• Published 30th Dec 2016
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Canterlot High's D&D Club - 4428Gamer



Sunset and the girls join a club only to find that there is more going on than the game itself.

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(12) Downtime Activities

St⍀st⌰⍾e Sw⍀⎍☌☍an☌'s POV
Kl⎅rg'⎐ W⎅r Ro⍀ ⌿??
Thursday, 4:47 PM


"But as the drinks start getting poured out and Klarg is secured somewhere else, you all give yourselves a chance to let your muscles relax...It's been a long day," Story's voice explained, his monologue winding down. "And you feel that you deserve a well needed rest. And I think that'll end it."

Around the room, an odd haze had begun to subside. After the alcohol was brought up, Glemerr and Thorn Wielder had elected themselves to drag Klarg further away from his chambers before tying him up to a stalagmite. Like chaining a dog. Glemerr was also going to tend to his more critical wounds before gagging him so that he would still be with us to interrogate later.

As for the rest of us, we felt this secondary presence leave us at the same time as the haze. It was now the second time this had happened to us. The first time being back on the road where we got ambushed.

"Guess that means we're stuck here for a while," Platick said as he threw poked the fire with a walking cane he found in the hoard Klarg and the goblins amassed. He was referring to the invisible barrier that formed around us on the road when the haze left us. It had acted to keep us nearby until the presence of Story and the girls returned.

"How long's it gonna be this time?" Vareén sat down, turning the tankard in her hand. "Before it was two whole days."

"I pray it is not long," I admitted, holding my hand over my bandaged side. "I saw Thorn Wielder's limping the whole time on the road after the goblin slashed her leg. Two days and her cut never closed." Which means this javelin wound is here to stay with me.

"Oi. If it makes ya feel betta'," Ravathyra said, filling up my tankard before I could stop her. "Keg ain't runnin' lo'. No matter how much we down, it's only a few glasses short a' bein' whole. Ya can keep drinkin' till them girls and the lad come back. That outta dull the pain."

I gave her an odd stare. "Are you telling me to drink for two days straight? I would rather avoid alcohol poisoning."

"Well we don't got medicine," Rava reminded me. "We're out a' magic berries an' healin' powers too. Bes' be diggin' in fer tha long haul."

"...Question," Vareén called out. "Since when did you have an accent?"

"Ah. Somebody finally noticed," Rava reveled. "Well, the lass bossin' me around ain't makin' strides any time soon, so Ah decided ta make a few...Executive decisions."

"Okay." Vareén frowned. "But why a Scottish accent?"

"The only Dwarf Ah know of is that Gundren fella." Rava matched Vareén's frown. "Lass hadn't bothered ta even come up with a single piece a' history fer me. Sides from that Ulaa spiel she coined on da spot somehow. Ah've 'alf a mind ta find mah way outta dis place and knock her upside da head."

Platick sighed, drawing our attention. "About that. I'm sorry, are we not gonna talk about this? The whole 'Teen Girls Run Our World' thing? Ever?"

I furrowed my brow and sipped my drink. Today was the first time I had ever drank alcohol. Or rather, the only time I remember drinking alcohol. When Sunset had me change my mind about drinking once we were given permission, I could tell my disposition changed in kind. "How do you propose we talk about this? We were...created with this situation from the beginning."

"We could start with how it doesn't feel right," Platick explained. "I have whatever tattered memories were imagined for me and I have this awareness about a high school farmer and her friends. I don't think I'm even supposed to know what a high school is."

What Platick said was true for everyone; each of us had two sets of memories. Our memories of this world that had been created thus far as well as this outsider perspective of each of our...Creators? Relatives? Ourselves? That part still didn't sit well with me. It felt incorrect no matter how I considered them.

I took another sip. A deeper one. It was my third tankard of ale and I could feel it hitting me.

To try slowing myself down I put the tankard out of arm's reach so I wouldn't keep downing it. Then I distracted myself by staring over at the only chair in the cavern. Ricven was using it with his leg and head hanging over the arms of the chair with his violin in his lap. He reminded me of a lazy king.

"Ricven," I said cautiously. "You are unnaturally quiet. What are you thinking?"

He let out a puff of air, staring at the ceiling as the flames made the shadows of the uneven rocks dance. "'If. We. Get. Hurt.'"

"Hurt? Who's hurt?"

By this time, Glemerr and Thorn Wielder reentered the room with Glemerr heading directly for the keg Ravathyra had been pouring out into tankards. "Somethin' 'appen?"

"It's what my Player said. Madam Rarity," Ricven explained without looking at us. "She was speakin' through me ta Sunset. Stostine's Player. As if ta make some sorta point."

"Why would she do that?"

"I think to hide it from the Master. Story," Vareén clarified. "It's not the only time either. They're not subtle but those girls are hiding something."

