Canterlot High's D&D Club

by 4428Gamer

(7) Discoveries

The door shut behind us while we spread out into the hall to relax for a bit. Without much to do, most of us were left talking with each other while Twilight and Rarity had their own plans to pass time.

Twilight sat herself up against the wall opposite of the door and started peering through that D&D book from yesterday. She had this idea in her head that if she could understand the ins and outs of the game then that would somehow explain how the magic worked. Sunset didn't seem to agree. Something about how the game's magic was nothing like the real deal.

Rarity, on the other hand, thought that sticking her nose where it didn't belong was a good time spender. So she sidled up against the door the moment it was shut and tried peeking through the door's window. Unfortunately for her there was some paper covering it the glass.

I think I remember RD complaining about a test from Cheerilee back on Monday. Teach probably hasn't had a reason to take it down since.

I excused myself from talking with Fluttershy about, admittedly, nothing and turned to face her. "Rarity. Ya shouldn't be tryin' ta spy on em."

Rarity flinched slightly before stepping back and letting the tension go from her shoulders. "I know, I know. I suppose I may be caught up in my imagination, is all." She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "To know that something's happening but not what is concerning me."

"Are you worried about Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy offered.

"Ah don't think there's much ta worry 'bout," I threw out. "Pinkie may be seein' the game fer what it is rather than the magic but that don't mean she ain't payin' attention. Girl can hold 'er own."

Rarity shook her head. "It's not Pinkie. It's this magic. I think if we only knew how all of this worked then we could finally know how to look at it."

Twilight glanced up from her book. "I thought most of the magic you've seen was formed out of conjecture. Sunset said you haven't fully understood the magic with your instruments either."

"Well, yeah, but we know that that magic's good," Rainbow jumped in. "This time? It could be evil magic for all we know. I mean, one second it's taking our magic, the next it's making all these funny-looking lights, and putting everyone to sleep!"

Beside Rainbow Dash, Sunset looked like the gears in her head were spinning but nothing came out yet.

"Exactly." Rarity smiled. "Rainbow Dash, I know when you said we fell asleep, you said that the magic didn't seem dangerous but that doesn't mean it won't do something later."

"Well, what about testing it?" Twilight offered.

"Another test?" I droned. "I get that ya wanna figure how it all works, but aren't we pokin' the bear by doin' that?"

"Not to mention, what if everyone falls asleep again?" Rainbow crossed her arms. "What do we even do?"

"For starters, it would give us a definite answer." Twilight stood up, setting the book down as she did. "If we all fall asleep like yesterday then we'll know that whatever was the same between now and yesterday is what caused us to fall asleep."

"And if it don't?" I frowned.

Twilight's eyes lit up for a split second. "Then we report the results and change one part of it. A controlled experiment."

"Would that be safe?" Fluttershy asked the same question I had.

Sunset finally looked up from her thoughts.

"...We won't know."

My frown didn't improve. "That ain't reassurin', sugarcube."

"I know." Sunset started fishing around in her pocket. "But we came back today even when we didn't know this would be safe. But whatever's going on, we can handle it together."

Sunset pulled out a regular twenty-sided die. It wasn't the metal die and not one that had colors that matched us; it seemed magic-less for now.

"Story said something right before the magic flared to life. Now I know that none of us said it yesterday but I don't think we were the ones that set it off either."

"You think Story did it?"

"Well," I started. "Big Mac told me he was talkin' 'bout the game with Story durin' lunch. Time fits."

"Does that mean something's going to happen every time he says the word?" Rainbow Dash closed her hands.

Sunset glanced down at the dice. "There's a way to find out."

"Ourselves?" Rarity looked at the die. "Would that even work?"

"Story doesn't have magic of his own. Or, if he did, it didn't leak into the game. I watched," Sunset explained. "Since it only used our magic then we should be able to activate it too. On top of that, Story can't anything. It's not like we can ask him what it looks like from the person saying the words."

"So one of us needs to say it," Rainbow concluded.

"A controlled experiment," Twilight repeated. "The biggest variable we're changing is who activates it."

Rainbow Dash sighed. Then turned to Sunset. "Let me do it."

"What?" I blinked. "Dash..."

"No, I'm serious." She looked me in the eye before going back to Sunset. "Sunset, I was the only one that didn't fall asleep yesterday. That means I can take it."

"Is that what that means?" I heard Rarity whisper to Twilight. Twi only shrugged.

Sunset frowned. "Dash, if this is about the book, I told you—" "It's not that! I promise."

I squinted my eyes. The way she said it did not sit well with me. I knew what Rainbow was like when she was hiding something. She would get all defensive. This felt like it was hugging the line.

RD still feels responsible. By the look Sunset had she was probably thinking the same thing. But she was probably also thinking that Rainbow had a point. She was the only one that didn't fall asleep.

Sunset looked back down at the die in her hands. "If anything starts happening, even if we all fall asleep again, just know that we're behind you. We'll side with whatever you think is best. Okay?"

That made Dash pause for a second. "I...I got it. Thanks."

"Good." Sunset handed Rainbow the die. "Now as for stopping it, since you should know that before we start," Sunset began.

Clever idea. I chuckled to myself. I trust Rainbow to be careful but it's for the best we don't give her the chance to jump the gun by accident.

"Story never said anything the last time we met up that ended the game. He had to cut it short and run because of an emergency. So, I think, you just need to imagine the magic as being done and it will."

"That's it?" Rainbow blinked. "No magic words or secret hand signals?"

Sunset gave her a playful punch in the shoulder. "Thanks, I take offense to that." A few of us laughed along with her.

"But no. No theatrics." Sunset smiled. "Just focus or imagine the magic drifting away from you and it should follow through."

"Is that how it worked for you before?" Rarity's eye lit up a little.

"It's how it was explained." Sunset lifted her shoulders. "I thought it more as letting something go from your grip. 'To release,' you know?"

"Right. Release. Focus. Drift away. Check." Rainbow held the die in her hands. "Okay, I'm set. What's the words?" She sounded shaky but she wasn't backing down.

Sunset nodded, quickly pulling out her phone before typing away on it. I had guessed it was so she wouldn't say the words out loud by mistake.

When it was all typed in, she showed the screen to Rainbow Dash who nodded along to it. "Got it."

Rainbow took a few steps back as we all did the same in the other direction.

After a deep breath, Rainbow held out the die away from her. As though it was going to explode.

"Let's start a story."

It exploded alright. But not in the way Rainbow expected.

In a bright flash of light, the dice turned into the blank, milk white color that the one we got from Story looked like. Only this one was giving off this radiant, bluish glow. Like a divine light had mixed with Rainbow's magic.

Rainbow turned her hand sideways and watched as the die fell from her hand only to land on a surface that wasn't there. It clattered around on this imaginary table that we could only tell existed from the outline of radiant aura that surrounded it. The same aura the die had.

"Uhhhh, Sunset?" Rainbow looked up at her and the rest of us, deeply confused. As she spoke a small pulse of that divine blue aura wafted out. Soon, this warm redish aura started to envelop Sunset before snaking its way to the table.

"We see it," Sunset acknowledged. A few of us nodded with her.

The aura only drifted from the two of them; the rest of us were practically ignored. However, we could all watch as Sunset's red aura started to mix and blend with Rainbow's as both colors now outlined this invisible table and the die.

"Y'all still with us?" I stepped up behind Sunset. "Not feelin' tired err anythin', are ya?"

"No, we're still here," Sunset confirmed. "This feels exactly like what happened in Story's game."

"So at least that's the same," Twilight pointed out, trying to add a positive to this. "Better than something unexpected."

"I'm not sure about that." Rainbow glanced down at the die and table. She slowly reached out and grabbed the edge of the table and shook it around. Like someone testing to see if a table was wobbly or not.

Sure enough, the table shook back and forth and the rest of the table became visible. It turned into this tall, skinny wooden thing, with four impossibly thin legs. The table's surface couldn't be more than 3x3 ft and it was too tall for anyone to sit at. Unless you had bar stools, maybe.

Sunset seemed to recognize something.

"Rainbow Dash, make the table a different shape."

