The door to the Golden Oaks Library creaked open and let in the light from outside, along with the caped figure of a blue mare glancing around the library’s interior. She checked each corner of the room before she gave a shrug and entered. “Anypony home?” Her response was met with only silence. “Guess not… Oh well! Trixie will just have to search through all of these books by herself! It would just be a shame if she were to accidentally come across Twilight’s diary in the process!” Still no response came. “Good, nopony’s here,” Trixie said as she quickly shut the door behind herself.
She wandered around the room, checking the genres of each area until she came across the on labelled ‘Children’s Section’. She glanced to both sides once more before closing in on the literature, scanning through the books’ spines for the title she was looking for. Minty’s Great Adventure entered her vision and Trixie could not contain an excited gasp as she pulled the book out.
“It is here! Trixie hasn’t been read this in so long…” Trixie lifted her cape to reveal her saddlebags and placed the book inside. “Trixie is certain that Twilight won’t notice one book missing… Perhaps she should fill the gap though, just to be safe.”
Trixie looked around and found a pile of books in the corner. They were resting inside a box labelled ‘donations’, so Trixie could only assume that they were going to be collected for charity later in the week. “I only intend to have this book for the day,” Trixie said quietly to herself as she lifted the top book in the pile with her magic. “Trixie will return to make the switch later when Twilight out for dinner. Hm?” Trixie eyes fell on the second book in the pile. The front cover contained a black skull with horns protruding from each side and six magical circles that Trixie recognised from her training.
“These are the symbols of the six classes of magic – Lo, La, Ho, Je, Ki, and Ma. She’s donating an ancient tome to charity?” Trixie placed the first book into the open space and picked up the second one, opening it up and reading what was inside. “Oh, it’s not a tome. It’s an RPG adventure book…” Trixie flipped the page and read the introductory paragraphs.
The world is plagued by the Dark Lord. Our efforts are all in vain. We have not the power to drive this tyrant back to Tartarus from whence he came – but maybe somepony else does. Maybe our hero of light will come to us-
Trixie jumped as she heard the door creak open behind her and she closed the book quickly as she turned to face whoever was there. “Trixie?” Twilight asked as she entered, Spike following behind her with a bag full of groceries.
“Oh! Twilight! Fancy seeing you here!”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I live here.”
“Er, right you are! T-Trixie was simply browsing your collection of magical tomes whilst she was waiting for you to return!”
Twilight glanced to the shelf beside her, which was at the opposite end of the room to Trixie. “You were searching through my magical books from all the way over there?”
Trixie gulped. “I, uh… have good vision?”
“Hey, those are the books Twilight’s giving away!” Spike said as he pointed to the pile of books behind Trixie. “You can’t have those!”
Trixie worked her brain quickly as she felt cornered. “Oh, is that so? Trixie didn’t know that.”
“It quite clearly says ‘donations’ on the box,” Twilight pointed out.
“Trixie was… distracted.” Trixie glanced at the book behind her back and brought it out with her magic. “By this.”
“That’s one of the books I was giving away,” Twilight said as she approached at the book and looked at the cover. “It was here when I moved in and it was just gathering dust this whole time. I figured the foals in Manehatten would enjoy it.” Twilight raised her eyes to look past the book and at Trixie. “Did you want to borrow it?”
“Oh, not particularly. Trixie just saw the cover and it caught her interest…”
“Well I have to admit I was rather curious about it myself. But I could never find anypony to play it with, so I feared I would never get to see how it ended.”
“You could just skip to the end,” Spike suggested as he walked towards the kitchen.
“That would be cheating, though,” Twilight said.
Trixie nodded in agreement. “These kinds of books should only be read as you play through them. Much like a personality quiz should be answered truthfully, not to earn a specific result, or how one should not read their own fortunes and have another read it for them.”
“Well, at least somepony sees where I’m coming from,” Twilight said with a smile. “I take it you’re into these kinds of books, then?”
“They were a great source of entertainment growing up, and sometimes would prove educational. Trixie actually passed a test once thanks to knowledge she had picked up from one of these books.”
“I’ve played a few of these with my brother,” Twilight said. “Sometimes I would read through some on my own, but this one requires at least three ponies. One for the dungeon master, and two or more for the adventurers.”
“It sounds more like ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ than an adventure book,” Trixie mused as she inspected the book once more.