"Probably all this Player, Master, second-mind nonsense. Story doesn't seem the least bit concerned about the magic. The girls are. Maybe they think he can't see it. And maybe he can't." Platick walked over to grab a tankard for himself before sitting himself among the crates piled up away from the fire. "Judging from the part Ricven's thinking about, I'd say they're scared of that magic themselves."

"Yet they ain't runnin' from it." Ricven sat up, watching the fire as he set his violin down against the chair. "They scared of magic yet they ain't runnin'. Now what does that combo typically mean?"

"They're screwing with it?" Vareén shrugged.

"That it's fun?" Glemerr smirked.

I put my fist beneath my chin. "They want to understand it."

"Bingo," Ricven cheered dully. "Give the mage a prize."

"So you're worried that they'll want to control it?"

"I have no earthy idea what they want. That's what worries me." Ricven's expression tensed. "Whenever they're playin', they control us. Make us do or not do whatever their whims decide. And we're aware of every moment. As far as I'm concerned, they already control it. So why be worried about somethin' that already is?"

I sat up, my wound crying out in protest. The drinks made the pain duller but I still rethought my movements. "H-Hold on," I strained. "I would not say they are controlling us. Everyone, has what they made any of you do ever gone against what you yourself would do?"

Vareén folded her hands in front of her. "That depends. Are we counting how our opinions are shifting around too?"

"Ta be fair," Ravathyra interjected. "That's more 'appenin' ta those that don't 'ave as many memories as the rest a' ya. Meself included. Changin' opinions is less controllin' a person an' more shapin' 'em in the first place."

"Regardless, my question still stands." I nodded. "Are their actions different from your own?"

The group fell silent, eyeing each other back and forth to see if anyone was coming forward. None of them did. Especially not myself. When that javelin came at me, I readied Shield and, in that moment, debated just like Sunset if that was really the best idea. That bugbear was strong. If he came at me with that spiked club, that would have done much more damage than a thrown javelin. Thus the Shield spell would be better used there. We were lucky no one got seriously hurt but that could have gone much differently.

"Well, Ah d'ink dis Pink girl's fine," Glemerr admitted. "She coulda had me kill dem gobbos like all a you but she's been keepin' mah code. Plus, ah got ta do dis sweet Tarzan trick on the way here. Ya shoulda been there guys!"

"Tar. Zan," Thorn said slowly. "I...Know name. Why?"

"Great question. But one we'll deal with later," Ricven told her. "Miss Stostine's got a point though. We ain't bein' forced ta do anythang we wouldn't. So I'm willin' ta believe them girls ain't plannin' somethin' sinister. Although, I think it's fair ta assume whatever made us us is that same magic them girls are pokin' 'round with. An' they got no clue how it works."

"And you do?" Vareén raised an eyebrow.

"Notta bit," Ricven relented. "But if we can find out? Maybe we can use that ta our advantage."

I leaned over and got my ale again, taking a slow sip.

"Advantage how?" Platick leaned forward, his interest peaked.

Ricven smirked. "Think about it. This Master's tha one runnin' this world an' them girls are the one's forgin' our memories, right? Ta us, they're the gods above the gods. If we can find a way ta get with 'em, we can have some things go in our favor. Or at least make what's comin' easier on ourselves."

I finished my tankard, downing the whole thing thanks to Ricven's rambling, and let out a heavy sigh. "What do you mean what's coming?"

"Oh please Miss Stostine." Ricven waved a hand at me. "You're plenty clever. Tell me, what makes a good story interesting?"

"...The characters," I answered. That was my thought anyway.

"The drivin' force," Ricven 'corrected.' "The conflict that those characters, or us in this case, have ta face. Ya see, Master Story's runnin' the show. The world. Some a' you may not have any memories of this place so far but for those that do, you know about all the evils of this land, don'tcha? The Lifetime War? The Gausoon Druids?...The Scorched Acrine?"

Thorn Wielder visibly flinched; her vines coiling about anxiously.

"If Master Story's the one behind it, who's ta say he can't make the world a better place? Isn't that what we should all be strivin' for?"

"Master...Made fire?" Thorn Wielder asked. Her face wasn't that hard to read.

"Now hold it there," Ravathyra clapped her tankard on the crate beside her. "What yer talkin' about is anarchy."

"Anarchy?" Ricven snorted. "That's a little—" "Shut it ya eejit," Rava cut him off. "You've 'ad yer piece. Now I'm about ta 'ave mine."

"..." Ricven considered his words for a moment. "The floor is yours. Miss Rava."

"Watch the title," Ravathyra warned. She turned towards the rest of us. "If this Master's da one who went an' made all them atrocities, then ya can't just leave out all da good he's done at the same time. If ya 'aven't noticed, the Coia Ohta, that Lifetime War? It's over. Been over fer three decades now. We still got a nation runnin' fine enough an', above all, we wouldn' be livin' if it weren't fer this world."

