Although it had been a week since the changeling scare and the aftermath, Spike still felt uneasy about the fact that he was being called to Shining Armor's private chambers. In public Shining said he forgave Spike and seemed to be getting along well with Thorax, but who knew how he felt in private? What if he still suspected that Spike was a changeling or had been brainwashed?
The little dragon felt very uneasy, and it took every ounce of nerve he had not to turn tail and run. He'd been allowed to come to the Crystal Empire on his own, and Shining Armor was still family to him. There was no reason to suspect this was something other than a formal visit, right?
Approaching the door of Shining's private chambers in the castle, Spike reluctantly knocked on it. "Come in." Shining's voice called from the other side. It didn't sound hostile but Spike wasn't sure that meant it wasn't.
"Guards, please leave us. I wish to speak to Spike alone." Shining requested, as Spike entered the room. The guards nodded and obeyed without a word.
Spike tried not to gulp. "So uh, you said you wanted to... discuss something with me?" He reluctantly asked.
"Indeed I did, something that mustn't leave the confines of this room," Shining replied as he approached Spike and bluntly asked. "Is it true that you and Big Macintosh have your own little 'Guys Night' while you're in Ponyville?"
"Y-yes." Spike hesitantly answered.
"And is it also true that just recently, coming back from a trip to Yakyakistan, Twilight found the two of you playing with Discord during your 'Guys Night'? More specifically, a real life version of Ogres & Oubliettes?" Shining inquired just a tad more seriously.
"Um... yes?" Spike replied, his tone of voice changing from worried to confused.
Shining turned his full attention to Spike as he then told the dragon. "Well, why didn't you just say so?" He jokingly laughed.
"I thought I did." Spike grumbled.
"I meant your 'Guy's Night'," Shining explained. "You know how much I love Ogres & Oubliettes. Don't forget, I was the one who taught you, Twily, and Cadence how to play it. And not that I mean to brag, but I do like to think of myself as kind of an expert on the game. After all, it was all my friends and I would play when we were in high school, we even hosted our own club for it."
Spike nervously massaged the back of his neck with a claw as he answered. "W-well, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing really. Whenever the rest of the guys were busy, and the girls were off doing Celestia knows what, I kind of grew bored. So, I just mentioned the game to Big Macintosh one day, and we sort of made it a tradition. It was our little secret," He somewhat laughed as he added. "Guess it wasn't much of a secret, Twilight and the others caught on pretty quick. Because that's the only reason I can think of as to how Discord learned about our 'Guys Night' and decided to take over. We had to work out a compromise on what could be real, but once we did Discord took to the game like a duck takes to water. Just don't ever make him the dungeon master, he loved throwing Big Mac and I right into the heat of battle."
"I see," Shining innocently commented. "So, how would you feel about playing with the pros, Spike?"
"Beg your pardon?" Spike asked.
"It's simple," Shining explained. "You, Big Macintosh, and of course Discord could all join in on the next game night with my old friends. You know, Poindexter, 8-bit, Gaffer, and Cherry Fizzy?"
"And you want to be a part of Discord's real life version of Ogres & Oubliettes, right?" Spike guessed.
Shining nodded and with an eager smile he told Spike. "Absolutely! I know the guys will love it too, we always dreamed of finding a way to make a life sized version of the game. That way it'd be a lot more exciting and anyone could join in. So, whadya say? Can you help me out here? Be a pal?"
"Well..." Spike nervously trailed off. "I'd have to talk to Fluttershy, she's the only one who knows about to get in touch with Discord at the moment. And even if I talk to him, I'm not entirely sure he'll agree. Same goes for Big Mac, he often has chores to do, and sometimes he's not available for 'personal reasons'."
"But if you get their okay, can you bring them by this coming Friday?" Shining pleaded.
"I'll try, no promises," Spike replied. "And shouldn't you be focusing on Starlight's lessons?"
Shining shook his head. "I hear she's been doing pretty well on the ones I've given her so far, reckon she deserves a small break," Putting a hoof to his chin he added. "Though I wonder, would she maybe be interested in seeing Sunburst again? Cadence is going to be looking after Flurry Heart for the weekend, so Sunburst will be free."
Spike giggled. "Oh, she'll definitely like that more than being a damsel in distress," When Shining looked at him funny, the dragon explained. "Long story, don't really have time to fill you in."
