Lasher was a rather polite creature, Spike quickly learned. His alien companion had been intimidated into serving Riot before, and he craved power as many symbiotes did, but he was still fairly mild-mannered compared to the others.
He seemed content to stay in the present, not snooping through Spike’s memories unless invited to, and even then he only looked at what he was asked to and didn’t pry into other things.
Lasher also quickly found a fondness for the comics Spike liked to read, and would happily discuss them with him and even make up his own theories and scenarios for the characters.
Spike soon learned just how imaginative his new friend was, and it made him especially eager for the next O&O game he was having with Discord and Big Mac.
The session took place only a few days after Lasher and Spike bonded. Spike told him they were going to go play a game with a couple friends, and Lasher was more than happy to see what they were doing. Spike didn’t give him all the details, wanting it to be a surprise. He just said it was a fantasy roleplaying game, where you and your team go on an adventure together.
Sounds intriguing, Lasher’s deep yet soft voice, as familiar as Spike’s own thoughts now, commented in his head. You seem to have great fondness for this game. I look forward to it.
You’ll love it, you get to be real creative and battle people and solve problems… it’s loads of fun.
He could feel Lasher’s interest at fighting, but he seemed even more interested in getting to be creative.
They were meeting at Sweet Apple Acres for the game, where Big Mac was hosting it in the barn. Spike elected to fly there rather than walk, as Lasher loved flying. They shared control on their way over, Lasher reveling in how the air felt flowing past their body, laughing as they did a few dips and twirls.
All too soon it was time to land, and they glided in and touched down smoothly in front of the barn. The doors were propped open, and Spike walked in to see Big Mac already waiting at a table with some snacks and drinks.
Next to him was Applejack, who seemed to just be hanging out. Her symbiote, Phage, was partly out of her body as well, a juice box in hand as he chatted with Applejack and Mac.
“Hey guys!” Spike called, jogging up to the table.
“Mornin’, Spike!” Applejack greeted him.
Phage was taking a drink, but he aimed a finger gun at Spike in greeting.
“Good day so far?” Spike asked as he hopped onto a chair.
“Eyup,” Mac said, and pushed a small bowl over to him.
“You got me sapphires? Oh you’re the best!” Spike happily grabbed the handful of small sapphires out of the bowl, tossing them in his mouth.
Lasher emerged from his side and nodded to Phage. “Phage.”
“Lasher,” the other answered bluntly.
Spike had learned that the symbiotes in Riot’s gang weren’t especially friendly with each other, instead treating each other with a curt respect based on strength. But he hoped to ease them into being more friendly, and Lasher was making attempts.
“Have you and Scorn made much progress with our ship?” Lasher asked.
Phage gave a shrug and set the juice box down, now empty. “We’re doing what we can though we may need to order supplies to fix some of the external damage.”
Lasher nodded. “I wish you luck. I’m not the best with repair but I can help if you need.”
“We’ve got it.”
“Very well.” Lasher settled his chin on top of Spike’s head and looked away.
Spike coughed awkwardly and looked at Mac. “Heard from Discord?”
“Nope.”
“Ah, well I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”
Applejack gestured to Phage and spent a few moments looking into his eyes, and a silent conversation must have happened because she then said, “Well, Phage and I reckon we ought to get to our chores. Have fun with your game, Big Mac, just make sure you give the pigs dinner tonight!”
He agreed and she headed out.
Once the two were gone, Spike said to Lasher, “So, Phage seems to be doing well.”
“Yes, well enough. I see he’s still quite proud, though. Doesn’t like accepting help from others. But he’s always been that way.”
“Just like my sis,” Mac commented. He smiled. “But she came around to letting ponies help her and that alien of hers will too.”
“Oh so you can say more than one word at a time!” Lasher teased.
Mac snorted. “Fellows like me prefer to let our actions speak for us.”
“Ah, we are not too different then, friend. I often prefer silence to speaking. But when I do speak, I want my words to be important.”
Mac nodded in agreement.
“Oh he says that, but you should hear how he geeks out about comics when he’s alone with me,” Spike said.
“That’s a secret,” Lasher admonished him, slapping a couple thin tendrils against his shoulder.
Spike and Mac laughed, and after a few moments he even joined in with some soft chuckles. “I do have my passions,” he admitted. “It’s nice to be able to speak without hearing Riot tell me to shut up.”