“That’s why I was so curious about it, but every time I asked my friends if they wanted to play it with me they always had some sort of excuse.”
Trixie put a hoof to her chin as she lay the book back down onto the pile. “… Well, how about if Trixie and Spike play it with you?”
“But the book’s going to given away tomorrow, and Spike’s already asked for the rest of the day off to read through his comics… He’s not really into these kinds of games anyway. He says they’re too complicated and have too many rules.”
“No, I said that you make them too complicated,” Spike said as he reentered the room. “But yeah, I’ve already planned the rest of my day to involve powering through the rest of The Trotting Dead.” Spike carried a tray carrying a glass of milk and a bowl of gemstones towards a nearby cushion, where a few stacks of comic books were piled up beside it. “And then after that, The Amazing Spider-Mare, and if I have time, I’ll reread my entire Power Ponies collection!”
Twilight rolled her eyes as the baby dragon jumped onto his cushion and grabbed the first comic from his stash, moving it slowly so as to avoid tearing it. “So yeah, we’ll need one more pony, and in such short notice-”
Trixie held up a hoof to halt her speaking. “Well then, the Great and Powerful Trixie will invite Rainbow Dash to join us.”
“But I’ve already asked her, and her response was less than favourable…”
Twilight frowned as Rainbow Dash soared above her, pointing and laughing at her simply request. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH… Oh, wait, you’re serious. Let me laugh harder.”
“You just leave Dashie to me,” Trixie said, earning a groan from Spike at her use of Rainbow Dash’s nickname. “Shall we say, just after six tonight?”
Twilight tapped a hoof against her chin. “Well, I suppose it would be nice to have company, and this may be my last chance to play this game with anypony… Okay then! But are you sure you can convince her?”
Trixie leaned forward and gave Twilight a wink as she whispered, “Trixie will spare the details as there is a juvenile in the room, but rest assured, she will take care of it.”
“No way!” Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs and shook her head. “I wouldn’t be caught dead playing some ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ or whatever game.”
“And why not? You read plenty of Daring Do books, and this is essentially the same thing.” ‘Genre-wise.’
“I don’t care! There’s a line I have to draw between coolness and… just plain egghead.”
Trixie wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash and grinned as she rested her chin on the other mare’s shoulder. “Well, if that’s how you feel… But you know, the Great and Powerful Trixie has researched pegasus anatomy a bit and has found this technique that she is sure you will enjoy…”
Rainbow Dash felt a hoof tracing along her wing and gulped. “Y-You did?”
“It’s too bad,” Trixie whispered into Rainbow’s ear. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was going to demonstrate it to you tonight as a special gift, but seeing as how you’re being so difficult…”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Alright, fine. I get it… I’ll play the stupid game with you.”
Trixie beamed as she pushed herself away from Rainbow Dash. “Oh you will? How wonderful! Then we shall depart for Twilight’s at six!” ‘Excellent! Now I have the perfect chance to return this book whilst Twilight is distracted!’
“So,” Rainbow said, turning around and giving Trixie a sultry look, “About that ‘technique’…”
“Hm? Oh, that. Trixie will show you later tonight,” Trixie said, waving her hoof dismissively. “She can’t risk you bailing on her after she has shown it to you. Besides, the Great and Powerful Trixie is far too busy right now.”
“With what?” Rainbow asked.
“Magic stuff, you wouldn’t understand.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and rose to her hooves. “Tch, fine, whatever. I guess I’ll go stretch my wings a bit then if you’re just gonna be boring.”
“Yes, you go do that,” Trixie said in a bored tone as she rummaged through her bag. After she heard the sound of retreating hoofsteps accompanied by the sound of her door closing, Trixie used her magic to lock her door and then pulled a book out of her bag. “Trixie will have to read through this quickly. Thankfully it’s a book for five-year-olds, so it shouldn’t take long.” Trixie threw herself backwards onto her bed and opened the book above her with her magic, a bright smile on her face as she began reading.
Later that evening, three knocks at the library door told Twilight Sparkle that her guests had arrived. And in good timing, too; the snacks had just been laid out for everypony and the final checking to ensure the place was fit for company had just been completed.
“Well, I guess I’ll be upstairs if anypony needs me,” Spike said as he grabbed his bowl of gems and a stash of comic books and headed towards the staircase.