Rava turned to Thorn Wielder next. "Dat whole Scorched Acrine thing? That got somethin' ta do wit' yer history, yea?"

Thorn Wielder nodded. "Home was. Acrine...Now Scorched Acrine."

"And Story's the one who made it happen," Ricven butt in.

"Ah told ye ta shu—" Ravathyra turned her back to him, taking a moment to clear her head.

"Alrigh'. Yea, fine. Master Story did it," she admitted. "But Thorn Wielder? That Player a' yers? The Flut'erin' lass? She made ya, didn't she? She created ya. And she coulda spat ya anywhere in this world! But she spat ya righ' dob center a' the flames. Why, ya think?"

"..." Thorn's vines lost their tension as Thorn's expression mellowed into confusion.

"'Cause she though' it important," Rava answered. "An' you think it's important too, don'tcha?"

"..." Thorn looked up, nodding once. "I find fire starter. I bury fire starter."

"An' there it is." Ravathyra pointed to her. "Jus' like all dem events Ricven listed off, there's been a solution ta each of 'em. War's over. The Gausoon thing's settled. Probably. Maybe?" She turned to each of us, earning a thumbs up from me.

I knew about the Gausoon. It happened exactly 1,139 years ago. I knew that because that's what year it was right now. The Gausoon Druids were so destructive, their defeat began a new era. In fact, eight of our twelve months are named after the heroes that stopped it. The Lifetime War started on LR 475. LR stood for Land's Revival; the name of this era.

"Good, yea, Gausoon's dead an' gone," Ravathyra carried on, earning an admittedly dramatic sigh from me. They aren't gone they're just...Ah whatever. "An' now, 'ere stands Thorn Wielder. Wantin' ta bury whatever burned down 'er forest."

"Yes. Bury."

Ricven gave a slow clap as he sat pretty in his nice cushion-y chair. Now he really does look like a lazy king, I thought as Glemerr brought me my fourth tankard when she saw my unimpressed look.

"Well then. Leave it to the paladin to be admirable. From what I've seen a' that sport-kid Player a' yours, I must say that is a welcome surprise."

"Watch it," Rava warned with a glare. "Ye ain't gonna get away wit' rappin' on mah Player like that again."

"Weren't you saying you wanted to smack her upside the head a minute ago?" Vareén took a sip of her own drink as she leaned on the wall.

"Still do," Rava admitted. "But she's mah Player, ain't she? That means Ah'm the only one that gets ta berate 'er. Till she gets me mah own history at least."

"My, what a B-E-A-U-tiful demonstration of character development. Miss Stostine?" Ricven smiled over at me. "I think you mighta been on ta somethin' 'bout the character's bein' the best part a' the story."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I mumbled, my face visibly flushed as I finished another long sip of ale.

Ricven belted out some giggles. "Suppose I shoulda seen that comin'. That's your fifth mug Miss Stostine. Miss Rava, maybe cut the kid off for a while?"

"I'm twenty-one, back off." I turned slightly away from him and took a more restrained sip this time. Besides this was my fourth, not my fifth. At least I was pretty sure. I doubt I could lose count that fast.

"And I'm three times older than you," Ricven pointed out. "Almost seventy-nine now."

"Woah. Dat's old," Glemerr bluntly proclaimed, earning a few snickers from us 'not old' people.

Ricven took that personally. "I'll have you know gnomes live well over 300 years. In human terms, I'm twenty-one as well. Sooo, Miss Stostine?"

"Not on your or my life," I cut him off, collecting more laughter from the others.

For however long we were going to be stuck in here, we were going to make the best of it. Even as Sildar laid near the fire, seemingly frozen in time. It caught us off guard when we first noticed but back on the road, there were a couple birds suspended in the air and the goblins were unmovable.

Since Sildar didn't have a Player like us, that probably meant he was the same as the birds and the goblins. Which meant that until the girls' game starts back up, he was going to keep being unresponsive. We were just happy that he wouldn't have to sit there feeling his injuries.

Not to mention, when he started moving again it would be a good alarm clock for when it was time to start moving ourselves. It gave us some solace to know that we'd have a warning next time. Whenever that would be.


Twilight's POV
School Halls
Friday 7:19 AM


A long, drawn out yawn echoed down the busy hall and right next to my ear. I went ahead and took a couple of steps to the side, rolling my eyes and smirking as Rainbow took the space to stretch her arms. Then I cringed when she started cracking her knuckles.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I was up late trying to finish that chem homework. Thanks for the notes by the way." She started turning her neck around, cracking it a couple of times. Gross. "You need 'em back?"

"Those were copies," I assured her. Only two weeks transferred to this school and already I was forming a routine with being a tutor for these classes. "Keep them."

"Awesome, thanks. I'll probably need 'em anyway when we gotta work on pages 47-50."