“I’m surprised you guys didn’t just kill him,” Spike said.
“Trust me, we considered it. But he was quite a bit tougher than many of us. And if he was taken down, well… Carnage likely would have succeeded him. And none of us wanted that.”
Spike didn’t know much about Carnage. Just that he had gotten out of the museum before Twilight and Venom went to rescue the symbiotes, and has been on the run since. He could still be in Light Touch, but maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he wasn’t even in Equestria anymore. There was no way to know.
But Lasher has told him a bit about Carnage. He was brutal. Sadistic. Bloodthirsty and born to be a member of Riot’s team. He knew nothing else but force and domination. Riot at least had some tact. He was a good planner. Carnage simply longed for destruction.
Spike gave a little shiver at the feelings of apprehension that Lasher still had for his old teammate. Lasher rubbed his back. “Indeed, we would have been doomed if Carnage led us. But let’s not speak of him, hm? It’s over. I and the others can live our own lives and I’m thankful for it. I can choose when to be quiet and when to talk at length. It’s quite refreshing.”
Spike tapped his claws on the table as he looked around, and sighed. “Where is Discord? It’s past time to get started…”
“Did someone say Discord?” And just like that, the tall draconequus was silently popping into existence next to them. Spike and Mac were used to it, but Lasher recoiled a bit.
“What the-”
Discord spotted him and grinned, leaning down to inspect him. “Ah! You must be one of those symbiote creatures! I’ve been eager to meet one of you. I’m Discord!” He held his paw out.
Lasher gave Spike an unsure look, and Spike nodded to him, telling him in thought that it was okay, Discord was a friend. So Lasher relaxed and lifted more strands of his body out of Spike’s, forming them into an arm and a hand so he could shake Discord’s paw. “I’m Lasher.”
Discord enthusiastically shook. “A pleasure it is to meet you! Always a joy to meet friends of my friends, and you and Spike already seem to be bosom buddies, haha!”
Spike chuckled and Lasher couldn’t help but smile. “Oh yes, we’ve connected quite a bit.”
Discord practically howled with laughter. “And you’ve got jokes! Oh we’re going to get along swimmingly. So, my extraterrestrial friend, are you ready to enter the world of Ogres & Oubliettes?”
“I don’t know what to expect, I intentionally didn’t check Spike’s memories of the game, but I’m looking forward to it,” Lasher replied.
“You’re in for a treat.” Discord rubbed his hands together. He snagged an apple off the table and tossed it into his mouth, crunching it in one bite. Then he said, “Well, Spike and Big Mac? Shall we begin?”
“Eyup!” Mac replied.
“Yes, let’s go!” Spike cheered.
Discord snapped his fingers. Immediately their surroundings changed, the barn disappearing and the dank walls of a dim cave surrounding them.
The temperature dropped to chilly, and Lasher exclaimed in shock, curling tighter around Spike. “What the fuck?” he demanded.
Big Mac was surprised by his language but Discord only beamed. “Finally, someone else who fucking swears.”
Lasher looked rapidly between the three of them, and added, “And what the hell are you all wearing?”
Spike, now with a full mustache and beard and carrying a staff, said, “I am now the wizard Garbunkle!”
Big Mac, clad in armor and now carrying a large sword using unicorn magic (he had a horn now!), nodded and said, “I’m the knight, Sir McBiggun.”
Discord was wielding a bow and his mane had changed into a flowing blonde one, and he wore a green tunic. “You may call me Captain Wuzz, the leader of our little outfit!”
“We’ve been over this, you’re not our leader,” Spike said with a scowl.
“Well if not for me we never would have gotten this deep into the cave without dying!”
Spike looked at the clearly confused Lasher and explained, “This is a roleplaying game. We’re all playing as characters we’ve created, which lets us be different from how we are in real life. And Discord is using his power to bring the game world to life. Which means I can now use magical spells like a wizard can, Big Mac is now a unicorn knight with sword fighting skills, and Discord gets to be an archer and solve problems with his wits instead of just snapping his fingers and fixing everything.”
Fiddling with an arrow, Discord said, “I’ll admit, it’s quite fun having to restrict myself to this weapon.”
“I see,” Lasher said. “I’ve been in simulations much like this, though they had more of a focus on training and quite real pain when you’re harmed.”
Discord immediately fired an arrow and it clanged off Mac’s armor, but Mac winced and growled at him. Discord smirked. “There’s still pain here.”