“You know you don’t have to go upstairs,” Twilight said as she approached the door. “You can stay down here and chat with us if you like.”
“Thanks but no thanks. I was on my best behaviour earlier, but an entire evening with Trixie yammering on about how great she is?” Spike shuddered at the mere thought before continuing his ascent up the stairs.
Twilight simply rolled her eyes and opened the door. Standing before her was Trixie and, to her surprise, Rainbow Dash. “Hi girls.” She stepped aside to let her two guests in. “I’ve laid out some snacks for everypony. Help yourselves.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie told you that she could convince Dash to join us tonight,” Trixie said as she entered the room, followed by a bored-looking Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Rainbow looked around and then turned to Twilight. “So I guess you got Spike to stay over at Fluttershy’s or somethin’, right?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What? Why?”
“Well, you know. For the threesome. That is why we’re here, right?”
Twilight and Trixie’s faces both turned red immediately, though for different reasons for each mare. “TRIXIE!” Twilight shouted. “WHAT DID YOU TELL HER?!”
“She’s lying!” Trixie insisted. “Trixie said nothing of the sort!”
Rainbow’s laughter silenced the two of them, and both mares watched with little-to-no amusement on their faces as the pegasus rolled onto her back in the air and kicked her hind legs as she lost herself in her laughter.
“Yes, well,” Twilight said after clearing her throat, “Now that we’ve all had a good laugh, how about we get started?”
“You got the book?” Trixie asked. Twilight nodded and pointed to the book sitting on the table in the centre of the room. Trixie trotted to the book and picked it up in her magic.
“I gave the instructions a quick read. It’s pretty interesting; it combines typical ‘choose your own adventure’ stories with tabletop gameplay.”
“‘Tabletop’?” Trixie asked as she shook the book upside-down. “With what?”
“There’s a spell in the instructions for summoning the mat, the pieces, the dungeon master’s sheet, and your character sheets. Whoever designed this game intended it to be easily portable.”
“Just so ya know, I have no idea what you guys are talking about,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Well, let’s just take it slow,” Twilight suggested. “For now, let’s start with building your characters. Can I see the book for a second?” Trixie gave Twilight the book and the alicorn closed her eyes and focussed. A moment later, a flash of purple light spawned a stack of sheets, a large mat on the floor, and some black, plastic figurines shaped like ponies. “Okay, start off by taking a character sheet each and filling out the top parts.”
Trixie grabbed a character sheet an examined the various fields to fill in. “Name, date of birth, blood type, sex… Is all of this really necessary?”
“I’ll admit it seems a little much, but let’s just go along with it. It doesn’t have to be your real information, anyway.” Whilst the two filled out their character sheets in silence, Twilight set up her own little area where she could be the dungeon master. “Alright, now we determine your stats.”
“How?” Rainbow asked.
“With dice rolls,” Twilight answered, producing two dice and levitating them towards Rainbow Dash. The pegasus took them and rolled a number of times to determine her character’s stats, and then Trixie did the same.
“As a Sorcerer, Trixie’s stats are ‘Magic Level’, ‘Physical Strength’, ‘Temperance’ and ‘Wisdom’,” Trixie said out loud. “Trixie rolled well on all but Physical Strength…”
“If you like, you can trade up to five trait point from other skills to another,” Twilight told Trixie.
“… Well, as there are only the two of us, we’ll probably need all the muscle we can get. Trixie will trade five Magical Strength and add it to Physical Strength.”
“That means you can only use up to moderate-level spells,” Twilight said. “But on the other hoof, you should now be able to hold your own in combat.”
Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, who shook her head. “Yeah, I have no idea what I’m doin’. I’ll just leave it like this.”
“Your stamina is pretty low,” Trixie pointed out.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Who cares? I’ll just try to not do much.”
Trixie rolled her eyes and turned her attention towards the book. “Okay, so it seems that our journey is starting with our character ‘approaching a lone straw hut in a large meadow, with but one guardian oak to offer it company, when suddenly-’”
“Hold on,” Twilight said quickly. “Before we begin, there’s one more spell that was listed in there. It says it will ‘enhance the game’ by ‘adding more life to it’. I don’t recognise the spell itself, but-”
“Trixie sees it,” Trixie said after flipping back a couple of pages. “It looks simple enough to perform. Well, for us, at least.”
