//------------------------------//
// Chapter Nine: The Sea is a Cruel Mistress 
// Story: Vinyl and Octavia Engage in Roleplay 
// by DoctorSpectrum 
//------------------------------//

Both Vinyl and Octavia sat there in stunned silence, their jaws slowly dropping. “You- you’re really making us…?” Octavia asked.
 
“Being…shipped?” Vinyl asked, blinking intermittently.
 
“Yes, you are both being forcibly shipped,” said Natural Twenty. “Whomever it is that has kidnapped you two, they have forced you into a crate to be shipped, since as already mentioned, Octavia has worked out that you two are travelling via the sea.”
 
“You have got to be kidding me, not again…” muttered Octavia irritably to herself. “Natural Twenty, may I ask- out of character, of course- why exactly it is that we’re being shipped? This is hardly a common situation for two ponies to be in, particularly seeing as how this is supposed to be a jungle-based campaign.”
 
“Well, I was originally planning on setting the entire campaign in the jungle,” explained Natural Twenty, “but then it occurred to me that there’s a variety of scenarios which would be much more fun to run for you, one of which is this one. And besides, you may recall that I said that I was currently running a sea-based campaign for another group of friends, yes? This allows me to reuse a ton of stats, so planning this session was easy.”
 
Octavia grimaced. “Well, be that as it may…why do Vinyl and I always have to be shipped together? Granted, it’s only happened once before this, but still…”
 
Vinyl pouted upon hearing this. “You- you don’t wanna be shipped with me, Octavia?”
 
“Hardly,” said Octavia. “There’s no fun in being shipped – as a matter of fact, it is quite possibly my least favourite thing to do.”
 
“But-but-but – I thought… I thought I meant something to you, Octavia…” Vinyl slurred, staring at Octavia with an odd look. She was wobbling slightly as she spoke. “I – I thought that we liked each other, and-and-”
 
Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Vinyl, I am referring to us being packed into a crate and being shipped off to unknown parts. What exactly are you talking about?”
 
“I…don’t…know…” said Vinyl slowly, her eyes unfocusing as she spoke. “Why are we in a crate, Octavia?”
 
“Because we were kidnapped in the middle of the night, Vinyl,” said Octavia, sighing.
 
“…Can I keep it after we get out of it?” asked Vinyl, still spacing out.
 
“I suppose so, if Natural Twenty is alright with it,” said Octavia. “What do you plan to do with it?”
 
“I could like…keep stuff in it…like…crates?”
 
“Oooookaaay,” said Octavia slowly, “that sounds like a…good… idea. Regardless, we should probably focus on getting out of it first.”
 
“An excellent idea,” commented Natural Twenty. “What do the two of you plan to do?”
 
“Well, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with trying to kick through the wood, is there?” Octavia asked. Natural Twenty shook his head. “Well then, I shall roll a stunts check to do so.” She picked up a d20 and rolled it. “Excellent! A twenty-nine with my stunts skill added!”
 
“Bah, that’s no fun!” said Natural Twenty, grinning. “To my regret, Octavia is strong enough to kick through the wood, and does so, freeing the two of you from the crate.” There was a moment of silence.
 
“And?” asked Octavia.
 
“And what?”
 
“And then what happens?” Octavia asked. “A spell pulls us back in and seals up the hole? A hydra bursts out of a hole in space and time and eats me? I spontaneously combust?”
 
“Nothing happens,” Natural Twenty said. “There is now a hole in the crate, large enough for the two of you to escape through.”
 
“…What’s your game, Natural?” asked Octavia, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
 
“Pony Tales, of course,” he said, grinning.
 
“No, I meant-”
 
“I know what you meant,” Natural Twenty interrupted. “And whilst I don’t blame you for being suspicious, I – look, after the session the other day, I realised that that was perhaps a tiny bit unfair to you two, so I’ve decided to try and be more flexible with the campaign.”
 
