get their bearings, and then finally making the same turns, both of them began to become very aware of each other's presence.

As the two of them finally turned onto the lane that had their destination in sight, the woman sharply turned on her heel to stare directly at the man behind her. And then she looked down and only then spotted the gnomish man.

"Well hello there miss," The gnome greeted. His eyebrow raised inquisitively at her stern expression, but he adjusted his collar with rehearsed suave. "How lucky am I ta get a lovely view of your beautiful gaze. Tell me, what's a gal like you doin' in a market like this?"

“...” Sunset continued to give Rarity the same sternest look she could muster. Except, as Rarity finished winking toward Sunset, the stern expression was cracking very quickly.

“Is something the matter, doll? You seem stressed,” Rarity remarked, still speaking with her character's accent. If she had any indication that Sunset was very confused about several things, she wasn't showing it.

“...I never thought I’d be asking this, but Rarity...Are you flirting with me?” Sunset tried to keep her tone incredibly neutral and guarded. Her attempt only got worse as she heard snickering from Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie alike.

“Wha—Oh. No, of course not darling.” Rarity giggled the thought away. “I’m simply playing the part of my character, is all.”

“...Uh-kay...” Sunset gave a slow nod before turning towards Story just as slowly. “Um...Why is…”

“Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to point out something important. Sorry,” Story apologized. Sunset almost didn't hear his apology through the hand he was using to hid his own laughter.

“The gnome you see standing before you, Rarity's character," Story clarified. "Is a guy.”

“Wait, they are?” Sunset looked at Rarity with a confused look, only to receive a nod in return. With a sigh, Sunset calmed down. “Alright then, I guess I’ll just play along with that then.”

The woman gave the gnome an incredibly odd look before weighing her options. Still, the gnome took the silence as a victory by his own silver tongue and patiently awaited for the lady's response.

Finally, the woman faked a cough to clear her throat. “My apologies, I thought you were a child for a second.”

All at once, the gnome's suave attitude shattered like glass. Every muscle of his being started to tighten with sudden fury as all thought was brought to a halt. Whether he was aware of it or not, his grip on his bowstring began to tighten more and more until the string was in danger of snapping in half.

To Ricven, every sound that made up the bustling crowds around the two of them began to slow down and mix into one audio blur. It took the majority of his focus not to shout then and there at the woman for her comment. Although the woman would have no clue about any of this. All she could recognize of the gnome's fury was his eye twitching for a few moments.

"Erm...My apologies," the woman said awkwardly. She cleared her throat off to the side and continued. "Mistakes aside, why were you following me?"

"F-Followin' you?" Ricven repeated, slowly regaining some recognition of his surroundings. "M'lady, I am not so brash as to stalk a woman through the streets. I'm jus' headin' towards the...The..."

"Where was I headed towards?" Rarity asked.

"The Evening's Nest," Story answered. "It's a tavern."

"I was jus' headed towards the Evenin's Nest," The gnome answered.

"You mean the tavern?" The woman asked immediately. "Why? If you do not mind me asking."

"Not a bit," The gnome waved the thought away. "I happened by a merchant, err, someone similar ta that trade, and he was searchin' fer some folk to help 'im with a job."

"...Ah!" The woman's face lit up. "You must be one of the other travelers that Gundren had mentioned. He did say there would be a handful of us on this task."

The woman held out her hand to the gnome. "My name is Stostine Swordhand. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Well it most certainly is a pleasure," The gnome said, taking the woman's hand. "Folks know me as Ricven Lioncatch. The Connoisseur of Culture."

Ricven went to kiss Stostine's hand only for it to swiftly be pulled away at the last second. Before he could even look back up, Stostine was already folding her arms into the long sleeves of her robes like a woman of the cloth. She didn't show any sign of being disgusted by his behavior, but to say Stostine seemed uninterested would be an understatement.

"Well then." Without missing a beat, Ricven began to walk forward, joined quickly by Stostine beside him. "I suppose we better hurry to whatever this arrangement is 'fore our mutual friend believes us late."

"Right." Stostine turned back in the direction of the tavern before adjusting her robes. With nothing else stopping them, the two began to walk alongside one another toward the building.

Despite the name of the building, the Evening's Nest seemed to be alive with a fair crowd well before the evening was anywhere in sight. The tavern wasn't anything too large. There was a dozen or so round tables, a bay window just left of the entrance, and a nice staircase that led to the second floor where rooms for rent were. At the counter there were only three bar stools, all of which were empty. Across the stools and the bar itself was the bartender who had been occupying his time doing inventory of the drinks that still remained. For him, it was business as usual.

Currently, about half of the tables were being used. One of them was dedicated to a card game between two halflings, a Dwarf, and this ancient human. Judging by the terrible cough that was making even the Dwarf flinch, he wasn't doing too well health-wise. Game wise, however, he was killing it. Over the past hour and a half this old man had pulled the most coin. If he was somehow cheating, I couldn't spot it. Yet.

