//------------------------------//
// (16) Game Night 
// Story: Canterlot High's D&D Club 
// by 4428Gamer 
//------------------------------//



Pl⎅⍙ic⋏ F⍀rt⌖⍾⎅'s POV
⋏la⎍g'⎐ W⎅⎍ R⍀⍀⌿
⍙⌰⌿⊑ ⌰⎐ ⎐⌖⟒⋔⊑⎎⍙⌰⊬⊑



"I guess we are rivals after all, Fortuna," Stostine told me, rubbing it in even more. "Because I got even less than that."

"Is that a fact?" I asked boredly.

"Indeed. You want to know my whole life's story?" She finally dropped that fake craved smile. "My mother's dead and I hate my small town mayor of a dad. Thus why I am not 'living it up' as you seem to think I am. The end."

She let out a dull groan as she reached inside her robe, pulling out a waterskin that she had hidden. She was probably her pain and the woe-is-me story to try rending some kind of sympathy out of me. I just scoffed.

"That's it?"

"Yyyyeah," she droned, unscrewing the cap. "Not even an explanation as to why I have magic. On top of that, my Mom doesn't even have a name. I didn't forget, it just...doesn't exist." She let that try to sink in too as she took a long drink. "Which do you think is worse, Platick? Not having family? Or having memories of family that don't have faces?"

I wanted to shoot her back down but decided against it. Starting another fight wasn't worth it. Besides, I wasn't about to stoop to her level. If she wants to rub my face in it, fine. I'm not about to be that cruel.

So rather than give her any sort of response, I settled in against the wall and looked to the expressionless blue face of Ravathyra. As unsettling as it was, at least the new voice made it more bearable. She didn't remind me of the training dummies anymore.

"Well, on a lighter subject, that brings up something I've been meaning to ask. Ravathyra?"

"Let me guess," her voice suddenly spoke without anything moving. "On 'ow Ah don't 'ave a face, aye? Ya sure that's sunnier than yer contestin' edgy backstories?"

Edgy? Come on.

"...What's it like?" I asked carefully. "Does it...Can you feel anything?"

Thorn Wielder turned to listen to Ravathyra's answer. I chalked it up to her being curious as well. And after a moment, the thin line on Ravathyra's jaw shifted to a plain smile. It was the only time her face ever changed.

"Ah feel whenever Ah need ta. When Master Story describes the magic healin', err me gettin' hit from them mossy freaks we downed? Err the ale. Best part so far." As though to demonstrate that, she took another s—

"—arned Ah got 10 siblin's!"

Like a blink, Ravathyra wasn't drinking anymore. Her tankard now sat on the crate beside her as she, Thorn Wielder, and even Stostine were all sitting cross-legged on the ground where they were all set up before.

"T-Ten?! Wait." Stostine started looking around before her eyes rested on me. When she kept staring I stared back with a look that got increasingly uneasy. "Platick's moving!"

"He is?!" "Awake," Ravathyra and Thorn responded.

"What the..." Ricven let out a heavy yawn as he stretched from inside the large chair. He started rubbing his eyes as his long-winded yawn finally died out. "Was goin' on? An' who's screamin?"

"All awake," Thorn Wielder noted as she got up and walked to Glemerr who was still sawing logs with how loud her snoring was. At the same time, Vareén wordlessly peered up from the crate she had bedded down behind.

"We're back," Stostine answered vaguely. "We came back fro—ggaaAAHHH!" She clutched her side as she tensed from all the pain of her stab wound. "I-It came ba...Ahhhh!"

"I's alright lass. I's alright," Ravathyra cooed as she hurried over, discarding her gauntlets as she did. And as she crossed the room, I, Ricven, and Vareén all had our eyes following her with every step. As her voice sounded exactly the same as before, if not a tad less gruff and scratchy, her form was entirely different.

For one thing, she no longer had an empty blue head anymore. She had a brown skin that looked somewhat red in the light with brighter scarlet hair spilling out from the top of her head. All of it was braided into larger locks with metal tips at the end to help keep its shape. Then, said braids were tied up in a high and tight ponytail.

Her armor was drastically different too. Before it was only this one solid color armor that had no design to it; it was like what a kid thought basic armor looked like. But now it was obviously chain mail, with each individual chain made up with a golden brown brass. There were also a few iron plates in strategic spots for added defense, each with unique pictures either painted on or carved into the metal. But they were blurry and impossible to interpret as they were.

Finally, resting around her neck was a very obviously displayed necklace that had a design matching the front of her shield; a mountain's outline with a ruby underneath it. I knew from a memory forcing its way into my mind that this was a holy symbol; something important for religious types.

Ravathyra kneeled beside Stostine and took the mage's hand in her own, holding her in place with the other. "Shhhhh, shh-shh-shh. I's okay. We're all 'ere. Jus' breathe, alright? Breathe. It'll be fine. Fer all that pain ya got, jus' put it towards crushin' me hand. Don' worry. Ah can take it."