“Couldn’t you have proven that without shooting him?” Spike demanded.
“Calm your beard, I didn’t fully draw the bow, he’s fine.”
Lasher inspected their surroundings. “So we’re in a cave.”
“We’re hunting for treasure,” Spike explained. “So, now that you’re here with us, would you like to play a character or just hang out and see how things work?”
“I’d like to play.”
“Alright, just tell Discord what kind of character you want to be and he’ll change you into it.”
“What kind…?”
“Yeah, so… I think it’d be easiest to choose an alignment first. You could be good, neutral, or evil, and then lawful or chaotic…” Spike took a few minutes to explain the alignments, while also letting Lasher look at his memories for more information.
After some thought, Lasher suggested, “Perhaps I could try chaotic neutral-”
“Absolutely not, there’s only room for one chaotic neutral in this party and that’s me,” Discord interrupted.
Lasher gave him a look, and Spike sighed and said, “He’s pretty defensive. I think he just doesn’t want to be upstaged.” Discord snorted but didn’t deny it. Spike went on, “Just choose something else, nothing’s stopping you from still playing like a chaotic neutral if you want.”
Lasher considered, and said, “Fine then. Lawful evil.”
Mac stared and Discord whooped. “Excellent! Haha, you and lawful good Sir McBiggun over there are gonna butt heads a lot.”
“I’m neutral good so you’ll probably get a lot of pushback from me too,” Spike commented. “But that makes the game interesting! Now, for your class… hm.”
“Since he’s attached to you, we might have to modify some rules,” Discord said. “We could say that during our last battle, you were possessed by a demonic creature who lives within this cave, but turns out it would rather share your body and go along on our adventure! Supplementing your magical power with its own!”
“We can, if Lasher is okay with being a demon.” Spike looked at the other. “What do you think? Maybe you can be a demon, and also get the power to cast your own spells.”
“I like it!”
“A lawful evil demon sorcerer it is,” Discord said. He gave his fingers another snap, and Lasher shivered as a strange feeling swept through him. “As we recover from our last battle, Garbunkle realizes that something, or rather someone, seems to have taken advantage of his weakness to fuse with his body!”
Spike quickly got into character, aiming his staff at Lasher and demanding, “Who are you, foul beast?”
Lasher grinned and said in an ominous voice, “I’m known by many names, mortal, but you may call me Lucidoth, defiler of dreams.”
“Nice,” Discord whispered.
Spike swallowed nervously but kept his aim steady. “What do you want with me, dark one?”
“Nothing too terrible. You are part of a capable team of fighters. I would like to accompany you.”
Spike glanced at the others.
Discord said, “And what can you bring to our team?”
Lasher chuckled. “Knowledge, Captain Wuzz. I know these caves far better than you do.”
Discord lifted his bow partway. “How do you know my name?”
“I know everything he does, now,” Lasher replied, pointing a tendril to Spike’s head.
“Why should we trust you?” Mac demanded.
Lasher gave them a smug smile. “You shouldn’t. But do you have any choice?”
They relented, admitting that without a cleric, they had no safe way of removing him from Spike.
They continued on their path, and Discord broke character to tell Lasher how good he was at this.
“Thank you. I like getting to use my imagination like this.”
Lasher settled into the character of “Lucidoth the demon” quite quickly and naturally. He began referring to the others by their character names, and he picked up the rules easily. His presence caused all of Spike’s spells to be stronger, and he also provided a faster healing rate. He was capable of his own magic as well, and during encounters with hostile creatures, would blast them with cold ice spells that tended to freeze them long enough for the other three to defeat them.
He spent most of the session extended out of Spike’s body, forming himself into the upper half of a stereotypical demon with horns and sharp-clawed hands. At one point, inspired by Spike’s wings, he even popped his own little set of bat wings out of his back.
According to the others, he looked quite unsettling. They liked it though, joking that he should make himself look like that outside of the game. He laughed and said he would consider it.
Eventually they made it to a large cavern, where an ornate but rusty chest sat in the center. Water dripped down around it from stalactites, and precious gems filled bowls in front of it.
“Don’t get excited yet, Garbunkle,” Lasher said. “It’s guarded.”
“By what?” Spike asked, taking a few steps into the cavern with Mac and Discord right next to him.
A screech echoed through the room and the walls shook, and a cascade of rocks suddenly came down and blocked the tunnel they came from.
