//------------------------------// // Wizards and Warhorses // Story: Ponies of the Dinner Table // by Coyotek4 //------------------------------// The sun greets Ponyville for another beautiful day. Flying across the rooftops, Rainbow Dash soars over to the Castle of Friendship to see what adventures Twilight Sparkle might have planned. Upon reaching the castle, she hovers in front of the entrance and raps the door. Rainbow is soon greeted by Spike, who appears preoccupied. “Oh hey Spike. Where’s Twilight.” “She’s in her bedroom,” Spike replies with a tinge of sadness, “and she’s a little depressed right now.” The news surprises Rainbow. “Depressed? Nopony should be depressed on a day like this. Lead the way.” Spike beckons the pegasus in, and the two head to Twilight’s bedroom. They spot the purple alicorn sitting on her bed, reading through an oversized book with a forlorn look on her visage. “Twilight,” Rainbow asks, “is everything OK?” Twilight looks up and smiles at her friends. “Oh, hey Rainbow Dash.” She then sighs and turns back to the book. “ ‘Oh hey Rainbow Dash?’ Is that all?”, Rainbow asks in a perturbed manner. Seeing that Twilight is still emotionally vacant, Rainbow then floats over to get a better look at the tome on Twilight’s bed. “So what’s that? Doesn’t look like any Daring Do novel I’ve read.” Twilight looks up again, this time apologetically. “I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash, I did not mean to just ignore you like that. I was just reminiscing, is all.” “Reminiscing about what?” “Before I came to Ponyville, my old friends used to spend one night a week playing this great tabletop game called ‘Wizards and Warhorses’. This book is basically the Ponymaster’s Guide; I was leafing through the pages this morning, and thought about the old weekly game in Canterlot.” Rainbow scans the pages filled with miniscule text, charts, and images of various creatures. “What’s ‘Wizards and Warhorses’?” Twilight begins to answer, her voice suddenly filled with enthusiasm. “ ‘Wizards and Warhorses’ is a game set in a fantasy realm, with magic and dragons and …” She notices Spike roll his eyes at her and pauses her thought. “Well, it’s an adventure game, where you would go on fantastic adventures in pursuit of fortune, glory, and honor.” Rainbow is unconvinced. “Uh, you know that we’ve already been on fantastic adventures, in real life, right?” “I know,” Twilight admits, “but it’s not like we can enjoy those moments when our lives, and the fate of Equestria, is on the line. The games I played may not compare to real life, but every week we could dive into an alternate reality of our own design, and have all the thrill of wild adventures and puzzle-solving without fear of death for slipping up.” Her mood brightening, Twilight continues excitedly: “And were there stories! This one time, our party came to a lake deep within a cavern. Well, Lemon Hearts’ character dove right in to the lake, thinking it was a hot spring, but it was a pool of acid.” Twilight struggles to contain a chuckle as she attempts to finish the thought: “She … she was all skeleton by the time she got out!”; unable to contain it any more, Twilight bursts out laughing. Rainbow and Spike look at each other quizzically while Twilight regains her composure. “Well gee,” Rainbow offers, “if you feel that strongly about it, I guess I could give this game a shot. So how do you win?” “Oh, there’s no specific end,” Twilight answers, excited anticipation in her voice. “It’s an ongoing quest for greatness. Your character gains experience over time, gaining strength and wisdom in the process.” “No end? So what, we just keep playing the same game week after week?” “Our regular Canterlot game went on for many moons, before a TPK broke the group up.” Twilight sighs again, while Rainbow tries to make sense of the unfamiliar acronym. “She means everyone died,” Spike replies to Rainbow’s curious look. “TPK stands for Total Party Kill.” Bravado fills Rainbow’s psyche. “Well real or fictional, no one takes out Rainbow Dash. OK Twilight, I’ll give it a shot. Just explain the rules and we can get started.” Twilight proceeds to pronk about the room like an alicorn Pinkie Pie, spouting ‘thankyou’ a dozen times in quick succession before finally grounding herself. “I’ll get the others, while Spike shows you how to roll up a character. Let’s plan on our first gameplay for the night after tomorrow. Hey, maybe this can become a weekly thing! Oh, I have so much to do, setting up a new adventure, stacking dungeons with monsters and treasures. Now where did I put all those dice …” Twilight continues to converse with herself as she leaves the room, as giddy as Rainbow can ever remember seeing her friend. “Spike,” she asks, “what have I gotten myself into?” “Well,” Spike offers, “if you start to get bored, just look for an underground swimmin’ hole. That worked for Lemon Hearts, anyway.”