//------------------------------// // Session 23 // Story: Ponies and Dragons (Just Have Fun) // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Session 23.0 Kendell2 "So, Captain Equestria: Civil War is better than Batmare V Superstallion?" asked Applejack, currently in another Enchanted Comic, this time dressed in an outfit colored like the Equestrian flag, and using a shield with the same colors, which she promptly used to bash a random evil henchman and send them flying. Twilight nodded, in a red and gold suit of powered armor she used to blast a minion. "Yeah, they did a great job making you care about both sides of the conflict, an improvement over the comics honestly." Rainbow Dash muttered, dressed as Zap, and shot a minion with a thunder bolt. "Man, I guess I owe Pinkie Pie five bits..." Pinkie suddenly popped out of nowhere, despite not being part of this game due to being too busy working at Sugar Cube Corner. "Really?!" Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. "Pinkie...how are you here?!" "I don't know!" Pinkie took her bits and vanished. "At least you're not those trolls that scream 'Marevel bias' every time if you like one of their movies better," Twilight replied. "Fluttershy..." Applejack said. 'Saddle Rager' was mainly ducking around to avoid the minions. "Yes?" "That bad guy just stepped on a little ant..." The response was Fluttershy hulking out and going on a rampage. "Sure we should do that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yeah, girl needs tah vent sometimes, she's just too nice tah do it," explained AJ. "This let's her let some of it out on things that aren't real. She thanked meh fer it afterwards a few times." Rarity, this time dressed as a purple archer, used trick arrows to blast down more minions. "I'm just glad Marevel isn't so fond of dark and drab outfits. Those are so tiring." "Got that right, why does EVERY superhero get dressed in black in the movies...well, ya know, except the ones who ARE black?" Rainbow asked, summoning a tornado and blowing away some more mooks. Applejack jumped behind her to use her shield to block some arrows before throwing it to knock them out and catching it again. A sniper took aim at her...and was promptly kicked from behind and sent falling by a black panther armored zebra. "Thanks for joining in Zecora," Twilight said. they were down one mare because Spike was visiting Celestia on royal business, Pinkie was at work, and and Starlight was visiting Sunburst in the Empire. "No problem, Twilight my friend," Zecora did a back hoof to a mook sneaking up behind her before extending claws from her front hooves and slashing through the gun of another's gun. "A new hobby is never a bad thing to begin. If a game with me you want to play, I am merely a trot away," she replied, doing a spinning kick to a mook behind her as Fluttershy grabbed a mook and threw him a good distance. Session 23.1 Richforce Maternal Care/Maternity Love-Tap didn’t like stumbling through her own house a blindfold. “How soon until I take this thing off?” “We’re almost there,” said Button Mash as he led her by the hoof. “Watch the corner, ok you can take off the blindfold.” Care removed the blindfold and saw the latest game button was obsessed with Mine-something or other. Button had spent hours not only fighting monster but mining material to make things in the game. But Care saw that the game was in “creative mode” and at the moment she saw a giant pixelated statue of herself with a device beneath it flashing the message “I love you”. The detail of it all had to mean a lot of time invested planning, crafting and laying down the hundreds of blocks to make something this size. “So do you like it?” asked Button. Maternal Care knelt down and gave her son a big hug. “I love it!” Button returned the hug. “Happy Mother’s day!” Session 23.2 Kendell2 (In honor of the holiday...) The Crystal Empire was currently hosting a rather unique game at Shining Armor's request. An O&O game where the point was to see which party could reach the end of the dungeon first was the winner. The catch? Each party was a mother and up to two children (for fairness sake). If they didn't have a third member, they could bring in an honorary member but a mother was a requirement. "Thanks for coming out, mom," Shining Armor said, giving Twilight Velvet a nuzzle. "You're welcome, sweetie, it's wonderful to get to do something with my babies for Mother's Day," said the mare, smiling. "This was a great idea, Shining," Twilight said. "It's not every day we get to actually do something like this." "Yeah! This is so much fun!" Pinkie Pie said, hoping around her mother, Cloudy Quartz. "I am so excited," said Maud in her normal monotone. Of Pinkie's siblings, Maud was the only one who was actually interested...or rather Limestone was too aggressive to work well as a team and Marble was too timid for a public event. Both were watching with their father though. "I'm sure it will be, Pinkamena..." said Cloudy Quartz. She was clearly out of her element...but didn't seem upset, she just seemed happy to be with her family. It wasn't their thing, but her daughters wanted to have a day with her, and that was a rarity. "Mom! Thanks for coming!" said Button Mash, smiling wide. "You're welcome, sweetie, this looks like it will be fun," Maternity said, Button's older brother 16-Bit (who was normally away, but had managed to come for this) ruffling his little brother's mane. "We get to spend the day together, isn't it great, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, jumping around her big sister. "Yes, wonderful," said Rarity, looking a bit hesitant. "Aww, come on, Rarity," the duo's mother said, hugging Rarity. "Family time's always worth while." "Yes...mother..." Rarity squeeked before being released. "But...could you have worn a dress or something a bit more formal?" "Eh, this ain't a formal gathering, Rarity, lighten up a bit." Rainbow Dash chuckled, earning a glare from Rarity. "What? Your mom's right, lay back." 'And be glad my mom isn't-" "Rainbow Dash! Darling!" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. "Uh oh..." Rainbow turned to see a blue Earth Pony with a rainbow colored mane and tail, a rainbow for her Cutie Mark...and dressed in a colorful dress Rainbow wouldn't be caught dead in. "M-Mom? W-What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Mom?" Rarity asked. "Oh, your 'little sister' sent me a letter asking if I could come play with you two," the pegasus' mother replied, giving a smile. "Isn't this great, Rainbow Dash! We can compete together!" Scootaloo exclaimed, hoping out. Rainbow Dash suddenly experienced a feeling of conflict as she looked at the filly's hopeful eyes. "S-Sure, Scoots. Great." "This mare is your mother, Rainbow Dash?" asked Rarity, unable to resist a chuckle. "Oh, hello, darling," the older mare said. "Yes, I am. I'm named Rainbow Dash as well, so I suppose Rainbow Dash Senior is the proper name, even if it does make me feel old." "Well if you'd prefer, we could call Rainbow Dash Baby Rainbow Dash while you're both here," Rarity joked, using the normal pony way to refer to a child with the same name as their mother. "Rainbow Dash Jr. is fine!" Rainbow said quickly, blushing under her cyan fur. Rarity gave a small chuckle, but wondered if somehow she and Rainbow Dash had been swapped at birth. "Won't this be fun, Chyssy?" asked Empress Blackrose/Rosedust, cheerfully looking around. "...Yes mother..." Chrysalis muttered. "...If you don't get along with your mother so much, why did you invite her?" Cadence questioned, Flurry Heart on her back. "Because it was either I bring her or I bring two of my kids," Chrysalis replied, seeming like she was between a rock and a hard place. "And my kids would either eat all the pieces, try to find a way to get me killed (incompetently) the entire time, or barely be responsive. At least with her I can maybe WIN!" "Oh...then who's your partner?" Cadence asked...before stomping sounded and everyone blinked, looking up to Queen Supia towering over them. Chrysalis and Supia glared at each other for a moment...before Blackrose gave a smile. "Hello, Supia! It's been a long time darling!" Cadence looked to Chrysalis. "She's your SISTER?" "Apparently. Mother had a fling with a Neighponese shogun who made a deal with some Yokai..." Chrysalis muttered as to everypony's surprise but hers Blackrose flew over and transformed into a giant herself in a pillar of rose colored flames to nuzzle Supia, who returned it. "She was my only sibling who was actually willing to work with me rather than try to murder me if we were in five feet of each other...This is going to be a long day..." Session 23.3 Alex Warlorn Spike on the DM table said, "A little green pony with antenna and sparkling body stands behind a console. He is wearing thick glasses and a lab coat. He looks at you confused, 'Vey! Vho are vou?! I! Ah zee greatest scientist in the universe! Doctor Buggle-Bottom!" "Oh, like, sorry dude, like, we didn't totally mean to stumble into your secret lab." Rarity apologized. "It matters not anyway! Since I was about to destroy the universe." "WHAT?!" They all exclaimed. "Is that even in the rules?!" Rarity said breaking character. "I must! My country was conquered by Brogard The Barbarian! I must save the universe from further suffering!" "But if the universe is destroyed then I won't be able to harvest any awesome from it!" Gilda gasped. "And no more shall know of Bright Light's glory!" Trixie lamented. "And there are so many planets I haven't tasted, I mean, food from planets I haven't tasted!" Pinkie Pie said. "Wait wait wait wait." Applejack said. "Did ya just say yer COUNTRY?! Not yer planet, not yer galaxy, not the universe, not nearly all yer planet, but yer COUNTRY got conquered? And ya want to destroy the whole dang universe over it? Overreact much?" "It matter not what vou think! Because once I push thiz button-! Zit tiz gone!!!!" Spike waved about his arms dramatically. Pinkie Pie meanwhile, finished munching on and swallowed the little prop that had been used for the 'destroy the universe' device. "What? It's good!" "... You made that prop out of ginger bread on purpose didn't you?" Gilda narrowed her eyes at Spike. "You can prove nothing," Spike said with a straight face. Session 23.4 Alex Warlorn "You want me to Game Master WHAT?!" Twilight Sparkle gasped. "Irresponsible Captain Trotlor meets WarHorse 40 Carrots!" "NOT THAT GAME AGAIN!" "Oh this one is much closer to the original material, rather than it happening in Equestria... " "Okay... so long as I don't have to suffer through more chaos demons with my name and memories with what actually makes me truly me being deader than dead with only outwards personality traits remaining... uh... Who is Captain Trotlor?" "What?! HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW? It's a GREAT Manega! It's about a pony who joins the army looking for the easy life-" "-that makes no sense-" "-Gets the AI that was testing him to fall in love with him, convinces the guy at the front desk to let him in by saying how he'd mentioning him in his auto-biography in the dedication section once he was a fleet admiral-" "I'm starting to see how you'd like this, I'd be surprised if Trixie's never heard of it." "And after some patronage from PayFriend, they made a game where-" "Let me guess, your name is mentioned on the list of contributors?" "How'd you know?" "I'm getting used to it. Fine. I will." It would be interesting to see at least as a train wreck if nothing else. - "DIE OGANIC!' Screams the NecroidPony!" "I lean down to pick up a bit when his death laser would have fired at me dead center." While the lore from neither setting had really changed, the rule set seemed to be borrowed mostly from Teenagers From Outer Space. As a solo adventure. Pound and Pumpkin meanwhile, who Pinkie Pie was foal sitting, laughed and clapped at the little show they thought was exclusively for them. And Twilight had admit, it was amusing seeing horrors from beyond being the ones on the receiving end of Pinkie Pie's nonsense, even if it was in game form. - "'You are right organic! I am Beep Boop! I will protect this beautiful world!" Declared the NecroidPony shedding tears of oil, after Pinkie Pie had taken it to a county fair. - "'WE MUST DESTROY ALL ENEMIES OF EQUINITY! ALL ASSOCIATE WITH THE ENEMEY ARE THE ENEMY!' scream the squad of space marines, all their laser rifles pointed right at you." Twilight said. Pound and Pumpkin gasped in fear from their seats. "Wow. You must be all super strong to carry all that heavy armor around and weapons around, destroying bad guys tirelessly." 'Captain Pinkie' said. - "So you see, the most effective way of destroying your enemies, is to make them your friends." Pinkie Pie explained. - "'WE WILL DESTROY ALL ENEMIES OF EQUINITY! BY MAKING FRIENDS WITH THEM!' Shouts the squad of space marines who had been sent to kill you." - = Dan Dan Kokoro hikareteku = "'DESTROY THAT PLANET!!!!' Screamis the Inquisitor at the top of his lungs via the view screen." "I stay perfectly calm, and say with a smile how I'm certain everything will turn out alright for every pony." Pinkie Pie said with a smile. "And I tell the Inquisitor he really needs to learn to relax, and if all he has is a hammer, all he's going to see is nails." Twilight rolled the dice. And examined the results table. "The Inquisitor shouts that, 'I don't have a hammer! I have an full compliment of Extermintus Missiles! And I don't see nails! I see chaos! I shall destroy you all!' He dramatically raises his arms, causing his elbow to spill a cup of coffee on a control panel... causing the Extermintus Missiles to explode while they're still in the launch bay, completely obliterating the Inquisitor's fleet, and harmlessly causing a pretty light show for the inhabitants of the planet. Also, your new reputation causes a fleet of Dark El-deer ships to turn around and flee when they learn THE Captain Pinkie is on the planet!" "Ah, too bad, I wanted to make friends with them too. Oops. Sorry Twilight, I need to get Pound and Pumpkin home... see you later." "Later Pinkie Pie." Twilight waved. After Pinkie Pie left, thought out about it. "That