Lasher sighed. “By that.”
A huge lindwyrm crawled out from a nook to the side, screeching at them again. Its powerful arms dragged it across the ground while its tail lashed angrily.
Discord nocked an arrow and Mac unsheathed his sword, while Spike charged his staff.
“You know how to beat it, right?” Spike asked.
“Why would I? I never came down here, I wasn’t going to piss that thing off.”
The lindwyrm draped its long lower body around the chest to guard it, and hissed at them.
“We’ve fought worse than this!” Discord declared, charging forward and loosing his arrow. It flew true, striking the lindwyrm directly between the eyes.
And bouncing off and clattering to the floor, the arrowhead shattered.
Spike, Discord, and Mac all gasped. Lasher just yawned. “Its scales are harder than steel. No regular arrow can pierce it.”
“Regular arrow, huh?” Discord reached back into his quiver and retrieved a different arrow, readying it and taking aim again. “Let’s see how it likes this!”
“Aren’t those the manasteel arrows you got from the elf village?” Spike asked.
“Indeed! Take this!” Discord fired it.
The lindwyrm roared and the arrow struck the roof of its mouth and embedded deep inside. The roar turned pained and several stalactites fell from the ceiling. The party dodged them, though Mac got clipped in the hoof by one and grunted as it cut his ankle, and Spike had to whip his tail out of the way of another.
“Well done. You’ve pissed it off,” Lasher remarked.
Leaving the chest behind, the lindwyrm raced toward them. They ran to meet it, engaging it in combat. It was a fierce opponent, most of their attacks glancing off its scales, and it was able to bite faster than they could react. It tore bloody gashes in them and they cried out in pain, but didn’t give up the fight.
Several times, Spike had to cast healing magic for the party, then get right back into offensive attacks.
The lindwyrm seemed tireless, continuously slashing at them with its arms and snapping with its teeth, and Spike began begging Lasher to tell him something, anything that could give them an advantage.
Lasher eventually relented, saying, “Well, I suppose our adventure will end if I let you all die. So, flip the beast onto its back and stab its underbelly.”
“Of course!”
It took effort from all four of them, but they managed to wrestle the creature over onto its back, allowing Mac to bury his sword into the soft skin of its stomach.
With a final loud scream, it died and went limp.
“No blood? Lame,” Lasher said as Mac retrieved his sword.
“You could have helped us sooner, you know,” Spike muttered.
“I thought we were just having fun with it. Doesn’t everyone know the stomach is the weak point?”
The others grumbled, and they stepped past the carcass to reach the chest. Spike picked up one of the bowls of gemstones to look through, and Discord tried to open the chest itself. The lid didn’t budge.
“Locked,” he stated. “McBiggun, you packed lockpicks, right?”
“Eyup.” Mac turned his side to Discord, who opened his saddlebag and rummaged through it to get a lockpick.
“Discord has the highest dexterity out of all of us, so he’s least likely to snap a pick inside a lock,” Spike explained to Lasher.
Discord got down next to the chest and began working to unlock it, while Mac searched the lindwyrm for valuables.
“Its hide could make a better armor than what you’re currently wearing,” Lasher informed him.
Mac blinked. Then grinned and began cutting the hide off.
“Glad to have you along, Lucidoth,” Spike said.
“Glad to come along. I think this will be a lucrative partnership for both of us.”
“Agreed.”
Discord successfully opened the chest. He tossed the lid up and whistled. “Jackpot. Spellbooks, enchanted arrows, even a sword!”
The others crowded around to look. Mac gleefully traded out his sword for the new one, which had higher stats. Spike collected the spellbooks and learned the abilities within, and Discord added the arrows to his quiver.
There was also a pretty sum of gold at the bottom of the chest, which they distributed between them along with the gems.
When they were done collecting everything of value, they closed the chest and began examining the cavern for an exit.
Mac, now wearing armor fashioned from the lindwyrm’s hide, pointed toward the far back of the cavern. “That looks like a way out.”
“Yes, there should be a small tunnel back to the surface that way,” Lasher confirmed. “May be hard for Wuzz to fit through standing up, though. He’ll need to crawl.”
Discord scoffed. “Wonderful.”
They headed out. The tunnel was cramped and slick with water, but it sloped steadily upward. Discord had to go down on all fours to keep from hitting his head and Mac had to crouch slightly.