"What?" Rainbow looked at her in confusion. "How am I supp—" "Don't. Doubt yourself," Sunset cut off. "If you start thinking you can't do something then your magic will reflect that. Magic comes from the mind. However you imagine it, that's how it takes form."

Rainbow listened to her words carefully and started nodding, despite the confusion clear on her face. Then, looking back down at the table, she started to inspect it. While she stared at the table legs, we watched as a fifth leg started stretching out from the table's surface and reached for the ground while the others shifted around to give the new leg an equal amount of space. They moving like stretching vines.

When it finished, the leg met the ground without issue. It wasn't a different height than the other legs either, all of them were perfectly the same.

Suddenly, one spindle grew out from each leg, connecting to the next leg in a clockwise order all simultaneously. To finish it, all the legs started inflating like Pinkie Pie making balloon animals. The weirdest part of it all was that the table appeared to be made up of wood.

"That was perfect," Sunset cheered." That. That was, actually, much more advanced than I thought would happen! H-How do you feel?"

Rainbow's eyebrow rose up at the shifting table. "Like I...just watched a table do what I wanted it to." She sounded so confused.

"What you wanted it to?" Sunset leaned back. "Like. Like a wish-fulfillment kind of thing?"

"I. Think so. Yeah." Rainbow nodded along, not looking away from the table. As she watched, more things started to appear on the table but judging from her reaction it wasn't from her input.

Outlines of more dice of all different sizes and papers started to form into reality with the radiant blue and red auras. Likewise, on the side of the table opposite of Rainbow, a single set of dice and a single paper appeared. All of them were only glowing with the same red as the aura that drifted from Sunset.

Finally, this small, rectangular barrier unfolded itself along the center of the table, cordoning off Rainbow's corner of the desk.

Rainbow started to object but as she stared at the barrier thingy her eyes went wide as she started to mouth whatever she was apparently reading.

"Wo. W-Woah," Rainbow finally stammered. "I. This is a lot..."

"It looks like Story's setup back in the classroom," Rarity expressed. "All the dice, the papers, the. The...What is the foldable thing he hides behind?"

"DM Screen," Twilight filled in.

"DM Screen," Rarity repeated happily. "It's all what Story has."

"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy stepped forward, worry plain on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh," Rainbow hummed with a slacked jaw. "Fuh. Fluttershy, you gotta come see this."

As she spoke, Fluttershy started to glow with a pale yellow hue that quickly drifted over to the ever changing table. The red and blue auras were joined with the yellow and, like the red dice and paper, a new set of yellow dice and paper formed into reality.

Everyone, even Rainbow who was half-distracted, noticed Fluttershy's new addition to the magic.

"Alright, now this is gettin' weird." I didn't know whether to back away from the magic table or stand my ground.

"How did that happen?" Twilight moved a hand through the yellow tendril stemming from Fluttershy. Her hand went right through it like a ghost.

"...I did it," Rainbow answered.

Sunset turned back to her. "How? How do you know?"

Rainbow simply pointed at the screen in front of her. "Uh. Well, it says here on my screen."

I blinked. "Your screen?"

Rainbow seemed to catch on for a moment and shook her head. "Err. Yeah, well, it has my magic all over it. I just assumed it was mine."

Lie, I noted.

"...Sunset, what're we doin'?" I spoke low but not enough to whisper.

Mulling it over, she turned to look at me. "Come with me on this."

As though it were the most normal thing in the world, Sunset strided around the table to over where Rainbow was.

I followed along, keeping my attention well on the table and all its parts. All of it was almost surreal. The lights and flashing dice were almost like parlor tricks but the table and such were all actually there. It was impressive to tell the truth.

But when Sunset and I both got around to see 'Rainbow's' Screen, the uneasiness that this magic kept throwing at us threw us for whole other loop.