Stostine tried following her instructions, seizing in pain and trying as hard as she could to break the Dwarf's knuckles. She made no progress but it helped as she went from screaming to tightening her jaw as if to defy her lungs.

"Uh-uh. None a' that," Ravathyra chastised. "Keep that jaw open, missy! We can't have ya go grindin' them teeth. The world'll lose out on another darlin' smile otherwise."

Ricven gave a low chuckle. "My, that is a great line. Lady Ravathyra, ya mind if I steal that?"

"Take what ya want. I'd rather ya trade me though," she told him. "Get me a cloth and damp it in cold wa'er. An' Thorn? Get us some more a that bloodmoss, would ya? The lass's due fer some clean bandages."

Thorn Wielder nodded and worked to follow her orders while Ricven slid out of his chair and lazily pulled out a waterskin . At the same time, Vareén stood up and walked next to me as Ravathyra started to lay Stostine down on her back.

"What happened?" Vareén asked me in Elvish.

"No idea." I shook my head with the same language on my tongue. "I asked the Dwarf whether she could feel anything and suddenly she looked different. And Stostine forget she had a hole in her gut."

"I didn't forget," Stostine groaned from the ground. Also in Elvish. Oh right, she knows Elvish. Then she tried sitting up to face us. "It was gone...Didn't know it'd come bac—urrrgggh!"

"Stay still Stos," Ravathyra told her. "Don't bother gettin' up, Ah'ma jus' force ya right back down. Don' think Ah won't wake Glemerr fer that, either." Stostine gave a heavy sigh but didn't say anything else. "As fer you two glooms," Ravathyra glanced at us over her shoulder. "We'll answer yer questions so start askin' if ya want. Ah can multitask."

"Alright then," Vareén accepted after a moment. "How's come you suddenly know first aid?"

"Heh. Well, admittedly, Ah don' know much," she told us. "But Ah've given mah fair share of help at the church. Even helped assist a few births too."

Stostine chuckled weakly. "I can assure you, I am not pregnant."

"Well not anymore," Ravathyra smiled back to her. "Remember? It was a bouncin', baby javelin."

"Without a doubt, one a' the ugliest babies I've eva seen," Ricven kept it going. "Hold a tick, you said church? What church?"

"It's known as the Grand. The-The Grand...erm..." Ravathyra shook her head and got back to work on Stostine's wound. "Dang. Guess the Dash lass missed a few spots. Heheh. Dash Lass. Ah think Ah'll call 'er that from now. Rolls off the tongue nicely."

"You mean your Player?" I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"In sky," Thorn Wielder said, pointing straight up. "We go at sky. Meet other. Rava get face."

"The sky? Other?" I tried deciphering that but I, and Vareén and Ricven, looked completely lost. "Someone want to elaborate?"

"That's sort of difficult," Stostine said as she kept her back straight. By this point, Ravathyra was wrapping Stostine's abdomen with bandages laced with bloodmoss while she instructed Ricven to dab Stostine's forehead with the cloth. "When Rava was answering your feeling question, all of you stopped moving. Like Sildar."

I glanced over at the guy who...yep. Hadn't moved. His leg was still broken and he was stuck in place, staring at the fire. "Did he move?"

"All no awake," said Thorn. "We go at sky. Come at cave now."

"Ya say that as if you've been gone awhile," Ricven noticed. "Seein' as how Miss Stostine forgot about her wound, I can only assume it's been some time."

"About two hours." Ravathyra finished the bandage and took out her bag laying it down for Stostine to use as a pillow. "Maybe more, maybe less. Hard ta tell when yer standin' far in the sky."

"'In the sky,' you all keep saying that," Vareén lamented. "It's not helping."

"Unfortunately, that's all there is," Ravathyra filled in. "One second we're 'ere, the next? Miles in the sky, screamin' our throats out. Not fallin' though. Jus'... standin' there."

"Well, you two were screaming," Stostine said as everyone backed off to give her some air. "I was calm as I recall."

"Right, right. You were the brave 'un," Ravathyra dismissed with an eyeroll. "Either way, we calmed down and found another person like us. Had a Player an' everythin'."

"You mean there's others like us?" Ricven rose an eyebrow. "Did they have any answers?"

"Questions, actually," Stostine corrected. "We watched them...become aware? She acted like this world was real and then suddenly knew about her Player and the Master."

"So like us at the start then?" I frowned. "That means, so far, we've been around the longest."

"Ah think we may be the first," Ravathyra suggested. "Gekio, the girl from the sky, said she 'ad a group of 'er own in Skel. But she didn't think any of 'em had Players themselves."