“What does it mean by ‘adding life’ to the game?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“It probably means making it more exciting to look at,” Trixie said. “Holograms of monsters, or illusionary backdrops of our surroundings. Stuff like that.”
“That doesn’t sound half-bad,” Rainbow said. “So you gonna cast it then?”
“Well, I-”
“Indeed,” Trixie interrupted. “Whoever designed this game put a lot of effort into it, and so we should honour that effort by playing it in the way that it was designed to be played.”
“… Well, alright then. Just let me read over the spell one more time… Okay, ready.” Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her heart skipped a beat as she cast the spell, and an intense purple light filled the room suddenly, blinding Rainbow Dash and Trixie.
“W-WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Rainbow shouted.
“WHAT’S GRABBING TRIXIE’S LEG?!” Trixie asked.
Twilight began to sweat as she tried to cancel the spell, but it was too late. As she opened her eyes, she found that her friends were gone. Not a single trace of them was left to be seen. “W-What?” she whispered under her breath as she tried to remain calm. “R-Rainbow Dash? Trixie?”
No response came. Twilight rose to her hooves, her eyes wide and her jaw trembling. “G-Guys?” Still no response, and then finally, Twilight couldn’t hold it in anymore. “GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
“Twilight?!” Spike shouted from up the stairs as he rushed down quickly, tripping on his foot and tumbling to the bottom on his way down. “Twilight, what’s wrong?!”
“Spike, they’re gone!” Twilight shouted in panic as she grabbed Spike’s shoulders and shook him back-and-forth. “They’re gone, Spike, and I don’t know where!”
“W-What happened?!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she looked around. She was no longer in the library, or even in Ponyville at all. She was in a wide meadow, green as far as the eye could see. She could feel a warm wind blowing through her mane, and the only company she had was Trixie, who looked just as confused as she was feeling. “Where are we?”
“It would appear to be a meadow,” Trixie observed. “Though anything more specific, Trixie cannot tell you.”
“Gee, thanks,” Rainbow said flatly. “Any idea how we got here, at least?”
“… Magic?” Trixie guess as she continued to look around. “Hold on, this place seems familiar… What’s that over there?”
Rainbow Dash followed Trixie’s gaze to find a small hut next to a single, large tree. “A house?”
“Don’t you recognise it, though?” Trixie asked. She could see that Rainbow Dash was drawing a blank, so she decided to help her. “It’s a ‘lone straw hut in a large meadow, with but one guardian oak to offer it company’.”
“Wait, that’s the description from the book,” Rainbow Dash said. “Hold on! Don’t tell me-”
“It would appear we have been transported into the book,” Trixie confirmed. “That would also explain our sudden apparel.”
In her panic, Rainbow Dash had failed to notice sooner the leather garb she was now wearing and the bow and quiver strapped to her side. It was just like the equipment she had picked out for her character. Likewise, Trixie was wearing a light-blue robe and was brandishing a halberd at her side.
“No way… We were transported into the book?”
Trixie nodded her head. “That would be Trixie’s guess. And if that is the case, then that hut might offer us some insight on how to leave.”
“Why’s that?” Rainbow asked.
“It is the hut where our quest starts,” Trixie explained. “Our supplied were to be given to us at that hut. Besides, it’s not as though we have any other clear destination before us.”
“I guess not… Alright, let’s go.”
The two walked across the meadow together. The grass beneath their hooves and the wind in the air all felt so real. It was hard to believe that this was indeed some fantasy world that they had somehow ended up in.
As the two closed in on the hut, the ground suddenly began to shake. “What’s goin’ on?!” Rainbow Dash asked as she bolted into the air.
Trixie steeled herself whilst she waited for the tremors to pass, but what happened instead surprised her. A large, red worm shot forth from the ground, towering high into the air and covering the two mares in its shadow.
“A monster!” Trixie shouted, some excitement in her voice. “It really is the world inside the book! And that means we’ve gotta fight!”
“You sound a bit too eager to be fightin’ some giant worm thing!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew down beside Trixie.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is not afraid of creepy-crawlies, no matter how overgrown they are! Behold!” Trixie pointed her horn to the worm… only for nothing to happen.
“What are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she grabbed Trixie and dashed to the side as the worm above them slammed down into the ground. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash began to pant and landed on the ground. “W-What the? Why am I so tired all of a sudden?”