⍙̢͏̡́☍̶͞⌰̸̕͠͡⎐̧ ̨̧͢͟⌰̡̨́͘͢⎐̶̧̕͢͡ ̛̀̕⎅̵̸̴̢͏ ̸͞⎐̴̀͞⊑̛̀́⎎̴̀⎍͏̴̵̢̕⊑̷̡͝⍙̴̧̕ ̵̛͘̕⌿̷̀̕⊑͟҉̷̷͜⎐͜͝⎐̴͝҉̶̴⎅̡͘͝⟊̢̢́⊑̢͘͡.̶̡̛ ̕͜͢⎐̴̧̨́⍀̸̶̵͠ ̴̵̨͞͡⌰̵̶̨́͟⎐̷̢̡͜͝ ҉̴⍙̧̀͟͞☍҉҉⌰͏̷̨̡͝⎐̀͠ ̷̵͟⍀̶́⍾̸̕̕⊑̵̨̛.̵̶̨͠ ͏̨⎅̵͢͡⍾͏̧͞☌̸̷̢͢͡ ҉́̕⊑̨⎐̸̨⌇̷̛́⊑̵̶̛͘͜⎎̶̡⌰̸̀̕͡͝⎅̷̨͘͟⍜̴̕⍜̨̢̛͠͏⏚̕͟ ̧҉⍙̡̡͘͘͝☍̵́⊑̷͢͡ ̀͘͟͞⍀͜͢͜͏⍾̢⊑͡͏̸̵҉ ̷̶̨̀͠⍙̸̀☍̧̧͝⎅̵̶⍙̷̢̨ ̡͜͠⎎͏͠⍀̀͟͢͠⌿̸͏͜⊑̴̧͟⎐́ ̷̨̧͟⎅̵͜͜͞⟟̡͞͡͞⍙̢͡͞⊑̴̵҉̸⎍̵̧҉҉ ̨̀͡͡͏⍙̛́͜͏☍̸̴҉͘͢⌰̨̧҉̡⎐̀́͡҉ ̷̷́͘⎐̨͢͠⊑̛⍾̷̷̀͠⍙͟҉̧̀͡⋢҉́͡͠⍾̛́́͞⎎̴̀̕͟⊑̡́͜.̸̶̸̕͞ ͟͡͝⌰̴̛́ ̶̀⎅̵̢̀̀͝⌿̢͢͡ ̵̧̀́͡⍙̴̧̀͞͞⎍̧́̕⎅̷̢͞⌇̴̴͠⌇̕͝⋢͝͏̡☌̴̵̕ ́͢͠⌰̨́̀͘͜⍾͏͘͠͞ ͟☍̸̧̧̛⊑̶̴͜͢͠⎍͠҉⋢̢͘͠͏.͜͜ ̡̢⊑̷̨̀́͘⊬̧̡͘͝⊑͘͟͜͡⎍̢͘҉̛⏚͟͏̡⍙҉͜͜☍̶̕͟͠⌰̷͏⍾̵̨⟊̴̀͢͢ ̶̧͢͞⍙͏̛͘☍̶̷̕⎅̸̵̸̕͝⍙̷͜͢͢ ͘͡͠☍̷̛⎅̨͠⎐̶̀͢͞͠,̨ ̧҉̧⌰̸̨͞͠⎐́̀҉̸͟,̢̕͜͞ ̵҉̡͠⍀͘͝͝͞͡⎍̷͢ ҉⟊̶̕⍀̴̷̀͜⌰̢̨⍾̡̢͜͞⟊̛ ̧͟҉͠⍙̕͡͠͡⍀̵̸̴ ̶̧⟒̧͜⊑̶̧̀͠ ҉̸͢⌰͏̢͘͢ ̷͝⋏̕͢͞͞⍾̢⍀̢͘͟⋉̵͘̕.̕͢͟ ͏⎍̴̵̕͜⎅̴̶̀͘⌰̵̴̡͡⍾́͏̨⟒́͘͜͞⍀̡̛͟͞⋉̶͝ ̸͟☌̛͜͢҉⎅̵̶⎐̀҉☍̢͟ ̵͟⌰̸́̕͠⎐̡̨̛͘ ҉̶⎍͏̵̷͘͡⊑̷̛͠⎅̡͠☌̵͝⌰̛⍾̴͝͝⟊̴͢ ̛̀⊑̴̵͡⊬͏̀͡⊑̶̷̸͝⎍̸̢⏚̶̸͞͏⍙҉͏☍̀͘⌰̨͏̴͝⍾͏̢͢͞⟊̡͞͞ ͢⍙̴̷̸́͟☍̴̧̡⎅̸̛⍙́͢ ̡̡̀̀⌰͟ ̨̛̛͝⋏͜͝⍾̕͘͜͠⍀̸⋉҉̡́͠͏.̴̢́͠͝ ͟͢͜͝⋉̸͠☍̀͢͟͝͡⌰̷̀͞͡͡⎎̷̢̛͝☍̸̢͜ ̸̧̕͡⌰̀⎐̨̡͟͠͡ ̶̶͠͞͞⎅́̀⍜̛͏̸͟⍜̢͝͡.̴̵͢͞ ҉̴̶̢̀⎍̴̵͞⎅̵̴⌰҉̕⍾̴̛̀͠͝⟒̴̸̀͢⍀̴͢͞҉⋉̷̕͘͢ ̵̢̛͏́⌰́͞͠⎐̢͟͜͞ ̴͟⎍̵̡́͢⊑҉͟͡⎅́̕̕͟͝☌̶̶̧͡͞⌰̡̛⍾̵⟊̢̛̕҉ ́͜͠͝͏⊑̕͘͡⊬̧͡⊑̨͟҉̴͟⎍̵̸̷̢⏚̨͏⍙̴̷̛͡☍̶̀͝⌰͢͜͢͡⍾͜͜͝͠⟊̸̸̨̢͜ ҉̴́͢͝⎅̷̷̡̀͠⍙̴͜͝ ͝͞͡⍀̸́̀͘⍾̴͝⎎̧͢͝⊑̡́́͘͡.̀́͘ ̡͏⎐̸́̀☍̨̨́̀͡⊑͟ ͏̨⍾̴̶́͘⊑̧̨⊑̨͜͠☌̶͜⎐̶̨ ̸̨͢͠⍙̶̡̛͢͝⍀̛͡ ̧͝⟒͏͡⊑̧̕͟͏ ̸⎐̸͠͏͝⎅̡̨͘⊬͏̵̡̨⊑̶҉☌̷͝҉̀.̡͝ ̡̢⎐̢̕͘̕☍̶̵͞⊑͏́͜ ̧͏̧́͢⎎̸͟͞⎅̶͞͝⍾̵̨͟͟͞⍾̀҉͏⍀̷̕͟͠⍙̶̢́̀́ ̵̨̕͠⍜̨͘⍀̢́͘⍀̶̢͟͝⋏͏҉̸̵ ̸̡͘⌰̕͢͡⍾̴̨⍙̴̵͜҉͘⍀̶̷̶̨̀ ̵̷̨͜⌿̸⏚́͡ ̸̛͘⍙͠͠☍̴̕⍀̧̛⌖͢͠⟊̸͞͡☍̧̢͟⍙͞͝͡͏̴⎐̕҉̵̛ ̷̧̀͟⟟̨⍀̶̶⎍̢͞⊑̧͡⊬̨͘͡͞⊑̧̛͜⎍͢͡.̶҉̴̢ ̧͠⌰̸͢͞⟟͟͡͡ ̴̛͘͢͞⎐̵̴̷́☍҉͞͡͏⊑͢͏ ̨́͘͡͞☌̧̢͜͢⍀̷⊑̨́⎐̴̡,̵̕ ̸̴̨̢͜⎐́͞☍̶̨̀͡͞⋢̨̢̡́ ̢͘⋉̢̧͘⌰̵͟⍜̛̀͡͞⍜̶҉͘ ̨̕͜⍜̷͠⍀̶̷̷̢͘⎐̛͝⋢͞ ̵̷͢☍͏̢̡⊑̶̡̧⎍̷̡̢̢̢⎐̶̷̛̕͠⋢̨͢⍜̷̕⟟̷̧̕͠ ͘҉̢⎅̨̛͘͞⎐͟͝ ̨⌰̢͞͞ ̵̡⍀͜͠⍾̧͢͞҉⎎̡͝͠⋢́͏̴ ̶̨̀́☌̸̛̀͝͡⌰́̕͟☌̸͠.̴̛ ̢́̕⌰̴̢ ̶̷͘͡⋏̶̵̧̕⍾̕͟⍀̷̴⋉̶̸̕͜͞ ̶̷͢⏚̶̷⍀҉̸̢͢⌖̸͘͟ ̢̧̀̕͜⎎̷͢͟͜⎅̵̡͘͠⍾́͠⍾̸̸͢͠⍀́̕͞⍙́҉͠ ̡̢⌖҉̨̕̕⍾̴̷̕͘☌͡҉̴̷⊑̨̡͞⎍͢͝͠⎐͜͝͞⍙̸̛̀̀͢⎅́͘͝͏⍾̧͏☌̸ ̴͡⌿̶̡̛⊑͏̶̧͘͜.҉͢͡ ҉͟⍾̛͏̀⍀͜͠͠ ̶̨́͞͞⍀͏̸̛͘͜⍾̢͜͢͞͝⊑̴̛̛́ ̵̢⎎̸̢⎅̧͡⍾̨͟ ̶͘̕͝⌖̴͟⍾̡̛̛̕☌̢͘⊑͜͠҉⎍̴̴̧̕͡⎐̸̶̧́⍙҉͏⎅̴̕⍾҉́☌̵̧̕ ͏̴͞͞⌿̢͢͢͝͡⊑̛͝͏.̷͝͞ ̨̕҉̨⟒̴̢̛⌖̢͟͏⍙̛͜,̵̕͞ ̸̡͟͟⌖̷̴́̕⌇̨̛⍀҉̀⍾͢҉̢̢̧ ̵̵͘͡⍙̢̀́͠͞☍̵̡̢̀⊑̴́ ͜҉⍀̴̸̸̨͘⍾̨͘͠⊑̶̨͜ ̛⎎̸̵̵͏☍̶͘͘͞⎅̵͏⍾͜͟͡⎎̴͜͢͡⊑̵͘͞ ̧̀͘̕͡⎅̴͠⍾͜͠⏚̷̛̕⍀̵̢҉͢҉⍾͢͡҉̷⊑̵͏ ̕⎎̧͜͡͏͏⎅̶̵̀͟͏⍾̢̢͢,̧̛̕͞ ̧͢͏͢⏚͟͝⍀̨⌖̕͢͞ ͘͜͠⌿͢͟⌖̧͢⎐̷͠͠⍙̷̢͠҉̸ ͏☍͞⊑̨̨҉⊑́͝͝҉́☌̷̧͡ ̴̷̵̧͘⌿̷͢҉̷͠⏚҉̨҉ ̷́̀⋉̶⎅́́͠͞͠⎍̨͠⍾҉̸̡̕⌰̧́͞⍾̀͘̕⟊̷͟҉̴̕.