“Really?” asked Octavia, surprised.
 
“Hey, aside from getting you guys to Canterlot, how much railroading have I done this session? And even the Canterlot thing was more of a hoof wave for how you could get there so quickly,” Natural Twenty pointed out. Octavia still looked suspicious. “Listen, I promise that none of those things, nor anything else bad, will happen should you exit the crate.”
 
“…You promise?” asked Octavia, raising an eyebrow.
 
“I swear on my die that always rolls natural twenties,” the unicorn replied. Mustn’t…summon…hydra, he thought. Keep the campaign fun. Keep it happy. Think of the dice, Natural. Think of the dice. The dice wouldn’t be happy with you summoning a hydra, and neither would Vinyl or Octavia.
 
“That doesn’t count,” laughed Octavia. “Back in university, we all knew that it rolled so well because you used your magic to rig the roll.”
 
“You kn- I mean, of course I didn’t!” Natural Twenty said. “That was just luck!”
 
“Whatever,” said Octavia, rolling her eyes, but still smiling nonetheless. “Regardless, I shall leave the crate through the hole and drag Vinyl out with me.”
 
“You find yourselves in what appears to be the cargo hold of a ship,” said Natural Twenty. “Aside from a ladder to get to a higher deck, the two of you are surrounded by crates similar to the one you two just escaped from.”
 
“…Can I use my telekinesis to make a hole in the crate?” asked Vinyl unexpectedly, speaking for the first time in a few minutes.
 
“Um, I beg your pardon?” asked Natural Twenty.
 
“Don’t mind Vinyl, she just sometimes has a slow reaction time,” said Octavia, reaching over and patting the white unicorn on the head. “Isn’t that right, Vinyl?”
 
“I like your hooves, Octavia,” said Vinyl, smiling happily. “They’re great for cuddling me!”
 
“Something which I shall have to do at some point tonight,” said Octavia, smiling in return. “Regardless, we should probably head to the next deck, and-”
 
“Wait – what about the crates?” asked Vinyl. “They might have, like, booze in them!”
 
Octavia shrugged. “I suppose we may as well see what we’re being transported with. Are the crates locked in any way, Natural Twenty?”
 
“Nah, feel free to open them…if you dare!” he said, grinning mischievously. Vinyl and Octavia exchanged worried looks. “Sorry, couldn’t resist,” he said.
 
“…I shall reluctantly open a crate,” said Octavia, a noticeable quiver of fear in her voice. “Naturally, I am prepared to leap back for when the inevitable hydra bursts out.”
 
“Don’t be silly, Octavia,” said Natural Twenty. DON’T put one in there. Think of the dice. Think of the dice. “Inside you find…oh, let’s say balloons.”
 
“Balloons?” asked Octavia. “What are they doing here?...Oh Celestia, they are going to explode or something, aren’t they?”
 
“Well for starters, none of them are inflated, so that’s unlikely,” Natural Twenty explained. “Secondly, they’re there because your mysterious kidnappers are planning to have a party later on.”
 
“And the meta-reason why they’re there?”
 
Natural Twenty shrugged. “I figured it would be fun; this campaign could do with a little more silliness.”
 
“…Who are you and what have you done with Natural Twenty?” asked Vinyl after a moment of silence.
 
“Shall we roll perception checks to work out who he is?” Octavia suggested, picking up a d20 and rolling it around in one hoof.
 
“Sure!” Vinyl leaned forwards to grab her d20, missed, unbalanced herself, and fell onto the floor once more. “I’m okay! I’m okay, guys!”
 
 Why is it that her drunken antics only make me like her more? Octavia wondered to herself. “Well, regardless, I say we should head up to the deck of the ship.”
 
“Sweet! What’s the plan, Octavia?” Vinyl asked as she climbed back into her armchair.
 
Octavia shrugged. “Find the captain, capture them, and then demand safe passage in return for their life?”
 
