Canterlot High's D&D Club

by 4428Gamer

(6) Forward to Battle

Sunset's POV
In the Hallway
After School, Thursday

---

"Well, maybe we could try to do, uh, rubbings?" Rainbow pleaded.

"Rubbings?" I asked.

"Yeah! I was looking it up last night and if you rub a page with a pencil, you can get the imprint on them and..." She trailed off when I shook my head. It wouldn't work.

"...O-kay! Well." Rainbow crumbled up a note card that had the rubbing idea written on it. It was impressive, really. If she dedicated even half of the effort she put into those notes into her classes then she may have been a straight A student like Twilight.

"Uh, here!" After reading her next note card, the fifth one now, she looked to me with hope. "What if we find something that's already magic and charge up the book? Like a battery!"

I frowned. "Wouldn't work either." Rainbow was about to counter but I lowered her notes. "Not only is the magic severed; the book's destroyed too. It'll take me a couple of weeks to even get the pages back in order."

"O-Oh...sorry," she murmured. "...But! But I can help you with those pages. I'll help as long as it takes! Erm, well, unless those other pages were. Ya know. Private. Then I guess it wouldn't be right to help. Sor—"

"Rainbow Dash." I stopped walking down the hall and Rainbow turned to look at me. Ever since lunch she had been trying as hard as possible to be as polite and considerate, on top of all the times she's said sorry.

"I know you feel responsible for what happened. And...how I reacted didn't help." I frowned.

When I saw the book I didn't even look anyone in the eye. I knew it wasn't anyone's fault but seeing the only thing from Equestria I had now in pieces got to me. I didn't want to hear Rainbow Dash or anyone talk to me so I scooped up the book to stuff in my bag and went home early.

It was childish and now Rainbow Dash felt responsible because of what I did.

"I know you want to make it up to me but that's it. You have nothing to apologize for."

"..." Rainbow furrowed her brow. "But...I'm the one who took the book out. If I didn't then it would still be in one piece."

"I know. And that was the right idea," I said with a smile. "You tried to figure out what was going on! You tried to find answers like any of us would have done. I wouldn't have even thought to double check the notes."

"Well, yeah, but you wrote them," Rainbow pushed.

"I still would have taken them out had I thought of that. Instead I'd probably run around trying to shake everyone awake."

"But that's ⊑⏃⎅⎎⍙⍜⏚ ⋉☍⎅⍙ ⌰ ⍙⎍⌰⊑☌ ☌⍀⌰⍾⟊! ⎅⍾☌ ⍙☍⊑⍾ ⎅⍜⍜ ⍙☍⊑ ⊬⌰⎐⌰⍀⍾⎐ ☍⎅⌇⌇⊑⍾⊑☌ ⎅⍾☌..." She stopped trying to talk when she saw my expression.

"You couldn't understand me, could you?"

I shook my head and Rainbow groaned. "That's what happened with the others. I tried telling them ⎅⟒⍀⌖⍙ ⍙☍⊑ ☌⎍⊑⎅⌿⎐ and they got nothing."

That's what the others told me when I came back to school this morning. That and all the work RD put into finding a solution for my book.

"So no one knows anything?" I asked.

"Well...sort of," she shrugged. "Twilight thought of asking yes and no questions. It worked but they weren't asking the right questions."

"The garbling doesn't stop yes or no?"

"Well it does. But it can't keep me from shaking my head or nodding."

That seemed odd. A spell like this in Equestria would go the extra mile. It would disguise words and keep someone from giving visual cues. Rainbow's problem made the spell seem weaker. Or at least have different rules.

"Well that's something at least. What did the girls ask?"

"They asked if the game put them to sleep. I shrugged. Did I fall asleep? No. Did Trixie know anything? Also no."

Oh right, Trixie was there, I blinked. After seeing the book I forgot all about that. We'll need to figure out what to do with her.

"Did I wake them up? No. And then there was what Rarity asked; if it was dangerous."

"..."

"..."

When Rainbow didn't answer I started feeling uneasy. "Well...Was it dangerous?"

