After they'd cleared the next room of goblins, Sunset explained the importance of looting bodies as well as treasure chests, if they found any. Adagio and Sonata were hesitant to touch the virtual corpses, but Aria was happy to oblige. By the third room, they had gotten into a neat rhythm of Adagio charging in and taking up a defensive stance, Aria and Sonata moving in to back-stab/head-bonk everything that attacked her up close, and Sunset blasting everything that stayed at a range.
"We're getting a lotta these potions," Aria thought aloud while going over the latest batch of dead goblins, "but we're sorta running out of inventory space."
"I'm no blacksmith," Adagio said while pacing over for a closer look, "but the goblins' weapons look like trash. We should probably start throwing those out to make room for more valuable objects."
"Potions are almost definitely worth more," Sunset called out, "even the lousy ones." This won her three perplexed looks. She blushed. "...I've played RPGs before, remember?"
Fortunately for her dignity, the sirens didn't probe further, Aria and Adagio instead focusing on weeding out the least valuable items in their inventory. In doing so, the latter gave the party's slap-happy black mage a wary glance before positioning herself so as not to turn her back on her.
Sunset scowled a little.
I thought it'd be blocked, dammit! It was an accident! Not like I could touch you from over here if I wanted to anyway.
The giggles from her side told her that Sonata knew what she was thinking, reinforced by her mischievous smile.
"I think she's onto you now."
"Very funny," Sunset deadpanned. From the way she kept giggling, Sonata seemed to think so too.
"Hey, be glad that's all she's doing. The old Dagi would have totally killed you."
"...The old Dagi?"
Sonata shrugged. "You didn't know her before, but she's-... well, actually, I guess all three of us have gotten pretty mellow. I don't know if it's that we don't suck up rage anymore or that life is just... calmer now." She smiled. "But yea, she'd have probably blasted you through a wall for that."
"Blasted?"
"We used to be able to blow stuff away by screaming at it. Not as useful as you might think."
"Huh."
"Okay," they heard Aria say, "why don't you hold the potions, then? I don't know if it's barbarian strength or hair-storage, but you've got more room in your inventory than the rest of us."
Adagio huffed at the hair remark before looking through her inventory again. "Unlimited room for gold, only so much for everything else..." She briefly tried to stuff a goblin sword into the coin pouch, but it repeatedly ting'd against some tiny, invisible wall. She shrugged. "Well, suppose we can just stop picking up every rusted goblin weapon we see."
Sunset briefly outlined the basics of Potion Duty and they continued on, making their way through the dim, narrow caverns to a big, suddenly-volcanic one.
It was a single, massive room, the sheer height of which made it hard to discern any kind of ceiling, even if smoke and fumes hadn't clouded the area above. The doorway through which they entered was connected to a central, metallic platform with a long, stone walkway, built like a wall rising up from the bubbling lava below. There was nowhere else to go but back the way they came, so they followed the path out to the platform. On it was a massive checkerboard with a bunch of random, runic symbols (nothing Sunset recognized, which she took to mean they were all made up) on each square, the spaces in question about a square meter each. It seemed like an odd choice of decoration for a volcano, but a plain, wooden sign next to a lever cleared things up.
This puzzle is not finished yet. Sorry 'bout that. Please pull the lever to proceed.
RPG Trap Senses tingling, Sunset looked around for any sign of a threat that might descend on them if they tried to take such an obvious solution, but lacking any other means to progress, she settled for keeping her guard up as Adagio pulled the lever. Another stone walkway rose from the lava, cooling off and becoming walkable in ways that only made sense in video games to connect them to the next area. Sunset felt just a little silly. The walkway brought them to a spiraling, stone path that wound upward around a massive column, growing narrower with height. Aria made conversation as they headed toward the top.
"So, what was that supposed to be? Why are there giant board games or slidey-block puzzles or whatever in a... whatever this is?"
"Puzzles are kind of a thing in fantasy games," answered Sunset, a hint of pride in her voice as she said "but don't worry, I'm pretty sure I can solve anything we come across."