Not too far away from them, two tables had been pushed together and were being used by a group of nine town guard. They had already been here by the time I arrived and every once in a while I noticed them stealing glances at me. I refused to react in any way toward them. It would just give them more reason to keep watching me. Regardless, they couldn't kick me out of the bar for looking 'shady' in their eyes. Only the bartender could do that. And since I came in with someone who kept the drinks coming, the bartender wasn't about to do anything to me.

Then, there were the stragglers. This couple was sitting nearest the window as they talked about prices on spider silk. At another table a man dressed like a scholar was currently face down, snoring into his book. Then, finally, there was this one gnome currently staring at a large map she rolled out across the table. I tried getting a glance or two at it, but all it seemed to be were blueprints of a temple. What interested me the most, however, was the way she was staring at them. It screamed desperation to me and she stared down anyone that came near. She didn't want anyone else coming close to her.

Finally, there was our group. From the moment our group had stepped into the door we had become the loudest patrons. The loudest of us all started with the orc woman. She stood a whole head and shoulders taller than any of us and had the build to go along with—

“Oh! That’s me! That’s me!” Pinkie started jumping in her seat, ignoring all the weird looks she was getting from the other girls.

“Why do you have a character like that?” Sunset asked.

“Well when Story told me that I had to pick a race, I saw the half-orc in the picture and it reminded me of this funny story that Maud had told me! You see—” Story cleared his throat before she could say much else.

“Remember Pinkie, don’t spoil everything yet. You said it was a surprise, didn't you?” Pinkie’s eyes started to gleam at the word and she began nodding like a bobblehead.

"No problemo!" Pinkie gave a salute before suddenly slamming an arm on the table and sticking her lower jaw out like a bulldog.

"Oi, Gundren," Pinkie spoke in a thick English accent, catching a few of the others off-guard. "Ye gonna tell us why we're 'ere any time soon er wut?"

"Impressive," Rarity noted. "Glad to see I'm not the only one with her acting chops, as it were."

"It's more like an acting jaw, really," Pinkie corrected with a smile.

The orc was now staring down the very Dwarf that had invited the both of us to the Evening's Nest. The Dwarf's full name was Gundren Rockseeker and he was planning an important delivery. Well, important to him at least. I had doubts that the delivery was actually important to anyone else.

Then, to round out the last of us, there was the most regular man of our group, Sildar. He, unlike any of us, was human and currently donned in metallic armor with a shield leaned up against the table beside him. Gundren may have been the one with the delivery, but it was Sildar who had called for me to take the job. Suffice to say, I was doing it only because I had yet to pay him back for something he had done for me in the past.

"Patience, lass, patience," Gundren spoke coolly. "You'll learn all d'ere is ta know in a bit. We jus' gotta wait fer a few more friends ta arrive."

Almost as though Glemerr and Gundren had timed the moment, the front doors opened up to reveal two figures of completely different sizes entering the tavern. The first was a human woman with neutral blue robes with sleeves that nearly hid her hands. The second was a young looking gnome dressed in a nicer-looking vest and a violin on his back.

Upon spotting them, Gundren gave a wave. "And dere’s da two of 'em now! Greet'ins! We was startin' ta wonder what took yous so long ta get ‘ere!” His voice boomed with this deep, grizzled tone. Something that through off nearly all his 'acquaintances.' “Tell me, what ‘ave ya been up ta?!”

A few of the girls sat with their jaws hitting the ground. All of them except for Fluttershy, who had somehow been prepared for Story’s sudden voice change.

“Wha?” Story Spinner looked them over with a sly grin. “Too Scot'ish?”

“N-No,” Sunset shook her head as she was the first to recover. “I—we—just didn’t expect...That. It sounds so different from your usual voice is all.”

“That is so amazing! Do me next! Do me next!” Pinkie started clapping, amazed by the voice.

“Um...Maybe some other time,” Story scratched the back of his neck, looking away from the girls with a bashful look on his face.

“I apologize,” The human woman said. As the two of them took their chance to join the group, I got up from my spot and joined the table as well. As I did, I made note of the guards that now had several pairs of eyes watching us. “Were we late?”

“Nah, not really,” Gundren shrugged before reaching for his tankard. “Jus' tha last ones ta arrive is all.” He cleaned out the tankard in record time standing up. Although that still made him seem only a few inches taller than when he was sitting. “Least now we can get started.”

"Good," I said before sitting up in my chair. I noticed that the two newcomers were now studying me, both of them for two different reasons. "Now we can learn what exactly this job is."

“Job? What job?” The half-orc looked at Gundren in confusion. "I though' we was all 'ere fer some type a drinkin' challenge!"

Gundren burst out laughing. “Ah, I like dis one. She’s got da right attitude!” With a shake of his head, he started to get serious. “Although, with respect, I'd say that the lass is righ'. I've been holdin' off too long on the details. Ya see, I wanted all o’ ya ta be here ‘fore I explained it. Makes it easier on me.”