entire adventure made little to no sense, was laughably illogical... but it still made me smile... Maybe after all these years, my friends are still rubbing off on me." Session 23.5 Kendell2 "Huh?" Rarity asked, looking at the game. The box art was of the two Princesses in the forefront looking determined with the Tree of Harmony behind them, Discord looming over them with maniacal laugh. The title was 'Quest for Harmony:World of Chaos.' "It's a game set during Discord's first reign and the goal is to assist the Princesses in reaching the Tree of Harmony to defeat Discord the first time," Twilight said, looking happy. "It was crowd sourced and started by somepony with the pen name 'Little Sun' who felt ponies could use a reminder of all the Princesses have done for us, even before all of us were born. It's actually dedication to them. Celestia apparently agreed because she buried the history of that time to punish Discord by denying him a legacy and...well, he's redeemed." "And your name's on the funder list, isn't it?" Rainbow Dash asked with a grin. "Oh you know it." "Ah suppose Ah can see the logic in that," Applejack said. "After all, ain't fair we get all the games, is it? They've saved the world a lot too." "It's kinda strange, apparently Little Sun did work with the Princesses to make sure she got the details right and make somewhat educational on the history...within reason (it was a dark time), she never met them in person and talked to them through letters or other ponies." "Girls?" Rarity asked, still staring at the box. "Look at this." Twilight blinked, the group looking. "Monster designs by DISCORD?!" she exclaimed. "But...why would he..." Spike looked at the manual. "He actually put a letter explaining it into the instruction manual...'You're probably wondering, dear lovers of chaos, why would the Great and Really Great Supreme Master of chaos help with a game where he's the bad guy and kicking his butt is the goal? Simple: I couldn't have my evil minions being BORING! And now you little ponies will finally learn the amazing untold story of ME!...And Celly and Lulu too. Plus, even I admit past me deserved a good kick in the pants. Can't we all have a laugh at ourselves sometimes?" The letter was accompanied by a picture of Discord laughing at a mini Discord sitting on his old throne. "So enjoy the creativity and brilliance of the amazing Discord!'" "Good Discord impression," Pinkie commented. "Thanks!" "...Sounds like Discord," Applejack snarked. "So, you girls game?" Twilight asked, getting a nod. She couldn't help wondering who 'Little Sun' was though. --- Celestia blinked, taking a package from Derpy and giving her a muffin. She opened it up to find a version of the 'Quest for Harmony: World of Chaos' and a letter. She opened it up...and teared up to find a Mother's Day card. "...Thank you, my little sun." Session 23.6 Jarkes A few days after Starlight visited Chrysalis, Twilight noticed that she was acting a little strange. She spent a lot of time in her room when she wasn't eating or participating in a game session, and she was contributing much less to the games. When she asked Starlight about it, she got a snappy, "None of your business!" and a door slammed in her face. Desperately, she contacted Sunburst at the place he was staying at in Ponyville and asked him to try to talk to Starlight. "You're her closest friend," Twilight told him, "so she's a lot more likely to talk to you about whatever is bothering her." She led Sunburst to Starlight's room and then walked away, feeling that it should be a private matter between the two of them. --- Sunburst sighed as he prepared to enter Starlight's room. I hope she's okay... I swear, if that bug did anything bad to her, I'll... He shook his head. It's not like I COULD do anything to her... He opened the door quietly and saw Starlight laying on her bed, staring at nothing. "Hey, Starlight... are you okay?" he whispered. Starlight turned around and put on a fake smile. "Oh, Sunburst... yeah, I'm doing fine. I mean, why would I not be okay?" She let out a nervous laugh, then sighed. "Why are you here?" she said sadly. "I wanted to know if something was bothering you after your visit with Chrysalis..." Sunburst said, walking up to her bed. "Did something happen there?" There was silence for a moment. Then Starlight jumped down from her bed and asked him a question that he never expected to hear. "Did you ever... hate me?" Starlight asked softly. "For how I was always much more powerful with magic than you?" Sunburst was stunned. "How could you ask that? I never hated you... Why would you even think that?" Starlight sighed. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because Chrysalis changed into you and started using your voice to claim that you always felt weak and useless compared to me. Maybe it's because that caused me to realize that I had always worried about how you felt about me, and if that's why you never bothered to write while you were at Celestia's school. Maybe it's because all that made me finally admit to myself what I'd been refusing to admit for years..." Then something Sunburst never expected to happen occurred: Starlight came right up to him and kissed him right on the lips. He was stunned at first, then he began to feel warm inside. Starlight broke the kiss. "Sunburst, I... I love you. I always have. I want to be with you. Please..." Sunburst smiled. "I've waited my whole life to hear you say that. I... I love you too." He gave her his own kiss. After what felt like a long time (even though it was only about 10 seconds), they broke the kiss. Starlight smiled, a genuine smile this time. "So, shall we tell Twilight and the others the big news?" Sunburst laughed. "They're going to be so surprised." They left the room, closer together than ever before. Session 23.7 Dragon-of-Twilght with edits What surprised Starlight and Sunburst was the lack of surprise from the others. Rainbow Dash Blinked. "Wait, so you weren't dating before?" "Jealous Trixie?" Gilda asked. "Why would Trixie be jealous her best friend got a colt friend?" "Well... looks like I owe Pinkie Pie five bits." "WHAT?!" Session 23.8 Kendell2 The group (Gilda and Trixie included) sat at the table, ready for a game. "Where's Discord?" Applejack asked. "Yeah, isn't he going to be playing with us tonight?" Pinkie Pie asked, eating a banana and causally throwing the peal aside. Discord suddenly appeared, balancing a barrel with the word BALANCE on it on his eagle claw. "Sorry I'm fashionably late, I wanted to be unfashionably early, but I had a crazy idea." "Uh oh..." Spike said. "What kind of idea?" Twilight questioned, giving a skeptical eye. "Well, you see this barrel contains creatures called Frazzits, crazy little protoplasmic entities from a bygone era (*cough!*G1*cough!*) that, if released, would swap everyponies personalities around..." Discord explained, putting it down and several strange noises coming from inside. He noticed everypony scoot away. "Oh don't worry, I'm just bringing them in for a visual aid. Even I'm not crazy enough to let them run loose...mainly because even I'm not immune to them, which is why I didn't let them loose on Cloudsdale during my evil days for giggles." "Then why DID you bring them?