//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: This is How it Starts 
// Story: Dungeons and Ponies 
// by Font of Mythos 
//------------------------------//

	"I'll go first to show everypony how this works," Twilight stated, as she reached for some dice and used her magic to grab a pencil. "First, you choose your race. You can, of course, be an Earth Pony, a Unicorn, or a Pegasus. Each has a set of buffs, or improvements, that always apply to them." Everypony else in the room was clearly lost, "Okay, well for your first character I'll just assume you're going to be the race you are naturally. 
Alright, will everypony please take a look at your character sheet. This sheet charts everything about your character. Please, jot down your race and, under the cutie mark section, detail your cutie mark, what it means, etc."
As the group was scribbling in their information when, suddenly, Pinkie Pie burst into the room. "Hi everypony! I brought the snacks!" and she had. her saddlebag was laden with many different kinds of cupcakes.
"Why, thanks Pinkie!" Applejack said gratefully. 
As the group started eating, Twilight asked, "Can we return our focus to what is at hand?" 
The group unanimously muttered a, "Sure." None of them seemed particularly interested, really.
"Oh, don't be glum, girls. This isn't just a normal tabletop RPG. I thought that would be too nerdy to appeal to your interests. So, I formed a spell that will allow you to run through the game as if you were actual characters. When you arrive read this." She handed Applejack the pamphlet she had drawn up, "Have fun everypony!"
"Wait! Aren't you coming, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash questioned Twilight.
"I would, but somepony needs to be the 'game master' and I don't think anyone else can do it. Like I said, Enjoy!" With the casting of her spell, her friends, as well as the cupcakes, were miniturized and turned to glass as they became a set of game tokens.



"Whew! Everypony OK?" Applejack inquired, as the rest of her friends (excluding Twilight, of course, naturally not that one) lay in a heap due to their crash landing here. Where ever here was.
"I'm okay!" shouted a bouncing Pinkie Pie.
"I've had worse landings in training.  I think I'll be fine." said Rainbow Dash.
"Uck! Couldn't Twilight have been more careful! I look positively dreadful after that nasty fall!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Aw, you'll be fine," Applejack responded, of course.
"Um, I'm fine..." whispered Fluttershy.
"All right, we're all here! We should try to figure out where here is!" Rainbow Dash insisted.
"Whoa Nelly! Twilight said to read this here pamphlet when we got here."
"Well, read it then!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
"Simmer down, I gotta find it. I think I lost it in the crash."
For just a moment, the whole world seemed to freeze slightly. It returned to normal immediately but it startled the group. 
"The buck was that!" Applejack cursed, she then immediately noticed the pamphlet laying on the ground a short distance away, "Oh hey I found it!"
The group quickly stopped freaking out and payed attention as Applejack began reading. "First off, I would like to thank all of you for participating in this. You 5 are wanderers from the desert in the North. You have come South from your humble village in search of glory and riches. Please, don't tell anyone in the town, or anywhere for that matter, about the fact that you aren't from this world. it could cause errors or other issues. Of course, have fun!"
"Wow.... That was SO helpful!" Rainbow Dash sarcastically commented.
"Um, I think there's a town-" Fluttershy tried to say, Applejack cut her off, however.
"I think we should look for a town!"
The ponies heeded Applejack's thought, beginning to spread out and observe the landscape.
"Um... girls," Fluttershy muttered.
"Yeah, Fluttershy!" Pinkie responded enthusiastically.
"Oh, well, it's probably nothing...." Fluttershy covered her face with her mane a bit more.
"Well, we won't know 'til you tell us! Come on already!" Rainbow Dash raged at Fluttershy's, well, shyness.
"Well... it's just that," Fluttershy began, "well it's just that there's a town right over there.
"Now how in the hay did we all miss that!" Thanks sugarcube!" Applejack gratefully thanked Fluttershy.
As the ponies trotted through the scrubby plains, the land was eerily quiet. As the group continued towards the town, they couldn't see the slight flicker of movement, nor the glowing red eyes, in the bush just behind where they had been standing. 


Twilight Sparkle sat, her wings flared and her brow dripping with sweat. Dice rolled repeatedly as she responded to what the little versions of her friends were doing. Quill after quill were used to the point of snapping and were discarded.She quickly chugged a glass of water and slammed it down on the table. She had to keep up with everything that anypony picked up, the random chance of any small event occurring. For example, the minute chance that Rarities hooves slip and she gains an injury. Normally, this would be easy for her, but in real time, everything was intensely rushed. She rolled the dice for each to perceive that there was a nearby town. With a quick note, she allowed Fluttershy to see the town based on the result of the roll. As the figurines moved, she rolled the random event die. For a moment, she was preoccupied with other things. Soon she was able to check the result of the random event die. She had rolled them a random monster encounter...

To be continued...