̶̡̧͜͞ ̸̛́͞⎍̶̷̛͠⎅̵͜⌰҉̀⍾͟͠͏⟒̸͝⍀̴͡͡⋉̸҉͜ ̴͢͠⋏͡⍾̕͟͟͠͞⍀͜⋉̧̛̕͜⎐̡̨̨̕ ̸̢̨́⍾͢⍀̷̶͜͟͢⍙̷̢ ̴̢̧̕⋉̷̨̕͟☍̧̕⎅҉̸͜͠⍙̸̡̢ ͢͏⎐̴̧̧͟͝☍͏͏̶⊑̶̢̀͘͜ ̛͘͝⍙҉҉̴͡⎅̴̢̧̀͟⌿̶̵̶͟͞⌇̡̕͜͢⊑̵́͘͏⎍̛͟⎐̸̡̕͡ ̷̡̨̀⋉̢̧͡⌰̶̸́̕͡⍙̶̷͡͡☍̴͟͞.̢̡̡̛͟ ̧͟͠͏⊑̴́͝⊬̵̡̀͡⊑̀͟҉⍾̕̕͢͜ ̡̕⌰҉̸͏́⟟̷̨̕͜ ͜͢͜͏͞⎅̷̴͢͟⍾̢̕͘͟ ͜͏⍀̴̡̕͢⌖͘҉̢⍙̴̵⎐̨̕͢͢⌰̷̷̸☌̵̛̕͢⊑҉ ̸̴̵͘͘⌰͏̕͢⍾̨͜⟟́͡⍜̶͘͟͢͠⌖͘͢͟⊑̶̷̸͜⍾͟͢҉́⎎̵҉̶́⊑̨͟͠ ͏̷͘͟☍̵̨͠⎅̵͝⎐͘͜͞͞͡ ̧̧͏̢͘☍̸̡̡̢̕⊑̢⎍̨̧ ̛҉̕⎐̶̶̛͝⍙̶̢͟͞͠⍀͏̶͜⌇͏̸̷̨,̀͏͏̢ ̶̛͘͜͠☍́́͡͞⊑̴̷́͟⎍̢͢͞ ̧͘͢⎎̴̧̨͟͢⌖̢̛͘͡͞⎍̷̡̀⌰̷͡⍀̷̸̴̡̨⎐҉̡͠͏⌰̛͟⍙̧̢̢͢͡⏚̨͟ ̸̀⋉̷̴̕⌰̵͢͞⍜̢̨͟͠⍜̵̡ ̷͜͢͠͏⍀̶́͘⍾̴̀҉̛̕⍜͡⏚̢̢̨͟͠ ̸̷͜☌̶̛͞⊑̧҉̢⌿̶̴̢̕͢⎅̵̢̢͢͠⍾̧☌̛͞ ̡̨☍̡̛͜⊑̵̡͘͢⎍̶̨͜ ̸̢⍙̵̨̧̡⍀̸̡ ̵͢͢͢⎍̨͟͝⊑͟⎅̴̕☌̶̵̀͠ ̸̨̢̧⎅̴̸҉⟊̨̕⎅̢̛͝⌰͝͏́͝⍾̶̨͡.̶͘ ̡̛̕͢͠⎅̷̡͟͢⍾̛☌̵́͘ ̵͠⎅̨̛̀̕͏⟊̵҉̧̕͟⎅̡̢⌰҉͞͠⍾̵̕͡͠.̸̵̡͝ ̴̴̸̡͢⎅͟͏͟⍾̴҉☌͘҉҉ ͡͞⎅̨͏̴͝⟊҉̷͢⎅̶⌰̸̸͠⍾̴̶̢͞.̴̛͘͝ ̡͟͠⎅͜͢⍾̷͜͠͡☌̶͏̀ ̀͟⎅͏̴́͢⟊̶̨⎅̡̨̀͠⌰͘͠͝͞⍾̨̛҉͝.̨͜͏̶ ̵̨̢⎅̕͘͢͜⍾̧̢͝͠☌͏ ̵̨͘͡⎅̴̨̕⟊̧҉͞⎅̷̕͡⌰̵̶̡⍾͢͢.̸͢͜͠ ̨̀̕͟͢⎅̷҉̸̸⍾͡͏☌̷̢͘͘ ̡⎅̀͟͜⟊̧͘⎅̡̨͢͜͟⌰̷⍾̨́̕͢͡.̴̀͝ ̛҉́҉⎅̴̴̛͜⍾̷̵̡͡☌̵̕͞ ̧͡⎅͞⟊̴̴́͝⎅̴̢́͢⌰͢͠͏̨⍾̸̴͝.̴͜ ҉̷̡́͘⎅̸̡͘͝⍾̛҉̶̨̧☌̢͘͏ ͏͢͠͠⎅͘͞͠⟊̸́͘⎅̛⌰̵͢⍾͘͜.̨́̕͟͝ ̷́͟⎅̴͡⍾̧̀̕͡͝☌̢͟ ̧̧͢͜͝⎅̨̢̀͘͞⟊̴̶̧́͡⎅̸̨̕͜͡⌰͝͞҉⍾͢͟͟.͏͠ ̷̸̡͜⎅̛͜⍾̡͟͠☌̡͡ ̶̧̕͞⎅̶̀́͡⟊͏͘͠⎅̡́͜͞͞⌰̷̵̀͜⍾̷̸̨͝͝.̡̀͝͞ ̡̢⎅̢̕͟⍾҉̴͘͜͢☌̢̕͏ ̨̡͠⎅͝҉⟊̨͘͘⎅́́⌰̴̵͞⍾̧̡̕͜͡.̵̴̕͠͏ ̸̵̢̕͡⎅̡̡̡͟⍾̷̨͟͡☌͏̷̢͡͠ ̵͏͘⎅̀҉͝⟊̶̧͜͏͢⎅̴̨̕⌰̡̀⍾͢.̨͢͡ ͏̷͡͡⎅̨͟͜⍾̶̶͜͝☌̶̕͘͟͟ ̷̸̧̧⎅̛́⟊̛͜͠⎅̵̡̀⌰͏̀⍾̡̨.́̕͘̕ ̢̡͢͜⎅̡̡͢͟͝⍾̀͘͜͞☌̨͘ ̨̕͟⎅̴̕͝⟊͟⎅͞⌰̷⍾̧̀́͠.̧̕͏ ̨̛͠⎅̨͏́̕͢⍾̢́͝☌҉̴̷̛͢ ̢̧́͝⎅̧͢͝⟊͘͢⎅̡̕⌰̷́͝͏⍾̛́͘͝.͏̢̨ ́͝⎅̶⍾̶̢̨́͝☌̷́͜ ̕҉̸̛͠⎅̢̀͝⟊̴̨͜⎅̨͠҉͡⌰̧̨̕͢⍾̛̛.҉͝͝ ̨͡͏̢̨⎅̴̶⍾͏͞͏☌͢҉ ̀͝⎅̸̵̧͢͡⟊͏͜⎅͢͝͠⌰̷̵⍾̡.͘͞ ̧⎅͡͏̸̨⍾̴̧͟͡☌̷̴̡̕͝ ̴̛͢⎅̶̡҉̡́⟊̴̧̡͜⎅̴̛̛̛⌰̷̕͠⍾̀͜͡.͏̸́ ͢⎅̶̛͠⍾̷́͘͡͠☌͟͢ ̛҉͜⎅̶̨̧͡⟊̵͡͏̶̕⎅̵҉̡⌰̴͢͝҉҉⍾̶͘͘͞.̕͡ ̷͢⎅̨͟͢͝⍾̷̷̢͘͢☌͜͢ ̸⎅̕͡͠⟊̷̢́͘⎅͏̴̴̢͘⌰̨̡͘⍾̕͟͏.́͠͞ ̵̨̨⎅̛͠҉̶͠⍾̀͡☌́ ͝⎅̴͞͝⟊̶̛̕̕⎅͠͠⌰̶̡⍾̧̡̕.̷̸́͟ ͟͝͡͝͝⎅̧̡͠⍾̨̕͘͘͠☌̸̛ ̸͘͜͝͠⎅̴̵͞⟊̨͞⎅̴́⌰͏̵̴̧⍾̢́͟.͏̀ ̸͟͡⎅̡́͏͜͠⍾̷̕☌͡͠͏́ ̧́͠⎅̨̕̕͡⟊̴̧҉⎅̵⌰̀̕͞⍾͏҉̶̡͞.̸̛̕ ̢̛͞⎅̵̷̵͜⍾̧͜͢☌̸̡͢ ̷̢⎅̀͟⟊́͘⎅̕̕͏̛⌰̴̀͢⍾̕͜.̵̡́ ̕⎅҉̸⍾̢͟͏☌̶̴́͞ ̸̡̕͢͡⎅̕͏̧̕̕⟊͏̶⎅̨̧͝⌰̷̶̛͞҉⍾҉͟҉̛́.̢̧͢͠ ҉̛͜͟⎅̛̕͟͞⍾̵̀͝☌̶͢͢͏ ͜͟͢͡͏⎅̵̧⟊͏̢͏̶⎅҉̨͞͝͠⌰̴̴͠҉̸⍾̢̨҉̢̡.̧̀͘ ̨͡͡͝⎅̧̀⍾͢͠☌̧͢͡ ̛̕҉͘⎅̸̧̨̢͠⟊͜͠͏̵̡⎅̵̢́⌰͏͏̀̕͢⍾͢͢͏͟.̛͜͡ ̀⎅̵̕͘͜⍾̸̧̨̡͢☌̶̀ ̸̷̨̕⎅̡̢̕͜͡⟊̵̕͘͟⎅̨͠͝⌰̧͢⍾̷͜.̷͘ ̸̡͝⎅҉⍾̶̀̕☌͞ ̵͘͘͠͡⎅̸̢⟊̵̴̢̕⎅̕̕͠͠⌰̧͠⍾̛͘͡.͞͠ ͘͜͠͝͞⎅̛͜⍾̀͘͜͜☌̡̢͠͞ ҉̛̕⎅̀͞⟊̷̛̕͜͡⎅͢͜⌰̷̛͟͟⍾̶̶̷̡̕.̵̢͢ ͏̷⎅̸͞⍾̷̸̀҉☌̨͏͘҉ ̵̨҉⎅̵͘⟊͟͠⎅̵́⌰͟͟҉͟͡⍾̸͘҉.́͢͜͞ ☍͝͏͟͡⊑̷̛⍜̛͝⌇̨̕͜.҉ ̢͘͟⌿̢̛̕͝⋢́͏.̶̨̢̧͝ ̨͜͝͠⌇̛͘⍜̷̷̕͟⊑̷́͢͞⎅̷⎐̡͞͏⊑́͢҉͢.҉͜