Rainbow groaned; unsure. "I mean...I ⎎⎅⍾'⍙ ⎅⍾⎐⋉⊑⎍ ⍙☍⎅⍙ ⋉⌰⍙☍ ⎅ ⏚⊑⎐ ⍀⎍ ⍾⍀. ⌰ ☌⍀⍾'⍙ ⋏⍾⍀⋉!"

"It garbled again." I frowned.

"Ugh, I can't even say that?" Rainbow rubbed her temples before looking at me again.

"⌰ ☌⍀⍾'⍙ ⋏⍾⍀⋉."

I shook my head.

"⌰⍙'⎐ ⍾⍀⍙ ⎅ ⏚⊑⎐ ⟒⌖⍙ ⌰⍙'⎐ ⍾⍀⍙ ⎅ ⍾⍀ ⊑⌰⍙☍⊑⎍?" She seemed pleading and spoke slowly.

I shook my head again.

"⌰⍙'⎐ ⎎⍀⌿⌇⍜⌰⎎⎅⍙⊑☌?" Now she seemed desperate. I could only shrug.

"I can't even say ⎎⍀⌿⌇⍜⌰⎎⎅⍙⊑☌?!" She looked at me from the corner of her eye. "Ugh...come on..."

"Dash." I put a hand on her shoulder. "If you think it's dangerous just nod."

Rainbow tensed up. Her hands clenched into fists and she let out a breath from her nose.

"...NO," she declared. "It's not. It's. I think it's not. No one's hurt. No one remembers anything. Even ⎅⌇⌇⍜⊑⋔⎅⎎⋏ ☍⎅⎐ ⍾⍀ ⌰☌⊑⎅ ⋉☍⎅⍙ ☍⎅⌇⌇⊑⍾⊑☌ ⍙⍀ ☍⊑⎍!"

I cringed at the last bout of garbling and looked back. "I know it's concerning and we're gonna get to the bottom of it. But, Dash...you don't have to come. Everyone would understand and we can explain it to Story for you."

Rainbow bit her lip, thinking over her options.

She said it wasn't dangerous but obviously she was worried about something. Although thanks to the book situation she probably didn't reflect on what happened last night. She was too busy making note cards.

Rainbow wasn't telling us to stay away from the game or even to be careful. Even if something had her on edge then it did not seem as bad as the Sirens or the Friendship Games or even me attacking the school. That gave me hope that this was all some sort of illusion magic or something we were being tricked into being afraid of.

"No way," Dash finally answered, looking down the hall towards where the club, and the rest of our friends, was gathered at. "Whatever's going on, I'm not leaving my friends to do this alone. I'm right beside you."

I smiled. "Welcome back Rainbow."

"Glad to be back." She chuckled. I gave her a quick hug and we started to walk down towards the club again. With both of us now feeling a lot better.

Well, sort of.

Rainbow Dash glanced back at the note cards still clutched in her hand.

"So...Is there anything we can do about your book?"

"Hm? Oh. That." I slumped my shoulders a bit. "Well, the pages aren't lost forever. Twilight has all of her entries written down like how my copy has all of mine. The connection to the books got severed."

"That and the bindings," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Yeah, those too. But if I can get my book back to Equestria, the connection will reset itself."

"Wait, it can?!" Rainbow's face lit up as she shuffled through her note cards. "So, the battery idea's actually a thing?"

"It won't happen over night," I explained. "We need to wait for when the mirror will open on its own. Since the connection between the books are gone, the mirror can't be opened by Twilight's personal portal."

Rainbow pulled out her phone, opening it to a calendar. "And...When's the next time it opens?"

"Thirty moons," I said, my voice getting a little strained.

"Oh, so like, once a month?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, even if we just missed it, that's not too bad."

"..." A bead of sweat ran down my temple.

"...Sunset?" Rainbow started to catch on.

"Well, thirty moons means...Thirty full moons."

Rainbow's grip on her phone got tighter. "Which means...How long?"

I sighed inwardly. Here we go... "A full moon is little less than once a month. So we have about twelve to thirteen full moons a ye—" "It'll take two and a half years?!"