As he gave a quick whistle and a motion for the barmaid to make her rounds back to the table, Gundren finally began. "Recently, me an' my brothers 'ave come 'cross a long abandoned mine from before the war. And as it's got quite a few perks an' history to it, we want ta set up shop as soon as possible. Least, without attractin' much attention ta our little business.

"That's where we need the lot of you ta come in," Gundren went on. "Ya see, I need ta ensure that all things make it to their destination accordin'ly. And as not ta attract attention, we need ta take 'em in lighter loads. So, Sildar 'ere and I," Gundren said as he took a light jab at Sildar's shoulder before going on. Unbeknownst to the Dwarf, however, Sildar started massaging his shoulder in protest. "Will be takin' da first cart as soon as all of us are square. Meanwhile, we need y'all ta meet up wit' another group come firs' sun tommorah and move the cart ta the next town over. Simple as that."

By this time, the barmaid arrived to the table and looked to Gundren as he grinned. "Oi! A round a ale fer everyone at tha table. All on me, 'course."

The barmaid nodded and began to walk off. As she did I looked to Gundren. “Not thirsty,” I spoke curtly.

“...Does it have to be ale?” The human woman asked with a sigh.

“Hey. If y'all don’t want yer tankards, then I think Glemerr ‘ere would be glad ta wash it down fer ya.” Gundren gestured to the half-orc who was nodding with a toothy grin.

"Well consider it a gift from me to you," The human woman said. "But back to the mission for a moment, what town would we be delivering these supplies to?"

“Phandalin,” Gundren answered. "It's a young pioneer's town east by southeast of 'ere. They got a few mines in the area, but none like what I'm gettin'."

“Is there anything else about this Phandalin that my character would know?” Twilight held her hand up with a confused look. “Since I don’t know what adventure we’re doing," She said through faintly gritted teeth. "I didn’t have the chance to read up on it.”

“I know. That was on purpose.” Story nodded. “For your character, in particular, you and Sildar had met Gundren in Phandalin before heading toward Dreiweg. It's a small town, but growing quickly with several farms and a trading post specially meant for miners. You weren't really there long enough to know much else, however.”

"What about the rest of us?" Applejack asked. "It's well an' good if one of us know somethin', but could any of the others?"

"Sure," Story answered. "In fact, for anyone who wants to try and know anything about Phandalin, make a history check." When he saw that a few of the girls were hesitant to reach for any dice, he cleared his throat. "To make a check, roll the 20-sided die you got. Then, add the number that's next to the word 'history.' That's a history check."

A few of the girls caught on and started rolling dice. A few taps along the table later and some of the girls looked up.

"Twenty." Applejack looked up.

"Twenty-two," Rarity said with a small grin.

"Thirteen plus...Fifteen." Sunset was the last of the three.

"Okay...Each of you know about as much as Twilight's character knows, but with some other notes of worth as well. For Applejack, you know that there's been talk of the Griffonbound Vendors setting up a shop in the town. Rarity, or Ricven, from down the grapevine you've heard talk of some abrasive mercenaries making a home in the town. Though you're not too sure how much of the rumors behind them are true.

"And finally Sunset, or Stostine," Story continued. "You've heard a little information about the town thanks to your background. Phandalin is managed by a townmaster though you don't know their name. They were elected to run the town, for what that's worth."

Sunset nodded along and looked to AJ and Rarity. All three of them declined to explain why that was the specific information that they had gotten. Instead, the three stayed quiet and watched the scene go on.

"Well." As the barmaid came back with drinks, the gnome rolled the ale around inside the tankard for a moment. "This information's all well an' good. However, there's one thing you've yet ta explain ta us."

"Yeah," After downing half of her first tankard, the half-orc Glemerr, agreed. "How much a this ale were you sayin' was on yer tab?!"

"Erm...Well, not quite," the gnome backpedaled awkwardly. "What I mean to point out is that you've yet ta bring up the subject a' payment."

When Gundren's attention fully focused on the gnome, his jovial smile faded slightly. This did not go unnoticed by the gnome who continued.

"Now, you've certainly made it clear that this job a' yours is quite important to ya. Whether or not the job's actually important for anyone else remains ta be seen. Though, that's not really any of our concern, ain't it? Still, if the four of us are to...understand the importance a' this task the same way you do, we'll need a sort of equivalent compensation. Although I'm sure you already have a number in mind for such a thang. Am I wrong?"

Gundren didn't respond immediately. Instead what he did was take a few seconds enjoying his drink as he let the silence build. However, the gnome didn't seem at all concerned. He simply sat back with his arms folded behind his head and his eyes now closed, seemingly proud of his act. And after what he had said, though I would never admit it to anyone, I and the rest of us were watching Gundren's response for the gnome.

Gundren finished whatever was in his tankard with a refreshed sigh. And as he put his tankard down and looked across the table to the gnome and no one else, he spoke bluntly. "200 gold."

"T-That," The human woman stuttered slightly. "That sounds like a ver—"

"Two hundred," The gnome repeated, opening a single eye. "May sound like fair coin fer us. But keep in mind, dear Stostine, that there's more than four of us guardin' this supposed cart. If we're ta assume that this second group is four-strong just like us then that means it's two hundred gold split amongst eight capable folk."

