January 27: Good Ol' Fashioned Spelunking
Captain's log:
Stardate: .... I have no idea how to do stardates... So, January, 27, 2020.I have decided to start keeping a journal of sorts to keep track of my thoughts and the events that'll happen. I can't shake the feeling that we might be here for a while. So here goes the first entry...
The events of the four days since the formation of the Misfits have been rather uneventful. Phoenix and myself have both taken turns training alongside Myst. Though what I've heard from Myst is that his training sessions with our resident unicorn just involve him dodging fireballs (Phoenix calls it "agility exercises" though I believe it's him getting back for waking him up.)
Today, we're heading out to tackle our first dungeon out in the Everfree; a place called Wolfskull Cave. This will be our first excursion as a team and I have a feeling it'll go off without a hitch.
-Cassius01P.S. If you're reading this Phoenix, piss off. This is a private journal and not damn Fimfiction!
"Wolfskull Cave...Wolfskull Cave? Why does that name seem familiar," I said as I lazily flew along next to the rest of the misfits as we made our way through the Everfree.
"No clue," Phoenix shrugged as he klunked along through the foliage, wiping some sweat from his brow, "I just hope get there soon; this trek is killing me."
I couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry; our poor firebug tank was the only one of our group who wasn't a pegasi so he did have to hoof it wherever we went. But his magic gave us an advantage that we needed
"Maybe you shouldn't have equipped your armor already," Myst stated, "that would make hoofing it there easier for you?"
"Well excuse me for not wanting to get my ass mauled on by a timberwolves Mounty!"
"I was just making a suggestion Bubbaloo," Myst mock pouted.
"Bubbaloo?! Why I oughta~"
Shaking my head, I tuned out their argument, keeping my eyes on the trail ahead of us as I watched for any monsters. This area seemed to be far more misty than the other parts of the forest. It had already hid two timberwolf ambushes; but that wasn't what had me keeping an eye out.
The NPC who we had learned the location of the cave from had warned us that this part of the Everfree was home to particularly nasty monsters. He didn't specify but he had said they weren't your average timberwolves and with the danger of death an ever present concern, I wasn't taking any chances with our lives.
"~and that is why Rocky Road shall forever be the superior flavor of ice cream!"
I groaned; "Guys, will the two of you can it! How are we supposed to know if we're tro-walking into an ambush?" Damn it, we've only been here less than a week and I'm already starting to go native.
They quickly shut up and I smirked, "besides cookies and creme is the best flavor."
This earned a whole new bout from the two which I quickly sile-
*ggggggrrrrroooooooaaaannnn*
The two of them stopped mid sentence as a long, hollow, and pained groan echoed through the misty trees off to our left. Followed by another behind usIt was an ambush!
"Back to back guys! Back to back!" I barked as I unholstered my rifle. "Scattershot!" I added as I pulled back the hammer.
Scattershot was one of the abilities I got with my rifle that basically turned it into a shotgun.
I felt Phoenix and Myst's backsides touch mine as a pair of figures came out of the bushes hobbling out of the woods. They were both half decayed earth ponies with faint blue light emanating from their eyes with large as hell greatswords clenched in their yellowed teeth. The names above their heads read: Hollow Stallions.
"We got three more back here!"
"Alright guys, we need a pla-"
"WAAAGH!!!"
"And there went the plan," I groaned as Phoenix charged towards their trio of walking corpses, the unmistakable sound of a fireball roaring through the air as he went.
I just facehooved, "Myst, make sure he doesn't kill himself."
"Got it Sarge," I heard him say as he took off after him.
"Great, he has a nickname for me too," I grumbled to myself as I took aim and fired.
The shotgun-like spread tore mostly into one of the zombies bringing its health down to half with the other only dropped a tiny bit. Well, I know who to focus my attacks on for now.
"Autoload!" I shouted, activating another ability; this one doing basically what the name said. It automatically reloaded my rifle and it's next shot.