Sunset and I both looked away from the screen. It was as if TV static was made up of words and symbols that slid across the screen from every. Yet Rainbow Dash looked at it as if she were reading a poster.

"Can you understand this?" Sunset asked.

Rainbow smiled. "Yeah! I mean, I can understand everyt— err, a-all of it," she covered up.

Not good enough, I thought.

I took a hot minute to look over the whole scene. No one was hurt, none of us fell asleep and Fluttershy and Sunset's magic didn't seem to be drained out of them. It was like Rarity said. All of it looked like what happened with Story's game. The only difference was that everything was magically summoned instead of actually being there.

Except, a few red flags kept sounding off in my head. Nothing was bad per say, but this didn't chalk up to 'good' either. It was just...weird. Not to mention, Rainbow's sudden shift in worry about everything. She didn't sound like she suddenly believed that all of this was safe but she was too relaxed compared to before.

"This is good," Sunset announced. "This is what we were hoping for."

"Is it?" I second guessed.

"Well, if not this than what?" Sunset shrugged. "We're all safe, awake, nothing bad has happened and nothing's gone wrong. This is better than it could have been."

Rainbow let out a chuckle. "Famous last words."

I glared at her. "Don't be sayin' that when yer all jacked inta the Matrix err somethin'."

Rainbow suddenly started feeling every pocket she had on her before frowning.

"Dang. My shades are in my backpack."

"Dash, take this seriously." I wanted to keep glaring but the fact that she still had the sense to make the joke made me ease up a tad. I let myself smile a bit.

Rainbow reached down at the die she tossed at the start of all of this. It still looked milk white and blank but Rainbow was feeling where the numbers would be. Could she see them?

"So, Sunset? What should I try next?"

The smile on her face made me know that Rainbow was still there but she looked like a kid in a candy store with how she stared at everything. Like she wanted to figure all of this out on her own.

Sunset took a deep breath. Then looked at the door to the classroom. There was no sign that Story or Pinkie were coming out yet.

"Well, I guess we have some time. Let's start with something small and go up from there."

Rainbow had to resist the urge to throw out a fist bump as she hopped up and sat down on a stool that appeared underneath her almost by command.

I backed off and held the bridge of my nose in my fingers. This is going to get weirder.

Pinkie sat in her seat, trying her hardest not to giggle as she held up her arms as high as she could. She looked like she was frozen in mid-drop on a roller coaster.

But that wasn't what Pinkie thought. In Pinkie's mind, she was hanging upside down from a rope snare.

Pinkie tried swaying her arms a little bit and watched as Story quickly drew up a small scene on the vinyl map. Magic or not, Story had no way of letting Pinkie's character, Glemerr, hang upside down. So, instead, Glemerr was standing on top of a small handheld pencil sharpener.

Standing in front of the 'hanging' Glemerr were three goblin minis. According to Story, two of them each had a sword and shield while the one two spaces away had a small crossbow.

While that was what the game was showing, the magic was doing its part to demonstrate the same. Stretching from behind Story Spinner's screen were the three dark tendrils Pinkie had spotted earlier. They became visible when Story revealed the goblins jump out from their hiding places.

The same formation that the goblins were set up below Glemerr was the same fashion that the tendrils were hanging around Pinkie. At first Pinkie was a little worried. But, after the whole minute of Story setting up the map and the tendrils just floating there, and Pinkie waving her hand through one like a hologram, she realized they were harmless and played along.

It was more fun that way.

"So. Glemerr," Story began after explaining what was on the map. "As you're still trying to get your bearings from above, you see the three goblins chattering to each other. While you have absolutely no idea what they're saying, the high-pitched chuckling and lowered guards tell you that they're probably congratulating themselves."

"Hmm..." Pinkie brought down up one of her hands to scratch her chin before letting it fall back up down. "So...They're not looking at me?"

"Not carefully," Story shrugged.

Pinkie looked down up at her feet. "And...Can I see the rope?"

Story nodded. "It's nothing fancy. The rope's worn but stable enough to hold you up. It looks like it can be cut if you try—"

"Oh! Oh, wait. Glemerr has an idea!" Pinkie waved one of her hands as if to be called on. But since she was upside down the joke didn't get across.

"Alright," Story smirked. "What's Glemerr's idea?"

"Can Glemerr reach for the knot," Pinkie asked, an imaginary upside-down light bulb appearing above her.

"Below," Pinkie corrected.

Stop that.

"Not too hard," Story commented. "It takes a few seconds but Glemerr swings herself up to get a grip of the knot. Meanwhile, the goblins just seem to be giggling at your misfortune."

"Aw, but Glemerr hasn't gotten to the punchline yet." Pinkie giggled. "Glemerr would like to untie the knot."

Story weighed the idea for a second. "Alright. Go ahead and roll me Sleight of Hand."

"Yes sir-ee," Pinkie cried, scooping up the rubber magic die.

Pinkie remembered everyone falling asleep from yesterday. But aside from a small nap, everything seemed to be part of the game. The dice were glowing, numbers on the table, 'scary' goblin tendrils, she even thought the lights in the room were getting brighter; as if they were in a forest on a sunny day.

On top of all that, when Rainbow Dash rolled the dice before she came up with something about her character. Pinkie Pie wasn't sure if that was the magic or Rainbow Dash getting more into the game.

Although, if it was the magic helping Rainbow, maybe it was trying to show her how fun the game actually is. So, in Pinkie's mind, if she already knew how exciting this game could get, maybe the magic would just add more to it.

Maybe the magic rubber die could help her think more like Glemerr!

Pinkie!

Hehehe...Sorry, it's been so long since last chapter! Glemerr is ready!

With those thoughts running through her mind, Pinkie rolled the die and watched as it bounced around like the rubber it was made of.

When it landed, the die read 12 with a '+5' appearing beside it.

"Seventeen," Pinkie called out.

As she did, images and thoughts of all these scenes started to dance through her mind. All of them focused on knots mostly with ropes and rags but nearly every memory seemed to be flavored in a way that reminded Pinkie of working on a harbor.

Pinkie smacked her lips as if tasting something. "Mmm! Saltwater taffy!"

Ugh...

"What was that?" Story leaned his head to the side.

"Just reminiscing!" Pinkie smiled. "Seventeen to untie the rope."

Story mulled the number over. "It takes effort and focus but after feeling the knot over you're able to start loosening it without the goblins realizing. Now," Story started to shift gears. "Getting down on the other hand will probably catch all of their—"

"Nu-uh!" Pinkie hummed with a shake of her head.

"Nu-uh?"

"Uh-huh. Nu-uh," Pinkie confirmed. "Glemerr climbs up to the branch."

"..." Story sat back. "Uh-huh..."

"Now you got it," Pinkie agreed.

Story took a few seconds to scan the map and minis, as well as Pinkie's face. He expected Pinkie to resist. To break free of the snare and take action. Technically, she was doing all of those things and Story still followed what Pinkie was doing...

Except Story would be lying If he said that he knew what Pinkie was up to.