They were sweaty and panting when they finally climbed out, right on the banks of a lovely river.
“That’d explain the water,” Discord commented.
“The lindwyrm probably came out here to fish,” Spike said. He wiped himself off and looked up at the bright blue sky. “Well! Another successful adventure!”
They cheered, and Discord said, “I love a good spelunking!”
“Wanna head into town to do some shopping or should we wait for next week?” Spike asked, looking mostly at Lasher. In thought, he told him that was his way of asking if they should stop or keep playing.
“Shopping!” Lasher declared.
They spent a good few hours continuing to play O&O. They walked to the nearest town and sold off some of their gems, and then explored the shops. Discord got more arrows and a fresh tunic to replace his tattered one. Mac took his new sword to be sharpened, as there was no telling how long it was in the chest or what happened to it beforehand.
Spike and Lasher merely looked around before deciding to go to the local tavern for a well-earned meal.
“It’s amazing how Discord was able to bring all this to life,” he commented. “He has so much power, and he uses it for games like this.”
“Yeah, way more fun than just imagining all this, huh?” Spike replied through a mouthful of rice.
“Yes, but I’m surprised he chooses to do this instead of, I don’t know, trying to rule Equestria like the princesses do.”
“Oh, haha, trust me… he’s tried. But he wouldn’t make a very good ruler. He’s too chaotic. He prefers using his power to just have fun and entertain his friends. Being in charge is no fun and if he does make it fun, then ponies will get hurt. He doesn’t want to hurt anypony anymore. So yeah, he’s happy where he’s at now.”
“I see. Well, as long as he’s happy.”
They were joined after a while by the other two members of their party, and after dinner they went on a mini quest that basically just involved fetching someone’s lost necklace from a dangerous forest, but it was fun enough.
After returning the necklace, they decided to finish up the session. With a wave of the hand, Discord returned them all to the Sweet Apple Acres barn.
Their clothes and weapons disappeared. Mac returned to being an earth pony, Discord no longer had flowing locks. Lasher could no longer thrust a hand forward and shoot ice out of it. He was mildly disappointed.
“Have fun?” Spike asked him.
“Loads of fun,” he answered. “I never got to do anything like that when I served Riot. Thank you so much for including me. We must play again soon.”
“And we will,” Discord replied. “Next week we can get together again.”
“Excellent.”
“It was a joy having you along, Lucidoth.”
“Yeah, never knew a demon could be such a good companion,” Spike laughed.
“You would have been lost without me,” Lasher said smugly.
They discussed the game and settled on a place to meet next week. Then they went their separate ways, and Lasher sank under Spike’s skin for the flight back, sharing the control with him like they did on the way over.
He only emerged once they were back in Twilight’s castle, and Spike noticed that he had a little pair of wings still sticking out of his back when he did.
“Aw, are you keeping those?” he asked.
Lasher gave them a flap. “I find them pleasant to have. Do they fit me?”
“You look good with them.”
They passed Twilight on their way to their room, and she stopped to greet them.
“Hey, how did Ogres & Oubliettes go?” she asked.
“Wonderful,” Lasher spoke up. “It’s a very imaginative game and I enjoyed getting to play as a magical demon helping a trio of adventurers explore a cave.”
“Helping is an overstatement,” Spike said. “But we did find the treasure we were after and killed a lindwyrm.”
Venom stretched his body out of Twilight and asked, “Aren’t lindwyrms a relative of your kind?”
Spike shrugged. “Ah, it was a fantasy lindwyrm, nothing wrong with killing one of those.”
“I see.”
“I’m glad you both had fun,” Twilight said. “Maybe Venom and I should join you one day. I used to get dragged into playing that with Shining and would usually be a cleric.”
“We could certainly use one of those,” Spike said. “Good alignment, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Fitting,” Lasher said. “Personally I enjoyed being evil.”
“Ooh, one can be evil in this game?” Venom asked. “Now I really do want to try it.”
Twilight laughed. “Of course you do. You’d probably like it.”
“We’re playing next week and stopped at a town, you could totally hop in, finding a way for your characters to meet us would be super easy,” Spike said.
“We’ll have to think about it. Thanks for the invitation.” Twilight looked at Venom, then said, “We’re going to get dinner started. Want to help?”
“Sure!” Spike fell into step next to her as she headed for the kitchen, and they discussed the game along the way.
He and Lasher were eager for next week.