Shining didn't press for more details, he was pretty sure he knew what Spike meant.
The rest of the week came and went in a flash for Shining, who eagerly counted down the days until Friday. At last, sundown on Friday came along, and after taking one final stroll down the hallways, the prince was ready! A bright smile plastered on his face, he dashed along to his private quarters where a huge space had been cleared! And there were all his old friends, even Cherry Fizzy.
Seconds later, the doors burst open, and in strolled Spike, Big Macintosh, and Discord himself! "Oh goody, more foolish mortals willing to throw themselves into grave danger!" The chaos maker smiled.
"Excuse you?" Poindexter asked, raising an eyebrow at Discord's statement.
"Oh it's nothing, just getting into the role is all," Discord replied with a fiendish cackle. "Relax, everypony, I'm reformed now. Been that way for almost two whole years."
"Remember, Discord," Spike cautioned. "You're just making the game real, not the pain."
"Oh relax, 'Garbuncle'," Discord teased, waving a paw. "It's like you don't even trust me. And after all I've done for you?"
Big Macintosh intervened to break up the argument. "Okay, okay, settle down ya'll. Let's just get this game started, shall we? Everypony's picked out their character, right? I'm SirMcBiggin, the noble unicorn warrior."
"Garbuncle the wizard ready and waiting!" Spike chimed in.
"And once I've got the game set up, you can rely on Captain Wuzz the archer. My arrows never miss!" Discord boasted.
One by one, Poindexter, 8-bit, Gaffer, Cherry Fizzy, and Shining Armor all called out their characters as well. Poindexter was "Gizmo" a rouge (since the rouge boasted the most cunning and intellect of the classes), 8-bit a bard simply named "White Mage", Gaffer an archer named "Golden Arrow" due to the shade of yellow on his character's clothes, Cherry Fizzy a warrior named "Scarlet Thunder", and Shining Armor a higher end wizard (due to experience) called "Merlin The Strong". And the game world was set up effortlessly by Discord.
However, before the game could get under way, Cadence strolled into the room with Flurry Heart held in her magical embrace. Cadence carefully deposited her daughter into her husband's lap.
"Cadence, I thought you were supposed to watch Flurry Heart? Tonight's Guys Night." Shining pouted.
"Sorry, important royal business came up," Cadence apologized. "Besides, Flurry Heart is your responsibility too. You need to spend time with her, and I don't just mean when you get up in the night to change her diapers or heat up her bottles."
Flurry Heart just giggled, as she played with her father's mane and wondered who all these weird grown-ups were. She especially liked the strange one made up of all sorts of different animals, he looked like he was fun to play with.
"But Cadence..." Shining pleaded, now was really not the best time to be stuck with foalsitting duty.
"It's close to her bedtime anyways," Cadence replied to Shining. "And don't worry, I just changed her so she's good to go. Just play with her for a while and wear her out, then put her to bed. Remember her whammy though, you know how fussy she gets when her whammy's not close by." The princess of love proceeded to levitate the stuffed snail close to Flurry, who happily accepted it. Cadence then turned around and departed the room without another word.
"Guess that means the fun's over already," 8-bit complained with a sigh. "I was so looking forward to this."
"Me too," Poindexter nodded. "I don't think this is the kind of game foals should be playing, it's got some pretty gruesome stuff."
Discord, however, snorted and scoffed at such suggestions. "I didn't come all this way just to have my work shut down by a foal. I suppose I can tone down a few things for the sake of the little tyke. Just keep her away from me, I'm no fan of getting drooled on," After a quick snap of his paws, Discord looked at the gathered group and asked them. "Are you ready to enter the world of Ogres & Oubliettes?"
One by one, everyone said "Yes", and Discord zapped them all into the game, each with the clothes of their designated character and class. Shining was relieved that Discord had taken the liberty of giving him a matching foal poach to wear on the front of his costume, it was just the thing needed to keep Flurry close to him. "Now then, what's the story this time?" Discord asked.
"Well, seeing as Flurry's taking part in this whole thing whether I like it or not," Shining began. "How about this? Merlin The Strong recently rescued a foal from the clutches of the evil Squizard, and now the party is going from town to town trying to find out what the Squizard wants with the foal."
"Sounds good to me, I do love a good escort mission." Spike smiled.
The party traveled from one town to the next, battling any stray skeleton warriors the Squizard sent their way to try and steal the foal.
