//------------------------------//
// 2 - You Meet in a Tavern 
// Story: Roll for Initiative 
// by David Silver 
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Spike flipped madly through the book. "So, uh, to start..." He let out a triumphant little cry. "Ah ha, here we are." He had found the example adventure. He wasn't quite up to making it up as he went, or so he thought, so that seemed a safer place to begin. "You've spent a grueling week traveling across the countryside. It is with great--" He was reading directly from the book, doing his best to sound authorial as he droned.

Big Mac cut him off. "We."

"Huh?"

Big Mac pointed at Spike, then himself. "We. We're togetha, right?"

"O-oh! Yeah, well, uh, not yet." Spike bobbed his head. "I'm gettin' to that! So, there you are, tired and dirty, and you see this inn, the Bit and Bridle. It has a sign hanging over the door with a fancy parade headdress and a coin beside it. The sounds of revelry drift from within. A fine place to relax and recover." He cleared his throat. "Get it?"

"Ah... go in?" Big Mac spoke with uncertainty, but he was getting into the game. In his mind, his great unicorn warrior pressed wearily into the inn, heaving out a sigh of relief. 

"Finally," said his warrior. "A place to get some drinks, maybe a bath, and sleep on something better than dirt."

A comely mare waved at him. "Oh, hello good sir! Please, have a seat wherever you'd like. I'll be with you in a moment."

Big Mac blinked, his imagination bursting. "Uh, Spike?"

"Yeah?"

He smiled a little. "Ya do a funny mare voice."

Spike colored swiftly. "Hey! I'm doing the best I can!" He crossed his arms and flopped back onto his throne. "Anyway! You see a dark and mysterious figure at the bar, and he seems to have noticed you too."

The figure stood up on two legs, features hidden under a hood  as it came closer to Sir McBiggun. "Hello, valiant warrior," It spoke, male. "It is good that you came. I am in need of brave and valiant companions for a most dire task!"

Sir McBiggun lifted his tankard for a needed sip. "And who are you, shrouded stranger, to come and ask things of me?"

The smaller figure brushed his hood back, revealing his draconic head of the clearly aged wizard, flowing grey beard and moustache flowing--

"Ya said that twice," cut in Big Mac.

"I'm emphasizing!" countered Spike with a rolling of his eyes. "Right, so..."

The wizard brushed his cloak back as he assumed a dynamic position. "I am Garbuncle! I have come to..."

Spike flipped to the next page. What were they there for? Oh right!

"--rid the basement of exceptionally large rodents."

Big Mac tilted his head slowly. "That don't sound like much a quest for a big and strong warrior and a wizard."

Spike regarded the book a moment. "Y-yeah... So..."

Garbuncle brushed his cloak back as he assumed a dynamic position. "I am Garbuncle! I have come to save a fair maiden from the clutches of a foul monster!"

McBiggun clapped his tankard on the table. "Now we're talkin'! What foul monster dares to menace a pony on my watch?"

Garbuncle's face twisted into a scowl. "It's... so terrible it has hidden itself from us! We have to find it first, and then, the fair maiden."

McBiggun blinked softly. "Do we at least know who's in trouble?"

"Oh, uh, the princess!" He stroked his mighty beard. "Yes, the princess is the one in trouble."

"Which one? Celestia?"

Spike put a hand over his face. "This isn't Equestria, at least not the one we know. There is no Princess Celestia."

Big Mac rolled a hoof. "So which princess is it then?"

"The... wonderful and enchanting..." Spike's eyes darted about as he tried to think of a name. There was one mare he knew was the most wonderful and enchanting, but he didn't want to just use her name. That was a secret... "Schmarity." Nailed it. "Yes, Princess Schmarity is in trouble, and we have to save her."

Big Mac leveled an even gaze at Spike for several moments, letting his friend sweat. "Ya..."

"That's just her name." Garbuncle coughed into his free hand, the other clutching his gnarled staff. "Come, we should head out at once!"

McBiggun slid to his hooves, drawing his sword with the ring of steel. "Alright! Where to?"

Spike flipped through the book for a map, but lost patience part of the way through. He was already off the rails, why not make it up?

"We set off to the enchanted glade of the wood pixies." Garbuncle nodded his head. "They will have information that can get us closer."

"Ayup," agreed McBiggun and they marched valiantly from the inn, side-by-side. "So, uh, where ya from?"

"Huh?"

McBiggun pointed at Garbuncle as they walked. "Where ya from? Ah know yer name, but not much else."

"O-oh! Well, I'm... a learned wizard!"

"Uh huh?" McBiggun nodded. "Didja go to school?"

"Of course I did! The grand school of, uh, Dragonopolis! Only the mightiest of wizards are invited to attend. The classes were grueling, the tests life threatening, but I passed them all." He crossed his arms and gave a proud nod. "Now I wander the world, doing good where I can."

"Well, ah'm Sir McBiggun, a noble." He nodded lightly. "Ah couldn't leave another noble in trouble none, so ah want ta help Princess Schmarity."

"So, uh..." Garbuncle put a clawed hand behind his head. "How'd you get into fighting? You join the guard?"

"Nope." He shook his head firmly. "Just wanted ta do some good. Ain't no good being a lazy noble."