“I like this! I’m gonna head up the stairs to the top deck!” said Vinyl enthusiastically.
 
“And naturally, I shall follow,” Octavia added. “What do we find there?”
 
“As you head up onto desk, you see…” Natural Twenty paused and rolled a d20. “Ooh, you actually don’t see anything!”
 
“The deck’s clear?” Octavia asked hopefully.
 
“No, you don’t see anything because the ship tilts to one side, and you two lose your balance,” said Natural Twenty. “Roll acrobatics checks, you two.”
 
“I somehow managed to get a four, with modifiers,” said Octavia, looking glumly at her die. “Despite the fact that my base acrobatics skill is nine. I was not aware that this die had a negative-five side.”
 
“Hey guys…what does it mean if you roll an ‘I’?” asked Vinyl, squinting at her die.
 
“That’s a one, Vinyl,” said Octavia, looking to it. Turning to Natural Twenty, she grimaced. “Judging by the fact that we both rolled poorly, I assume that something terrible happens?” If a hydra appears, I shall find some way to feed the captain to it, and then steal all of his loot.
 
“In spite of your best efforts, the two of you have never been at sea before, and so you both immediately tumble off the ship and into the ocean,” said Natural Twenty. “And you both rolled poorly, so you can’t blame me for this one. Well, not as much as normal.”
 
“It’s fine, these things happen,” said Octavia, waving a hoof dismissively. “Is there any way we can get out?”
 
“I can totally fly us out,” said Vinyl, grinning. “We’ll be back on deck and doing whatever it is that ponies do on decks before you can say ‘Dammit Vinyl, stop ruining all of my plans!’”
 
“I’ll allow you to fly Octavia and yourself out of the ocean, provided the two of you can survive an endurance check. There is a chance that one of you could be knocked under by a wave before you can grab Octavia and fly out, of course.” The two mares rolled their dice. “Well? What did you roll?” asked Natural Twenty.
 
“Natural? I’ve got Octavia here,” said Vinyl, pointing a hoof to the seventeen that she had rolled. “We’ve managed to avoid drowning! At least, I hope we have, because a seventeen is a pretty good roll, and it’s kinda dumb if that fails.”
 
“Good job,” said Natural Twenty, nodding in approval. “We’ll assume that even if Octavia was knocked under the water, you managed to get her before anything serious could happen, since you rolled fairly well.”
 
“Just for reference, if I had rolled badly, would I have drowned to death immediately?” asked Octavia.
 
“No, you would have taken some damage, and then I would have made you roll more endurance checks until you stopped drowning,” said Natural Twenty. “With every check you fail leading to you taking more damage, of course.”
 
“That seems…fair,” said Octavia, surprised. “Regardless, are you taking me to the deck, Vinyl?”
 
“…That’s not a bar,” said Vinyl, frowning. “Why can’t I take you to a bar?”
 
“Because we have no idea where the nearest one is, and I don’t want you to fall into the ocean halfway there because you failed a roll,” said Octavia simply. She gave a sideways glance to Natural Twenty. “That is what would happen, isn’t it?”
 
“Having to roll to keep up stamina is, naturally,” said Natural Twenty. “Vinyl can’t just fly forever, after all.”
 
Vinyl narrowed her eyes and glared at Natural Twenty. “…Are you saying that I’m a bad flier?”
 
“No, not at all – just that realistically, if you can fly, you’d need stamina to –come to think of it, what is your flying source? Is it magical, technological, or-”
 
“Natural, Vinyl, I think that we’ve gotten a little off-topic here,” interrupted Octavia. “Vinyl, are you flying me to this deck or not?”
 
“Fine, but there’d better be a bar on this ship,” said Vinyl. “What now?”
 
“Now the group of pirates who were on the deck and who watched you go overboard draw their swords and prepare to fight you!” said Natural Twenty gleefully. Vinyl and Octavia both gave him a look. “What? Too soon?”