At last, just as night was falling, they came upon a village that to Shining Armor seemed to resemble the Crystal Empire if it were made of foam blocks.
Not far from the entrance of the village, was what appeared to be a small inn. "Why don't we ask in there if anypony can tell us about this foal?" Merlin The Strong suggested to his teammates. "At the least it will provide us with a place to stay for the night, and we can pick up some supplies to care for our young charge until her parents can be found."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Gizmo replied. "But before we enter, I decide to quickly scout the location to check for any traps."
A huge red die suddenly landed behind the party, and began to roll! "Come on!" Gizmo pleaded. "I need a ten or higher!" The die slowly rolled to a stop, and White Mage flew up to examine it.
"It's an eleven, Gizmo scouts the area!" White Mage announced.
"Okay then, that's exactly what I do!" Gizmo replied, quickly dashing around to the back of the inn.
Suddenly, a wicked voice cried out. "Curses, how did you figure out this inn was a ruse?! I had hoped to trap you inside it!" The inn was demolished a second later, as a paper like squid holding two magic wands and wearing a crown appeared!
"The Squizard!" Garbuncle gasped, readying his magic staff! "I might have known you'd rear your ugly head eventually!"
"Quite correct, Garbuncle! And that foal is no ordinary foal!" The Squizard laughed. "Her raw magically ability exceeds that of any wizard or mage I've ever encountered! With such power at my control, I would be invincible! Ahhahaha!"
"That's what you think, Squizard!" Merlin The Strong firmly replied! "That foal doesn't belong to you, and we won't let you take her! Not without a fight!"
The Squizard just cackled. "Then by all means, try to bring me down. I've learned from our last encounter, you won't find me so easy to defeat this time."
Merlin The Strong quickly turned to his teammates, as he cast a shield spell around them for protection. "Okay, guys. Here's how we're gonna take down that big bad Squizard once and for all," He told them. "Gizmo, you'll start by examining the Squidzard for any weaknesses, while White Mage and I will protect the group with our defensive spells. Scarlet Thunder and Sir McBiggin will take the lead on offense to keep the Squizard occupied, allowing Garbuncle to aid Golden Arrow and Captain Wuzz in shooting special arrows. Garbuncle tells me the Squizard's especially weak to ice arrows."
"Uh, I think Flurry Heart has a different idea in mind." Garbuncle commented, as he pointed a claw to the sky. Sure enough, Flurry Heart had somehow managed to get out of her foal pouch and with her whammy clutched firmly in hoof, was flying towards the Squizard!
"Flurry, no!" Merlin The Strong shouted as he rushed towards Flurry! "Oh man, Cadence is gonna kill me if anything happens to Flurry!" He thought to himself.
"What's this?" The Squizard wondered aloud.
Flurry just giggled, stuck out her tongue at the paper creation, and lit up her horn. A beam of magic later and the Squizard crumpled into nothing. "Noooooooooooo!" He cried out, just seconds before the blast hit.
"Well, that was anti-climatic." Discord remarked, as the fantasy world of Ogres & Oubliettes faded and everyone went back to normal.
Spike was chuckling. "But you have to admit, it was pretty funny how Flurry Heart took out the Squizard like that. You think she gets it from you, Shining?"
"Let's hope not," Shining commented, as he carefully grabbed the young alicorn with his magic. "Or Cadence will never let me hear the end of it when Flurry gets older, and starts looking for 'bad guys' to 'beat up'."
Flurry just babbled something in response, before she yawned and went to sleep. That battle had been just the thing to tire her little body out.
"I'll go put Flurry to bed really quick, guys, then we can start a new game if you like," Shining suggested. "Might wanna cast a sound proofing spell though, so we don't wake her up." And then he carefully and quietly exited his private chambers, heading down the hall to Flurry's nursery.
Carefully lowering the sleeping baby alicorn into her crib, Shining kissed Flurry on the forehead and put her whammy close to her for comfort, before he pulled up the sheets. "Goodnight, Flurry Heart," He whispered, making sure no one was around to hear him. "Daddy is so proud of his little adventurer. Don't ever lose that sense of exploration, because one day you might grow up to be just like your mommy, daddy, and aunts."
Exiting the nursery, Shining couldn't help but wonder. "Maybe I should start getting back into personally being involved with Starlight's lessons? It's been quite a while since I checked her progress." He thought to himself.