Using my wings, I flung myself at the weaker one, bayonet aimed straight for the bastard's chest. It sliced in, earning a loud moan from the stallion, dropping it's health only a tad bit.
I grinned and fired directly into his chest, dropping it's health into red just in time for the second shot to tear into it, causing the zombie to explode into blue code.
"Got one guy- Fuck!" I let out a yelp as the second one's greatsword came down on my back. His hit caused me to fall down onto my belly as my legs gave out underneath me. Thank god this was only a tenth of the actual pain; otherwise I'd be outt-
He dropped me to half health! I looked up to see him raising his sword for a killing blow. I barely managed to roll out of the way in time; I could feel the air that my head once occupied getting sliced into! Okay, that was too damn close!
"Umm guys, a little help!" I hollered out as I jumped to my hooves, getting out of the blades way in time to see a both a crossbow bolt and fireball slam into the zombie's head. This caused the stallion to stumble back disoriented.
Using my friend's distraction to my advantage, I quickly took to the skies, flying as close to the canopy as I felt safe going. Unable to reach me, the hollow stallion snarled up at me, circling like a shark, its health just below a half. "Well this will be really easy," I smirked as I started reloading.
Just as I started to take aim, Myst came zooming towards my zombie, his sword at the ready. He slashed his blade across the monster's chest, leaving a nasty red streak of code. That dropped the zombies health down a tad bit just enough that my next shot killed it.
I landed as Phoenix came trotted up next to me and Myst, a cocky grin on his face. "Told you I could handle them," he then turned to me and his expression turned to one of alarm, "damn, that bastard nearly chopped you in two Cass!"
I nodded as I opened my inventory and selected a health potion. "Yeah, note to self: stay to the skies," I grumbled to myself after downing the potion.
Phoenix just gave me a flat look that screamed 'no shit Sherlock'.
I just facehoofed; okay stupid comment was stupid. "Let's just get to the cave and get us some loot okay?"
"Whadda ya know, it actually is a Wolf's skull!" Phoenix said in surprise as we finally arrived.
True to the name, the entrance of Wolfskull Cave actually shaped much like a dog's skull with the mouth being the actual entrance. Huh, for once the name of a cave in a game actually makes sense.
I turned around to Myst and Phoenix; "okay guys, this is our big dungeon and we need a plan as well as lay down some rules." I looked at Phoenix, "No WAAAGH! charges."
"B-but WAAAGH!" He pouted, looking a little hurt.
"No WAAAGH! while we're in dungeons," I said flatly, "I know you're our tank but there is some problems you can't solve with just plain brute force."
"B-b-but-"
"No buts mister," I said sternly. "We need a plan if we wanna come out of this damn game alive! Only WAAAGH! with my permission."
I then turned to Myst, "Myst, since I got the ranged area covered. You stick to your sword and just harass any baddies we find, comprende?"
He gave a mock salute, "you got it, Sarge!"
I facehooved before sighing, "let's just get inside." And with that we ventured into the cave.
Myst cautiously opened the wooden door, it's rusted hinges creaking loudly. The pegasi peeked his head inside and looked about. "It's clear guys," he said, just loud enough for us to hear and we advanced.
Our adventure into this dungeon was, to be totally honest, rather damn boring so far.
I had been expecting at least a timberwolf or something when we entered the main cavern but it was dead empty. When we scoured the cave looking for loot and whatnot, Myst had found a old wooden door hidden behind some moss and that brought us to where we were now.
As I stepped inside, I looked about the area. It was a large room carved out of the stone and split into three different tunnels: front, left, and right.
Are you flipping kidding me?! The damn game was pulling a fucking Scooby Doo split up and search for clues on us!
"I call middle!" Phoenix suddenly blurted out as he began trotting towards the tunnel.
"Wait goddamn it!" I yelled, stomping a hoof, "we need a damn plan before we go splitting up like this is a horror movie!"