I flinched. "It's more like...only two years. It's been a couple months since the Fall Formal."

"Two years; you'll be in college by then," Rainbow announced.

"Don't remind me," I muttered. Getting into school without a background was one thing. College will be another hurdle.

"It'll be okay," I told her. "Twilight uses this book just as much as I do. When she sees what's going on then she'll probably want to find a solution too. We just have to make sure no more magic blasts strike the podium on this end."

"Pffft," Rainbow blew a raspberry. "With no Equestria, that's not gonna happen for a while."

"There's the positivity," I said with a smile. Sort of, I thought. "Now come on. Let's work on figuring out the magic that we do have."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes but smiled along with me as she stuffed away those note cards.

Finally, they're not in her death grip, I smiled. But as we neared the door I thought came to my mind. I hope she thought to look up a bookbinder in all that research. Preferably one who doesn't ask questions.

---

Rarity's POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Classroom
Meanwhile

---

Most of the girls had arrived a little early, helping to set up everything for the game in record time. Tables had been pushed together, chairs were pulled up, and stuff upon stuff was laid out. Twilight and I had insisted on helping Story unpack the things that were to remain at his position at the table, however, no new answers came up. Similar to the die at lunch, it all appeared inactive and mundane.

The only result was Story quickly snagging the teacher's plush computer chair while everyone was distracted.

Don't think I didn't notice that Story. I gave a mock glare towards him in his comfortable seat. Next time I'll be the one using that seat and you can have the student chair.

When Story spotted my disapproving glance, he took whatever papers he was looking at, returned a mock wave to me and spun the chair in circles. Swivel chairs we're very good at that.

I rolled my eyes at such a childish attitude and turned to the door, without swiveling my chair, when I heard it open. As it was opened I and the others watched as Twilight walked in, nervously glancing at her backpack.

"Everything alright, darling?" I asked.

"Yeah..." Twilight said with no confidence. Except, as she did, her backpack started shuffling about. And before she could look behind her, I saw Spike trying to poke his head out.

All of us looked either at Twilight's backpack or at Story. He probably wouldn't be shocked to see a dog, he was Fluttershy's friend after all. A talking dog, on the other hand...

"Woah," Spike spoke. He was looking at the things on the table. "What's all of—waah!" As Spike looked at everything on the table, I ran over and, with enough grace not to hurt him, lowered Spike's head back into the backpack before Story could see him.

Still, when I turned back I saw Story straightening out his chair. He was facing away when Spike popped out. "Who was that?"

"Erm…" I hummed. "Oh. It's, someone passing by. They're curious is all!"

As if to run with the lie, I stuck my head out the doorway. "It's a club of ours," I called out to the empty hallway. "Dungeons & Dragons! It's actually a very. Nice..." While I feigned my voice trailing off, Sunset and Rainbow Dash began to round the corner. "Oh. Girls. Perfect timing."

Rainbow Dash looked around. "Who were you talking—" "Shhh!" I shushed her, flinching when I realized Story was probably still watching. "Just...Just come in," I said sadly.

As I lead the two inside and closed the doors, Sunset looked at the set up. "Uh...Is something different about the figures?"

"What?" Story furrowed his brow before looking at them himself. He glanced over them confusedly, making Sunset look ready to regret asking that.

"Right, that," Applejack cut in. "Y'all 'member me tellin' how Big Mac found out about this little get together?"

The rest of us nodded and affirmed her question while Story shrunk in his swivel chair.

"Ahehe...Sorry about that," he apologized. "He suggested I start up this club so I figured it was only fair."

Applejack sighed. "Nah, don't be sorry. Ya were right, it's only fair. Regardless," she went on. "Still, Big Mac ended up hearin' from me an' Story 'bout what happened to his stuff. So he spread the news on."

"Yeah," Story continued. "He told my other group and, just like you guys, they got me some stuff to recover, like the primed figures you see on the table." He chuckled. "I think I'm starting to feel like a charity case."

"...Oh." Sunset facepalmed. "Primed. The figures are primed. That's why they're all off-white."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Now that I have 'em primed I need to paint 'em up later. If any one wants I still have the other minis from Tuesday. We can use them instead."