I slowed my pace with Rainbow doing the same when she noticed. "Is your class behind mine?"

"No?" Rainbow frowned. "AJ's in your class and she had the same assignment. Why?"

"Because pages 45-50 are due today." I watched Rainbow's eyes go wide as I frowned. "You only did forty-five and forty-six didn't you?"

Rainbow kept waiting for me to give her this 'got you' punchline only fer her to remember who she was talking to. "Can. Can I copy your—" "Not a chance."

I walked past her, sliding up to my locker before turning the tumbler towards the right until it was on '37' and then opened it. Only one number needed.

As I pulled out my books, I reached my hand up over my head as Spike peeked out of the bag, passing a different book to me. I trained him to hold books without putting bite marks into them and he was glad to give himself more space in my bag.

"Ya know, you should really write this stuff down," Spike told her while I smiled into my locker. Good boy.

"What's the point? I'd just lose the note anyways. At least if I don't write it down I'll force myself to remember it."

I snickered. "Except when you don't. Funny how that works, huh?" With the books I needed for first period, I closed my locker and started putting in the first two numbers. That way when I came back to my locker I'd only need the last number to open it next time as well.

"I'll just bust it out during lunch," Rainbow decided. "It's three pages. I can get that."

"Mind number twelve-C on page forty-nine," I informed her. "When it says 'Refer to the previous compound,' it means the diagram on the previous page. Not the compound equation you do on twelve-A and B."

"Okay. That sounds too confusing," Rainbow deadpanned.

"You'll know it when you see it. I spent five minutes rechecking everything because of that typo."

"You see, this is why I don't do homework," Spike explained. "Who decided that letters go with numbers?"

I retract my 'good boy' statement, I inwardly determined, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Okay Spike, you need to go back in the bag."

"You're not putting both of those books in here are you?" Spike asked. English class sometimes called for two books; both of which were bulky. Those, plus my folders and binder, and the new D&D book made it a tight fit.

"Ms. Cheerilee's class is just down the hall. I can carry them." I gave him a smile before he shuffled his way back inside, flipping the flap over the top to hide himself.

"Have you been taking him with you to the games?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I did the first time when Story had to leave early." I adjusted my bag after I felt Spike lie down and started to walk. "And yesterday, Shining came by to pick him up after school. But I'm trying to figure out another solution."

She folded her arms behind her head and followed beside me. "Yeah. Not sure how Story would take a talking dog."

"Actually," I started. "I was wondering if that would be a good way to ease him into the idea about magic. Remember what Applejack said yesterday? About keeping this a secret or not? I agree with her. I think it might be better to tell him."

"Are you sure? The principals basically made it a rule not to tell anyone that didn't already know," Rainbow reminded me. She crossed her arms. "Are you telling me you're fine with breaking the rules?"

"Not in the slightest." That wasn't going to change either. The less people that had to know about magic, the less chance of someone ended up like I did; tampering with something I didn't understand. "However, Story's involved in some way with the magic in the game. Whether that's our fault or not, he needs and deserves to know what's going on."

"No argument here." Rainbow smiled. "If we tell him maybe he'll know not to mess with it. And we could go without another demon. Per. Son..." She flinched when she saw my guilt-ridden face. "I'm so sorry..."

"I'll...Get used to that eventually," I managed to say without my voice folding on itself.

"Don't worry, Twi. She didn't mean it."

Rainbow went from flinch to scared as Sunset turned the corner, leaning on the wall and smirking at the awkward look Rainbow now wore. "I have English too Dash. You knew I was nearby."

"It slipped!" She looked back to me looking more guilty than me. "Twilight! I really didn't mean—" "It's fine," I cut her off, giving her a small smile. "I know. It's okay."

Rainbow slowly closed her mouth and rubbed her arm. Despite what anyone may say about her ego, she knows when to admit her own faults. "I'm. I'm just gonna go. See you two at lunch." She turned to go.

"Hey, wait." But before she could, Sunset caught her shoulder. "I wanted to ask you something."

The bell went off. Four minutes before first period and the students around us were starting to move on themselves.

"Gotta be quick," Rainbow half-joked. "Ms. Harshwhinny's class is on the other side of the school."

"I think you can make it in time," Sunset full-joked, making Rainbow smile a little more. "Fluttershy said you and her were meeting Story after soccer practice. Are you going to tell him the truth?"

And right away that smile faltered back to tense. "You couldn't let me forget about that until after school, could you?"

"Would you rather her remind you at lunch?" I asked, earning a short-lived scowl from the jock.

But eventually she started to nod. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna bring it up. I'm really hoping he doesn't hold it against me."

"I don't think he will," Sunset told her. "If he did, he would have recognized you when we all came to meet him. If anything, I think coming clean would help you not feel as guilty."

