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// 24 - Roll for Initiative 
// Story: Sunburst to the Rescue 
// by David Silver 
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They pushed into a large room. It was well lit with ponies gathered around tables of various sorts ranging from bright-eyed fillies rolling dice to elder stallions stroking their beards as they considered the board before them. They looked to be playing all manner of games, but both Twilight and Sunburst gravitated towards the glass display.

In a case all of its own, one of the original Purple Box sets. "Created so long ago," sighed out Twilight, gazing at it through the thick glass. "I wonder if it has all the parts?"

Sunburst tapped at the plaque beneath the glass. "They claim so,  never even opened. The wrapper's been reinforced to keep it airtight despite its age." He tilted his head a little. "Now I wish Starlight was here."

Twilight blinked at that. "That was sudden."

"She loves board games." He smiled as he circled the sealed and encased game. "I bet she would have gotten a kick out of it."

"True. Well, since we're here, are we going to play?"

"Are you?" A new male was standing a bit behind Twilight. "Do you know how? The newbie table is over there." He directed them towards a table that had two foals and two equally lost looking adults chatting.

Sunburst moved to her side. "She's been playing longer than I have."

Twilight smirked faintly. "I have one of those." She tossed her head towards the case. "Not mint condition anymore..." And perhaps quite dusty with disuse, but she didn't mention that. "I think I'll manage."

The cocky earth pony stallion burst into laughter. "Spirit! Good. You'll make great sport as I crush you. Come, if you dare." He turned towards a table where three other ponies sat watching them. "Tonight we venture into the Eternal Pit of Anguish, and only the bravest, most stalwart souls have a chance of emerging."

He took his rightful place behind a grand screen that concealed what he had written down or what dice he rolled. "Are you all prepared? Two more join the party."

One of the players, a mare with glasses as large as Sunburst's, waved at the new players. "What classes are you playing? We have a guard,--" She gestured at a female unicorn that tossed her mane at being mentioned. "--an elemental spellcaster--" She pointed to herself as she said that. "--And a nurse." She waved at the largest of the players, a gruff looking stallion, the least nurse-like of them.

Sunburst bobbed his head. "Sounds like you could use an acrobat." He sat down on an available mat, a bag floating from his cloak to hit the table with the rattle of dice.

"Mmm, you have the obvious pick taken, maybe something new..." She casually snatched one of Sunburst's die, tossing it with a clatter. "Forest ranger it is!" she called at the result.

The storyteller snorted softly towards Sunburst. "They didn't add the acrobat until the next version."

"Oh yeah." He rubbed behind his head, thinking quickly. "Scoundrel then."

"Now that the party is gathered." He waved his hooves over the screen, grinning menacingly. "Prepare to have it dashed. You all stand before..."

And so the game began. Their storyteller was out for blood, as he had advertised. He jumped at them any time they made a mis-step, smirked when the dice rolled against them, and cackled when they suffered.

Despite that, the game seemed to be going well, if tensely. It was always a struggle, but it was a struggle they were winning. "I summon an ice wall to buy us a moment," desperately called out the elementalist. They were in a panicked 'repositioning' better called as a blind retreat.

"You scurry away, the roars of the demonic forces behind you a terrifying serenade in your hurry..." The adventure continued, ever deeper into the cursed place they had found themselves.

A heavy  hoof clopped the table. "I use Second Wind."

"Under the gentle attentions of the nurse." The storyteller nodded at the big stallion. "You regain consciousness with a loud gasp, images of the fell creature that had knocked you so low still vivid in your mind."

Twilight cringed even as she bobbed her head. "Alright, we have to approach this carefully." She thrust a hoof over the board. "The next room may be a way out."

Sunburst rubbed his hooves together. "I saw something shining in there. It could be valuable, or deadly. Maybe both..."

The guard unicorn stood up a few rooms later. "I'm really sorry, but I really need to get some sleep. Good luck!"

Ponies began to glance at the closest clock. It was a quarter to midnight. Sunburst slapped a hoof to his cheek. "Wow! I lost all track of time."

Twilight bobbed her head. "I don't regret it, but we should go too." She offered a hoof towards the storyteller. "Thank you for the game, and apologies we didn't die horribly."

The storyteller met the offered hoof with a loud clop. "There's always next time," he promised with a grin. "You were all a fantastic group. Any of you local? I'd love to get a group going."

Sunburst quickly waved between himself and Twilight. "Ponyville."

"Canterlot," admitted the guard as she fled.

The nurse stallion softly nodded. "Local."

The elementalist raised a hoof, waving it excitedly. "Local too! I'd love to play more of this."

Twilight and Sunburst left the three to discuss potentially getting a group together. Twilight yawned as they exited the room. "It's getting late. I'm looking forward to bed as soon as we do this escape room. How hard do you think it is?"

Sunburst looked over the brochure quickly. "Two keys out of five? Guess it's not a super brain teaser."

"Good." She shook herself out as she walked. "Did I mention I'm feeling--"

"--Hiya!" Star Catcher had found them. "Is it time?"