"Okay," Phoenix simply shrugged, "you go left, Mounty goes right, and I take the center. If we find anything that resembles a boss door or something important we send the others a message over group chat."
My jaw hit the floor; a plan from Phoenix that didn't involve punching things in the face, and a good one at that.
Phoenix smirked at my reaction, "I can be smart too you know."
And with that we split up down the tunnels. The feeling that something was going to go wrong constantly spiraling down my neck
Wicked_Phoenix
I klunked down the tunnel for a good dozen yards or so before the scenery began to change. The bare rock walls began to start being covered by glowing mushrooms; only one or two at first but soon the both walls were practically covered with the things. It was actually kinda cool looking; reminding me of the Dwemer caves in Skyrim.
Hmm, I wonder if I can pick them? Maybe give them to Mounty to sell when we get back to town?
Trotting over to them, I tugged at one with my magic and it came off the wall with hardly a struggle. The thing soon disappeared into my inventory and I looked at all the mushrooms all around me. "Might as well get 'em all," I muttered to myself. "More money for me." My horn lit up as I began plucking several off at a time for them to stash away in my inventory.
Soon all the shrooms were off the walls and there was now 65 of these Skyrim knockoffs in my inventory. I could be a damn drug dealer and sell me some magic mushroom; Puff the Magic Dragon would be so prou-
*rattle creak rattle groan*
My ears perked up as I grinned; that sounded like some spooky scary skeletons farther down the tunnel. Time to purge me some daemons!
With a positively insane grin on my face, I began trotting deeper, humming the spooky scary skeletons song as I went. Oh this was going to be so much fun!
Soon, the tunnel widened out Into a decent sized cave and a LOT more of those mushrooms. The whole damn cave was practically coated in the bioluminescent bastards. I let out a squee filled giggle of delight as I started plucking up more of them, I was going to be rich! Sure; I’d give Cass and the Mountie some of the coin, probably just 40 percent or something; a guys gotta have some pock-
It was then that I noticed a group of four skeleton shambling it's way towards me from the far side of the cave; maybe fifteen feet away.
And there's the Daemons that need some purging! My special ability allowed me to extra damage to undead or supernatural enemies with holy fire or sunlight. I was basically a damn Gray Knight and it tickled me pink!
I lowered my horn at the shambling warp spawn, a ball of bright magic starting to form at the tip, "Back to the warp you unholy abominations!"
With that, I launched the ball of holy light towards them; it landed in the middle of them and detonated, making the room as bright as the sun for a brief moment before dying down and the skeletons were missing.
Level up!
Lv. 5-> Lv. 6
"Woo, level six!" I cheered, and started picking more mushro-
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
Shit, that sounded like Cass!
MystRyder
I kept my wings half open and at the ready, poised to flap hard in case I needed to move fast to avoid trouble as I trotted down the right tunnel. Part of me was still marveling that Phoenix came up with a relatively cautious and non-aggressive plan. The other parts were wondering if the Scooby Doo approach was the best thing. I thought everyone knew you never split the party…
I sighed and ignored the feeling of dread. To be honest; it was a nigh constant feeling ever since the while death game stated. To survive till all the elements were found meant being strong enough that monsters couldn’t kill you, getting strong enough meant facing monsters, facing monsters risked death. Rinse and repeat.
The game hadn’t set convenient lighting in my tunnel, so I had the handle of a lamp clamped in my jaws as I explored, mumbling the various theme songs from Scooby Doo around it. My dad had been a big fan. The flickering light played off the irregular stone walls and ceiling of the tunnel, occasionally casting back reflections from unusually shiny patches, but not revealing anything of interest to me. In fact, with the weird echoing from my muffled singing, the effect was sorta creepy.
I was at the ‘What’s New Scooby Doo’ theme by that point, trudging along the slightly twisty tunnel that didn’t seem to have much intentions of getting any larger its two-pony width. Honestly, I was beginning to reach the point of thinking I should call the whole thing a bust and trek back to the others and see if they had had better luck.