"Well..." Pinkie picked up the off-white one that resembled her character much better than the last one. "This Glemerr is smaller than the other Glemerr," she judged. "Buuuuuut, the old Glemerr had a weapon. So, meh." Pinkie picked up the new model. "Glemerr fights with her fists," she cried out as she made the same fighting pose as the new one.

Sunset smirked. "Yeah. I'll go along with that." She then reached for her figure and studied it. "...Actually. Would you mind if I painted my own?"

"You paint?" Story asked.

"You could say that," Sunset answered with a grin.

"Alright then. Go for it," Story approved. "I'm fine with spreading the work if you are."

Each of us soon decided on using the newer figures and started to settle into our seats as we pulled out dice and paper for the game. Even Rainbow Dash seemed to be pulling out some paper and a pencil. She also had Sunset put her dice between the both of them since Rainbow never bought any dice of her own back on Tuesday.

So she is playing after all. I pondered for a second. She did eventually manage to tell us that the game wasn't dangerous but I wasn't sure if she would want to play again after whatever fiasco happened yesterday. Although, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy seemed to take that as a sign of relief, not all of us were so sure. Applejack and myself especially.

Story cleared his throat, ending my distraction.

"...Last time on The Tutorial," Story spoke in a voice that sounded like a narrator. Deep-pitched and neutral. "All of you had met with a Dwarf known as Gundren Rockseeker and his human partner, Sildar, to talk about a transport job to carry a cart of supplies. Supplies, later to be found out as mining tools and dwarven alcohol by Platick who seemed suspicious about why it wasn't explained.

"A few days into the trip, the quiet roads turned loud when you got to the top of the hill only to find the remains of a ransacked wagon and dead horses in the middle of the road. But while a few of you realized the trap, others charged on and met an ambush of goblins with black-feathered arrows.

"You swiftly defeated them and learned that the wagon and its horses were the ones that Sildar and Gundren had used. Although they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there are only signs of a trail leading into the small forest where the goblins had come from. And that...Is where we begin."

"So." With his recap finished, Story took in a breath.

"Let's start a story."

And everything came to life.

All at once, each of us had magic flow from our hands and onto everything on the table. The figures, the papers, the map, everything behind Story Spinner's screen, and, most importantly, the dice.

Like before, each of our dice changed into a different color even though they were new sets. Mine donned a marble finish, Pinkie's was bright pink, Applejack's a dark orange, and so on.

However, as the new dice colors change I noticed that the bronze die wasn't anywhere in Sunset's small pile. Instead, the only dice that Rainbow Dash had with her was the milk white, blank die from yesterday.

It didn't stay that way for long. As magic poured from each of us into everything at the table, Rainbow's magic was doing the same. Except, hers was the only magic that was forming into the empty die and changing it more than anything else on the table.

The flawless shape started to become distorted, turning lumpy and almost malleable with this cotton-like texture to it. At the same time it appeared as though dust or smoke was beginning to waft from it as Rainbow Dash tapped it with her finger. It went from a bronze die to a empty husk and now to some sort of condensed cloud.

The numbers and symbols were another thing. Instead of getting carved into the edges like metal or with however welding worked, I didn't know the specifics of that, there were nothing imprinted on the faces of the die. Instead, the symbols and numbers seemed to glow as though they were coming from lightning inside the cloud die.

With every change going on at the table, a few of us started to freak out only to realize that Story was sitting there without any clue about what was going on. It took some doing but we all managed to pretend as if nothing was going on.

"So those are the words," Sunset murmured to herself, unsurprised about everything going on.

"Hmm?" Story glanced over. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Nothing." she waved the thought away, ignoring the magic aura pouring out of her hands. She was much better at ignoring magic dancing around her. Prior experience, I guessed.

"Like you said." Sunset nodded. "Let's start."

---

3rd Person POV
On the Road
Midday

---

As the group of ragtag guards ensured the unconscious goblins were secured to a tree, their focus turned to the cart and horses blocking the path. Even if they wanted to take time to guide the oxen around the wreckage, someone would need to clear the path later on. As far as the group could tell, they were the only ones for the job.