He had a point. Even if the two hundred gold were only split amongst the four of us, fifty gold pieces would not be enough in Leodaav. Not anymore. While the war had ended decades ago, the entire kingdom was still in an economic boom. Even the poor had the opportunity to earn gold pieces. So, to a hunter like me, fifty gold wouldn't even be enough for a new bow.

Gundren began to squint his eyes as if trying to wrap his head around the gnome's words. "Wait... Split?" The Dwarf grew a toothy grin. "Na, na, na. I don't recall sayin' split." He sat up in his seat and spoke softer. "You misunderstand me. I'm payin' 200 gold pieces. Each."

"Two...each..." The gnome's eyes opened up in realization, losing all bravado. "N-Now, that...Is a much better deal, ahehehe...I'd say that'd suffice, right gals?"

As the gnome tried to keep himself from slipping out of his seat, I looked back at Gundren. "For an 'easy as that' job like this, 200 gold per guard sounds exorbitant. There's a catch."

"Not particularly." Gundren kept his voice low. From the way he held himself, he didn't seem at all afraid of the collection of guards across the room. That told me he was either a professional or that this had nothing to do with crime. But there was still something that he wasn't telling us.

Gundren went on. "That aside, wit' the other group assistin' ya, that makes seven guards in all. So ya can see that I ain't sparin' expense on this."

"Well it is quite generous of you," The human woman said as she wore a simple smile. "And I would be glad to offer you my services."

“Meah!” The orc spoke between gulps of ale. “Me’ll get da car’ dere.”

Gundren's serious expression shifted into a jovial one. Before I could figure out whether or not that smile was honest, he brought a newly filled tankard to his lips. “Now that's an attitude I'll gladly drink ta, lass! Cheers!” They both drank their ale happily, before quickly trying to tip their tankard higher than the other. It wasn't long before the two somehow winding up in some kind of competition.

“Can I roll anything to win?!” Pinkie had an excited look on her face.

Story gave Pinkie Pie an entertained look as he thought it over. “Yeah, sure. Roll me a Constitution Save. D20 plus your—” “I got it!” Pinkie was already rolling it.

“Eighteen!” Pinkie cheered.

“Wait, hold on," Applejack interjected. "If Pinkie's makin' this 'Constru...tution Save,' are they tryin' ta see who gets drunk first?" AJ sat back. "I thought constr-conser—ugh!—con-sti-tu-tion. Geez, that word's a tighter tongue twister than a tongue that turned to twist."

"It's easier to say Con Save." Story shrugged. "Con Saves usually have to do with health and stamina. And I don't know about you, but I'd say chugging ale would take a pretty good iron stomach." The girls could hear dice clatter from behind Story's screen. "Something that dwarves always seem to have."

As Gundren emptied his tankard, he quickly slammed it on the table before the orc could even swig down the last of it. “Ahaha! Sorry lassie, but you’ll have ta try harder if ya wanna drink a Dwarf under da table!"

She gave a heavy sigh but slowly nodded before wiping her jaw free of ale.

“Well,” Gundren, as well as his friend Sildar stood up. “I think this is a fine chance ta take our leave. If ya like, the Evenin's Nest doubles as an inn. And seein' as how tha lady beyond tha counter owes me fer a favor I did ‘er, I'd say it's free board for ye. Mention my name an’ she’ll getcha each a room.”

“Why thank you sir.” The gnome tipped his imaginary, yet still just as genuine, hat to the Dwarf. He then turned towards the human woman. “Perhaps it'd be best if we'd share a room, m’lady. Ta free up the space fer everyone else, of course.”

“Well…” Stostine gave him a sideways glance. “Glad to see that you’re worried for others.”

“Oh. It is the absolute least I can do.” The gnome gave a wink in return.

“Oh, almost fergot,” Before Gundren left, he turned back to the group. “The cart will be stationed at the Onyx Steed Stables, southeast o' the city walls. That’s where the other three ar' meetin' ya come early sun. Once ye get tha cart ta Phandalin, I’ll pay ya when ya get there.”

“...Fair enough.” I rested my elbow on the table and got comfortable. I guess I was staying here for the night.

“Consider the job done, Gundren,” The human woman said. Gundren gave her a polite nod and began heading out with Sildar without any more time wasted. It was then that the human turned towards the rest of us. “Well, I think I will be heading back to my own lodgings for the night.”

“Oh, you have your own home here?” The gnome asked with a sly smile.

“Not exactly. I’m staying at the…”

“Can I just make up a place?” Sunset asked.

“If you’re that desperate to get away from Ricven?” Story shrugged. “Go for it.”

“I’m staying at the Sleeping Willow.” She watched as the gnome seemed defeated somewhat. “Buuut,” He perked back up. “If you still want to help keep the occupied rooms to a minimum, perhaps you could share a room with…Sorry, I never got your names.”