The ground fell out from under my hooves.
I squawked and tumbled a few feet, losing my lamp in the process, before I managed to get my wings working. A few heavy flaps got me level and upright before I let them lapse into the steady pattern of a hover. The lamp hit the walls a few more times before it tumbled freely. I watched with a stunned expression as the spot of light dwindled before finally hitting the ground far below with a crunch and going out.
“Holeey… I am so glad I have wings,” I murmured into the darkness. Would I have even been able to survive that fall? Hell… I brought up my inventory and pulled out one of my back up torches, clenching is in my jaws. I strengthened my flaps a bit, passing the passageway I had taken into this shaft, trying to get a better look at it. It was pretty deep, that was for sure, and pretty high as well, as I soon confirmed. I just didn’t understand what the purpose of it was. Was there a chest at the bottom? More passages that led to it? Perhaps a hidden KFC franchise?
A pair of red eyes, reflecting the light of my torch, snapped open in the gloom above me. A monster tag made itself known. Cave Bat.
“… wua?”
More, and uncomfortable amount more, eyes and tags quickly followed as the first bat shrieked shrilly and launched itself at me.The rest dived down after it.
Oh crap, oh shit, oh hell, oh damn! I yelled mentally as I pulled my sword out, refusing to let the torch fall. I darted to one side as the first bat barreled past me, shrieking, and lashed out with my sword. The angry shriek turned into one of pain as my strike severed the wing, leaving the bat to tumble to its doom, its former limb plummeting independently.
‘Never thought I’d be thanking Phoenix for his target practice,’ I thought frantically as I tried my best to dodge and weave the remaining bats of the swarm as they attacked, depending on the skills I built up from dodging Bubbaloo’s fireballs. And I wasn’t even kidding; Driven Feather Dodge was in my skill list.
They were large, about half my size, but they were also weak; both in defense and offense. Even with their clever flying skills, they weren’t that much of a threat on their own. But there were a lot of them. A wild swing drew a spray of red code as my sword cut a long, through shallow mark across one of the furry bodies, but the bat merely screamed and pulled away, another taking it’s place.
“Fug cuveer!” I yelped out, triggering my ability. One of the bats buffeted me with its wing even as plumes of cool and thick fog started to billow out from my wings, obscuring my immediate vicinity as I tried to buy myself some breathing room.
They ignored it. They kept swooping in to rake at me with their hind claws or try and snag me to bring their fangs to bear.
‘Stupid!’ I berated myself, stopping my wing beats just long enough to fall a few feet under another bite attempt before pumping hard to thrust my sword into the bat’s chest. ‘Bats have blindsight! Echolocation or whatever they call it in this game!’
My head suddenly swam as a bat hit me with a sonic attack. God dammed Zubats! I managed to keep my grip on my sword, but the torch fell. I swore and dove after it, the bats following. Without the light from the torch I’d be suck. I could see through some obscuring effects, but that was limited to my fogs, not darkness.
I felt a bat clipping at my tail and hooves, refusing to let me get away. I ground my teeth, tearing my eyes away from the falling torch to take a quick gander at my unwanted fanclub. The ground wasn’t too far away if my math was right. “Fine. You wanna fight like that? I can fight like that!”
Thanks to Sarge, and I suppose Firebug Phoenix, my combat skills had improved vastly since that embarrassment with the wolves and trees we first met through, almost as much as my flying had. Sending Prayers to God, Luna, Celestia, Cadence and even Twilight, that the torch would survive the fall, I pulled off a simple stunt. I hit the breaks; flaring my wings to drop speed hard, grunting at the pressure that buffeted them. But the trick let four of the bats that were inches from my tail blow past me.