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well I had this marvelously chaotic idea for something we could do to spice things up: in a game, we make up our characters normally...then do a random chance raffle and mix the characters up, so we all have to play EACH OTHERS characters, take a walk in each others shoes..." Discord suddenly was wearing Applejack's boots she'd used to fight the Chimera. "Sound like fun?" "...Actually...that's a good idea," said Twilight, blinking in surprise. "I'd...kinda be game for that..." Gilda admitted. "Good, then we'll throw darts at a calender to randomly select a day to do it and I'll send these little buggers back where I found them before anything can happen," Discord said, smirking and picking up the barrel to throw it back where they came from...only to slip on the banana peel. "CURSE YOU MURPHY'S LAW!" Discord said (in slow motion) as everyone gasped. He oofed as he hit the ground. "...Or my potential sister governing luck, whichever applies in this universe..." The Barrel hit the ground and the top burst open, unleashing a rain of raindrop-shaped rainbow colored creatures on everyone. "Discord, what did you do?!" Fluttershy yelled, suddenly seeming a lot more aggressive. Gilda was suddenly hiding under the table. "I do declare, these things don't look nearly as bad as you made them out to be," Applejack said, slipping into a practiced Manehatten accent then blinked. "Did I just say that?" "Yep! You did!" Rainbow Dash said in a cheerful voice with a big smile while Rarity tried to physically grab them. "Why do I suddenly want to get a rope to hogtie these things?" Rarity asked, suddenly slipping into an accent sounding VERY similar to her mother's. "Don't worry, I shall fix it!" Twilight said in a hammy tone. She tried to use her magic to stop the Frazzits...only to cause them to multiply. "Uh...I totally meant to do that." "It appears the protoplasmic entities are having a peculiar effect on us," Trixie said. "...How did I know that?" "Oh no, the Frazzits got loose!" Discord exclaimed, suddenly looking...guilty. WITHOUT Fluttershy giving him the stare! "Our personalities have been scrambled and its all my fault!...Wait, why do I suddenly FEEL BAD?! I should be enjoying this until Fluttershy calls me out?! Who's personality did I get?!" Starlight meanwhile had let her mane down and was busy scrambling her note cards while laughing manically. "I feel so alive!" "...That can't end well...sorry..." "My word, I do believe I got Spike's personality," Pinkie Pie said, in a slight British accent for some reason. "That's not me!" Spike retorted with Rainbow Dash style aggression. "Are you making fun of me?! If you are let me at ya!" he said, putting up his dukes...then being pulled back by Rarity grabbing his tail with her mouth. "Really? It feels like you," Pinkie Pie replied. "Am I thinking of the wrong story?" "Maybe you're being Spike, but Spike filtered through Pinkie Pie, because you're Pinkie Pie and not anypony else?" "So I'm a Spike but not OUR Spike?" Pinkie Pie asked, rubbing her chin. "Sounds logical." Rainbow Dash then stared directly at the computer/tablet/smartphone screen. "Hey, what's that?" "That's the fourth wall, Rainbow Dash, don't break it, you're not ready for what's on the other side." "Oh, okay," Rainbow Dash said, somehow seeming MORE ditzy and hyper than Pinkie Pie. "So who's who?" she asked, as Discord desperately snapped his fingers to close every window and door in the palace. "I've already made a chart," said Trixie, clearing her throat as she displayed a chart in her illusion magic. "It appears I have Twilight's personality, she has mine, Rarity and Applejack have switched places, Starlight and Discord have switched places, Gilda and Fluttershy have switched, and, likely due to there being an uneven number of us, Spike got Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash got Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie Pie got...Spike filtered through Pinkie Pie." "How do we get back? I don't like this!" Gilda said, peaking up over the edge of the table. "I have to get the Frazzits back into their barrel, and make sure they don't escape! Because then they'll instantly head towards Cloudsdale because they have an inherent instinct to disrupt the balance of nature, and Equestria will get thrown back into chaos and it's all my fault and I actually CARE!" Discord said, seeming frantic with guilt. "Then Starlight can have her guilt complex back and I can stop feeling my sins crawling up my back..." Discord, right before several spider-legged letters spelling 'sins' literally crawled up his back, causing him to shudder. "Stupid empathetic powers." "And what are the rest of us going to do?!" Fluttershy barked aggressively. "Oh right...okay, you all play the game while I track down the Frazzits because my powers don't directly work on them," Discord said, looking intimidated for reasons OTHER than the ones Fluttershy normally intimidated him. "So, we're playing as our own characters but we're all the ones who are different characters?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Kinda like your idea backwards?!" "...Yes...and I'm sure whatever entity governs fate in this universe is laughing at me..." Discord said, looking actually sad. "Enjoy...I don't deserve to tonight..." "...So...let's start I guess?" asked Trixie. (OOC: Inspired by this episode: http://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x190ltd_mish-mash-melee-my-little-pony-n-friends-1986_shortfilms Session 23.9 Alex Warlorn "Now Fluffy-The-Kitty-Is-Dead, And-You-Are-A-Bad-Person, Because-Fluffy-Is-Dead Because-You-Played-This-Game." Foals who were play testing the game broke out crying. "If You Had-Not-Played This-Game, Fluffy Would-Still Be-Alive. You Are Bad-Ponies." The very light seemed to fade from the foals' eyes. "BWAAHAHAH! Yes! yes! It's works perfectly!" Laughed Evil Executive. "Ponies across the country will become so depressed from our games, none will stand in the way of our conquest of Equestria! BWAHAHA!" The alarms sounded left and right, as a pony dressed like a kabuki stage hand flying kicked through the window, holding a katana in their mouth. "NINJA PONY!" Declared Evil Executive in alarm and shock. The ninja dramatically pointed their sword at Evil Executive, who threw off his disguise to reveal his true form as Lord Despair. "BAH! You will never catch me!" And he promptly ran out of view. = Blood Plus Opening 1 = Ninja Pony proceeded to cut down wave after wave of identical looking diamond dogs dressed in business suits and wearing sun glasses. Being sure to rescue every foal on each floor, from the depressing video game before moving onto the next floor following Lord Despair. But Ninja Pony found each stairway to each floor guarded by Evil Executive's Evil Henchponies! "I am Sincere Preview!" said the first one striking dramatic poses, "I shall crush your hopes and dreams, and make everything