"In Skel?" Ricven sighed. "That's far north from here. We're talkin' a month's travel at least! And that's without runnin' inta some kinda problem."

"Ah'm more concerned with what's goin' on with 'er," the Dwarf told. "Think about it. If she's got a Player like us, then she's sittin' there, surrounded by folk who ain't awake like her 'til the Master meets their Players. Least we're in a group."

I hummed dully. "Sure. Here's something else though. Her Player's not one of ours, right? So what happens to her when our Players come back and the world starts moving again? Is time still frozen for her or is she free?"

"That...is a very good question," Stostine admitted. She folded her hands together as she eyed the ceiling. "Sadly, we do not have any way to verify that."

"On the contrary, we sorta do." Ricven wandered back towards his chair. "We're assumin' her group will meet up like ours eventually, yeah? When it does, we'll still be here without our Players. We'll find out first hand."

"Ah wish we had a way ta talk to 'er." Ravathyra sighed. "Ah don't think a lass like her gets lonely easy but who knows if we'll ever see 'er again."

Stostine bit her lip. "...There are some solutions."

I gave her a look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Stostine saw my expression and returned one equally annoyed. "We will not have access to it for some time. However, there are spells that exist for long distance communication."

"You're referrin' ta Sending, ain'tcha?" When Ricven saw the rest of our faces he turned to the full group. "Sending's a spell that let's ya speak a message long distances. Even ta other planes of existence."

"Planes?" Vareén repeated, curiosity peaked.

"Basically, other worlds," Ricven defined. "Let's say that this 'sky place' these three say they wound up in is real." "Yes," Thorn Wielder answered. "...Right," Ricven said carefully. "If it wasn't from Prima, our plane, and was instead a different plane, we could use Sending ta speak ta whoever's there. Provided we know 'em."

"Would that work on our Players too?" Ravathyra asked.

Ricven moved to answer but froze in place. Not like Sildar but more like his mind needed a minute to register. "I...I-I dunno. Admittedly, Lady Ravathyra, the thought had not occurred."

"But could it?" I asked him.

"...I-It's neva been done," he said slowly.

"Obviously," I told him. "We're the first ones to have Players. Probably."

"No, I know that, but I meant..." He scratched his head. "I-I mean...It ain't all-powerful. It's just. If it was, we'd 'ave heard a' someone that could speak ta the gods directly."

"Would ya?" Ravathyra crossed her arms. "Comin' from someone who now knows folk strong enough fer that kinda magic, they already speak ta their gods. In a more modest form, aye, but still speakin'. Although, how would anyone outside a' their church know the difference? If they ask me, Ah'd say Ah speak wit' me goddess ev'ry day."

"And arcane practitioners would not bother," Stostine reasoned. "There is plenty of proof that the gods exist in this world. Divine magic, blessings, the two suns. What would using a spell like Sending, a spell that does not require the target to respond, on a god prove? Either they respond and people claim the wizard is crazy or they do not respond and nothing changes."

"Maybe they just want to see what happens. Decide to screw with something they don't understand." I shrugged. "Sounds like something magic people would do."

"Maybe it's not worth caring," Vareén shot us all a glare. "Allow me to remind you all something. This world's fake. Created by a Master who's age is younger than any of our own."

"Ya sure on that?" Ricven challenged with a sly smirk. "Maybe you don't remember, but we were created about four days ago. We're the young ones. Furthermore, if our memories are from a world created by the Master, that means we only know as much as he does. In fact, I know we know less. There's secrets a' this world he created that we don't know."

"Alright. Ah think it's mah turn ta bring up some midlife crisis philosophy," Ravathyra said as she started putting her gauntlets back on. "Ah've been lettin' you an' all yer negative attitudes ramble fer long enough."

"I'm pointing out how it i—" "Nope! No excuses. Mah turn," Ravathyra gave Vareén a stiff frown that made her go quiet.

"...Some of ya say this world's fake, aye? Ah hear it from plenty a' ya. But ya keep twirlin' 'round the fact that we're a part a' this world too. We got memories, an' family, an' experiences. True, maybe it ain't all sunshine an' lollipops." She glanced towards me, and then Stostine, for a second. "But it matters enough apparently. Y'all arr keenly aware that these stories are made up by kids but we're so hung up on what binds us 'ere all the same.

"Ricven? Ya pointed out we're only four days old, aye?" She waited for him to nod before rested her gauntlets on her hips. "Well, in that four days, I, Glemerr, an' Stostine all got somethin' outta our Players. Somethin' that filled us out jus' that much more. An' we all know what our Player's are like. Are they cruel? Are they uncarin'? Ah know mine ain't. An' from what Ah've 'eard an' seen a' yers, Ah don't think any a' them are eitha! Look, Ah know it ain't easy. Ah know it first 'and. Up 'til now, Ah grumbled about havin' it the worst. Ferget not havin' a history, Ah didn' 'ave a face! But Ah 'eld out 'til mah Player came through. An' what Ah said as a grump still stands. Moment Ah see 'er Ah'm givin' her a right bump ta the noggin!