She smirked. "You're right. Besides, we're hiding enough stuff from him as it is." She turned and started down the hall. "Okay, I really do gotta hurry. See ya later!"

"Bye Dash," we said in unison, watching her disappear around the corner.

"I hope she gets past this soon," I told her. "It's been subtle but this has been eating at her."

"Oh, I don't think you'll have to be too worried." She smiled at me. "Fluttershy and Story came up with an idea."

"That's good to hear. Wait." I frowned. "Fluttershy and Story? Does that mean...?"

"Come on." She ushered me to follow her with a grin. "Let's get to class."

I walked behind her and we got into the class with plenty of time to spare. Instantly I spotted the tables and chairs that we used for the club, all in their proper arrangement for Cheerilee's typical class setup. Neat rows of tables each wide enough room for two students to comfortably share while her desk sat along the side of the room so that it wasn't in the way of the whiteboard. She liked to have an open space to move around in front of it when she taught.

Except this time there was an ugly TV stand on wheels standing between the tables and whiteboard with an equally unappealing CRT television from the mid 2000's someone had no doubt dragged out of some sort of storage closet.

"Well that's new," Sunset pointed out the obvious, matching the expression of most of the other students already in the room. Those that weren't confused were instead excited for some reason.

Are we going to be watching some sort of educational video, I pondered, leaning my head to the side to look behind the stand and glanced above the board. Sure enough, the collapsed projector compartment looked perfectly fine except for the fact it was folded away.

Is it jammed? Because if that was the case, the wall's flat enough to just use the projector anyway. So why the TV?

"Um, excuse me Mr. Sassafras?" Sunset walked over to the desk. I hadn't noticed because of how caught-off I was but sitting behind Ms. Cheerilee's desk, moving around the once organized supplies to make space for his laptop and a notepad was a someone I had never seen before. A jovial looking older gentleman with a large gray mustache, no hair and a friendly smile.

"Oh! Hello Sunset," he greeted happily. "How are you today?!"

"I'm fine," she returned in kind. "Are you substituting for Ms. Cheerilee today? Is she alright?"

I walked over to join her and kept extra care not to let him see my bag in case Spike was peeking out. Even if he meant well that didn't mean he'd automatically be fine letting a dog in the class.

"I am! But it was rather last minute. The principal had to ask for me herself. So I don't know what came up," he continued without any change in emotion. Then he smiled and nodded to me. "And hello to you too! I'm sorry but I'm not good at remembering everyone. Have we met?"

"I don't think so, I recently transferred here. My name's Twilight Sparkle," I told him.

"My name is Tealeaf Sassafras." He held out a hand which I shook after a moment. Yet another teach— erm, well, substitute teacher, that's nicer than almost every teacher from Crystal Prep.

"I tell students to call me Mr. T but I guess they just like an excuse to say Sassafras," he finished, earning a simple smile from me.

Just then the bell went off, meaning that class was now in session.

"Oop! Guess that means it's time to start." Mr. Sassafras stood up, taking two thin plastic cases in his hands. Movie cases actually.

I frowned. "Wait. We're watching a movie?"

"Yep!" He smiled. "Ms. Cheerilee didn't have a lesson plan for me so I needed a plan B. Movie Day!"

From behind me, a majority of the class started cheering like Kindergartners for recess. Are you serious? Do none of you care how this might affect our schedule? We're going to fall behind on the curriculum.

"Is that what the TV is for?" Sunset him. "Because the projector can play movies."

He gave her a sad smile. "I figured as much but I have no idea how it all works. I guess I'm too old-fashioned."

"I could help set it up," Sunset offered.

"Now that would be impeccable," he thank her, letting Sunset go over to start working on the projector while one of the stronger students offered to wheel the TV back to whatever time machine it came out of. "Well then. Movie on the projector," he cheered, summoning more cheers.

What is with this class?!

"Now then. Let's put it to a vote," Mr. Sassafras announced, holding up one of the cases. "The first one is 'Of Mice & Men.'" There was considerably less cheering this time as I let myself give out a small huff.

Well, alright. That's at least based off of a literary novel. It's on our reading list too. Maybe there's something to salvage from this.

"And the other one I've never seen before," Mr. Sassafras went on, trading the cases in his hands. "'School of Rock.'"

What?!

Right away most of the students started talking over themselves in a craze, begging the substitute to pick that one over the actual literary adaptation.

Are Sunset and I the only ones sensible enough to say n—

"School of Rock?" Sunset perked up as the projector flipped on. "That's not bad."

"Wha—Sunset?!" I cried.

"What?!" She held her hands up. "It's old but it's a good movie! I haven't seen it in almost two years,"

"That's what a lot of people say! I've heard good things," Mr. Sassafras leveled with us. "Alright everyone. School of Rock it is!"