Sonata glanced over her shoulder at the defunct puzzle that would never be solved. "But like, if the game's not done, why are we in it?"
"We're beta-testers, Sonata," Adagio said with a hint of fatigue, as though she'd had to deliver this explanation a few too many times, "our job is to see if this thing works overall, even if every facet isn't completely ready yet. Having spoken to the man in charge, I suspect he prizes instant gratification, like combat and looting, above brain-teasers."
Sunset had to ask. "Who is this guy, any-WOAH!!"
As they neared the top of the stone spiral, a fiery bat-creature swooped down at the group, revealing itself to be one of many that swarmed in (and likely contributed to) the smoke near the top of the area. As the rest were rapidly closing in and the only path other than going back down was a rope-bridge leading from the top of the spiral to a stone doorway, the group charged in that direction. With the burning bats swooping in to chip away at their health, they found themselves wishing they had their weapons from the heist simulation as all but one of the party frantically tried to ward off their infernal attackers.
"Adagio," Sunset cried out after blasting as many as she could line up with a lightning spell, "these things are trying to kill us! Why aren't you even swinging at them?!"
"The bridge is made of ropes, you dolt!" She took minimal damage by smacking one away with her metal-covered wrist. "What happens with one wrong swipe of a battle axe?!"
"Uh-"
Adagio's fears were confirmed when one of Aria's daggers accidentally sliced through one of the ropes holding the bridge up. That alone didn't instantly destroy the bridge, but the planks on which they ran rapidly lost stability as the effects were felt, made worse by four adventurers running on it at full speed. The bridge wobbled badly as they neared the other side, a few more ropes snapping due to the stress of their continued charge or just more careless cutting, and while Aria, Sunset, and Adagio set foot on the solid, stone ground on the opposite side, Sonata Accident Prone Dusk lost her footing (she would later blame it on her hood falling over her eyes), slipped, and fell to one side as the undulations of the bridge offset her pace, barely catching herself on a snapped line less than a meter from the safety (give or take the remaining fire-bat swarm) of solid ground. Her grip was weak and she started to slip, but Aria, clutching one of the posts that held the bridge up, seized Sonata's wrist in her opposite hand.
"I've got you, just hold on!!"
For once, Sonata didn't say anything, watching Sunset and Adagio fend off the remaining bats with a combination of fast-flying ice-spikes and axe-swings, but none of that was helping her grip with these long sleeves! She felt herself giving way, her eyes welling up as she glanced at the bubbling lava far below. "Riaaaa?"
Her scared, pitiful, pleading tone tugged at something in Aria's chest as she tried to pull Sonata up. "Just hold on, I've got you!"
"I'm slippi-"
"No you're not!!"
She was. "Ria, I j-just want you to know I always-"
Aria was tearing up too. "Don't talk like that!! I swear you're gonna get out of this, and when you do, I'll, uh, get you ice cream! As much as you can stuff your face with!"
Sonata stared up at her with wide, watery eyes. "Ria..."
Unfortunately, a rogue's modest Strength stat and a cleric's smooth robes did them no favors as Sonata continued to slip. "Don't let go, don't let-NO!!"
The last of the bats fled or were slain just as Sonata's scream seized the attention of the two that had been keeping them away from her and Aria, now looking on in horror as Aria screamed the name of the plummeting party member.
And then, before Aria was even finished screaming her name, Sonata shot back up to rejoin the rest of them on solid ground, smoke trailing from her rear as she ran around crying "OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!"
Dumbstruck, the other three adventurers could only watch in perplexed silence as she continued to run around slapping at her own behind in a vain effort of putting out the fire. Sunset noticed Aria and Adagio looking to her for answers, so she drew on what she remembered from other games.
"Uhh... Well," she said with a thoughtful hand on her chin, "I guess this game goes with the soft penalty for falling down instant-death pits, which are common hazards. It'd kind of suck if you lost everything because of one false step, so some games either make it impossible to fall off ledges or only inflict minor penalties if you do." She chuckled as her eyes followed the smoking Cleric that sprinted past her. "Like a burning status effect that'll probably wear off in a sec. So, at least we know where this game stands now, huh?"