Both abruptly came to a halt, startled. Twilight barely resisted the instinct to lash out with her hind hooves at the sudden presence. "We... were just heading that way, yes."

Star trotted past them, towards the room. "Let's go see if the last group's done then. How did your game go? Did you two win? I bet you did."

Sunburst snorted at that. "He was out to murder us."

"And it was great," finished Twilight with a smile. "I really felt like I was on an adventure, just, you know, one that wouldn't actually end the world if I messed up."

Sunburst nudged against her. "So, actually less stressful than usual?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Amusingly, yes, exactly that. Playing O&O feels strange when you--"

Star grinned at her. "--Actually save the world," she finished for her. "You've done it not just once either, I checked. Thanks, by the way."

Twilight blinked softly. "You're welcome?"

"I bet you don't get told thank you nearly often enough." She moved to be on Twilight's other side, so she could be as close as Sunburst was being, nudging her. "You deserve it though! Where would Equestria be without awesome ponies like you?"

Sunburst cleared his throat, pointing at the escape room sign they were approaching. "Let's see if they're ready for us or not." There was no clock close enough to spot the time. He closed the distance to the sign and gently rapped his hoof against the cardboard. "Are you in there?"

"Yeah," came the reedy reply of the operator. "They're just finishing the reset. You're a few minutes early."

Star leaned in past Sunburst. "How did the last team do?"

"43 minutes, 23 seconds," read off the tired male. "Not the record."

Twilight perked curiously. "What is the record?" She snorted almost as soon as she had asked it. "I shouldn't approach this like Dash."

"25 minutes, ten seconds," dutifully replied the tinny-sounding stallion from his remote vantage point. "They're finished. Let them past and you can come in if you want, just let me know. No touching anything until I give the official start bell."

The door to the escape room cracked open and a team of two pegasi trotted out. They nodded at the future players. One of them, a mare with a cocky smile, laughed. "Don't you worry, we made sure it was extra difficult, just for you!" They shared a hoof-bump and trotted off together, snickering.

Star stuck out her tongue at the two before looking back at her celebrity partners. "Ignore them. I bet they're not even allowed to tweak it per try."

Sunburst nodded in easy agreement. "That would make the record pointless if they kept adjusting it as they went." His horn glowed as he willed the door open, the handle turning without resistance. "Let's see what's inside, shall we?" He held it open, waving inside with a hoof.

Twilight strode in with a curious glancing around, Star just behind her. Soon all three had entered the room and the door behind them clicked loudly.

"You are now locked in," came the voice of the operator through the intercom. "Will you find the way out? Um, be sure to have fun though. When you hear the gong, you can start."

The room looked like a Southern Equestrian tomb, with mummified ponies and ceremonial golden masks and other such things dotting the room. Implements of ancient rites dotted the tables and strange heiroglyphs glowed with blue-tinted light along the walls.

Twilight nodded at the room as a whole. "Let's approach this logically. Sunburst, left. Star, Right. I'll take the center. Call out anything you find that looks interesting and we'll figure this out."

A low gong echoed from the intercom, the effect mildly hampered by the tinny quality of the speakers being used. "You may begin," he said, as if the gong wasn't enough of a hint.

Sunburst broke into a short-lived gallop. "Vials..." There were many bubbling containers, and some heiroglyphs written just in front of them. Fortunately, he recognized the dialect. "Take a deep drink of the color of sunset, then wash it down with a touch of bloom. Belly fortified, the answer will become clear."

Twilight perked an ear, hearing the riddle being spoken. "Is there a red-orange?"

Sunburst hefted up the reddish color in his magic. "Right here! And the second part?"

Star shook her head. "Bloom sounds like a plant."

Sunburst clopped his hooves. "Of course, green." He hefted up the second. "Here goes!" He chugged down the reddish juice that turned out to be orange juice with some coloring. "Mm?" The green was lime, fizzing as it went down with a mild carbonation.

A loud click sounded out as the table in the center of the room unfurled out to either side, a new platform raising into sight. Twilight clip-clopped her hooves. "We're doing great, let's take a look here." Her eyes swept over the new tools brought up from below. "How morbid, a trepanation kit... and more writing." She ran a hoof over the letters. "In ponish, thankfully. 'Don't lose your head, keep your cool. The answer is locked in a skull too.'"

They looked around wildly for a skull, but there were no such things in sight. Star leaned against one of the mummies. "If only they could tell us..."

Twilight bounced up to her hooves. "Of course! Check the mummies for holes in their heads."

"I found a lock," called out Sunburst, pointing at an ornate padlock that held a chest closed.

Twilight quickly dashed from mummy to mummy, checking each, but Star beat her to the right one, tapping at the top of one of their heads. "Here it is, a hole." She leaned in to peer into the darkness, but Twilight's magic reached past her, snatching out the key as quickly as Star could get out of the way.

Without asking or checking, Twilight hurried the key over to Sunburst's lock and it slid in perfectly. With a sharp twist, the lock fell free, allowing Sunburst to throw open the chest. Inside was a glove and a snowglobe and no writing at all. "Huh..." he muttered softly, things were getting more tricky.