“This is bad,” Trixie said, her voice suddenly sounding very serious. “I think our abilities have been limited to our character sheets. Trixie cannot use her advanced magic because she traded it for greater physical strength.”
“And I rolled bad on stamina,” Rainbow Dash recalled. “So I can only fly for a little bit and then I’m tired?”
“Yes, but you rolled well on accuracy,” Trixie reminded. “Try aiming at the worm’s neck weak spot with your bow.”
“Got it!” Rainbow Dash pulled out her bow and an arrow and aimed up towards the worm, pulling an arrow back and shutting her eye.
“… Well?!”
“I can’t fire!” she shouted. “I’m telling my hoof to let go, but it won’t listen!”
“What do I do? What do I do?!” Twilight paced back-and-forth, panicking to herself as she read through several books at once. “Oh, I knew there was something wrong with that book! Now Rainbow Dash and Trixie could be in mortal danger and I don’t even know how to save them!”
Spike caught a light shining in the corner of his eye and looked up from his own book to find the book that was the cause of this entire problem glowing. “Twilight, look!”
Twilight turned towards the book and gasped. On her dungeon master’s sheet, she found some golden text, reading: ‘Rainbow Dash will strike the beast with her bow. Roll for accuracy’.
“Roll? Wait, beast?!” Twilight had noticed that, on the playmat, the two figures that her friends had picked out had moved over towards the hut, where there was also a worm figure now placed before them. “Oh no. Don’t tell me…”
“Trixie can’t move either!” Trixie shouted. “But it looks like the creature isn’t attacking us, at least. What is going on?”
“Rainbow Dash rolled five,” a voice echoed from the skies.
“Twilight?” Trixie gasped.
“Rainbow Dash fires her arrow, and it strikes the beast’s weak spot.” Just as Twilight’s disembodied voice had dictated, Rainbow Dash released her arrow and it soared through the air and into the worm’s weak spot.
“I… I got it,” Rainbow said in disbelief as the creature fell towards the ground.
“Twilight said that you ‘rolled a five’,” Trixie pointed out as she composed herself. “This is insane. We’re inside an RPG adventure book.”
“But ho- … It was that spell, wasn’t it?” Rainbow asked in a flat tone.
“‘Bring the game to life’… Well, its meaning could be interpreted in this way,” Trixie said with a nod.
“Stupid magic.”
“Hey, you have to admit that that was pretty fun, right?” Trixie asked with a grin. “A more clear warning would have been nice, sure, but now that we know this is just part of the game we can enjoy it much more!”
Rainbow looked over to the giant worm lying on the ground with an arrow protruding from its side. “Well, I guess it’s a lot cooler than just reading and looking at numbers.”
“Right. Leave the ‘egghead’ side of it to Twilight whilst we have an epic adventure!”
“You know that I can hear you, right?” Twilight said, her eye twitching as she looked down at the playmat. “… Wait, can they hear me?”
“Yo Twilight! If you’re up there, just let us out whenever ya get bored!” Rainbow Dash’s voice called out.
“I don’t think they can hear us,” Spike said.
“Worse than that,” Twilight said, “They asked me to let them out. But I don’t know how!”
“You don’t?!” Spike asked. “What about the spell?”
“It was just the one… Maybe there’s something on the back page. Spike, can you take over for me? I know you were really excited to read all your comic books, but-”
“Yeah, I got it,” Spike interrupted as he sat down beside Twilight. “Trixie aside, Rainbow Dash is a friend. Besides, this is finally my chance to be the hero, instead of just sitting on the sidelines!”
“Just make sure they’re safe and roll the dice whenever you’re prompted, like before.” Twilight lifted the book up and flipped through the pages. “I’m going to see if there are any further instructions in this thing.”
“Have a safe journey, you two!”
Trixie and Rainbow Dash waved goodbye to the old mare, who retreated back into her hut as the two left with the bag she had given them.
“Okay, so we got the supplies. Now what?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked into the bag, pulling out a rope attached to a hook and a large orange shield with a silver pentagram pattern on it.
Trixie pulled out a map and two vials, one containing a blue liquid, the other containing a green one. “According to this map…” Trixie began as she opened up the piece of parchment, scanning across it to find out where they were, “There’s a town or village to the south of us, if we just follow the cobblestone pathway.”