“I’m Glemerr,” The half-orc rose her hand. “You spell it Glem. And then Err. Glem. Err. And I’ll bunk wit' the gnome!” Before he could get away, the gnome found himself pulled to a bone crushing chokehold from Glemerr.

“Ack! Oh...Thank you...Glamour...”

“OI!” Glemerr's chair scooted against the floorboards and alerted all the guards' table as she stood. “I jus' told ya! It’s Glem. Err. Say it from here!” She pounded her chest as she glared down at the poor gnome.

"I...I-I see." The gnome's act was failing him. "My mistake. Won't happen again. Yo-You can let me go now." By this point, two of the guard had placed a hand on the grips of their sword and begun to stand.

All of us, save for 'Glemerr,' noticed this and the human woman took the chance to step forward.

"Well it is nice to meet you, Glemerr," the woman greeted. As she spoke, she held up a hand to signal the guards to stop moving. "My name is Stostine and my acquaintance here,” she continued as she gestured toward the terrified gnome. "Calls himself Ricven Lioncatch."

Glemerr looked noticeably calmer as she stopped hovering above Ricven the gnome and let him slide out of her grip. It was almost as though she were never angry to begin with as she signaled for the barmaid to get another refill. The guard seemed to take this as a sign to turn back for their tables before the group of them quickly started paying for their drinks and meals. If I had to guess why I'd say that they didn't want to deal with us on their lunch break.

Once Stostine was certain that there would be no other problems, she turned to try getting a look at me from under my hood. “And, might I ask your name?”

“...Vareén...” I said slowly, studying her reaction the entire time. The name wasn't actually Elvish, it just had the syllables. So even if people studied Elvish, they wouldn't realize that instantly. All they, and Stostine for that matter, recognized was a simple name with a rolling R sound.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Vareén." Stostine gave a small bow of respect. "I hope we get along during our mission together." When she still couldn't see my face as she bowed to me, she adjusted her robes and stepped back.

“Right. Well, on that note, I suppose I will see you all tomorrow. Good day,” With one last nod towards the three of us, Stostine turned to leave. Once she was through the door, Ricven began to walk off after her.

By the time he made it to the door, I leaned back. "Do you even have the money to spend at a place like the Sleeping Willow?" I asked. I then watched as Ricven scoffed.

"Pfft. Please," Ricven started. "With the type a talent at my disposal, I can get myself a room at whichever inn I desire." He made it to the door while Stostine was probably lost to the crowds by now.

"Fine," I told him. "But if you're late to the stables because you wasted energy on a free room, we're leaving without you."

That made the gnome stop moving. "You'd really be so cruel?"

"Cruel would imply I'm making you suffer. Costing us time would be your fault. Lioncatch," I added with a roll of the eyes.

He took a few moments to weigh his options. "Very well." He closed the door and made his way back to the table. "I'd hate ta let Gundren's generosity go ta waste anyhow. So I guess this means I'm bunking with you, right?"

"Wrong," I answered. I then stood up and walked to the bar to claim a room. "Besides, you were going to spend the night with Glemerr. You don't want to upset her, right?"

"Uh, well, I-I would neva' put a miss's feelin's on tha line fer my. Own...yeah..." I didn't have to look behind me to see that Ricven was worried about the orc's reaction. Instead, I just got my room's key, went upstairs, and enjoyed the personal room.

“I’m guessing that’ll do it for this scene?” Story started to collect the figures on the board and held up a wetted paper towel.

The rest of us all looked between Pinkie and Rarity, who wore different expressions. Finally, it was Rarity who gave an exasperated groan. “Yes, I believe that will do it.”

Story nodded and started erasing the vinyl mat, moving the four pieces that resembled our characters towards each of us. Sunset and my figures seemed to resemble our characters well enough, but Rarity and Pinkie’s figures weren’t as exact. The only thing that seemed right was their races.

“Wait, what about the rest of us?” Rainbow leaned back in her seat.

“Well, it’d be pretty boring if we just did the same exact thing, so that’s why I said that the three of you already met Gundren. So now,” As he wiped most of the grid mat, Story looked around at us. “You guys get another choice. We can either have you guys all meet up at the Black Steed Stables or we can start on the road where you’re already guarding the cart where the interesting things happen.”

When Story looked back up at us, we all watched as he pulled his buzzing phone out of his pocket. “Huh, 3:23. I guess while you guys try to decide what you wanna do next, I’ll go say hi to Ms. Cheerilee.” He stood up from his seat and made his way for the door.

“Hey, Twilight?” Applejack sat up in her seat. “What’s with yer character? She...He...It wasn’t exactly what I expected.”

“Yeah. Just what is it anyways?” Rainbow was sitting back, more confused than curious. "I mean, if Rarity's gnome-thing and Pinkie's orc don't hide themselves, why is your person wearing a hood?"

“Well…” I looked down at my character sheet. “I guess I can say this much: Vareén’s a girl.”

“...And that’s it?” Rainbow furrowed her brow.