"Indeed," sighed Adagio, "I had forgotten this was just a simulation."
She looked a little embarrassed to admit it, but not nearly as much as Aria, who stood with her head down and a burning status effect of her own on her face. From the way Sunset and Adagio looked at her, they overheard her little moment while Sonata was dangling over the pit, but at least neither of them were saying anything about it. Their attention was collectively seized when Sonata (whose burning effect had worn off) stomped over, looking considerably annoyed.
"How long were you guys gonna let me run around with my ass on fire?!"
Sunset counted off on her fingers. "One: I think all three of us were sorta shocked that you survived at all. Two:-" She smirked. "It was kinda funny." An annoyed growl was cut off by her next point. "Three: What would we have used to put the fire out? Do you see any water or anything we could have used to smother the flames around here?"
Sonata's mouth hung open as Adagio rummaged through the potion satchel. "Would one of these have worked? They're supposed to fix wounds too, right?"
Adagio's naivete on the subject tickled Sunset, reminding her of a foal trying to cast a spell for the first time. "The minor healing potions we picked up from the goblins will restore health," she said with a little smile, "but won't undo status effects. Actually, we should probably use a few after that little caper."
Sunset and Adagio walked together as the former explained RPG potion use (Adagio was initially confused by the idea of healing allies by throwing little bottles at them), Aria and Sonata trailing behind them. Just trying not to make eye-contact with anyone, Aria kept her head down, but she could still hear the way Sonata was grinning at her.
"Sooo, am I still getting that ice cream?" She grinned wider at the way Aria blushed, but to her surprise, Aria responded with something other than embarrassed grumbling.
"...After we get paid."
Blinking twice, Sonata waited for some kind of punchline or a "Not!" at her expense, but when Aria didn't change or add anything to the statement, she beamed, wrapping her soft, robe-covered arms around her in a hug.
Moving at a cautious pace through the long, thin, corridor, the group kept as close together as possible. The height of the ceiling and claustrophobic atmosphere were worrying enough, but the decor of long, black, obsidian spikes lining the tunnel like the ribcage of a massive snake had all of them expecting the worst. When they opened the door on the other end, a waft of hot air and smoke billowed through to blind the group, but thankfully not induce coughing fits. This was, perhaps, beyond the scope of virtual reality for the time being.
The smoke eventually gave way, allowing them to see the bigger, wider room that awaited them; similar to the previous room, but instead of long walkways and spiraling paths leading up to fire-bats, it was a big, wide, circular area of volcanic rock in the middle of a pool of lava, a staircase leading up a cavern walkway at the far end.
"Be careful," Sunset said while shooting wary looks around the room, "the layout of this place says 'boss fight.'"
"We're at the end?" Adagio sounded almost relieved. "Well, that was fast!"
"Maybe, maybe not. Boss fights are kind of a big, exciting event in these things, so there's usually more than one. We might just be in for a mini-boss."
"Mini-boss?" Sonata looked around too. "Is that like a tinier version of the big boss that sits on their lap and punches people in the junk?"
"No," Sunset answered with a chuckle, "they're more like-"
A massive, flaming boar dropped from the ceiling, crashing down on the rocky ground with a roar as a veritable waterfall of flame cascaded down its back over pitch-black (it may have indeed been pitch) fur, save for a gleaming, golden mask covering its face and enormous, jutting tusks, fiery eyes staring down the party as it snorted acrid clouds of black smoke and scraped one hoof against the ground, preparing to charge.
Eyes wide, Sonata pointed at it. "HOLY SH-"
Instantly, a brilliant beam of white light erupted from her hand, illuminating the whole of the arena for a few seconds. When it cleared, the flaming boar was missing its entire top half, the lifeless legs and underbelly crumpling to the ground. In the silence that followed, the sirens looked to Sunset for answers.
