It was a fine summer’s evening as Luster Dawn and the incognito Flurry Heart made their way to the Ponyville Theatre, where they would meet up with the rest of Luster’s friends to engage in a battle against the forces of darkness. The theatre was closed for the day and it was Griselda’s idea to have their O&O session there so they won’t be disturbed. And so they could be as loud and over-the-top as they want when they’re in character.
“Are you sure your friends won’t get all excited when they see me?” Flurry asked.
“They seem like level-headed guys and girls,” Luster replied, “I don’t think they’d be that excited.”
They entered the theatre and, in the centre of the stage, sat a dark-feathered griffon, an Earth pony with a spiky orange mane, a yak and a kirin. They were positioned in a circle around the O&O board.
“Who’s the pony in the getup?” the griffon asked as she pointed to Flurry Heart.
“Promise you guys won’t freak out?” Luster asked her friends.
“Lus, I would go up in flames if I freaked out,” the kirin casually replied, “Trust me, I wouldn’t freak out even if I wanted to.”
“Glad to hear it,” Luster said, “Now let’s give our Game Master a warm welcome.”
Flurry Heart took off her trenchcoat and fedora and pulled down the bandana covering her mouth. Surprisingly, there wasn’t even the slightest bit of a reaction from anyone in the vicinity. Except for the orange-maned pony.
“Oh my goodness,” the pony squeed excitedly, “We’re having an O&O session with an actual princess! And not just any old princess but Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire, who fought the nefarious King Lavan when he tried to take the Crystal Heart.”
“Actually, it was the A.M.C that took the Crystal Heart,” Flurry corrected the esteemed Earth pony, “But I did fight King Lavan and his army of lava demons later on.”
“Ah,” the pony said sheepishly, “My bad.”
“Allow me to introduce you to everypony,” Luster said as she pointed at the ginger pony, “This is Novus Flare.”
Novus curtsied, “It is a pleasure to meet you, your majesty.”
Luster pointed to the griffon, “Griselda.”
“S’up,” Griselda greeted Flurry Heart.
Luster pointed to the kirin, “River Song.”
“No relation to the archeologist that married Doctor Whooves,” River stated.
“Doctor Who?” Flurry asked.
“He deals with timey-wimey things,” River replied, “I’m surprised you never heard of him.”
“Yeah, I don’t leave the Crystal Empire that often,” Flurry said sheepishly, “My parents worry that I might break something.”
“So they keep you in a place made out of crystals?” Griselda asked sardonically, “Oh, the irony.”
Flurry giggled, “Tell me about it.”
“And over here is Sasha,” Luster said as she pointed at the yak, “She’s still learning Ponish.”
Sasha nodded.
“Now that I have introduced everpony,” Luster said.
“And the yak and griffin,” Griselda snarkily butted in.
“Let’s play some O&O!” Luster announced excitedly.
“Before we start, I’d like to point out there are some costumes in the back,” Novus stated as he pointed at a door, “Can I go get them? It will help everypony here get into character.”
“Uh...sure,” Luster replied.
“Brilliant!” Novus exclaimed excitedly before dashing into the room.
While waiting for Novus to get the costumes, Flurry sat behind the small partition screen near the board while Luster sat near her.
“So...anypony else new to this?” Luster asked awkwardly.
Everyone in the vicinity shook their heads in response.
“I got 5 years worth of XP and Gold on me,” Griselda replied.
Flurry turned to Luster, “If you like, I could help you with your character.”
“Yeah, that would be a good start,” Luster said nervously.
“Class?” Flurry asked.
“Uh...what classes are there?” Luster asked.
“There are thirteen classes to choose from,” Flurry replied, “You have archer, barbarian, bard, black knight, brawler, cleric, druid, enchanter or enchantress, mage, monk, paladin, rogue and sorcerer.”
Luster shrugged, “Well, I already know magic. I think I’m gonna be a mage.”
“Good choice,” Flurry said, “And just between the two of us, my first character was a mage as well.”
Luster chuckled, “Great minds think alike.”
“Indeed they do, now what’s your character’s name?” Flurry asked.
“What do you think would be a good name for a mage?” Luster asked.
“I know from experience that Merry Do is an embarrassing name to give a character,” Flurry replied before giggling, “How about something like Usterlay?”
“Usterlay the Mage,” Luster said, “I like it.”
Novus trotted back to the group carrying a great big pile of costumes in his hooves.
“A hooded cloak and plastic dagger for our dashing rogue,” Novus said as he passed the dagger and cloak to Griselda.
“Thanks,” Griselda said.
“A fur coat and wooden staff for our druid,” Novus said as he passed the coat and staff to River.
“Nice,” River said.
“A horned helmet and an axe for our barbarian,” Novus said as he passed the helmet and axe to Sasha.
Sasha smiled at her choice of clothing.
“And a fire-proof tunic for your friendly neighbourhood sorcerer,” Novus said as he put on the tunic.
“Right, because a guy that practices pyromancy would be friendly,” Griselda deadpanned.
River cleared her throat.
“No offence, River,” Griselda said.
“None taken,” River said back.
“So, what’s our new member of the group gonna be?” Novus asked Luster.
“A mage,” Luster replied.
“Perfect!” Novus said excitedly, “We always need more magic types in this little band of ours. Here’s a wizard hat and a golden sceptre.”
Luster looked at the grey wizard hat, “Do you have any in purple?”
“Ah,” Novus replied, “I will have a checksie.”
Novus dug into what remained of the costume pile until he fished out a purple wizard hat.
Luster inspected the hat to make sure there weren’t any bugs or bunnies in there, “Thank you.”
“So, what kind of adventure are we going on?” Novus asked, “A haunted mansion? Saving a princess? Maybe some aggressive negotiations with a group of bandits.”
“I’m thinking more along the lines of a classic,” Flurry replied.