you wish to see seem so terrible, you'll feel too ashamed to ever enjoy it!" And so began to mindless ram at Ninja Pony, who nimbly dodged out of the way over and over as more minions came in to try and distract me, Sincere Preview not caring if the minions got crushed as he attacked, before one hit the wall too many knocked him out. The next floor was guarded by, "I am All That's Stupid With! I shall nit pick things you like to death, having no suspension of disbelief, sucking all your happiness in from them! And please pay no attention to my contrary and vague back story because it's not fair when you do what I do to others to me. NOW DIE!!!!!!!!" And All That's Stupid With raised eight gatling guns, four for each forehooves, endless spraying bullets at Ninja Pony, always right behind them, and never right where they were. Ninja Pony hide behind conveniently placed pieces of officer supplies that were able to block the high powered bullets, before finally getting in close and cutting the gatling guns in half. Which somehow caused All That's Stupid To explode, screaming, "ALL HAIL LORD DESPAIR!" Finally, guarding the entrance to the top floor, was, "I am What Should've Happened! I will take away your happy fuzzy feelings you got! I will ignore the expanded universe, the creator's notes, and make things up that actually make no sense for the setting so I can make the characters or setting look stupid, you never be able to admit you like that movie or think the creators did a good job ever again! BWAHAHAAHH!" And attacked with his razor sharp lashing tongue, badly cutting Ninja Pony, who thankfully had some fruits and vegetables to heal themself with! They timed perfectly the slashes of What Should've Happened lashing tongue, until at last, Ninja Pony kicked in the jaw. "My tongue! My Tongue you made me bit my tongue! Ha! I bet you were super board having to time your blade with my tongue! Having to so quickly time yourself with the event!" Thinking of their choices of how respond, Ninja Pony chose. "You mean like dance games?" "Yes. NO! NO! NO! Dance Games are popular!" Thinking of what to say next, Ninja Pony then said, "Well, both have you hitting a sequence of buttons according to what the game tells you exactly, rewarding you for getting the timing right, and punishing you for getting it wrong, isn't that what a quick time event is?" "NOOOOOOO!!!! They can't be the same! They can't! I'm COOL for hating quick time events! People who like quick time events are the OUT crowd! I can't be part of the out crowd! NOOOOO!" And he exploded. Ninja Pony made it to the top floor, where Lord Despair resurrected his three minions to attack Ninja Pony all at once. Ninja Pony thought whether to say they'd take all three of them at once no problem, but then selected a different option. "You're all so powerful, which one of you has destroyed the most happiness in the name of your master?" "I HAVE!" All three said at once. They then looked at each other and, ATTACKED EACH OTHER! "I serve Lord Despair best!" "No I do!" "No me!" "ME!" They shouted in a brutal hoof fight, hooves and teeth flying everywhere until their ball of violence rolled out a window to several stories down below. Lord Despair then jumped into his Despair-O-Tron, revealing it powered by the last captured foal, a colt crying out for his mommy. The giant robot attacked Ninja Pony, first trying to ram the ninja, then using machine guns, then lashing long blades, and finally a death laser that Ninja Pony deflected back at the giant robot. Ninja Pony freed the last foal as the machine was stunned, ripped Lord Despair out of the cockpit, in slow motion chopped him up into a million pieces, but he was a cyborg it turned out so it was okay to show it somehow more than if he'd been a totally flesh and blood pony. With the last foal under one foreleg, and their sword in the other, Ninja pony slowly and stoically walked away from the exploding building, all the foals they had rescued cheered for them. Then ninja pony stood on a cliff, watching the business building slowly crumble into the earth, peaceful somber music playing. For Ninja Pony knew the battle against evil was endless, and they would have to fight again one day, but for now, peace reigned again in Equestria and they could go back to their family. The ninja pony took off their mask to reveal... Maternity Love Tap?! "Ninja mom!" Button Mash cheered at the controls of the demo, where the video was actually selling rather well. Twilight Sparkle just stared. "Does everypony have a BuckStarter game they invested in?" "Well darling," Rarity said holding up another game, "The default mayor in SimPonyville does look rather familiar." A digital Mayor Mare sat smiling behind a desk on the back cover. Also on sale was the extremely retro style Muffin Muncher, where the goal was to maneuver your pony beneath the ever falling muffins so they didn't go to waste. No second guesses on who the pixel pony looked like. "Derpy?!" "Ya! Mommy is a video game hero!" Dinky cheered, getting a free copy. "Yes. This Game. Is Stupid. Very Stupid. You should feel ashamed for liking it. It is a game you are stupid if you like. Therefore, playing this game is stupid. And you don't want. To be. A stupid person. Do you?" Said a stallion sitting behind a review desk outside the store. He had on a hat and glasses, his motions were exaggerated and very fluid, his eyes blinking oddly. His cutie mark was a stick figure. Dinky was curious and found a curtain on the other side of the desk that she pulled back. Revealing a gremlin next to a microphone reading a script. Another goblins with a VR head-set on with a remote control gloves, and another goblin with several book around him and reference guides. Dinky saw there was only half a stallion on top, the waist just going into the table, the stallion mimicking the gremlin wearing the VR head-set perfectly. The gremlins screamed at the top of their lungs seeing they'd been discovered by the little foals, dropped their equipment, and ran away screaming. The lifeless puppet stallion fell over. Pinkie Pie picked up the glorified sock puppet stallion robot, "Don't worry, I'm sure I can put this to good use, a little make up, rubber nose, and pointy hat, and he'll make a perfect clown, I can already imagine a routine where he hits himself in the head with a wiffle bat and smacking himself in the face with a pie. Maternity was smiling watching foals buy the game. "Thank you for coming Princess, having a husband whose a game designer works wonders, but having a Princess here is a plus also." Suddenly... so many more things made sense. "Well, I was just curious, apart from the video arcade, Ponyville doesn't exactly have a large game market ponies here seem to enjoy... more traditional entertainment." "Just wait till you see the sequel." "There going to be a sequel?" Princess Twilight said trying to keep herself from reacting like when Starlight didn't know who the Rainbow Dashes were. "Oh yes, some big ponies rise to greatness overnight, telling ponies everything they WANT to hear, but they all turn out to be