"No way! I set trap, so I the one caught orc!"

"You not caught the orc, Gonot! It Snoz that thought trap spot!"

"Yeah. Snoz thought it," Snoz cheered, pointing to himself.

Gonot lowered his crossbow and pointed a thumb at himself. "But it me who watched trap! So me saw orc first. Gonot caught orc!"

The third goblin, who was named Flit, started to growl. He was the only one now watching the 'orc' scramble in the snare. But with Snoz and Gonot now arguing instead of laughing at the orc, it was getting on Flit's nerves.

"We shout later," Flit grunted. "First, snatch orc and bring at Klarg."

"You mean like Yeemik in the before time," Gonot accused.

"Oh yeah," Snoz shouted. "Yeemik trick Flit and Rus then. Now Flit use same trick as Yeemik!"

Flit turned his sword on Snoz. "Flit not Yeemik! I tougher and better. Yeemik not know how crossbow work. Yeemik no tie ropes. He only talk good! Yeemik's wrong kind of smart."

Gonot rolled his eyes. Yeemik, second in command to all the goblins, was clever. Gonot didn't doubt that. Although, Yeemik could never decide what to do after his trick worked.

That's where Gonot thought that he was better. He had ideas. And now that the snare caught something, his idea could finally start.

And it all started with the orc that was climbing up the rope.

"Climbing rope?" Gonot spoke out. Neither Flit nor Snoz, the other two goblins, seemed to notice.

"Flit thinks he can be right smart than Yeemik, huh?" Snoz challenged, raising his sword to meet Flit's.

"No," Flit dismissed, batting Snoz's sword with his own. "Flit no care about top goblin."

"YOU LIE!" Snoz wildly flung his sword back towards Flit. Not directly into him. Only close enough to hit Flit's sword. "I see Flit oggling wolves! You want wolf prize."

"Not wolf prize. Wolf skin." Flit glared at Snoz. "Skin better than cloth scraps." As if to prove his point, Flit gestured to the pieces of leather armor each of the goblins wore. Almost every scrap was from a different set of armor so no goblin had a full set.

"Live wolf, skin wolf, same!" Snoz kept waving his sword around in emphasis. "Snoz not want Gonot OR Flit have say caught orc."

Gonot tried leveling his crossbow at the orc only for Snoz's sword knocked it away by accident.

"So, Glemerr, as you climb up the rope," Story interrupted the goblin squabbling he aimed at himself.

But Pinkie took lead on the narrating with a cheery grin on her face.

"After getting to the top, Glemerr stands herself up on the branch and takes the rope up in both hands. Then, she'll jump!"

Story's face twitched confusedly for a moment.

"Towards the goblins?" He assumed.

"Nuh-uh." Pinkie's smile never faltered. "Away from them. Backwards."

Now Story was lost. So, naturally, he looked at the map. "You're jumping away from the goblins. From on top of the tree...To attack them?"

"You betcha!" Pinkie stood up from her seat and held her invisible rope with the die in her hands.

Pinkie watched as Story studied both her and the table, piecing together what her crazy plan was. However, no matter how much he stared for an answer, he had no idea what Pinkie was about to do.

Well, this is her moment, he thought. I'll let her tell it.

With no choice he shrugged with a smile and held out his arms. One vertical, the other horizontal.

"Glemerr's attack. Take one. Action."

Story spoke like a stage director before bringing his vertical arm down like a movie clap board.

Once the clap echoed across the room, Pinkie began.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOAHHHAHHHOOOOOOO~!"

Like Queen of the Jungle, Glemerr leapt off the branch and swung from the end of the rope like a frenzied gorilla.

The branch strained from the sudden weight but held long enough for Glemerr to sweep underneath the branch and release the rope. Next, with all the momentum she had, Glemerr flew at the speed of a ballista bolt.

The three goblins glanced up when the orc began her warcry but they weren't fast enough to duck away as Glemerr—

"Rolled a twenty!" Pinkie cheered.

Story, who was content to let Pinkie describe her own action, stood up from his chair. "Natural 20?"

"Au natural twenty," Pinkie encored with a grin. She was the only one to see it, but her magical rubber die was flashing as though fireworks went off inside of it. That only made her smile greater.

Story nodded along, sitting back down and giving Pinkie the okay to roll damage. "Three dice."

Pinkie froze, already holding up two four-sided dice. "Huh?"

"Three dice," Story repeated. "You rolled a critical, so one dice becomes two dice. But, you're a half-orc. Which means you get another dice. So, three D4."

Pinkie's face lit up as if one last firework had gone off before she plucked another dice from one of the girls' piles. Then, as she rolled them and counted up the numbers her smile was starting to look manic.

Glemerr brought her legs up and put all her weight into a dropkick directly into Snoz's, well, schnoz. If anyone cared to listen there would be a tiny crunch from Snoz's nose and cheekbones. Unfortunately, Glemerr's warcry and the act of Snoz flying backwards made the sound moot.

After Glemerr slammed into the ground, she looked up in time to see Snoz's unconscious body carving down the path ahead of her.

Flit wasted no time watching the carnage of his fellow goblin. Instead, he turned to cut into the orc with his crude blade. But Glemerr didn't even turn to face him.

As Glemerr looked ahead at the third goblin, Gonot, and its frightened face, she brought up a hand and caught Flit's wrist in a crushing grip. Flit tried squirming free but the force from Glemerr's hand made Flit seize in pain.

By the time Glemerr released her grip her log-sized arm delivered an uppercut into the goblin's chin. Said chin fractured in three pieces and Flit was knocked into the air higher than the burly orc's height.

Before Flit returned to the earth, the orc leapt to her feet and shifted her boxing stance to the last goblin standing. Then the two stood facing one another as still as statues. The large orc was about ten feet away from the goblin. She could close that gap and make him eat dirt in the same breath.

Gonot the goblin's hands were tumbling in fear yet he still had his crossbow trained on Glemerr. The bolt would take but a twitch.

Why didn't the others run ahead like me, Glemerr wondered. If there was at least one more here we'd already be at their hideout by now.

Stay back you orc, Gonot pleaded from his brain. Stay back or flee. You won't beat me!

Glemerr tried leaning forward, looking for a chance to rush the goblin before he could fire. Every time she was about to take a step, the goblin tightened his grip and aimed the crossbow closer to her heart.

I can't wait for the others, Glemerr realized. Either he shoots and misses or he hits me. There's no—

—Back down already! Gonot kept scanning the orc for any signs of fear. There was none. Or flinch! Something...anything...!

More seconds passed. Gonot wanted to look behind him. To hope more goblins heard the orc screaming. Each time Gonot's curiosity convinced him to try and sneak a look over his shoulder he could swear the orc was inching forward.

Meanwhile, the orc would spare a moment to glance at the goblin she dropkicked down the path. Or listen for the goblin behind her. Frail as they looked, Glemerr knew that they were still alive. She made sure they were still alive. That meant that these goblins could wake up an—

Fw'ting!

Glemerr heard the click of the crossbow before the bolt fired.

Quick and focused, Glemerr sidestepped and turned away from the bolt, watching it sail past her and down the path.

"Shit!" The goblin turned and fled with wild speed, diving into the trees after clearing more than 50 ft in mere seconds.

Glemerr wasted no time. She ran at an angle down the road, cutting across until she could see the edge of the goblin's form against the tree.

Out of instinct, Glemerr pulled out a javelin from her pack. She had two and they were each as clean as the day she was given them.

He missed last time, She reasoned. I can't bet on it again.

She cocked her arm back with the javelin, aimed it as well as she could from how far away she was, tightened her grip, and...

...Proceeded to stand there.

Glemerr saw the goblin loading another crossbow bolt. She knew what she was up against and that the goblin wouldn't hesitate. That didn't change anything.

Glemerr's hand started to shake as she forced herself to throw the javelin into the ground, yelling wildly all the while.

Hearing all of this, Gonot forced himself to whip around from behind the tree, leveling his crossbow. From his perspective, all he could see was an orc screaming at a javelin as if to scare it away.

Gonot's face spread into a toothy grin. "Stupid orc!"

Glemerr didn't get a chance to respond.