"Uh... Okay, um... Lemme think here... Oh, I've got it! 'Holy!' Sonata must have cast a really high-level light spell." She glanced at the remains of the boar. "...OP, please nerf. That might be the only offensive spell you have, but it probably drains a lot of mana."
Huffing, Aria crossed her arms. "Freakin' anticlimactic, too. A big, stupid light-show instantly solving everything? Snore."
For some reason, Sunset felt just a few feet shorter, but Adagio shook her head. "If you wanted the experience of fighting that thing, you're more than welcome to set yourself on fire, sit on a stalagmite, and spin. I, however, will take this freebie for all it's worth."
And she marched towards the stairs, casting only a cursory glance over the lootless remains (they probably couldn't have carried more than a tusk of that giant, golden mask anyway) of the boar as she strode past it.
The other three stood in silence until Sonata smiled at Aria. "She told you."
"Shut up."
Giggling, Sunset moved to follow Adagio, and not just because her pace slowed considerably the further she went into the dungeon by herself.
Heh, I bet if Adagio were a pony, one of the noble daughters at Celestia's school, she'd have been one of those prissy, but fearful types. The ones that insisted they be escorted by armed guards any time they so much as went outside.
She could just picture it; a little pony Adagio, her fluffy mane and tail all immaculately groomed as she stood huffing by a doorway, making petulant faces until someone was free to keep her safe, no matter how small the actual chances of danger in the nicer districts of Canterlot she'd be liable to visit, then strutting around with her snout held high when she actually got going. She'd seen young mares like that before; low self-esteem, but high expectations on them, taught all kinds of magic, but never so much as encouraged to get any live practice, in self-defense especially. Of course, thinking about it, Sunset probably wouldn't have gotten along with such a pony, as she didn't really get along with much of anyp-
The sound of breaking glass snapped Sunset back to (virtual) reality, where she saw a blue mist enveloping Sonata before dissipating.
"Man," she remarked, "those potion things work like glassy water-balloons, huh?"
"I suppose," nodded Adagio, "did it restore your magic gauge?"
"Yep! But I should prolly let you guys handle most of the killing stuff anyway?"
"Smart girl. We'll do what we can, but you're our heavy artillery."
Brows furrowed, Sonata rested her hands on her hips. "Whaddya mean 'heavy'?!"
Adagio rolled her eyes, letting them come to rest on Aria, who knelt by the treasure chest the group had stopped to open. She knew better than to ask how it was coming along, but in another moment, Aria made a triumphant sound and the lid popped open.
"Ooooh, this looks nice... Hey, Shimmer, you mentioned us getting better stuff later, right?"
Sunset stepped closer to examine the contents of the chest. "Um, yes?"
"I'm thinkin' it's later! Check it out!"
Along with a pile of gold coins, the chest yielded equipment for the whole party. Sunset, picking up and examining each item, felt like she was given gift-duty on Hearths Warming!
...Which was something else she never really got into bef-
Whatever, gift 'em!
"Sonata, I think this staff is yours."
She took it. "More bonking power?"
"Hehe! Yea, but it probably ups your magic strength, too."
"Groovy!"
"And this object is a... circlet, I think. Black, thorny in design, and has a gemstone in it, so it's probably mine." She put it on her head and smiled at the others. "How do I look?"
Analyzing the aesthetics of the thing, Adagio brushed a thoughtful hand along her chin. "Do you want the long or short version?"
Remembering that Adagio had been working with Rarity, Sunset immediately raised both hands in defense, smiling sheepishly. "Forget I asked! Mercy!" The sirens just giggled, so she turned to grab the next item. "This looks like... armor, I think. Most likely for you, Adagio."
She accepted the metal pieces with a hint of discomfort. "Do I, er... Is there a changing room, or-"
Aria shook her head. "You can probably just equip armor instantly."
Before Sunset could ask how she knew that, Adagio poofed into a shiny, new outfit. In place of her bracers, fur boots, chestwrap, and loincloth were platemail boots and much shinier bracers, the most literal interpretation of a PG-13 breastplate, thin pauldrons, and a chainmail miniskirt. The AC had to be higher, but from the look on her flushed face, she didn't feel any safer.