escaped mental patients being used literally like string puppets by invisible demons only you can see, who you have to fight without killing the host whose used as a equine shield, and once the strings are cut they revert back to their harmless insanity and are taken back to the mental ward." "Uh... that's very... interesting." "Thank you Princess." "Bonnie! Buy me that game!" Tootsie said. "No dear, no." Bon Bon said to her adopted foal. Bon Bon and Love Tap gave each other a death glare. + (Please do not take this flash back or next part seriously) "Agent Sweetie Drops of SMILE sanctioned by Princess Celestia, stay out of my way!" "Love Tap of the Sisterhood of Angry Ninja Mothers sanctioned by Princess Celestia, stay out of my way!" "Agent Time Turner of the Time Police! Stay out of my way!" "Agent Outer Orbit of the Space Police Police Mares! Stay out of my way!" "Agent P of the Sacred Order of the Banana! Stay out of my way!" "Agent 23B of the Secretly Secret Order of Secrets! Stay out of my way!" "Super Special Important Agent I'm-Too-Cool-To-Have-A-Name Of the Cool Stuff We Aren't Going To Share With Anypony Foundation sanctioned by Celestia stay out of our way!" "Agent Bell Mountain Of Her Majesty's Dark Guardians, oh never mind!" "That's it! You're all disbanded!" + "Sister, art ye familiar with the term 'paranoia?'" "I... may have gone a little overboard in contingency organizes in case I ever went Nightmare with no other Alicorns to challenge or stop me." "How many secret organizations that didn't officially exist did you found while I was gone sister?" "TOO MANY! I'm still finding them!" "I'm of the Sacred Stallionhood of the Tree Watching-" "You're disbanded, go away." "Yes your majesty." "Does this have to do with why you made memory erasure spells illegal while I was gone sister?" "Let's just say, that once you have 'the greater good' as your justification, scruples have a habit of dissolving into nothing." Session 23.10 Alex Warlorn The Power Ponies (and Humdrum) stood ready before the dark impose criminal master mind. "Foolish Power Ponies cower before me! I am smarter than Maniac! I am stronger than the incredible Bulk! I am faster than the fastest pony alive! I am more deadly than Doom and Gloom Samurai! You can not hope to defeat me!" He was huge, gray, and covered in spikes. "Uh, this issue wasn't titled 'Death of the Power Ponies' by any chance was it?" Zap asked worried. "For I am the Great and Terrible and Powerful and Mighty Holy Saint Jaguar Emperor or- "Excuse me." Filli-Second interrupt. "Uh, what does the 'holy' in your title stand for? Are you part of some religion? What do you do? I mean, you just seem to act all evil and blow up stuff. Have you ever performed a blessing or a sermon? Did you ever oversee a funeral like this nice priest I know? Or-" Filli-Second drew in a deep breath. "-Was it added by the write because they thought it sounded cool or have a phobia towards organized religions? And where does SAINT come from? Are you worshipped instead? By who? How? I mean, what are your creeds? Do you have holy-days? I mean even the Pairing Stone had some basic rules we follow as a sign of respect, so what's the answer?" "I..... I don't.... I don't know... I don't know... I DON'T KNOW! AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" The Emperor put his spiky hooves to his head, screamed, and jump out a nearby window, where he then exploded. "Pinkie!!!" Her friends snapped. "What? It was a legitimate question." "Seriously darling! After how much we spent renting this comic!" "Yeah! I was looking forward to a straight up super fight!" Rainbow Dash complained. "I was just curious, it's not my fault the writer put in symbolism without thinking about it's actual meaning. Like those bank robbers in suits of armor who were calling themselves clerics, I don't think the author even knows what that word means." - "Dang they really are onto me!" Cursed the Enchant Comics writer, tossing out his copy of, 'How To Make Your Villains Impressive Without Really Trying.' Session 23.11 Alex Warlorn "And so... the... something factory is blown up thanks to Captain Forest... all the workers who had a job here just... wander away and do something else I guess," Spike said. "Corporate Greed is then randomly eaten by an Alligator." "Spike are ya sure yer DMing right?" Applejack asked. "Sorry! These rules are a little funky!" "At least we were able to save all those beavers and fishies who were having their water polluted by the evil factory." Fluttershy said. "Anypony have any clue what they were makin' there exactly? Spike?" AJ asked. "Sorry Applejack, there's literally nothing on what was actually being MADE there... it's like it existed just to pollute stuff." "So we destroyed the town's only source of employment, we let some pony die... all for the sake of animals species who aren't even endangered... wow, they really TONED DOWN the deer in this thing!" Rainbow Dash observed. The other nodded. Session 23.12 Mtangalion Twilight frowned at all the Frazzits bouncing on top of her game notes and knocking over the Oubliette Master's screen, and disdainfully used her magic to shove the colorful critters off the table. "Now, we should begin by..." She started flipping through her notes, then groaned and threw them in the air. "The Magical and Friendly Princess Twilight is bored by all of these lists and details and minutia! Somepony else should run the game." She blinked. "Did I say that?" Trixie gasped, magically grabbing for the pieces of paper. "Excuse me!? You put a lot of effort into those!" Gilda peeked out from under the table again. "Rainbow Dash, I... I just want to say... you're a really good friend to me." She smiled sweetly. Rainbow grinned from ear to ear and bounced right over, glomping Gilda and giving her crest a noogie. "Aw, Gilders, you know you're my best friend too! Hey, we should sing a song about it!" Gilda gasped. "Oh, I couldn't! Everyone would hear me..." She tried to hide her face behind a wing. "And you know my singing voice is just awful!" "Yeah, you tell her, Gilda!" snarled Fluttershy. "All that mushy stuff is not cool! Come on, you gotta fight it! Let's hear some gruffness! Work with me here!" Starlight cast her unicorn flight spell and glided around the room, laughing and levitating a cloud of books, game tokens, and Frazzits along with her. "This is great! I can't believe I let you sticks-in-the-mud guilt me into not enjoying my magic, and *everything* I can do for my new friends." She pointed a hoof imperiously, and Applejack and Rarity's cutie marks popped right off their flanks, switching places. "Hah, much better!" She swapped Twilight and Trixie's cutie marks as well. "Yes! Now you match too!" Trixie's mane started twitching and frazzling. "Ugh, Starlight!!" "Well, that's all just fine and dandy," grumbled Rarity. "Do Ah have to stay and play this game? There's apple trees Ah could be buckin'." "And dresses that I could be sewing, darlings," said Applejack. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had pulled a karaoke machine out of one of Pinkie's secret stashes, and plugged in two microphones. "It's a thrill... being somebody else!" she and Gilda sang together, making other ponies yelp and cover their ears. "Oh, no no no!" fretted Discord, still stuffing Frazzits into a half-full barrel. "Why do I always mess everything up!?" Session 23.13 Kendell2 Trixie growled. "Starlight, us having each others personalities is bad enough, if we have each other's CUTIE MARKS it could start turning us INTO each other!" "Oh come on, it can't be THAT bad!" Starlight replied. Twilight gave a very Trixie-like grin. "Well I guess I'll just send a letter to Sunburst and tell him you're back to being 'completely evil' again." Starlight blinked, then crossed her forelegs like a pouting child. "Fine..." she muttered and returned their Cutie Marks to normal. "Spoiled sport..." "So, what are we playing?" Rainbow Dash asked cheerfully. Trixie gave Twilight a glare as she tried to organize the notes again. "...Oh..." "Oh what?" "...Teenage Ponies from Outer Space..." Everypony stared. "Oh dear..." said Gilda. Session 23.14 Dragon-of-Twilght Outside the crystal castle, unheard by anyone within thanks to all the commotion, a pegasus stallion knocked upon the door once more. However, after getting no response for the third time, Coffee Swirl sighed to himself and picked up his bag to leave. However, the bag suddenly felt heavier than it had been on the flight over and he set it down. "The buck?" The bag shook a bit and a... word crawled out, a spider-legged word that spelled out 'SINS'. Swirl blinked a few times, watching the thing crawl around. "...I'm sure Discord has something to do with this..." The word crawled back toward him, winding through his legs as he watched. "Well... I can't get in, and I don't know how to get in contact with the bastard... and letting you wander around is a bad idea..." He sighed. "And I'm already going to Tartarus, so what's a few more sins." The word wrapped itself around one of his forelegs, letting out a warbling sound as it clung to him. Swirl shook his head once more, and picked his bag back up. "Well, lets go see what I'm going to feed you, assuming you eat." Session 23.15 Mooncalf99 A little weary from an intense early-morning study session, Twilight walked into her kitchen in search of a snack. Only to find Starlight, Trixie and Discord seated around the table, holding cards. "Oh, hey girls, Discord," Twilight greeted sunnily. "What are you doing?" "Playing a game," Trixie said, not looking up from the five cards in her telekinetic grasp. "Sounds fun! Can I play?" Twilight asked. "I need a little break anyway." "We're in the middle of the current one, sorry," Discord said. "We could deal you in the next game if you like?" "That's fine too." Twilight grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and pulled up a seat. "I'll just watch for now. So how do you play?" Starlight tittered. "Oh, it's very intuitive. Just watch and you'll see." "Right!" Trixie suddenly declared in her usual bombastic manner. She slapped down a card on the table; the two of Moons. "Two of moon!" Starlight silently drew a card from the deck and looked her over, then placed the five of Suns on the table in a more reserved manner. "Two of moon." "Eh?" Twilight asked. "Hah! Two of moon!" Discord declared, teleporting a card from his lion's paw onto the table. It was the ten of Love. He then drew a replacement from the deck with his eagle claw. "Hang on, those weren't the right cards!" Twilight protested. She frowned. "Or am I missing something?" "Please, you're being distracting," Trixie muttered, again absorbed into her cards. "No, I'll have to forfeit this turn." She dropped the guard of sun. Starlight raised an eyebrow. "In that case... I'll play the two of moon!" She slammed down the seven of love with enough force to make the table jump, and laughed triumphantly. "Curses!" Discord swore. "That means I get skipped this round!" "How does that even work?!" Twilight exclaimed, her voice rising. Her right eye was starting to twitch a bit. "That will put you at a terrible disadvantage, won't it?" Trixie said without a shred of sympathy but with more than enough smugness to compensate. "Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie isn't wasting this opportunity! Two of moon!" She dropped the ace of sun and ace of moon, and leaned back with a toothy wide grin. "Trixie claims the cardinality!" "I... I..." Twilight suddenly pushed away from the table, her chair falling over. "I don't get it! This makes no sense! You keep saying 'two of moon' but none of you play the two of moon and then you do things and it doesn't make sense and the cards don't make sense and AAAAAH!" With a final prolonged yell, she tore out of the kitchen and into the bowels of the castle. They heard a door slam shut, and yet it didn't fully block out her screaming. Silence reigned as the three card players stared at the remains of the spectacle. "Wow, she really flipped," Starlight said. "I mean, quicker than I thought she would." "And what a flip-out," Trixie agreed. "I didn't think anything could top Rarity's freakout." She smiled in pleasant reminisce. "So, what's next?" "I think Applejack takes a break from apple selling in the market around now," Starlight said. "If we move quickly... Discord, would you please?" "But of course, ladies," Discord said. And with a snap of his talons, the three players and their deck of cards disappeared. Session 23.16 Mooncalf99 Pinkie Pie pushed back her bowler and slapped the ace of friendship against her forehead. "Two of moon!" "Pretty clever move," Trixie said. She placed one of her cards face-down. "But we're playing with San Palomino rules, so we're going counter-clockwise now. Back at you!" "Gasp!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Okay, two of moon then." She placed one of her own cards face-down on Trixie's. "Stakes getting too high for you?" "Uh..." Mr Cake cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I don't have a clue about this, but shouldn't you be running the till?" He - and the rest of the ponies inside Sugarcube Corner - were watching the game unfold with various expressions of confusion. "Oh, but she is 'running the till', as they say," Discord said. He snapped his claws again and the seven and five of sun landed on the discard pile. "Two of moon." "Don't be so quick to give up just yet," Starlight said. "We still have three reshuffles to go through. Oh, and I'm extending the card limit." She picked up the deck with her magic and dealt two extra cards to each player. "That's going to cost you an advantage in the short run," Pinkie pointed out. "But you're working a longer scheme, aren't you?" "You're not trying to call a bluff, are you, Pinkie?" Trixie warned. "If you're mistaken, well..." "Nah, too risky with those penalties," Pinkie replied. "Are you forfeiting this turn, Discord?" "I don't think so..." he mused, rubbing his chin. He suddenly lit up with an idea and threw the eight, nine and ten of love on the table. "Hah! Two of moon! That was tricky." "I don't get it..." Mr Cake muttered. Session 23.17 Mtangalion "You've activated my