Button and the Dungeon Master
Chapter 2 – Fortune and Glory Kid, Fortune and Glory
(The Mash Home – Mash Family Table – the next day)
The day had dragged on, or at least it seemed to drag on forever to Button. Sure, he and Sweetie Bell got to play a little more Prance, Prance Revolution before she had to go home, but he was wanting to finish the quest. He needed to finish the game Grandpa Di had started last night, and he even got Rarity to swear that she would let Sweetie Bell come back over to play again.
His mom had invited Rarity over to relax if she wanted to, and maybe even join in on the game if she wanted to try her hoof at it. She had declined on the game, but said that she might go ahead and take them up on the offer of coming over for a bit of relaxing. Button checked the clock again to see what time it was. Rarity and Sweetie Bell had promised that they would be over by six, and it was only three minutes till.
“Come on, come on, come on,” he said impatiently tapping his hooves on the table.
“She’ll be here Button. That little fillyfriend of yours seems like a good egg,” Grandpa Di said as he walked into the room and began setting up the map, and pulling out the character sheets they had created last night.
Button looked back at the clock and could see it setting on six. His eyes went to the door and watched for it to open. There was no movement, nothing, and a frown began to creep over his face.
“Is… is she not going to get to play?” he asked.
“Button, sweetie, you have to have a little patience,” Love said from the kitchen. She brought out plate of cucumber and lettuce sandwiches, “And while you’re waiting you can help me get the hayfries and bring them out here as well.”
Button looked at her and then the door. He wanted to be sitting right there, ready to go, when Sweetie Bell got here. He sighed, got up, and followed his mom into the kitchen. He grabbed the bowl holding the hay fries with his mouth and carried it out to a small card table sat up beside the family table. He looked up when the door opened to see Rarity and Sweetie Bell. The young unicorn smiled and ran over to the table.
“You didn’t start yet right?!” she exclaimed.
“Of course not. We couldn’t start without Cloud Hopper,” Di said.
“Yay!” she said as she took a seat.
“She’s talked about this game all day today,” Rarity said as she came closer to the table.
She looked at the graph paper and then she noticed Sweetie Bell’s character sheet. She began reading the way the character looked and a bright smile crossed her face.
“You made her look like me,” she said.
“Well...” Sweetie Bell said.
Rarity pulled her into a hug and smiled brightly.
“That’s so sweet!” she exclaimed.
“Rarity, would you like a sandwich and some hayfries?” Love asked.
“Actually, that sounds really good. If you don’t mind,” Rarity asked.
Of course not, go ahead and get a seat and I’ll get you a plate,” Love said.
She began getting plates for everyone and then once she served all of them she took her seat and looked down at her own character sheet.
“So, where were we?” she asked.
“Sis, you sure you don’t want to play?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“Well… let me watch for a while and then I’ll decide,” Rarity answered.
“Fair enough, so… My little ponies you find yourselves inside of the hut of Rock Kicker. It’s a small Earthen dwelling, something simple and strong which is all the young barbarian needs. The smell of rain begins to seep in from the small cracks in the window and doors,” Grandpa Di began
(Rock Kicker’s Home – West of Neighdowell)
The sound of the storm picking up began to come through every single crack in the wall and window. Rock Kicker walked toward the corner and dug around in the dirt for a moment before he pulled out a small box. Once it was out he brought out two small half loaves of bread. He tore one of them apart and chewed on it.
“It wasn’t scheduled to rain,” Cloud Hopper said.
“They’re wanting to make our travels harder. It’ an old tactic,” Magick replied.
She took a seat and looked at the bread Rock Kicker was chewing on.
“What?” he asked.
“Surely you have manners enough to offer your guests something to eat,” she said.
“Employers, not guest, and here,” he said tossing the other half loaf of bread to her.
She caught it and tore it in half. It was stale, hard, and something he had been saving for a while. She looked around the house and realized that this was a place he must not come too very often.
“We can still go find the information you want on your friend,” Cloud hopper said.
“If we go out, go to their sky fortress and walk around they’re going to notice. You might be fine, but the two of us aren’t exactly Pegasi,” Magick replied.