I quickly dropped back into the dive and downed them; slicing the wing off one, gutting a second, spearing a third through its neck and using the final one as my landing cushion cum scabbard. The torch survived the fall, still casting its light from where it landed. I think it was helping me, the light affecting them. Either way, I didn’t stay on the ground for long.
A few more powerful flaps and a well-timed leap launched me back up towards the remaining bats. It didn’t last long now that I wasn’t surprised and their numbers were more than halved.
-----------
“Damned zubats,” I swore under my breath when it was all over. I was panting heavily, and my health bar was missing a decent bit from it. From stupid cave bats! Didn’t even get a level from it. I chugged one of my health potions to push it back up as I collected the pitiful loot. Maybe I should consider getting a spear, since somepony was insistent on me not getting hoofblades… First Bubble, now Cass… What was with the hate on hoofblades?
A few bits richer and a couple Cave Bat Fangs in my store, I grabbed the torch again and considered where to go from there. As I thought, there were a few more passage openings branching from the shaft. I suppose I could explore a few of them…
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
The scream belted out from one of the tunnels. Without thinking, I covered the short distance on wing before galloping down the tunnel. That was Cass’ voice, and he sounded utterly terrified.
Cassius01
"Okay, there's nothing creepy about this tunnel," I said to myself, a hint of fear in my voice and my heart pounding like a Congo drum. Of course there was something goddamn creepy; the whole damn thing was covered in spider webs!
I goddamn hate spiders! Even if they are the little tiny ones or Daddy Longlegs, they will get smashed with extreme prejudice. Those fuckers are just plain unnatural with their eight legs, fangs, an-
Okay, I was going to stop thinking about those damn spawn of Satan before I gave myself a heart attack.
Thankfully, I had not run into any that were bigger than your garden variety banana spider as I slowly crept deeper down the tunnel. Eventually the tunnel widened out into a small room and on the far wall was a door... With a piece of parchment nailed to it?
Trotting over I looked it I was able to read it.
NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE
"The fuck?" I said out loud as I reached for the nope but the door creaked open wide enough for me to stick my head inside.
I wish I hadn't.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
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You need to fix the italics problem. Its like on half the text.
Also, the moment Myst called Cass Sarge, my mind went RedvsBlue. Mainly because Cass had a shotgun at that moment, well, sort of. I can see it now, Myst is Caboose or Donut, Phoenix is the actual Sarge, and Cass is Church!
5710058
It's fixed on my end
And that could actually work
5710070 Oh please, make an actual reference to it.
I could even see Myst pulling an O'Miely, going all rampage on monsters. 
5710088
I have plans for supernatural, zombies, haters and a thunder hammer >~<
But not thar
5710104 praise the empress and her space marines.
5710158
Empress?
Heresy!
5710185 if i ever get my story up you will learn the truth.
5710193
Ahh
Well who's got 3 features and 200 followers
5710211 the one who has a writing plan
5710227
Dude: I make 90% of it up on the go XD
5710232 you plan when to write, i write when its convenient
5710245
Ahh, well that's what bus rides and the time before bed is for
5710254 Getting a car totally ruined my author skills... Bus rides used to churn out two, three chapters a week...
5710287
I ride em five days a week :P
5710070 Now that smile I can handle :).
Also, Good work. And, Can't wait to see what happens next XD
5713570
It shall go back now
5714538 NO! NO! PLEASE!
5714545
5714559
NOOOOOO!!!!!!
5714566
5714578 Everytime.
I see that face, my body frezzes and my heart stops.
It's. Just. So. TERRIFYING!
5717198
He's got his boomstick
5717209
Sorry, but I spot an inconsistency in the story and mine. At February 22nd (The first Boss Battle), the highest leveled players were about Lv. 14-16, and that was after one month in game. Your guys are at LV. 10 after five days. Sorry to burst your bubble, but with Discord's rule, it takes a lot more to level up than that.
Wolfskull cave..... Skyrim right?
Probably why it's familiar to nerds.
I'm sorry cassius I couldn't help it...