Spike spread his hands wide. "And so our heroes journeyed until the darkness came. They set up camp, a simple thing with a bonfire to ward away some of the chill. Little did they realize that they were being watched!"

"By what?" asked Big Mac, his ears perked.

"You'll find out!" Spike rubbed his hands together with a grin. "Because they arrive..." He picked up one of the dice and let it tumble. "During the second watch."

"That's mah turn!" noted Big Mac with alarm. "Well, Ah'll show 'em a thing or two."

"Not so fast." Spike waggled a claw at Big Mac. "You have to make a roll, to see if you even notice them before they arrive." He nudged a many-sided die towards Big Mac. "Go on."

Big Mac reached for it and pulled it close at the end of his hoof. He brought his other forehoof in and let it bounce around in the space created between them before unleashing it to tumble across the table.

"Ooo, not quite high enough..." Spike gave a malicious grin.

Sir Mcbiggun stood stalwart watch, the crackle of the fire his only company. It was a dark night, the moon barely a sliver in the sky above, when the clouds weren't obscuring it. It was the perfect night... for an ambush! With a sudden war cry, small imp-sized creatures rained down from the trees all around him. Two of them held a side of a net apiece, aiming to get the surprised McBiggun all wrapped up before the fight could even begin.

"Ah grab one of the imps!" said Big Mac in an alarmed voice. One of tha ones tryin' ta net me! Ah use mah fancy horn."

Spike reached for the die and let it tumble around. Truthfully, he didn't know what result was needed, but the imp had rolled low. Good enough. "The imp tries to dodge out of the way, but your magic is far faster than it could hope to be! You're holding its little form as it squeals and thrashes. The net hangs off of you limply."

Garbuncle stirred at the sounds of combat to find himself with two of the imps on his chest, one pointing a tiny spear at him! (a die is rolled outside of the world) He quickly rolled to the side, leaving the imps behind. He brought up his staff and, kapow! A blast of arcane energy knocked them to the ground, stars over their heads.

McBiggun shook the remains of the net free. "Who wants some!?" The imps quivered with uncertainty, but one stepped forward, the biggest and bravest of the bunch. He thumped his little chest and raised his spear high.

McBiggun nodded in respect to a fellow warrior. "No funny business, just me n' you." The little one nodded in kind. They crossed sword and spear and took a step back. It was a duel, accepted by both sides. The other imps watched the conflict with wide eyes.

Garbuncle waved his staff and with a sparkle, summoned several boxes of popcorn. The imps accepted the offered treat with a communal cry of joy and they all sat to watch McBiggun and the imp champion fight.

The imp circled to the left, jabbing his spear out as if testing McBiggun's stance, but he was unshaken, keeping his sword level and ready to swing at a moment's notice. The tension grew as they sought out one another's weaknesses. McBiggun took the first swing, bringing down his sword on where the imp had been just an instant before. The imp came down on McBiggun's back and scored a painful scratch that barely jabbed through his armor.

With a roar of anger, McBiggun twisted his body around, throwing the imp free as he grasped his sword even more firmly in his tee--horn magic. "The first hit's yours, but the last one's gonna be mine."

They clashed with the loud ring of weapon meeting weapon, but McBiggun had an advantage. He still had his hooves free. As the weapons struggled against one another, he kicked out, knocking the imp to the ground. "Ha ha!" He swung his sword in, holding it to the imp's throat. "Ah win, fair and square."

The imp suddenly vanished, leaving McBiggun blinking at empty air before he felt another rough jab in his foreleg. The imp giggled as it faded back into being. "If you can use magic--" It cried. "--I can use magic too!"

One of the smaller imps leaned in closer to Garbuncle. "No pony's ever won a duel with our champion before. He knows what he's doing."

Garbuncle stroked his amazingly masculine beard. "Is that so? Well, Sir McBiggun is known for his talents as well. I would not discount him so easily."

McBiggun went still even as the imp faded away. "Give up?" asked the unseen imp. "I would. You don't have a chance." Another sharp jab came, poking him in the side.

McBiggun winced, but remained still, waiting... The imp faded away with the sound of its giggling. Unseen, it moved for a new position to strike, only to find a hoof coming in with lightning speed, knocking it to the ground roughly with McBiggun standing half on top of it. "Ah ha!" He kicked with his other hoof, knocking dirt onto the unseen imp and revealing his outline. "Found ya."

The crowd of other imps collectively gasped. One casually nibbled on his popcorn, clearly still enjoying the show.

"Alright alright! Don't squish me!" cried the champion. "You win, fair an square!"

McBiggun nodded. "Ayup. Promise to go away."

"We'll go away!" he promised desperately.

Garbuncle rose to his feet. "Wait there, good friend. Sir Imp, I would know why you attacked us. Was this a simple act of opportunity?"

"W-what? Um, yes!"

"Ah dun believe him," stated Big Mac, crossing his arms.

"You can make an honesty roll to see if you can get a good read on him." Spike nudged the die over to Big Mac.

Big Mac grabbed up the die and shook up real good. "Ah bet they're hidin' somethin' or other..." He let the die fall, rattling around on the table.

McBiggun shook the imp he had pinned. "Tell us the truth! Why'dja attack us?!"

"Alright, alright!" squeaked the rattled imp champion. "The wizard told us to!"