Mr. Sassafras passed it over to Sunset, who shot me an apologetic look as I stomped over to my seat and falling into the chair before dropping my books on the table with a "humph!" I've never even seen this terrible musical-comedy-whatever it is and already I loathed it.

Please let Ms. Cheerilee be back on Monday, I hoped, letting myself slump on the table's surface.


Rainbow Dash's POV
Friday 3:48 PM
The Soccer Field


I let my sports bag fall onto ground next to my feet before sitting down on the bleachers with a sigh. I felt drained. Not from practice, soccer drills are nothing for someone like me. If anything practice has been the easiest part of the day. Ms. Harshwhinny gave out a pop quiz, Mr. Cranky Doodle was as uptight as usual and I had to practically skip lunch just to finish all the chemistry homework. Only for the teacher to move the deadline to Monday!

Mr. Beaker owes me a burger, I vowed. Those questions were so annoying, I could barely scarf down my fries before lunch was over!

Before I could decide whether or not to actually do something about it, a light shined out of my bag. It took me a few seconds to realize it was just my phone before I dug it out. There had been so much glowing magic stuff this week I was starting to get paranoid.

After unlocking it, I opened up my messages and started reading. There had been a few messages back and forth between Fluttershy and Story while my phone was in my gym locker.

3 People: You, Story, Flutter:

Hey I never got to ask. When does sport practice end?

Rainbow's at practice right now. I think her phone's off.

She gets finished at four.

Good to know. I might be late though. Sorry!

That's okay. I'll be there with her when she gets finished.

I smiled and closed the group message. Fluttershy knows practice ends at 3:45. She probably told Story 4:00 so I could relax a bit.

Next I opened the message I just got. It was Fluttershy texting only me.

Hey Rainbow Dash. Did you still want some time? I can come back a little later if you want.

I gave a low chuckle and started typing.

Nah I'm gud. U close?

I'm walking over now.

I closed my phone and tossed it back in the bag before staring off in no specific direction and started thinking about it. All day I kept trying to come up with something else to think about that I never figured out how this was going to go. What's worse, I didn't even know how to start.

For that matter, do I really want Fluttershy here at the same time? I changed started tapping my heel. I'm can't tell her to leave though. Not after her and Sunset talking to me about this. Even after I told Sunset what happened she was still behind me 100 percent.

My heel stopped tapping. I felt my throat tighten as I gave this thousand yard stare at whatever I was looking in the direction of. Then I buried my head in my hands.

"Ugh, I'm such an idiot," I shouted into my palms. Sunset. I didn't ask her! Two weeks of dancing around this and I didn't try asking even once! She literally went through this same thing to us! She knows more about this than anyone. Why didn't I think of asking?!

I used my fingers to rub my eyes before folding my hands in front of my face, my chin resting over my thumbs. Well. In hindsight, that might've been a better idea. I can't imagine Sunset would be thrilled to talk about how hard it was to apologize to everyone.

I sat up and my heels started tapping like pistons. Okay. Fine. It's fine. Just remember how Sunset apologized to you and...do that. That'll work! Probably. Maybe?

I heard the grass crunching from beside me and whipped my head in that direction, startling Fluttershy in the process.

"S-Sorry," we said at the same time.

"I didn't mean to startle—"
"I didn't mean to scare—"

"..."

"I should have probably said somethi—"
"I've just been freaking out on somethi—"

"..."

"Do you wanna go first?"
"Do you wanna go first?"

Both of us stopped talking each time we talked over each other, looking equally more guilty each time we did it. It got so bad that we fell into this awkward staring contest, covering our mouths in the same exact way.

After probably five more seconds of no one saying anything, Fluttershy curled up her fingers and started giggling into her fist. Meanwhile I let my hand slide up over my eyes and giggled just as much.

"Okay," I started, giggling through my smile. "This doesn't work if both of us are shy."

Fluttershy tried holding herself long enough to sit beside to me. "Do you want to be the shy one?"

Neither of us lasted much longer before our giggling turned into a mini-laughing fit. Thank goodness no one else was there to hear us or they'd think we were insane.

I wiped away a tear and sat back up, still smiling. "Thanks. I needed that."

"I'm happy I could help," she returned. "Story said that he had to get a few things. He had talked about how you wanted to work on your character?" Her smiled got a little smaller. "Did you think you would still want to do that afterwards?"

I took a deep breath and blew it out lazily. "I dunno. Guess it depends on how awkward this is gonna get."

"Are you worried about how he's going to feel? It happened a long time ago."

"Yeah but..." My shoulders sagged. "Doesn't make it right. I mean, would you forgive someone who bullied you for half of elementary school?"

Her smile brightened up for a moment. "I did."

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Well of course you did, your Flut..."

I looked her over carefully, my throat getting that tight feeling in it again. Probably from jamming my foot down my mouth so many times today.