"Er... Y-you know, one thing I could say for the barbarian furs was that they would at least keep me warm..."
"Uhh," Sunset looked back at the treasure chest, "and last is... Huh. I don't see anything here for a rogue."
Aria wore a proud smirk. "That's because like a rogue, I already swiped it." She gestured to herself. "See?"
Looking Aria over, she didn't see any difference. "Um... No."
"New leather armor."
"...?"
"The old one was ultra-dark brown, this one is ultra-dark blue. Duh."
The other two sirens nodding affirmatively made Sunset's eye twitch. She'd have argued that they were both just black, but if Adagio had scarily-good eyesight, maybe it applied to all three of them? That or they were just screwing with her. "Right, so... If we're still getting gear, I don't think the adventure is over yet. Let's keep going!"
Continuing on through the narrow tunnels, they eventually emerged into the daylight to find themselves on a mountain path, greeted with an awe-inspiring view of the valley below. Grass and tree branches visibly blew in the wind, various kinds of (hopefully non-hostile) wildlife could be seen roaming around the ground level while colorful, fantasy avians drifted through the sky above.
"Well, that's pretty," Aria remarked dryly, "but where do we go now?"
Sunset scanned the area for anything that all but said 'Hey, over here!' to prospective dungeon-crawlers, smiling when she spotted a tall, obsidian spire in the middle of the valley, just between them and a slightly ominous mountain range. "First guess? Right over there."
They started down the path, practically sight-seeing with the lack of anything that might attack them as they made their way down to the valley. Just before they reached the grassy area, there was a little market stand that wouldn't have been out of place in a bazaar, but felt just a little incongruous in the middle of Adventure Country. Still, Sunset recognized a merchant when she saw one, and the bags of wares around the man in loose-fitting robes (which might have made more sense in a desert, but maybe the model was a placeholder) all but confirming her suspicions. She smiled to the others.
"Time to sell some loot!"
"So," Aria mused as they continued down the path, "I may not know much about this fantasy stuff," Sunset politely chose not to address the irony, "but I'm pretty sure that guy was ripping us off. He offered us like twelve gold for a healing potion, but charged fifty for one of the same kind of-"
"I know," sighed Sunset, "that's just how it works in RPGs."
"That's crap! If we sold one of those guys something that really was valuable, I'd bet Adagio's metal panties-" there was an indignant, flustered noise from her, "that they'd sell us the exact same item for five times the price if we wanted it back. We should just kill 'em and take their stuff, hawk it at the next merchant."
"But then we'd be carrying all that crap the whole way, and have no room for the rest of what we'd pick up."
Sonata pouted. "So, what, we've just gotta let them rip us off?"
Adagio glanced over her shoulder at the market stand behind them. "I don't like it either, but if we attack one trader, who's to say the rest don't bar us from their shops? This way, we at least get more gold than if we only held what we could carry, even if we carefully managed our inventory to fit only the most valuable items."
Sunset smiled, looking at Adagio to congratulate her for figuring out the Adventurer trade, but she caught sight of something in Adagio's expression. She couldn't place it, but some subtle quirk in her facial muscles or a faint glimmer in her eyes signaled something... dark. Was she bitter about not being able to persuade that guy at all? It wasn't like it was her fault, the merchant having been doing the standard NPC thing of staring into space until addressed, then unwaveringly offering his set, completely unfair prices. They probably hadn't implemented a haggling system into this game yet, but that wouldn't make it any less frustrating for someone as used to being able to sway people as Adagio. Sunset shifted her thoughts to offer some comforting sentiment, but Adagio turned her head, made eye-contact, and quickly turned away again.
Crap, Sunset thought as she looked away too, staring! It's impolite to stare! Even when you're just worried about someone!
Well, she'd find time to check on Adagio a little later, if only for the chance to show her that she could talk about any problem with her friends, no matter how small!
Though, how long can I play the dependable, friend-able ear and/or shoulder to all three of them, if they need it? Maybe I could use some help...