Thankfully, with seven people at the scene, the task was split up into two simple jobs. The armored Dwarf, Ravathyra, and the fisticuffs half-orc, Glemerr, were on wagon duty. They worked to break apart the wrecked wagon and toss the pieces off the road into a pile. There was still a pile of debris but at least now it wouldn't cause traffic. At that point scavengers could pick off whatever they liked.

At the same time, Thorn Wielder had taken it upon herself to deal with the horses; the second job. After untying the reins and bridle that attached them to the wagon Thorn Wielder would begin to manipulate her thorns around the horses' barrel, using her vines as makeshift rope.

"Here. We'll give you a hand."

Thorn Wielder watched as Platick, and Vareén with hesitation, walked over to find a part of the vine that didn't have too many thorns and grabbed a hold of it. With the combined strength of all three of them, they worked on dragging the horse out of the road.

"So..." Vareén spoke between pulls. "What exactly...Are these...Vines?"

"..." Thorn Wielder took a few steps backward and pulled her arm in towards her, pulling the horse a couple of feet forward. "...Gift," she strained.

"A gift?" Vareén tugged on the vine and looked to Platick before speaking in Dwarven. "Is that part of the legend?"

"Can't say for sure," he admitted, returning the Dwarvish language. When the horse was halfway across the road, Platick had to step around a goblin that had barbed thorn cuts across its neck. "The rumor was...She used. Forest to a..." By this point, the two of them had to start using only half their words to focus on the horse. "...To attack whoever came...But. Vine's not a forest..."

"..." The horse was now halfway on the grass. Platick might have looked pretty winded but Vareén was starting to double over. The good news was that they were almost done. With the first horse at least.

Vareén glanced up to Platick "You and Ravathyra...knew her...Where-how?"

The three all gave one final heave before the horse was far enough to be out of the road. When it was, Thorn Wielder's vine went slack and sent Platick and Vareén tumbling back. Platick managed to keep his footing but Vareén in her exhaustion wasn't as lucky.

Platick walked up to help Vareén back to her feet as Thorn Wielder ignored them and instead approached the second dead horse with her vine.

"...Thorn Wielder's...A nickname," Platick breathed. "She was something of a. A small town rumor in the Elven country. Long time ago."

"How...small?" Vareén adjusted her hood so Platick wouldn't get a good view of her face. Then, unbeknownst to Platick, Vareén wiped away the bucket of sweat from her forehead.

"Small enough that...it wasn't on a map," Platick started to stand fully. "I don't actually know the name of the nearby town. You'd have to have been to Cortás to know that."

"...You said wasn't?" She repeated. "What happened?"

"..." Whether for lack of energy or not, Platick took a couple of breaths to study Vareén. With her hood now fully up, however, Platick couldn't read her expression. "...You do know about the Cortás Scorch, right? Not to be as tactless as the Dwarf earlier—" "Hey!" Cried Ravathyra. "—But you are an elf after all. You should be old enough to remember."

Vareén nodded. "I know the story."

From how Vareén recalled it, the Cortás Scorch was an event that happened a little more than 20 years ago and it was without warning. From the base of the mountains in west Cortás all the way to a city called Acrine, a massive forest fire erupted and claim a little over 10 million acres of land in less than two days before the Elven Druidic clans could stop it.

Some said that the forest began to explode. Others said the Drow led an assault. Few even claimed it was a dragon attack despite the creatures not being sighted for decades. But for most survivors, they explained it as hell making an entrance. And then crawling.

In the end, the fire reached the edge of Acrine before it was finally quelled and every city, village, and druidic community living between Acrine and the mountains were now charcoal. That charcoal was now named the Scorched Acrine.

"Was she part of the cause?" Vareén glanced over. Thorn Wielder's vines had now ensnared the second horse and Ravathyra stopped working on the wagon pieces to help pull it.