"But all a you? Yer spittin' on the small moments they gave ya! They at least came up with somethin' when they coulda done nothin'. If mah ugly, stoic head weren't proof enough, the Master didn't force 'em ta come up with what ya look like. Ya coulda been as bleach blue as me but nah. They decided ta think of it. Ya got faces, moments in time, history ya can fall back on. An' yeah, some of us got some problems. Stostine's got that illness. Platick's got beef with his name. Thorn lost 'er forest. But like Ricven's been sayin', this is all one grand story! Amirite? So then why is it a bunch a' sweet, little girls made somethin' that feel so destitute on the surface?"

Vareén looked away from Ravathyra, biting her lip before noticing that I had a clear view of her concern. Her eyes locked with mine before she forced her hood further over her head so no one could see her.

So she's got a problem too, I surmised. Why indeed.

"Ya got yer reasons fer hangin' yer heads. Ah get it. Ah do," she started to finish. "But as someone who was just given some of a life of 'er own, maybe give 'em a smidge longer than four days 'fore ya blame 'em fer not gettin' it all filled in! Alrigh'?! Don'tcha think that's a fair request ta ask of 'em?"

All of us took a minute as Ravathyra stood next to the fireplace, looking between each of us individually. None of us were giving her any applause nor did we plan to. If anything, most of us just started looking anywhere else that wasn't at her.

It's all easy for her to say, I thought. She's the one that just got everything she's wanted for... I bit my tongue. That thought was such a bad taste in my mouth. Like she said, she had it worse than everyone else. Everything I said just felt entitled. Like something some scum noble would whine about.

When I realized that, I looked towards Stostine. She was staring at the ceiling with her eyes moving around as if she was studying something important. She didn't look too thrilled about any of it either. Just about everyone shared that same look. Probably because Ravathyra was right.

So I looked to Thorn Wielder. She was the one who I felt probably had all of her history too. She had so much of it that I knew about it. Heck, I knew more about her and Scorched Acrine than I did my own life. It made sense she was the only one that could keep looking at Ravathyra after that speech. Not even Ricven managed to do that.

Still, she seemed apprehensive. Was it because the Dwarf brought up her forest?

Finally, I reached for the necklace I had tucked under my armor. A platinum coin on a string with an emblem on it. I wasn't there, or 'awake' exactly, but I knew it was Applejack that gave me some sort of memento of the Fortuna name. Why?

This name was nothing. It was worse than nothing; it was a curse. The only thing I knew about this name was all the problems that came with it. Not to mention that I needed to keep as many people from figuring out about it as possible. If I didn't, life would just get harder. And why? Who was after me? What did they want? I had no idea. As far as I knew, they did it for sick kicks and this coin was just a stupid target for people to look for.

All of that only made it more confusing. Confusing because I cared. Why do I care so much about this dumb thing? There's no point! It would be easier to get rid of it. But every time the thought crossed my mind some ridiculous instinct felt like throttling me every time. Then my throat just feels tight. Why does it feel tight?

Why do I care?

"Platick?" Thorn Wielder called quietly. "Face water."

What? I glanced up at her and felt the heat of the fire hit my cheeks in this odd way. By instinct, I went to scratch my face and...

And I stared right back at the ground and started rubbing my face dry. Gahh! None of them get to see that! None of them. Stupid farm girl! Why does this necklace matter?! Just. Just throw it...urggh...no...

I was worried who other than Thorn Wielder saw that but I wasn't about to look up now. That would only prove it to anyone that thought I was... I hate all of this.

"Two weeks," Ricven said without his jovial voice.

"Two weeks fer wha'?" Ravathyra asked.

"I'm givin' Rarity two weeks." I looked up and saw Ricven staring into the fire. The same look he had as when we first ended up stuck in here. "Knowin' her type, I know she's one fer a finer hand fer detail."

"Uh...I think you mean finer eye for detail," Stostine corrected awkwardly.

"Eye? How're ya supposed ta do any work with an eye? That don't make a blink a' sense." Ricven shook his head.

"...Lick," I told him, too confused to remember to keep my head down. "People say 'lick of sense.'"

"Lick? First eyes, now tongues? You and Miss Stostine have some weird kinks," the gnome shot both of us a look that made us look at the other to see if we were the crazy ones.

"Agreed," Vareén eyed the Dwarf from under her hood.

"Thank you," Ricven accepted it by mistake. "I think they should honestly keep their perverse thoughts to—"

"Not that you oblivious dork." Vareén turned her glare to Ricven until he shut up. Then she leveled it back at Ravathyra. "Admittedly, my Player Twilight did give me some history. Not enough to say I have a life, but some. Two weeks is fair. After that? They won't get a pass."