“Uh-huh. Sorry.” I gave them all a sad smile. “The rest of it is kind of related to her backstory I came up with. I don’t want to give anything away.”

"Wait, your person has a story?" Rainbow asked. "Isn't all this supposed to be a story already? I thought you were supposed to fight in this."

"There's more to this game than fighting, Rainbow Dash," Rarity corrected. "I for one am impressed that you could put together a story for Vareén so quickly. I'm afraid I barely have anything made for Ricven." Rarity seemed to have an idea pop into her head as she looked back at me. "Where did you get the idea from? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Oh, well..." I couldn't keep myself from biting my lip nervously. "I got the idea from a few fictional novels is all. Plus, Story did tell us that we could make as much of a backstory as we wanted so it just came together is all."

"Well, that's good ta hear. 'Least one of us got an inklin' of how this whole character thing works." Applejack looked over at Rainbow and took a few seconds to watch for something. Whether Applejack saw something or not, she rose an eyebrow. "Ya had ta 'ave come up with somethin', didn't ya?"

"Uhhh," Rainbow hummed. "I mean, I didn't really have a chance to—"

A sudden gasp from behind us stopped Rainbow's questioning, much to her relief. “Story Spinner, please stop doing that!” When we all looked over we saw Ms. Cheerilee coming into the room with a clipboard and pen in hand.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to.” He flashed her an innocent smile. To which Ms. Cheerilee only hummed with a nod.

“You know, you tell me that every time. And every time I find it harder to believe.” Her smile returned nonetheless. “Anyway, since this is the first official meeting for D&D Club, I needed you to sign a few things.”

Rainbow's sigh of relief turned into a small growl as she lay her head on the table. “This is starting to feel more like reading a book than playing a game.”

“Silly Rainbow Dash, we’re on a website, not in a book!” Pinkie flashed a smile towards her. “And besides, this is fun! Look at little Mini-Glemerr!” She picked up the miniature orc and held it up to her face. Her smile turned into the same face that the orc was making. “GRRR! I am GLEMERR! I figh' everyone! I glow when I tal—hey, it’s glowing!”

Pinkie held the mini out for all of us with an open palm and watched as pink aura started to flow around the orc figure.

“Wait a second…” Sunset leaned in towards it with narrowed eyes. The rest of us did the same. Except, while none of us seemed to notice anything, Sunset’s whole body went stiff.

“Pinkie. Drop it,” Sunset said with a wavering tone. Sunset looked over towards Ms. Cheerilee and Story Spinner to see if either of them had noticed either. For the time being, they were still dealing with whatever papers Ms. Cheerilee brought in.

Pinkie looked up at Sunset with a sad look. “Aww, but Glemerr's powering up. She's about to go Super Orc,” Pinkie cheered.

It took me a few more seconds, but as Pinkie kept holding up the miniature I finally noticed what Sunset was talking about. Feeding from Pinkie's hand were wisps of aura from both her palm and fingertips collected around the miniature. It was siphoning off of Pinkie's magic and containing it. Exactly as the magic capturing device I had made before.

I looked back at the rest and noticed that none of them, aside from a brief gasp from Fluttershy, seemed to realize what was going on. Not even Pinkie; the one having her magic siphoned.

“Pinkie, drop it.” Sunset was not asking now. When she saw that Pinkie still didn't understand the problem, Sunset reached across the table and swatted the mini out of Pinkie’s hand. With a light tap, the lifeless mini fell onto the table and rolled somewhat toward the middle of the table.

When everyone now spotted the tendrils of magic going from Pinkie's hand to the mini, they caught on immediately. Pinkie quickly balled her hands up and folded them behind her head. Whether it was her intention or not, the tendrils grew thin enough to where the magic simply stopped flowing into the miniature.

We gave a deep sigh of relief.

Then the magic started spreading.

The pink aura from the miniature leaked out like a puddle of oil and coated the objects on the table. First, the pink magic puddle spread across the vinyl mat that was the map. While the griddded lines on it started to shine through the puddle, the magic reached further beyond.

The magic then stretched out several tendrils that pinned themselves into the other miniatures scattered across. Each mini in front of each of us seemed to collect the most magic while any extra minis left out only had a 'light coating' in comparison.

As the magic finally reached the dice and papers near each of us, that's when it got worse. From each of us had different colors of aura begin to draw from us and flowed into the puddle of magic spread across the table. Sunset's aura, Rarity's aura, Rainbow's, Fluttershy's, AJ's, more of Pinkie's aura. I only started to officially get terrified when I saw a purple-hued aura draw from my hand and pour into my character sheet.

A few of the girls either scooted away from the table or simply jumped out of their seat to get away from the table. That didn't work. A few more of us, tried waving the magic away or tried moping the magic that had already covered most of the items. That failed too. Pinkie even tried to suck up the wispy aura with a straw as though it were some sort of vapor.

With no progress made I looked up only to see Ms. Cheerilee staring at us with utter terror and confusion in her eyes. After we noticed that Story was still looking the other way, a number of us frantically motioned for her to say nothing or distract Story.