“Yeah, they’ll be on us in less than a minute, although a good fight isn’t so bad,” Rock Kicker said.
“We need to pick our battles. Ms Hopper, how long do they make rains like this last?” Magick asked.
Cloud Hopper tapped her chin with her hoof and sat back on her haunches. Finally after a few seconds she stopped and got up. She looked out the cracked glass in the window and shook her head.
“They aren’t supposed to make it rain more than a few inches, but sometimes they claim the orders didn’t get through to them,” she said.
“So, this could last for days,” Rock Kicker said.
“It’s possible,” Cloud Hopper said.
“Don’t they realize that they are going to be putting Neighdowell in danger?” Magick asked.
“Of course they know it. The Pegasi don’t care. They have their cloud fortress looming above us,” Rock Kicker said.
“That’s not true! Most of us like everypony else!” Cloud Hopper exclaimed.
Rock Kicker looked at her and rolled his eyes.
“And those of you who do aren’t very high up in their order are you?” he asked.
She wasn’t sure how to answer that. She turned away from him and looked out the window.
“If they are doing this to hamper our journey then that means they are looking for us,” Magick said.
“Yeah, so what?” Rock Kicker asked.
“We can make it easier for them to find us,” Magick answered.
“Okay, did you just lose your hay eating mind?” Rock Kicker asked.
“No, but I think that we can get what we want if we’re already on the inside,” she replied.
“Ummm… You turned to Pegasi Warriors into fuzzy bunnies, and he might have permanently grounded a sergeant. You don’t want to be caught,” Cloud Hopper said.
“We don’t have to be caught. They just have to think that they’ve caught us,” Magick said.
“What are you talking about?” Rock Kicker asked.
She dug around under her cloak and pulled out a bag of holding. Once it was out she began digging through it until she found a set of three dolls. She pulled them out and then looked at the others.
“I can make temporary copies of us, or to the Pegasi chasing us it will appear to be us. We’ll see the dolls, but they will see us. When they grab the dolls we’ll follow them to their fortress,” Magick said.
“What about being able to fly, or walk on the clouds?” Rock Kicker asked.
Magick’s face fell for a second. It was a good point. Unicorns and Earth Ponies couldn’t walk on the clouds without magic to help them. And that meant a very special spell that required a good deal of her ingredients. She could cast it, and the spell for the dolls, but that meant that she would be strapped for anything delicate until she could get some more ingredients.
She didn’t want to go into the fortress without everything she would need, but this was a chance to get in and perhaps find something. After a few minutes she pulled out two vials and a small glowing leaf.
“I can give us the ability to walk on the clouds, but the spell to make us fly is something I’m not sure that I can do. It’s a very delicate spell, and I’m not sure I have everything I need for that,” she said.
“I can carry you, or at least one of you,” Cloud Hopper said.
“Carrying us one at a time isn’t really going to work either,” Rock Kicker said.
He looked toward the back of his hut and then grinned.
“You don’t have to. There’s a mountain in the forest. Its peak reaches the clouds. We can climb it, and then walk straight on to whatever it is we need,” he said.
“You’re talking about the mountain in the middle of the Forbidden Forest?” Cloud Hopper asked.
“Yeah, look I’ve been into the forest hundreds of times. If you know where to walk it’s not so bad,” he said.
“How far into the forest have you gone?” Magick asked.
“About a day and half journey is how far I’ve went into the forest. The mountain side is within that distance, and I know the paths leading up to it,” Rock Kicker said.
“Then it would seem that we have a plan,” Magick said.
“Not quite. I know the paths, and I know how to defend myself, what about the two of you?” he asked.
“I am a master of the dark arts. The very Cosmos is my plaything,” Magick replied.
“I’ve been trained to be a Pegasus Warrior, and I can use a bow,” Cloud Hopper answered.
He nodded.
“Once we get out into the open they will see us. How long will your copies last?” he asked.
“They’ll only last about an hour. If I try to make them last any longer I run the risk of putting our memories and thoughts into them. They would be complete copies, and the Pegasi could torture them for information,” Magick replied.