"I forgave you, Rainbow Dash," she repeated. "Remember?"

"...yeah," I said almost mutely. "Y-Yeah, I remember. You and Story used to be neighbors. You two hung out all the time. He was like your second brother."

I saw her mouth the word 'second' as though she considered the placement as her smile grew more strained. Oh. Oh right.

A question came to mind to change the subject and before I could even begin to stop myself I asked the dumbest question I possibly could have. "Why did you forgive me?"

The second those words left my mouth, I felt so much worse. Instantly, every time I ever picked on her started playing one right after the other. With each one I could not begin to imagine any way someone could forgive some rotten kid for any of it. Especially enough for them to ever want to be friends with them again.

Before I could take it back, Fluttershy took a slow breath and spoke carefully. "Well. I guess it's because you noticed how it made me feel." Then she began to think back on it. "Whenever you two picked on us, Story and I always walked away. But, after Story moved to a different school and you came to me again, I didn't walk anywhere that time. I froze. It was a new school year and I didn't know anyone, so when recess started I walked away so that I wouldn't bother anyone. And I saw some lovely flowers and wanted to pick a few for my Mom. That's when you found me."

I started folding in on myself, staring at the ground so hard I was hoping a hole would show up so I could jump in it. It didn't help that I already remembered exactly what she was talking about. Third grade just started and first day on the playground, I got bored and stomped right over to Fluttershy. She was pecking at the ground so I started making fun of her about playing in the dirt, probably accusing her for digging for worms or something stupid like that. I had to be the most rotten kid on that playground...

"You were asking why I was picking flowers," Fluttershy went on. "And when I didn't say it loud enough, you said that those flowers were pretty ugly and that I was playing in the dirt for no reason. And when I realized that I made a mess, I had gotten so worried that I was going to get in trouble with the teachers." She giggled for a moment. "In hindsight, maybe I should have picked the flowers instead of dig them out of the ground."

"What?" I paused and looked up at her only to get a confused look in return. "Fluttershy, what are you talking about?! That's not at all what happened!"

She frowned. "N-No. That's what happened. I remember because you started walking me over to the teachers to ask if you could help me wash all the dirt and mud off of my arms. I was so worried they would be angry that I could barely say anything."

"Nuh-uh. No way," I insisted. "I only started helping you after I realized how much I was yelling insults at you!"

Now she leaned her head to the side. "You never yelled at me. And I don't remember you insulting me. All you said was that I was being pretty silly for getting dirt all over myself for no reason. And." She paused to giggle. "You were right. After I got home, my Mom had me wash my hair out right away. Somehow I got dirt in it and didn't notice until it had dried."

That cannot be all of it! I stared off to the side. There's just no way. I was a complete jerk back then, there's no way that's all I said! I remember beating myself up about it back then. For the whole week I was trying to make it up to her. I did everything I could think of.

"For that whole week you were trying to be my friend," Fluttershy went on, shattering my past to pieces. "You sat with me at lunch, we partnered up in class. You even tried to teach me how to play soccer with you. I never was that good at it."

"Y-Yeah. That I remember," I admitted. "That was a couple weeks later though. I couldn't think of anything both of us liked to do so I thought if I could get you hooked on soccer, we'd have something in common. And then I figured we needed someone to play against so we met. Pinkie..."

"And Applejack," Fluttershy added, smiling wider. "Neither of us had any friends that year since they moved away so Pinkie introduced herself and Applejack to us. And we all met Rarity a couple months later. But before that both of us only had one friend each."

"Uh-huh," I mumbled, trying to figure out what I remembered right and what I, apparently, forgot. "Story was your friend and..."

"Hi Gilda," Fluttershy said with a wave.

"Y-Yeah, Gilda." I smiled blankly. "I tried talking to her over the phone a few times after she changed schools but that didn't...Huh?" I looked up to Fluttershy. Hold on. How's come she knows Gilda's name? I didn't talk about her to Fluttershy. How does she know that name?

Fluttershy locked eyes with me and then looked behind me with a nod and a smile.

Curious, I turned around to find a mountain of a girl standing a couple feet away from us. She was our age and had a pair of black jeans and an aviator's jacket with a faded gold shirt underneath it. She had white hair that ended in these light-purple tips that matched the tint of her sunglasses that hung from her shirt collar.

While my jaw was still hanging there, she gave me a cocky grin and folded her arms. "Sup Dash. Took ya long enough."


Meanwhile
Sunset's POV


We watched from the edge of the school rooftop as Rainbow jumped to her feet, looking back and forth between Fluttershy and the other girl in complete astonishment. We were too far away to hear anything but since I had Story up here with me filling me in on his side of the, well, story.

"So that girl's Gilda? And she used to be friends with Rainbow Dash?" I had stopped hiding the last half of Rainbow's name. He already knew it in the first place.