I scoffed. "Please. What would you all even do? We're stuck in here."

"With enough strength." Ricven spoke level as he kept staring at the fire. "One could deliver more than just words through the planes."

"As Ah said." Ravathyra stood firm. "Give 'em time. Threatenin' 'em like this ain't fair! Fer all we know, they may not even know what's goin' on. They're probably innocent in this."

"No. My Player," Thorn Wielder told all of us. "My Player mine. You no Fluttershy."

"...Yes," Stostine breathed as she closed her eyes. "This is all in the pretense that we each are made by our own Players. Just because one of us is unhappy does not mean that you get to harm all of the girls. That is not fair."

"Fluttershy mine," Thorn Wielder insisted.

"Fine," Vareén relented. "I guess that means the Fluttershy and Rainbow girls are fine. But Ravathyra? If these girls are as innocent and great as you claim, then what we're asking for shouldn't be a problem. They're teenagers. They're not that busy."

Ravathyra met her stare with a defiant one of her own. I half expected there to be some sort of shouting match or a fight to break out. Ravathyra did seem much more devout now. However, rather than that, Vareén watched as the Dwarf suddenly cracked a bright smile.

"Yeah! Ya got a point there." She nodded. "There ain't nothin' ta be worried 'bout. So jus' ya wait Vareén. Them girls'll come through in no time. And no amount a' negativity will make me fold ta that."

Vareén tried to scoff but it caught in her throat when Ravathyra's calm smile kept pounding against her sneer. So much so that eventually Vareén turned away. "You know, I think I preferred you when you were gruff and angry."

"Ah didn't," she returned. Then she started to approach the elven archer. "In fact, Ah think ya need a hug, Ms. Edgelord."

Vareén abruptly backed away. "No. Don't you dare."

"Word of warning," Stostine smile as her eyes stayed closed. "Rava's hugs are a little bone crushing."

"In that case, still no," Vareén enforced as she walked around crates in order to put something between her and the grinning armored Dwarf.

"Rava?" Ricven had a smile play along his face. "Is that supposed ta be a nickname a' sorts?"

"A' course it is!" Ravathyra left Vareén alone and turned to the gnome next. "After all, Ravathyra Dagarkin's admittedly a mouthful. Rava's much more pleasant an' faster ta roll out, aye?"

"Why, I think you may be right, Lady Rava," Ricven said in a mock bow. "And while I got the chance I must say, I am in love with that brilliant new face a' yours."

'Rava' giggled for a moment. "Thank ye Ricven! You're a sweet one."

"Am I?" He asked with a shift in tone that made most of us roll our eyes. "Exactly how sweet are we talkin'?"

"An' ya jus' soured up." Her eyes did all the laughing for her while her smile stayed friendly. The room felt a little lighter as she said that. "Maybe if ya didn't go in fer the kill so quick, the ladies wouldn' mind."

"Uh. I-I'll keep that in mind," Ricven said awkwardly with a chuckle.

"AaahhhAAaAHhhhhAhh...AaaaaaAAhAhhHHHAAaaahh...mmph-mmm..."

We all turned to watch Glemerr moving her head back and forth as she let out this long yawn that almost sounded like throat exercises before smacking her lips like a bored child. "Aaahhhh...Hey guys," she yawned out. "Glemerr miss anything?"

"You've been asleep the whole time?" I stared.

"Yep! Glemerr needs her beauty sleep too!" She sat up and looked around at all of us. We had formed up in a wide circle when we had talked. "Were y'all tellin' stories?"

"Rava," Stostine called out. "I think you may have to tell that speech again."

"...Aw, screw that," 'Rava' declared before turning on her heel. "Ah'm gettin' more ale. All that depressed talk made me throat dry as a mound."

Glemerr stared hard at the back of her bright red-headed ponytail as I could almost see steam rising out of her ears. "Hey, are you da Dwarf?" She asked bluntly.

"Yep," Rava called out from over her shoulder. "Ravathyra Dagarkin at yer service, Glemerr. Or Rava fer short."

Glemerr said nothing as she squinted her eyes and stared intensely at the back of Rava's head as a thought came to my mind. No, I thought. No, she can't be that stupid.

But as I prayed she wouldn't say what I think she would, Glemerr cracked open her jaw. "Really? Ya look different dough. Did you—" "She has a face," I nearly yelled.

"Nah, dat ain't it," Glemerr dismissed with a waved hand. Then, as I was screaming into my hands, it all connected for her. "Oh! Ah got it! Yer smilin' now! It looks great!"

Rava giggled again. "Ah know it! Ah'm glad ye noticed Glemerr." She went along with it anyway.

"Ah always notice smiles," the half-orc told her. Then she flinched. "Ugh. Mah 'ead hurts. A lot...Is there more ale?"