She was able to hear the goblin's shout but that was too late a warning. By the time she tried to duck away the bolt already struck her torso, glancing across a rib and slicing her arm before the shaft snapped and left the point in her bicep.

It was only after Glemerr tore the point from her arm by instinct that she stopped shouting. Mostly because she was now face first in the dirt from the pain and shock of it all.

With a heartbroken look on my face I took Glemerr's mini and placed it face down on the table.

It wasn't as bad as I could have made it. If this happened to Pinkie at a higher level or to a group that played this game before I would have pulled no punches. Those goblins would have shot Glemerr in that snare and made her a pin cushion.

Not only that but I would have had Pinkie roll death saves by now. Instead, my pushover heart was forcing me to keep this as a lesson not to split the party.

Pinkie seemed to be taking it kind of hard though. Her head was hanging low as she stared at her dice and paper like she could find some magic answer.

What I thought was interesting, Pinkie was the one who decided not to throw the javelin.

I didn't tell her to save for it. Pinkie simply didn't roll. She instead stood there— method acting almost everything —and pulled up her hand to roll the dice only to stop and stare at it. She had this look on her face that made me think she was deep in thought before she told me that Glemerr gave up on throwing the javelin.

That made shooting her with a crossbow hurt. Hurt me at least. The look on her face when she told me Glemerr was out of HP made me regret everything for a moment.

"..." Pinkie didn't cheer up right away either. Her expression instead softened to a mix of pouting and sadness while she kept staring at the paper in front of her.

So I was forced to try and move this along.

"After falling to the ground," I started, reaching for the goblin mini. "Your consciousness begins slipping. The burst of anger and adrenaline you once had quickly begins to fail you as you watch the last goblin step further away from his tree. A moment of fear crosses your mind as you think he's about to fire again but it doesn't last long as you see him start to walk closer to you.

"By the time he finally closes in on you, the last of your—" "Relentless Endurance."

Pinkie looked back up at me with a huge grin on her face.

I blinked.

"Relentless Endurance," Pinkie repeated in a cheer. "Says here. If I fall to 0 HP, I can choose to fall to 1! Sooooo… Relentless Endurance!"

Before I could stop her, Pinkie leaned over and flipping Glemerr back on her stand. Then she scooped up the goblin mini I moved and put it in front of her mini.

"You said he closed in on me, right?" Pinkie smiled as she stuck a bit of her tongue out.

I blinked and stuttered for a moment. "W-Well, yeah. I did but—"

"Then after he gets close, Relentless Endurance. Now it's my turn! Glemerr throws a punch!"

I took in a breath to say something but Pinkie was already rolling her die. Honestly, I had completely forgotten that she had that half-orc trick, but I still knew how it worked. If she used it, it would have to be before I moved the goblin.

I was about to move the goblin back and tell her that but her die stopped right beside the goblin where the number was easy to spot. The only number that could make me change my mind was the biggest number the dice had. It didn't matter what she added either. A natural twenty was a natural twenty.

Before I could blink, Pinkie already rolled the other three dice and counted the damage.

"Twelve punch damage," Pinkie cheered as she fell back in her chair, crossing her arms with a grin.

I sat there, wearing a thin line for a mouth, as my hand was paused halfway to reaching for the goblin. And instead of putting it back in the trees, I flicked it away.

Pinkie started 'dancing' from her seat, rubbing her knuckles along her shoulder as if she were the one who had fought the goblins.

"I'm not gonna lie," I started. "That was very clever, Pinkie."

"Not me," she pointed out. "It was all Glemerr's idea. Hehe." Pinkie looked back at the map with all the knocked over goblins. "Glemerr would like to tie the gobbo's with her rope now."

I nodded. "Easily done. With all of them knocked out, and lightweight, you pile them all to the side of the road and tie them together. Do you want to take their weapons away too?"

"Yepperoni!" Pinkie beamed. "I'll just leave 'em all in a big pile a ways away from them. Like a pile a of presents they can't open yet."

We both shared a laugh and I started cleaning the board; it served its purpose. "As fun as the Adventures of Glemerr are, let's speed up the rest of this. The others are probably getting a little bored."

Pinkie agreed and snatched up Glemerr, setting her down on top of the same die that rolled all those natural twenties. "After tying up the goblins for her friends in the back to deal with, Glemerr will start..." She paused to look at something on her character sheet. Probably the 1 HP if I had to guess. "...Walking down the path. No war cry."

"Good idea," I complimented. "You continue walking along, wrapping up your cuts and bruises to keep them from getting any worse. Roll me one more perception check."

Pinkie placed Glemerr aside and rolled with her lucky die only for a low number.

"...Eleven?" She shrugged.

I grimaced. "Now a Dex Save."

Her smile wavered for a moment. "Another snare?"

I shook my head and she picked up her die again to roll. With a sigh of relief, she smiled fuller again. "Twenty-one."

I stood up after clearing the map and started moving towards the door. "With a twenty-one, you keep moving. All that action and the now long walk have started making you a little woozy. So much so that, by the time you start to notice this rocky mound ahead, you fail to realize that there's an oddly placed pile of grass in the middle of the dirt road.

"The instant your foot steps on it, the ground gives way and your instincts go on overdrive. While falling forwards, you lean back and let yourself slide down this steep decline into the hole in the ground. When you reach the bottom, you keep your footing and glance around. You're in a 10 ft deep pit that's about 6 ft wide but thankfully whoever dug it out was lazy. Instead of a pit with flat walls, the sides are steep enough to climb in and out of without difficulty. You were lucky not to hurt yourself."

Pinkie's expression throughout all of it jumped between more relief and worry as she kept staring at her 1 HP and the lucky die. Then, as she started glancing between the die and the door where the others were waiting, she came to a decision.

"You know what," Pinkie started. "I think Glemerr wants a nap now."

I smirked. "Inside the pit?"

"Inside the pit," she repeated with a nod. "Can Glemerr get a rest?"

"That depends on how quick they go down the path you went down." I walked to the door. "Let's see what they do. Remember, you're not with them. Don't give anything away, alright?"

Pinkie giggled. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake," she said as she proceeded to pull a cupcake from her bag. "in my eye!" Like the first two things she said where she did the actions as she said them, that sprinkle-less cupcake was pushed right into her face.

I nodded once and turned to the door so she couldn't see my deeply confused face. Like they said. Don't question it.

With plenty of time to ourselves, we all tried coming up with ideas to get the most out of the magic pooling around the conjured table.

What made this so much easier was the screen Rainbow Dash had in front of her. Apparently, while the screen seemed impossible for any of us to read, Rainbow Dash understood it not problem. Whenever she pointed out what something on it said, the words would appear until someone read it aloud and then be enveloped by more moving characters.

Twilight started asking Rainbow to ask the screen how the magic worked. Each question, Rainbow would then read aloud what the screen said to which Twilight wrote it down verbatim on a now growing list that she had titled 'Rules of the Game's Magic.'

By the time we got to eleven, we figured that we had a good base understanding of how everything worked. This is what Twilight had written down:

1) Whenever someone is invited and accepted by the other participants and leader, their magic is included and mixed into the ri game.

2) Whomever is not a part of the game is unable to witness the magic that the game pulls from. What about Ms. Cheerilee?

3) The leader (DM) is capable of demanding that participants (players) use their magic in the game. If the player declines, it is treated as them leaving the game.

4) The game is started by saying a significant phrase. At any time, a player can come and go from the game whenever they want. When the DM leaves, the game ends. ("Let's start a story.")

5) The DM and players cannot be harmed from the game itself. However, the game cannot protect or guide the DM and players from outside sources.

6) The game cannot influence the actions or decisions of players. What a player does is impossible for the DM or the game to predict or control.

7) When the players and DM agree to start the game in unorthodox conditions, such as being in multiple locations or a willing player incapable of playing, the game creates a solution to try accommodating the situation. Ex. Sleeping(?), Magic Table(?)

8) If anyone attempts to learn about something they are not supposed to know or the DM does not want them to know, the information is made impossible for them to understand. Once one is allowed to know that information, it becomes possible to understand once again.

9) Items used in the game begin to glow whenever their use is called for.

10) Items created from the game are dispelled upon the leader ending the game.