She didn't make any indication that she noticed us. She just continued to stare at the colorful aura whirling around the table. She and the rest of us then watched as the aura began to carry over behind Story's screen and out of sight. It seemed as though after the magic was done effecting all the pieces it would collect behind the screen.

"Uh, Ms. Cheerilee? Is something wrong?"

All of us froze with a few of us too scared to even look at Story. But thankfully, right as Story began to turn back to the table, Ms. Cheerilee acted quick.

"Oh, well. Uh. Um." Before Story could turn fully toward the table Ms. Cheerilee pulled him back to face away from us. "I...I almost forgot," She stammered. "I need you to sign your name in print too. An-And I need you to put everyone else's names along the bottom."

“Everyone's name?” Story looked back over the papers carefully. "I don't think there's enough room for all our names on this line."

"Well..." Cheerilee hummed as she glanced up at the rest of us. We took it as a sign to hurry up while she still had Story's attention. "That's paperwork. Every line is...always too small?"

"I mean, I guess you're right," Story agreed. Nevertheless, he started to fill out each name. Only to glance back up at her. "Wait, if you're aware of that, how's come you make the lines on your tests so small?"

Back with our group each of us were trying to halt the magic flow. I noticed that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were practically flailing their hands to cut off the magic, but the aura still kept flowing from them. At the same time I and Fluttershy were trying to sit on our hands, but that wasn't working either.

“What do we do?!” Rarity was whispering as quiet as she could. She was a step away from getting out of her seat.

"I'm not sure," Sunset answered. "Twilight, that device from the Games. Did it have an off switch when you first used it?"

"No," I replied. "Well, I mean I could've closed it, but this is different. It's the magic doing this, not the objects...I think."

I pulled my hands out from under the chair and kept watching the aura. Ever since I unleashed the magic at the Games we all figured that I had some traces of magic. Now that I was looking at the proof firsthand, every worst case scenario was running through my head. Anything from the school being transformed to the magic corrupting any or all of us kept coming to mind.

“H-Hold on a sec. Do any of y'all feel tuckered out?” Applejack was watching her hands as the orange aura kept leaving her. “I don’t think this is doin' anything ta us.”

Each of us took a second to look ourselves over. The string of magic didn't seem to grow any duller and none of us were getting any less exhausted either. In fact, all of us were still no less anxious for something to happen. With my machine, each of them lost some color and had no trace of any magic. In fact, if this was supposed to be anything like my spectrometer, than most of us should've been drained of our energy.

Rainbow Dash was the first to reach out for one of her dice. As she picked it up she and the rest of us watched as the twenty-sided die began to finally show some kind of result. While the die was originally green with white numbers etched onto each side of it, Rainbow's magic swirled around it and changed the colors. The green instantly cooled into a deep, almost chrome blue color as each number went from white to every color on the spectrum. Exactly like a rainbow.

As Rainbow started to turn the die around in her hands, she looked up. "This isn't like the clam, machine, thing." Clam machine? It had a name. "It's like the instruments!"

“Okay, done.” All of us looked back to see Story handing over the clipboard. “I think I got it now.”

“Um…” Ms. Cheerilee locked eyes with Sunset, still seeing the magic moving around on all pieces of the game. “There’s one more thing,” She said as she turned back to him. “I need you to put the time.”

“Oh...Uh, okay. Let me get my phone.” He started to turn around.

“No!” Cheerilee forced him to stay right where he was. “I mean...You don’t have to do that. Just go ahead and put 3:30.”

Story glanced at the paper. “If I need to put the time then how's come I can just put whatever?”

"It's...Well..."

I turned back towards the table. “Speaking of time, we're running out of it.”

“Wait. I think it’s fading.” Sunset saw the aura from each of us finally fade away, only leaving the materials glowing.

“Well that’s great an’ all, but what about the game?” Applejack picked up her own twenty-sided die, which had changed just like Rainbow’s. It was now a darker orange with red numbers around it.

In fact, everyone’s dice had resembled their usual colors. Even mine, which had a dark purple base as the numbers had the same brilliant rose color that the streak in my hair had.

Soon enough, the aura finally started to subside. “There, I guess," Story said with no enthusiasm. "Anything else Ms. Cheerilee?” Spinner's attention sounded a little strained, but he was trying his best to stay patient around her.

“...” She looked up to us one last time. She could tell the floating aura was gone, but that didn’t stop her from looking worried. Yet somehow she managed to give the most genuine smile I had ever seen. “No, I think that’s everything. Sorry to keep forgetting so many parts about this.”

Story gave a sigh of relief. “It’s fine. Just, I'm surprised at how much there is to sign for this. I feel like I'm signing my soul away or something.” He turned around to start walking towards the table, causing Cheerilee to tense up on instinct.

“Alright." Story let out a breath. "Sorry to keep you all waiting.”

As he made his way to his seat, all of us waited for a reaction. The aura might've been gone, but our dice were all different colors and the gridded lines looked as though they were lined with silver. Not to mention all the magic previously clouded around where he was now sitting.