“And what then? I’m not really sure how these things go.”
Trixie rolled the map back up and placed everything back into the seemingly-magic bag. “Typically, we’ll receive some sort of quest once we get there. If there’s an inn or a tavern then that would be the best place to start. The book mentioned something about a dark overlord, right?”
“I dunno,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“Well, it did,” Trixie deadpanned, “And Trixie wagers that that’s going to be our final boss.”
“Just as long as it isn’t another worm…”
Trixie grinned. “Is Dashie afraid of a few creepy-crawlies?”
Rainbow threw a kick at Trixie, who jumped back to dodge it. “I’m just sayin’ I’d rather fight something cool, like how Daring Do has Ahuizotl, and how Cadance has Chrysalis.”
“Might be a three-headed dragon,” Trixie suggested as the two walked down the path together. “Or perhaps a horsemunculus that requires a special magical artefact in order to defeat.”
“A what now? No, you know what? Don’t tell me. I already lost enough cool points when I agreed to play this game with you and Twilight.”
“You’re having fun and you know it,” Trixie said as she bumped into Rainbow’s side. “… Hey, Trixie just realised…”
“What?”
“Your stamina is low right now… This may be Trixie’s chance to best you at your speciality.”
Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Yeah, no. No way an egghead like you would ever beat me in a race.”
“Oh?” Trixie picked up her pace a little. “Would you care to prove that?”
Rainbow Dash also started to walk a little faster. “You’re on, and when you lose I’ll have you on your knees telling me how awesome I am!”
“You want another drink, Dashie?” Trixie asked. She had never been so happy in her entire life, nor had she ever rubbed a victory into another pony’s face as much as she was right then and there. “You were pretty worn out when you finally caught up, you know?”
“Shut it,” Rainbow Dash said as she grabbed another glass of apple cider and chugged it down. She sighed as she rested her head onto the counter in front of her, a pleasant smile on her face. “Man, the cider here tastes good.”
“That was quite the surprise,” Trixie said as she sipped at her own drink.
“Hey now,” the bartender said, “The place may look rundown, but there’s no need ta be rude about it.”
“That’s not what Trixie meant,” Trixie assured the stallion, who simply huffed and turned around as he continued to clean the same glass he had been cleaning for the past ten minutes. “The NPCs are fairly well-done.”
“‘NPCs’?”
“None-Player Characters,” Trixie said with a roll of her eyes. “Trixie also feels pain in this world… Whoever developed that spell must have had quite the name for themselves. This book is certainly too advanced for the foals of Manehatten that Twilight was going to donate it to.”
“So, what do we do now?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Do we just ask random people what they know?”
“Pretty much,” Trixie said with a nod. “For starters, we should learn who this ‘dark overlord’ is.”
“What, have ya been livin’ under a rock for the past year?” the bartender asked. “Wait, lemme guess: you folks are from that ‘Dream Valley’ place, ain’tcha?”
“‘Dream Valley’?” Rainbow asked.
“Ya must be, if’n ya haven’t heard o’ Tirek before.”
“Tirek?!” Trixie shouted, bringing the entire room to total silence. “The Tirek, dark lord of Ponyland who was defeated by the Rainbow of Light.”
“Quiet!” the bartender hissed, shifting his eyes about before leaning in closer. “Y’don’t know who might be listenin’,” he whispered, “So if I was you, I’d watch what ya say about Lord Tirek. False rumours like that’ll earn ya a one-way trip ta Midnight Castle.”
“Who is Tirek?” Rainbow asked Trixie.
“According to the history books,” Trixie started, “He was a centaur who once ruled over Ponyland, the name of the old kingdom before the three tribes separated it into their respective territories.”
“What’s a ‘centaur’?”
“Nopony knows,” Trixie said, “Besides the vague descriptions we have from the past. Supposedly, Tirek killed every last one of his kind before becoming the ruler of Midnight Castle. He attacked the freedom-loving ponies of Dream Valley but was defeated by their ‘Rainbow of Light’. Any unicorn who attended Celestia’s School knows this story, and it’s becoming likely that such a past student was perhaps the one who created this game.”
“Because they know the story and good magic?” Rainbow asked, receiving a nod. “Wait, does that mean we’ve gotta find these Dream Valley ponies?”