"There's always ale," Rava said dreamily. "I'll pour ya a pint. In fact, one fer everyone comin' right up."




Sunset's POV
Sweet Apple Acres Barn
Saturday, 5:46 PM




I and a few of the other girls let ourselves fall into our seats from inside a now semi-clean back room. It had taken us all day and nearly five trips to the dump, but the room was finally cleared out well enough. Like Applejack told us, there was a large hexagonal table in the middle of the room set with a green cloth iconic with poker tables. And aside from the stains and a few rips and tears along the cloth, the table was great.

Then, Applejack gathered chairs together from either the barn or her house directly. None of them matched but there were enough for a full group to play. Tonight.

Earlier this morning I and the girls paid a visit to Ms. Cheerilee to see how she was doing. Aside from us and Story, no one knew what happened to her; a car accident. From how she describes it, all four of her tires suddenly ripped apart as she was driving down the street. She careened into a telephone pole and some kids who were nearby called 9-1-1.

The doctors say she was lucky she only got the injuries she did. Her car swerved and hit the pole driver's side first. And somehow, all she got was cuts and bruises, her left arm broken, and a badly rolled ankle. With proper healing, the doctor says she should be okay to walk freely in two weeks.

We originally went over there to check up on her and see if there was anything we could do to help but instead she ended up helping us. When she asked about the magic she saw flowing out of us and into the game we explained most of what had happened as well as our plan to get Story's other group to play at the barn.



"Why not have a game tonight?" Cheerilee proposed.

"Tonight?" Pinkie's eyes lit up. "You mean like a surprise game night party?!"

"Ah ain't sure that's somethin' we can pull off," Applejack told her. "Ta see if the magic spread, we need ta round up Story's group from Wednesday. We already got mah brother and another girl but there's still four other folks ta ask."

But Ms. Cheerilee shook her head. "I meant, what about your group? If you're still playing, why not have your game tonight and the other group's tomorrow? It is the weekend. And you would be able to watch the magic twice over."



At first we didn't know if that was something that Story would go along with but again, Ms. Cheerilee came through. She told him to go since, because she wouldn't make it to school this week, our game on Wednesday would be cancelled. And Cheerilee would feel terrible if she was the reason her students couldn't have fun!

Then, as though that wasn't enough, she agreed that we should tell Story about magic. The sooner the better. She reminded us that the rule against talking about magic was to keep the students safe from people outside the school. So if Principal Celestia had anything to say about it, we were told to point her to Ms. Cheerilee.

With that weight off our shoulders, all of us ran back to Sweet Apple Acres to help Big Mac and Gilda finish the back room in record time. Which left most of us resting while some of the girls went to get food and drinks for the game.

"We're back," Rarity called from out in the barn proper. And speaking of...

After a few seconds, Rarity walked into the room and brushed open the curtain we had put up at the entrance. We didn't have a door to replace the old one so this was our next best plan.

Rarity opened her mouth to speak but paused for a moment to enjoy the blast of cool air that greeted her. "Sorry for the delay. Is everything ready?"

"It better be," Gilda groaned. She was straddling her chair so that she could prop her head on the back of it. "Mac and I've been at this since the morning before all of you snuck off. If there's any more crap, you're doing it."

Rarity gave Gilda a pout before switching it into a sly smirk. "Such a shame. And after Rainbow Dash had spent so long begging that we get pizza for all of us tonight. But, if you would prefer to lie do—" "Alright, alright, I'll play nice. Fine," Gilda surrendered through gritted teeth.

Rarity bore a triumphant grin as Rainbow shuffled past her with four pizza boxes balanced on one hand. "Hey girls! AJ and Pinkie are getting the drinks ready. You all set?"

"I think so." Fluttershy settled into her seat. "I feel a little nervous though."

"Why?" Gilda scoffed. "Isn't all the weird crap that's happened to you outside of the game sessions? You said all that happens here is glow-y dice."

"So far, yes." Twilight nodded. "But this is still new to us. And this time we're playing the game with you and Applejack's brother watching." Fluttershy gave a silent nod. Maybe that was the real reason she was nervous.

"We'll be fine," I told them. "We're all here together. If anything happens, we'll be here to handle it."

"Yeah. You don't have anything to worry about Fluttershy," Rainbow said before setting the pizza pile down between all of us. "And I got a pizza pepperoni deluxe for you!"

Fluttershy smiled happily as Gilda rolled her eyes. "One's of these is half Hawaiian-style too," Dash added, making Gilda grin as Fluttershy's smile curdled for a moment.

"By the way Rainbow Dash?" I got her attention before opening the pizza on top. Cheese. Fine by me. "You left a couple of papers on the table before you went with Rarity to get the food. All of them were garbled. What're they about?"