"Yep." He smirked. "When the school districts changed lines, Gilda and I both ended up at Appaloosa West; my old school," he clarified. "That school's elementary was big so I didn't spot her until we finished fifth grade."

"That and she's in your Wednesday game," I pointed out. That's what he told Fluttershy and myself back when we all came together about what to do.

"And that too." He shrugged.

When Rainbow and Gilda came in for a one arm hug, I turned fully to him. "By the way. When did you remember Rainbow Dash was the same person?"

"The day after you guys came to the club," he admitted. "I told my Wednesday group about you girls since they were the ones who came up with the idea. When I mentioned Fluttershy, Gilda recognized the name and asked about Dash. Guess you can thank her for this."

Then Story furrowed his brow. "I don't get it though. Why was Dash so upset about this? She never bullied us like she says. The two of them might've teased us a little too often but they mostly kept to themselves like Fluttershy and me."

I looked back down at the scene again and watched as the three of them sat down. Fluttershy was on Rainbow's right and Gilda on her left as Rainbow seemed to be doing most of the talking. "I got a theory."

"Shoot."

"You said that you and Fluttershy hung around all the time back then, right? And Dash did the same with Gilda?" He nodded and I went on. "Well, when both you and Gilda moved away, that left both of them without anyone. So maybe when Dash teased Fluttershy and realized Gilda wasn't there with her, Dash felt lonely. So if Fluttershy was the next kid she knew most, then she may have wanted to make a new friend. And all the teasing she did before probably felt more mean-spirited the more she got to really know Fluttershy."

We saw Rainbow Dash reach into her bag and pull out a soccer ball before looking to Gilda only for the taller girl to shake her head. When Rainbow looked shocked, Gilda pulled out her phone and started showing Rainbow something on it, catching her awe-struck attention.

"Basketball pictures," Story filled in for me. "I don't know when but Gilda traded soccer for basketball at our school. Ten bucks says she's showing off pictures of her dunking on the other team."

He watched them for a few more seconds before nodding. "I think you're right about Rainbow. From what Fluttershy tells me, they're definitely best friends."

"So you don't have some kind of grudge against her?"

He blew out a raspberry and shook his head. "For what? The worst she ever said was that I'm the slowest runner she's ever met. And she was right so yeah, no, I don't have a grudge."

He drew out his phone and started typing on it. "By the way, I wanted to ask. How did you know the roof entrance was unlocked?"

I chuckled a little. "Oh. You know. Go to school long enough and you learn all kinds of secrets." I made sure my keys were tucked far into my pocket so Story couldn't spot them. One of these days I really need to return this one. I've had it since before the Fall Formal.

But Story didn't notice. Instead, he stopped typing and held out his phone towards the girls dramatically, pressing send before pulling it back into his pocket. A few seconds later, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Gilda all opened their phones, and read the message before laughing amongst themselves.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Just asking if they'd rather I come back in like an hour. They look busy," he said with a sly grin. After a few more moments, they all wrote back and he let me see the messages.

4 People: You, Dash, Flutter, Gilda:

Sorry, I got a little held up. Want me to come back later? I can bring drinks in an hour.

We're not in a rush.

Sure soda works 4 me.

Get me a coffee. U no how I drink it

I'll have a flavor water. If that's okay.

Nah hell get it. Aint that rite Story?

Watch yourself "Glinda the Griffon Tamer"

U SAID U WOULDNT U RAT!!!!

Story unleashed a torrent of maniacal laughter as we could both hear Gilda's angry screaming all the way from the roof. She was looking off in every direction, sure she would find Story hiding somewhere nearby.

"The Griffon Tamer?" I rose an eyebrow with an amused look on my face.

"Like I said, she's in my Wednesday game. Shocker incoming, the screaming jock's a barbarian."

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to walk away from the roof's edge with Story so the 'Griffon Tamer' wouldn't spot her prey. "Right then. That aside, you apparently got an hour to burn now. Want to get something to eat?"

"Sure!"

The two of us walked back inside, with me locking the roof entrance behind us, and we snuck our way out the opposite entrance of the school and across the street to a nearby cafe. From there, Story and I tossed a few stories about our mutual friends before he bought a coffee to appease the furious Griffon Tamer and drinks for the others.

Author's Note:

Gilda's a character I've never really written before but always wanted to try. Funny that I end up writing her with a EG story.

I also wanted to write scenes that weren't only built around the game itself and I think that these moments came out pretty well. Some jokes might have been kinda corny but I wanted to write them anyway. A breather from the action and tension but I wanted to get your opinions on it though.

I don't plan on it happening too often but would people be interested in seeing chapters like this peppered in during any of the breaks between the D&D heavy chapters? More focus on the characters hanging out or taking a break from magical nonsense? Let me know what you think, I'm interested to know!

Until next chapter everyone!
Cheers,
-Zeke