“That would seem to be the case,” Trixie muttered as she put a hoof to her chin. Her horn lit up and she pulled her map out of her bag. “There doesn’t seem to be a ‘Dream Valley’ listed here though.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” the bartender said. “The ponies down there like ta keep ta themselves, and the place is like a maze to us civil folk up here. What I can tell ya, though, is you’ll wanna head west if’n you’re lookin’ for Dream Valley.”
“West would take us through this ‘Forest of Misery’,” Trixie said, humming uncertainly.
“Eh, don’t worry none. The name jus’ comes from the only pony ta have ever mapped it out, Miss Eerie. She loved eerie stuff.”
“Oh, I see,” Trixie said with a sigh.
“Though she died the night she returned, an’ her map mysteriously disappeared,” the bartender added. “The only other ponies ta have seen the map were killed that night, too.”
Rainbow Dash gulped. “W-Well, that sounds nice,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Say, I don’t suppose you know a way around the forest, do you?”
The bartender shook his head. “To the left o’ the forest is ogre territory, and a couple o’ witches live ta the right. An’ lemme tell ya, they ain’t big on company.”
“It’ll be fine, Dash,” Trixie said as she wrapped a hoof around her marefriend, grinning and chuckling under her breath at the bartender. “You slipped up. You said that the others were ‘killed too’, not that they ‘died’.”
The bartender’s eyes widened. “I-I-”
“It’s okay. We won’t tell,” Trixie assured him. “But whatever reason you had to hide it intrigues Trixie.”
“… Well, it’s just that it was obvious who did it,” the bartender whispered to Trixie. “Lord Tirek didn’t want nopony to go in that forest, so he killed them ponies as a warnin’ and stole the map. O’course, nopony would say it outright, ‘else they’d find ‘emselves hangin’ by a noose the next mornin’, y’know?”
“Isn’t that strange, though?” Rainbow asked. “Why kill the ponies who didn’t enter the forest, just as a warning? And why take the map? Why not just put guard at the forest’s entrance?”
“It’s not entering the forest that’s the problem,” Trixie deduced. “There was something in there that Tirek wanted to hide, but somepony not only found it, but included its location on a map. A map that was shown to other ponies.”
“Something he didn’t want somepony to find?” Rainbow asked. “Like what?”
“No idea,” Trixie admitted, “But it certainly sounds like a quest to Trixie!”
“So we’re going through the forest, then?”
Trixie nodded, and held her partner tighter. “Don’t worry, Dashie. The Great and Powerful Trixie will be sure to shield you from nasties, and then later she will accept all the hugs and kisses as her reward.”
Rainbow Dash pushed Trixie away. “Uh, do I have to remind you who had to save whose flank against a worm?”
“Does Trixie have to remind you who was unable to make a short run to this town? Besides, you’re a newbie, and so it is Trixie’s job, as a veteran, to look out for you on this journey.”
“You two are a couple, right?” the bartender asked. The two mares nodded. “Don’t know why I’m sayin’ this, but I got a feelin’ it’s somethin’ ya need ta hear, ‘specially if you’re goin’ after Lord Tirek: love triumphs all.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Uh, okay? That was… incredibly corny.”
The bartender simply blushed and cleared his throat as he turned away, not saying anything further to the two mares.
“… Well, he’s got a point,” Trixie said as she nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek. “Love is our strongest weapon, right?”
Rainbow Dash groaned, but her attitude suddenly changed as she felt a hoof wrapping around her waist. “… Yeah, guess you’re right,” she said with a grin as she grabbed Trixie as connected their lips together. ‘… This feels weird with everypony watchin’… buuuuut they’re not exactly real, so I guess it’s okay.’
Spike gagged at the sickening sounds of smooching invading his brain and had to grab a nearby pillow to cover his ears with, in the vain hopes that it would help. He saw purple hooves approaching and jumped to his feet. “Twilight! Thank Celestia. Please tell me you found something!”
Twilight simply stood there, her eyes wide with what appeared to be horror and her mouth agape. Spike raised an eyebrow and waved a claw before her, snapping his fingers to hopefully break her out of her trance.
“Spike,” Twilight said finally as she moved Spike’s hand away. “I… I’ve found out what this is…”
“What do you mean?” Spike asked. “It’s like a D and D, RPG mix-up thing, right?”
Twilight shook her head. “This is no game, Spike. It’s a trap.”