"Oh yeah, those," she said before sitting at the chair where those papers still were. "Remember how Story left me that book? Well, it had a bunch of weird charts and names so I messed around with it. I ended up finding some cool sounding names for all of Ravathyra's brothers and sisters."

"Right," Rarity hummed. "You said that she had ten siblings, was it? That seems like a rather arduous task."

Twilight didn't seem as pleased about that. "Wait. Did you say you 'messed around with' the magic that we've been trying to understand?"

"..." We watched in real time as Rainbow realized what Twilight meant and then remembered something else that calmed her down. "It's fine though! There wasn't any magic when I did it! Besides, I didn't have any actual dice so I only rolled dice with a phone app I found."

I chuckled. "From what we've seen so far, magic doesn't work well with technology. Unless it's specially designed for it." Twilight snickered a bit at that herself. "I think she's in the clear. You should probably buy some dice eventually though Dash."

"Oh. Ya don' gah dice?" Gilda asked through a slice of pizza in her mouth. She wiped her fingers on her jeans and got up. "Gimme a minute. Ah gah some."

"Really?"

Gilda took a second to swallow her food and held the crust in her hand. "Yeah. I got a saddlebag on my bike where I stuff all my junk. I got too much dice anyway so you can have some of 'em. I'll be back."

"Thanks Gilda," Rainbow called back as Gilda ducked through the curtain.

Rarity settled into her seat. "So you said you found names for all of the siblings?"

"Yeah," Rainbow switched gears and looked at the papers in front of her. "She had ten of 'em so I had to figure out how old they were, brother or sister, their names, and then I had to figure out their backstories. I don't really know how much is enough though."

"Enough for what?"

"For Ravathyra." Rainbow sounded as if it were so obvious. "I mean it's her brothers and sisters, right? If I had any of those I'd want them to be as real as possible too."

I frowned. "Are you trying to make a life story for each of them?"

"Obviously! That's what I just said!" Rainbow crossed her arms. "Kinda wishing she didn't have this many siblings though. Wait, is that a bad thing to say?"

I took a low breath and looked her in the eye. "Rainbow Dash. I don't think you should take all of this so seriously. Magic or not, this all stems from a game."

"Me?" She frowned. "What about you? You're the one freaking out about magic spreading to everyone."

"That's different," I defended.

"How?"

"...Look. What I meant was, I know what you told us. About Sky-Space. About seeing Ravathyra looking so odd. But even then, I'm not sure if you should take it the way you are right now."

Rainbow stared me down for a second. "Then how am I supposed to take it? I made a person with my mind. So did Gilda. And we were watching them! They were talking about stuff I never knew before. How do you even explain that?"

"Simple." Twilight folded her arms. "Programmed Illusion."

"What?" Dash turned to her.

"An illusion?" Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"Think about it." Twilight frowned. "The dice and materials at the game glow. Writing appears when needed. We saw a moving image on a screen. Only we can see it. It's obvious that all of this is some sort of illusory magic. So the Sky-Space phenomenon you and Gilda watched was more than likely a programmed illusion created with the events of the game."

I watched Rainbow's eye twitch. "No. No way! That was real! All of it was!"

"Did you feel anything?" Twilight shifted to the offensive. "You were miles in the sky, yes? Did you feel the breeze? Was the air thinner up there? Could you feel the floor? Could you feel anything?"

"There was no floor," Rainbow insisted. "You can't feel what's not there!"

"Exactly my point," Twilight confirmed with a smile. "What if none of it was there? An illusion. An illusion programmed to make you see what the magic wanted you to see."

"We-Well...If it's all an illusion then why is everyone so worried about it, huh?" Rainbow glared. "If it's all fake then there's nothing to worry about!"

"Wrong." Twilight straightened up. "Illusions can be just as dangerous as anything else. If everyone started seeing monsters chase after them, real or not, there would be chaos. That's what we need to make sure doesn't happen."

"But all of it?" Rarity questioned. "The lights and such I can imagine but us falling asleep? And this Sky-Space? That's an illusion too?"

"..." Rainbow glanced around the table, looking for something specific. I started tracking her gaze as she checked her pockets, then eyed everyone's piles of dice. She was checking each of them carefully.

"That's what makes it a programmed illusion," Twilight went on. "It has specific details or triggers. Sleeping may be a result of it."

Rainbow settled her eyes on my dice, even standing up a little. She was searching mine even carefully before something started to cross her mind. She then quickly glanced at Fluttershy's dice.

What is she...NO!

The same time Rainbow found it, in Fluttershy's pile of dice, we both lunged forward. Fluttershy made an 'eeeep!' noise as she ducked away with her pizza as her dice went flying. My hand landed on top of Rainbow's fist.

Crap!

"Rainbow Dash. Don't," I told her, pinning her fist to the table so she didn't have a chance to roll it. "What would this even accomplish?!"