“Hmmm… So we need to get into the forest unseen, or at least faster than they can fall on us,” Cloud Hopper said.
“My cloak has anti-detection wards woven into it. It should keep me from being noticed unless someone has seen me before,” Magick said.
“We don’t even need that. The forest is just a short run from behind the house. We go out the back, run for it, and make it into the forest,” Rock Kicker said.
“Is it that close?” Cloud Hopper asked.
“Of course it is. That’s why I have my hut here. I don’t have to worry about anyone trying to poke around here unless they are actually looking for me,” he said.
Magick nodded. It was a good idea. Living this close to the forest meant that he would be away from prying eyes. Although he was a pony like anypony else he was still considered lesser by most of those who lived in Neighdowell. He was an Earth Pony. Most of Neighdowell was Unicorns and Pegasi. There was a few Earth Ponies, but most of them were servants or farmers. It was fairly obvious that they weren’t treated the same as all of the other ponies.
She touched the portrait in a pocket in her cloak. He was the same, or at least he seemed very close to the same as the one she was looking for. She moved her hoof away from the portrait. She needed to think on the here and now. She looked up to see Rock Kicker pushing a small section of what looked like the wall out. She walked toward where he had pushed out the wall. To her surprise it was a hidden door to the back of the hut.
“If we’re going to run, then we need to run,” Rock Kicker said.
The three of them began running toward the forest only to hear the whistling of something flying near them. Magick looked beside them to see arrows flying all over. The cloak was keeping her hidden, but it didn’t mean that an arrow couldn’t hit her or any of them at some point. They needed in the forest, and they needed in it soon.
“Keep running!” Rock Kicker shouted.
A moment later he let out a grunt of pain, but he didn’t stop. The three of them ended up inside of the forest and took a moment. Rock Kicker walked toward the other two and cleared his throat.
“Little help?” he asked.
They looked at him and saw that he had an arrow sticking out of his right flank.
“Are you going to be able to continue?” Magick asked.
“It’s an arrow not a death warrant. I mean it didn’t hit me in the knee for Celestia’s sake,” he replied.
Cloud Hopper walked toward him.
“What do we need to know about the forest?” she asked
“It’s dark, and if you aren’t paying attention to where you are going it can be dangerous. There are dozens of creatures that exist in here that enjoy eating anything that wonders near them,” he said as she walked behind him, “Ow! What the hay?!”
“I needed you to take your mind off of me pulling the arrow out,” Cloud Hopper said.
“Yeah, well next time let me know,” he said.
“We need to get some packing for that,” Magick said.
Rock Kicker looked at the ground and then at the area around them.
“I’m not sure if there is a lot that I can use around here,” Rock Kicker said.
“I thought that you said that you’ve been in this forest before!” Cloud Hopper exclaimed.
“I have! I just don’t go into it for healing ingredients. I come in here looking for treasure,” he said.
“There seems to be some gygax weed around here. It should work for packing, and it does have some healing properties,” Magick said.
(Mash Family Table)
Rarity sat back as she watched them stop the game for the night. It was actually fairly interesting. She got up and the sound of thunder erupted.
“Rainbow Dash didn’t say a word about a storm, but then we’ve had such good weather recently I suppose they need to let it rain for a while,” Rarity said.
“The both of you are welcomed to sleep here if you don’t want to get out in it,” Love said as she began putting up the plates, and the bowl that had held the hayfries.
“If it wouldn’t be a bother,” Rarity said.
“Of course it wouldn’t. You and Sweetie Bell can take Dub’s and my bed, I’ll camp out in Button’s room with him, and Dad can sleep on the futon,” Love said.
“Thank you so much,” Rarity said.
“See, wasn’t it fun Rarity?!” Sweetie Bell exclaimed.
“Actually it did look fun,” Rarity said.
“There’s plenty of room if you want to join the quest,” Di said.
“I may, I can create any character I wish right?” she asked.
“Anything that’s already in the templates. You’ll be a first level like me and Button, but that’s okay,” Sweetie Bell said.
“Then, I may make one, if I’m not imposing,” she said.
“You’re not, and it’s good to have a larger group,” Love said.