"...What?" He asked, seeing all of our expressions.

"Nothing!" Sunset blurted out. "It's nothing." Even if Story may not have noticed it now how long was that going to last?

“...Alright then." When Story saw that Ms. Cheerilee wasn't leaving just yet he spoke up. "Oh, hey Ms. Cheerilee? You can stay if you want. There’s actually something going on for once.” Story took his seat and reached for the now enchanted markers. And unbeknownst to him, Ms. Cheerilee was watching in fear, waiting for the moment where everything would explode.

"You have no idea," Ms. Cheerilee spoke flatly.

"I don't?" Story looked confused.

"I mean," Cheerilee backpedaled. “I actually need to turn these papers in to Principal Celestia. Now.” She turned for the door. “Have a nice day everyone! And be careful.” She looked over all of us as she spoke her warning.

Nevertheless, she opened the door to the hallway and tried as best she could to act natural. Afterward, Story didn't seem to notice the sound of Ms. Cheerilee's boots clicking against the hallway's floor as she started down the hall as fast as she could.

Story snickered a little. “Be careful? What, does she think the game’s gonna come out and bite us?” He started to draw a straight path on the mat as we all shared a worried look. How many 'what's the worst that can happen' metaphors did we have to bear?

“So.” Once Story drew a regular path along the middle of the small mat, he put away the brown marker and got out both a green marker and a two small pieces of paper. There was something drawn on the bottom sides of the papers though none of us could see what it was as he quickly placed the pictures face down. “Where did you guys want to start? At the stables or after all of you hit the road?”

“...”

Story looked around and noticed all us glancing in every direction that wasn't his.

“Um, hey girls, why are you all so quiet? There something I don’t know about?” Well obviously, yes, there was, but how were we supposed to tell him that?

The seven of us slowly looked at each other, silently trying to decide what we could do. We managed to get away with Story not seeing any of the magic. Only now it was starting to dawn on me that him seeing the magic might have made our situation better.

The fact that Story didn't see the magic would make warning him about it more difficult. Not only that but if we told him about the magic than what was the point in keeping him distracted? Would Ms. Cheerilee permit us telling him? Actually, would the Principal and Vice-Principal want us telling him? They made it clear to everyone at the Friendship Games that we needed to keep the magic to a 'Need to Know' basis. Even transfer students like Story weren't told about it.

“...” None of us made any plans of breaking that rule. So instead, we painfully stared at our feet. We could feel Story's worry without having to look at his sad expression. To Fluttershy and Applejack especially, all this secrecy was making us feel even worse. Finally, the creaking of Story's chair made a few of us glance up in time to see him lean forward.

“Look, if you guys want we can, just, call it a day from here.” Story started to reach for his backpack. “I mean, I get it. The game can be pretty boring. Besides, I don't mind packing up and heading home earl—”

“No!” Sunset tried to sound casual about it, but her appearance said otherwise. Her head shot up from the floor with eyes wide with worry. “No, it’s not that. We just...Don’t really know what to do ourselves. We're all kind of new to the game. Right girls?”

Some of us nodded along with muttered agreements while Applejack squirmed in her seat. The lie was not sitting well with her.

"Besides," Sunset went on. "We don't want you to have to pack up all your things," Sunset stressed as she looked across the table at Rarity. "And just head home. Right Rarity?"

"...Right," Rarity agreed slowly. The meaning of Sunset's words were starting to spark an idea to Rarity. She quickly sat up and continued Sunset's thought. "We would hate for all of your painstaking effort of putting all these dice and materials out go to complete waste."

It took myself a few more moments to catch on but once I did I found myself nodding in agreement. "Yes." I sat up. "Besides, didn't you say that you'd help teach us how to play? We still wanted to try to find out how the game works."

"Wait, even after all the—ow," Rainbow rubbed her side that Applejack drove a light elbow into. AJ might not have been able to lie along with us, but she wasn't about to let Rainbow blow our chance.

“Um." Fluttershy started to look up. "Why don’t you go ahead and do whatever you think is best?” Fluttershy gave Story a small smile. “After all, you know more about the game than we do.”

“I...W-Well...Yeah, I think I get where you're coming from.” Story put his backpack back down and faced forward towards the table. “Then, if you're all fine with it, we can just skip ahead to when everything begins actually happens."

Story took a moment to check over a few things as we all shared one last look between ourselves. By this point, we were all aware of the problem. If Story left now, he'd be taking all of his now magical things with him. So far that magic only seemed to change the dice colors, but if what I saw at the Friendship games was any indication, we couldn't let someone keep this much magic with them. At least, not until we found out what it all did.

Besides, we couldn't just take everything from Story. Even if we gave him a lot of these things as gifts they were all still his things. And if we weren't going to explain the magic behind this than that meant we wouldn't have a reason to tell Story to give up his things. For now, the only solution was waiting it out and seeing if this was even a problem to be worried about.

Hopefully, things wouldn't get too bad before we could have an answer.