11) Some items have more importance to the game than others. When this is the case, they may gain attributes that reflect the situation, use, or user in possession of the item. Ex. Milk white dice, bronze/cloud/pink die

The list wasn't in any particular order. We were just asking questions. The last few were mostly there because we couldn't think of anything else at the time.

When Twilight finished reading off the list, Rainbow Dash suddenly looked down at her things behind the screen and looked like she was writing something.

"When'd ya get a pencil?" AJ pointed out.

"When the screen asked if we wanted to have those saved." Rainbow spoke as though that made perfect sense as she finished writing and tossed her appearing pencil back onto the table.

"About that. Is this 'screen,'" Rarity spoke with air quotes around the word. "Erm...Alive?"

Rainbow looked at her papers and other stuff. "Uh...Here. None of the magic brings anything to life. Although the game will change its appearance or style based on the leader."

Twilight looked up from the notepad she was furiously writing on. "So like what Sunset said earlier? Wish fulfillment?"

I bit my tongue and let that idea linger. Wish fulfillment was not how magic worked. It was the kind of thing that ponies said when they had no idea how unicorn magic functioned. I only said it because it was the easiest short answer to give.

"So does that mean that if one of us used this then all of this would change?" Rarity's face lit up at the concept. "May I give it a try?"

"Maybe we should hold off on that for now," I offered. "I'm glad that this isn't dangerous and, honestly, I didn't think we'd get any answers out of this but I still don't think that we should push our luck any further."

I glanced over at Rainbow Dash. Unlike either time we sat at Story's table, she seemed invested in everything in front of her. She was even messing with the dice in front of her and had this look of wonder on her face every now and then.

"Hey, Rainbow." I waved a hand in front of the screen to get her attention. "I think we should turn it off now."

"Wait, what?" Rainbow's face dropped. "But we haven't even played yet."

"Played?"

"Yeah. Remember yesterday? The skeleton bears?" The giddiness in her face almost made me think I was talking to Pinkie Pie. "We can play that right now!"

Before I could try and talk her down, the door to Ms. Cheerilee's classroom opened.

"Hey girls," Story greeted. "Sorry for the long wait. We're done if you..." He trailed off, looking at everything we were surrounded by.

By this point, Dash had experimented with the table, willing it to stretch out so that it could comfortably fit all of us. Then, when she asked if we wanted to sit down, Rainbow made 5 more barstools appear to life with this showboating flourish of her hand for dramatic effect.

So, when Story was looking at us, he was either going to see a random table and stools or six girls floating two feet off the ground while leaning on nothing.

"..." He kept staring around at everything. Plainly confused.

"Surprise?" Rarity tested.

"What am I looking at?" Story muttered.

"I..." I chose my words carefully. "I don't know. What do you think you're looking at?"

"Not what I expected," Story said slowly.

"No answer?!" Rainbow looked at her screen and magic paper, frustrated.

Story leaned his head to the side like a dog with a whistle. "What was that?"

"Uh, I said no answer," Rainbow said stiffly. "M-My parents! They're not answering their phone. Tsk. Of all the times, right?"

Applejack buried her face in her hat.

Story nodded vaguely.

"Right..." He slowly backed up a step and looked into the room. "Pinkie? Can you come look at this?"

He needs Pinkie to help make sense of this?! I could feel the sweat on my brow.

It didn't take Pinkie long to get to the door; maybe three or four seconds of hearing her bouncing over. But when her head stuck out the side of the frame, her smile grew a little brighter.

"Wow! Nice table." She didn't seem to miss a single beat.

"Well, yeah, sure, but when did it get there?"

"What a great question," AJ slurred from inside her hat.

"Dunno." Pinkie shrugged, letting go of the frame to do so. She didn't fall down either and instead hung out the side of the doorway without support. "Still. Nice table."

"W-Wait," I tried to turn everything around. "You needed to ask Pinkie where the table came from?"

"Well, I mean, none of you were saying anything," he accused. "You kept staring at me like I was crazy."

"That's because we thought it was obvious," Rarity stammered with the speed of a buffering video. "A-After all, the Wood Working club is full of surprises, isn't it?"

"Wood Working?" Story just looked more confused. "Why would the Wood Working club leave a table and chairs in the hallway?"

Applejack sat back, wiping her eyes in agitation before looking to the rest of us. "Ya know, Ah'm wonderin' that myself. Rarity, why would they do that?"

"I...asked them to," Rarity dug herself deeper. "I figured that if we're an official club than we should get something a little nicer than a few old tables and desk chairs."

Fluttershy started to frown. "But. Isn't today only our second meet..." Rarity put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder with a desperate stare that practically screamed for her to stop talking.

"Technically, this is the third," Twilight corrected. "We all first met Story about this time last week."

Rarity reached for the hook. "Exactly! It's been a week now. So, I figured, why not see about making the space a little more...investing?"

Story looked over the small, tall table with obvious doubt. "Well...I...appreciate the thought?" Rarity visibly relaxed at his answer. "But, I'm not sure if this table would fit everyone. And, I'm not sure if everyone would be comfortable sitting in stools for two or three hours."

Rainbow Dash slumped forward a little. Since she made and shaped these tables she probably took offense to that.

"This," Rarity paused, visibly regretting every lie that came to her mind. "This was just what they had already had. Think of it as a demo, if you would."

Story nodded along. "Well, for a demo I guess, it looks nicely made. The commission price for the real deal might be a lot though."

Rarity blinked. "Commission?"

I cringed from the sight of Rarity's expression. Ouch. You can actually pinpoint the exact second her heart broke in two.

When Story saw Rarity's shock, he started to backpedal. "I'll talk with you after today about splitting the price. I gotta pay y'all back for the gifts anyways."

Pinkie was about to remind him what gift meant but Story lightly pushed her back into the room before she got the chance. "So, table aside, how's about we all get back to the game? We only have so long, right?"

Deciding to leave before it got any more awkward, Story was back in the classroom to wait for us to follow whenever we were ready.

Rarity rested her face in her hands. "Why did I say that?"

"Funny," AJ wore a strained grin. "Ah was about ta ask that myself." She got serious. "Why didn't we come clean that time?"

Fluttershy seem to sadden. "Because we were told not to tell any of the new students about magic."

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash leaned on her table. "I'm starting to think that's not going to be easy."

"Ya think?" AJ's stare turned more stern. "Hidin' it from most a' tha school's gotten a touch easier since the Friendship Games. 'Specially since we only pony up durin' band practice now. But if we wanna keep an eye on this," she said, pointing to the table and translucent items. "We need ta make a decision. Do we really wanna keep this a secret forever?"

I gave out a weak chuckle. "You would be the one to say it first, wouldn't you Applejack?" You're not the first to think it though, I told myself.

Rainbow Dash grabbed the top of her DM Screen and brought it down against the table's surface; like closing a laptop. When she did, all the silhouettes of dice and paper in front of each of us blinked away leaving only the table, stools, and one milk white die.

"I guess the magic's not going to help us either. It's not saying anything."

"Is it supposed to," Fluttershy questioned.

"Rule five," Twilight reminded them. "The game can't do anything about outside sources. Since Story's not at the table, that means him too."

I smiled. "Which also means it can't tell you what'll be on Mr. Doodle's test tomorrow."

"Pfffft." Rainbow looked away. "I didn't ask it that."

"Welp," AJ hummed as she stepped out of her stool. "I don't think ya need me ta point that lie out. I'm headin' back in 'fore Story start's thinkin' we really 'commissioned' a table."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Rarity mumbled as she followed suit. "I should probably put that idea to rest before Story sets his heart on that."

"I can chip in if you want." Fluttershy, followed by Twilight and I, all left our chairs too, leaving Rainbow as the only one sitting down. Good thing too because when Rainbow Dash jumped out of her stool all the furniture in the hallway vanished with a light flash.

"That's kind of you, darling, but I don't think you would want to offer if you ever saw the bill."

"Let's forget about the table." I walked towards the door. "For now, how's about we just enjoy the game for once?"

Rainbow chuckled. "I can get behind that."

The rest of the girls agreed and, for the first time in about three days now, we walked into the club to actually enjoy ourselves.