trap card!" declared Trixie. She laid a four of love on the table next to the other cards. "Two of moon!" Discord gave Button Mash a snake-oil salespony grin. "So what do you think of our little game? Care to join in?" Button Mash rubbed his chin with a forehoof. "No thanks. I know what game you're playing." "I trump your two of moon with the two of moon!" Starlight slapped a seven of friendship on top of Discord's ace of love. This trick goes to me!" Gilda frowned. "You're making me feel stupid. That makes me want to peck people on the head." Starlight blinked. "Wow, Twilight wasn't kidding. Um, that's just a colorful griffon expression, right? OW!" Queen Chrysalis, Alisa the Diamond Wolf, and Kevin, Ponyville's resident changeling, were sitting around a table outside Sugarcube Corner, intently focused on their cards and incidentally frightening away most of the customers. Alisa laid three cards on the table, slowly and deliberately. "I play two of moon, two of moon, and also two of moon," she growled. Chrysalis made a show of stifling a yawn. "Really? I expected better." She played a card of her own. "Two of moon!" Kevin steepled his forehooves and chuckled dryly. "Oh yes, a most clever move... or IS it?" He placed another card on his stack, seeming indifferent. "I suppose I'll pick... Two of moon." Alisa slammed a paw on the table. "So, it is coming to this! Two of moon!" She turned one of her cards face up. "Not so fast!" said Chrysalis smugly. "Two... of... moon!" She turned another card over, revealing an actual two of moon. Alisa howled in dismay. Kevin just grinned. "Two of moon... exactly as planned!" Chrysalis hissed! "Why you impudent little..." Trixie gulped, looking to Discord and Starlight. "What just happened?" Session 23.18 Kendell2 As the group set down to prepare for the Mother's Day O&O tournament, a roar shook everything. Everyone turned to see what would otherwise be a terrifying sight (and still was), the massive five headed form of Queen Tiamat touched down, with Ex-Dragon Lord Torch and Master Babylon landing next to her. As massive as the two ancient dragons were, Tiamat was considerably bigger than both of them (and Supia, who was about Torch's size). The was a tense moment...then Tiamat cleared her throats. "Are we too late for the O&O tournament?" There was a moment of tense silence. Empress Blackrose grew to match her daughter's size again. "No, Queen Tiamat, you're just in time," she said, with a friendly smile, Mother Goddess to Mother Goddess. "But I didn't know you liked O&O." "Babylon got me into it," the Mother of All Dragons replied, seeming to at least respect her Changeling equivalent. Tiamat's husband Bahamut landed nearby (mainly to keep his wife and children from eating something important to the Empire). "Hey Spike..." said Ember, landing on the field, Blood Stone Scepter in claw. Spike waved. "Hey Ember...I didn't know that Babylon was your uncle." "I'm...not sure if he is or not," Ember replied, rubbing her head. "I know Dad's actually her son, but every dragon calls Queen Tiamat mom. I'm just here to handle things their claws are too big to do...I might technically be dad's boss now, but Tiamat is still my boss." "...Do you need dice?" Shining Armor asked, taking three of the largest dragons on the planet landing in his kingdom surprisingly well. "No, we brought our own dice," replied Torch, dropping a pair of rocks larger than Celestia or Luna carved into dice onto the field with a thud. "Don't worry, we had them weighted to be 'regulation'...proportionally...What with you ponies being so tiny and all." "...I'll mark out a rolling area for you...Uh...oh, and no smashing anything if you lose..." Torch sighed. "Really?" "Son, you're in an allied kingdom, show some respect," Bahamut said like a stern father. "...Yes, father...I thought being a Barbarian meant you got to smash things." "Only in the game," Babylon replied. "Oh..." Session 23.19 Kendell2 Snips and Snails trotted through Ponyville, then blinked, hearing the sound of a blaster firing. They followed it and found 8-Bit with Button Mash, Pipsqueak, and Shady Daze playing some form of table top board game. However, what attracted their attention was the fact said game apparently involved dinosaurs with mechanical armor, including laser cannons that actually had sound effects. The two simply stared dumbly for a few moments. "Oh, hey guys," Button Mash said, waving. "Oh! Hey Button Mash..." Snails said. "Uh...what are you playing?" Snips asked. "I thought table top board games were lame?" 8-Bit asked, remembering how they'd reacted to that stupid dating service ad. The two jumped and looked to each other. "Uh...yeah..." Snails said. "Of course...we're just...curious..." Pip pulled up the game box, showing deer in alien outfits riding technology enhanced dinosaurs against aliens with their own technology enhanced dinosaurs. "It's a cool game that Mr. 8-Bit is letting us try out." "I managed to get the creators of some old radio dramas and toylines from when I was a colt to let us make some games based on them," 8-Bit explained. "Whao, so they're really old?" Snips asked. "I'm not that old!" 8-Bit replied. "...Plot is you get sent back in time along with an evil alien and you both end up using cybernetically enhanced dinosaurs to fight each other." "So there's aliens, robots, AND dinosaurs?!" Snips asked. "Technically robotICS but yes," 8-Bit replied, giving a chuckle. "Seriously, how did that never catch on! Throw in cowboys and you have everything little colts love rolled into one!...Though that's why we had this..." The two colts blinked, watching 8-Bit produce a game with a buffalo with a sheriff's star in a futuristic western setting fighting a zombie outlaw on another planet with a robotic horse sidekick. "Cowponies and Buffaloes?" Snails asked, blinking. "Yep, except a lot less messy." The typical game of Cowponies and Buffaloes required at least thirty pies and generally ended when you either ran out of baked goods to throw at each other or one side decided the other had the best pie and surrendered to friendly compromise. It was a favorite of both Equestrians and Buffalo. "Which one do you play?" Snips asked. "Kinda both. You're a buffalo space sheriff using spirit animals to fight a zombie outlaw working for an evil ghost dinosaur in space," Button Mash said, doing some dramatic hoof motions. "...Dad, the buffalo aren't going to sue you, are they?" "Nah, Chief Thunderhooves was just glad to see one of his people being the main protagonist of an action series for once," 8-Bit replied. "Do you have anything with pirates, Mr. 8-Bit?" Pip asked. "I'll find something. They had everything back then, real imaginative time. I remember one dealing with trying to find thirteen magical objects to stop this black water from consuming the world while also fending off an evil pirate captain trying to get them first...In space." "Was everything in space back then, dad?" Button asked. "...Not ALL of them." Snips and Snails looked to each other. "Snails?" "Yes, Snips?" "...I think that billboard was wrong, tabletop games are awesome!"