"I can prove it's not fake," Rainbow told us. "All of us. Right now. We can go to Sky-Space and I can show you it's real!"

"You don't even know if it would cause Sky-Space," Rarity accused. "For all we know, it would require Story to make it work. Darling, this is more harm than it's worth!"

"But it's an illusion, right?" Rainbow asked, mocking Twilight's tone. "If we know it's fake then what harm's an illusion do?"

"Drop. The. Dice," I told her carefully as Fluttershy shuffled away from us. "This won't help."

"..." Rainbow Dash racked her brain for a minute to try and think of some way to make me play along with this. After a moment, her eyes told me she found something. "Stostine was there."

I took in a breath and froze.

"Stostine, your girl, she was there," Rainbow went on. "So was Thorn Wielder." Fluttershy stopped moving at that. "They were there. They had your voices. Well, sorta, it was the voices you gave them. Same thing! They were talking about everything. Stostine was trying to understand it, just like you were. They knew who we were."

Even Twilight felt a chill go down her spine "They did what?"

"You heard me." Rainbow shot her a look before turning back to me. "They talked about all this stuff I didn't get. Master. Player. Haze. Waking up. Hearing voices. Our voices," she stressed. "There's no way it was all fake. Sunset. You gotta believe me!"

I said nothing. I was still holding Rainbow hand to the table but I was shaking. Honestly, she could have torn herself free and rolled and I would be too confused to blink. The same was true about Twi and Fluttershy. No one else was in the room to hear this though.

This...This isn't. I started chewing my lip like a starving dog. That's not illusion. Even if it was a programmed illusion like Twilight thinks, it doesn't feel right. It sounds more like...Like...

Dunamancy. It all came back to that, didn't it?

"Not tonight," I told her. "Rainbow Dash, we can try Sky-Space later but not. Tonight."

"Sunset?" Twilight gave me a look.

"This might be more than illusions," I told her, earning a sigh of relief from Rainbow Dash. "I really hope it's not but...We can't do it now."

"Tomorrow then," Rainbow pressed. "It's real. They're real! I know it."

"Sunset? Is everything okay?" Fluttershy asked me. Rainbow didn't see the worry on my face but it was there.

No, I thought by instinct. "No it's not," I said. By accident. ugh... But when their eyes all fell on my harder, I grimaced. "Just...We should play the game. Play it and act as much like we think our characters do. No matter how frustrating it might get. Okay?"

Everyone started to give me a real odd look. "What is that supposed to mean?" Rarity asked.

Oh boy. How do I explain this? I took a breath through my teeth and let go of Rainbow's fist. She didn't seem like she was about to roll it at least. "So, this will be hard, but...We need to try and keep everything stable. If we try and act in a way that may be different from our characters, there may be...consequences."

"You know, for keeping secrets, you girls talk pretty loud."

All of us tensed up as Gilda, accompanied by Applejack and Pinkie, pulled back the curtain. They were the only ones there. Thank Celestia.

"Story's not here yet is he?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nope. But it'll be any minute," Applejack said. With two pitchers held in one hand, she used the other to gesture to her phone. "Big Mac just messaged me. Spotted Story's car at the main road an' he's leadin' 'em in. But we got long enough fer you ta spill some beans, sugarcube."

Just...great. I rubbed my eyes. "Alright. Short version? It's not illusion magic. It's something else. Something old and dangerous."

"So a super doozy?" Pinkie asked as she started setting down cups.

"That sounds about right," Rarity deadpanned.

"From our end? I think we're fine. In fact, we are the safest anyone can be," I went on with an ironic chuckle. "But to keep it that way, we need to play like these characters are...Are real."

"So then there's nothin' ta worry 'bout an' we're totally fine? Why don't that match the face yer wearin'?" AJ set down the pitchers next.

"That..." I heard the sound of engines outside the barn. "Takes longer to explain. Listen, I know this all sounds crazy. But I—" "Ya need us ta trust ya? Yeah?"

I watched all the girls around me all turn and smile. Each of them were genuine and not wavering in the slightest. Even Gilda, while a little haggard, gave me a nod after she saw the amount of trust all my friends had in me. We were all on the same page.

"We're with you," Rainbow assured.

"'Til the tippy top!" Pinkie added.

"We'll help get to the bottom of this Sunset. You have our word," Rarity included. The others all started to add in their own encouragement at the same time we heard car doors.

"Alright then. In that case, all we need to do is play along. Play as our characters as if it's just a regular game and there's nothing to worry about."

"Playin' a sourpuss rogue ain't mah idea a' fun," Applejack admitted. "But Ah think Ah can manage. Deal me in." She sat next to me and flashed me another smile. Everyone else who was standing followed her lead and soon enough we were all ready to enjoy an, admittedly weird, game night.

I love my friends.