"No idea," Platick shook his head. "The only reason I know about her is because a long time ago she revealed herself to a lot of mercenaries and adventurers; the type who would stomp through a forest and not care how they left it. The sightings traveled the grapevine. Pun intended," he added, watching as Wielder's vines continued dragging the horse with help of the Dwarf. The two worked at an even pace more efficient than when Vareén and Platick tried.

Vareén eyed everyone else around the two of them. With most of the others finishing up the cart, Ricven and Stostine were alone as they approached the tracks from earlier. Since they were the weakest, or smallest in Ricven's case, they weren't much use in heavy lifting. So they decided to be useful some other way.

"If this was such a major event," Vareén continued the conversation, staring at the two magic-users all the while. "Then why are you so careful not to talk about it around the human girl?"

"Honestly?" Platick glanced to Vareén before settling his gaze on his fellow human. "Paranoia."

"Paranoia? Of what?"

"Well. The way I see it." Platick started to step aside, getting out of Thorn Wielder's way as she pulled the horse next to the other. "We have a pretty average group of people for grunt work like this. Half-orcs aren't rare to look for labor jobs and as we're close to the Drakehead Mountains, dwarves are a copper piece a dozen."

The Dwarf stopped her pulling to look over at Platick with a frustrated glance. Platick and Vareén were speaking Dwarven, so Ravathyra obviously understood them.

"Sorry," Platick tossed out. In a huff, Ravathyra got back to pulling.

"Anyway," Platick continued. "The only two that don't fit is Stostine and Ms. Rumor herself."

"And the gnome?"

"A pretty boy-type," Platick dismissed. "He likely tagged along because he thought it's easy work. More common than you'd expect. Girl's a different story. She's from some higher class trying to blend in. Add magic on top of that and she stands out more than anyone...Well, again, tied for second."

Platick and Vareén watched as Ravathyra and Thorn Wielder finally pulled the horse beside the other. And, to her credit, Thorn Wielder only allowed herself to fall into the grass after the horses were safely moved. But she was now more exhausted than Vareén was.

"...Burial?" Thorn Wielder looked to the nearby onlookers through ragged breath, watching them as though she were both pleading and demanding.

"Uh...Maybe not." Ravathyra frowned. Pulling the horses had taken long enough in her opinion.

"...Words," Thorn Wielder negotiated sternly.

Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy who was giving her a pair of pleading puppy dog eyes. Even if Story helped describe her character's intensity, Fluttershy's meek nature was what the girls saw.

It certainly helped when breaking a few of them.

Rainbow sighed. "Oh, alright." She then turned to Story. "You said that a paladin was a...church warrior, or something, right?"

"Holy Warrior, yeah." Story nodded along.

"Okay. So then...Would it count if I said something?"

Story shrugged. "Well, you know it would mean something to someone," he left vaguely. "But, if you want to, go ahead and roll me...a performance check."

"Performance?" Rainbow looked over the paper in front of her. "Isn't there a religion one?"

"Either would work. Your choice." Again, Story held back, hoping to let Rainbow enjoy the game her way.

So, more to make sure she was testing the magic before the other girls, Rainbow Dash picked up the cloudy die and tossed it up.

Despite the die now looking like a cloud, it rose, fell, and rolled like any other dice. The only difference was that the girls couldn't hear any tapping as it bounced across the table.

When it finally landed, Rainbow could see two writings appear on the table beside the cloud die. One read 'Performance +2' and the other read 'Religion +2'.

Doing the math in her head, Rainbow looked up. "Religion; fifteen."

Story nodded, moving a pencil behind the screen where the girls couldn't see. "By any chance, do you have an idea for who Ravathyra's oath is to? Her god?"

"Huh? Oh. Uh," Rainbow thought it over for a second, the memories from yesterday floating in her mind. "Um...Ulaa," she said confusedly.

"..." Story stopped moving the pencil, looking as confused as the rest of the group.

"Ulaa," Rainbow persisted, the thoughts suddenly coming to her from nowhere. "The Goddess of the Hills and Mountains. Sh-She brings gifts from the earth to those who can create from those gifts. When someone. Passes," Rainbow continued on as she glanced at Sunset with extreme confusion. "She. Prefers they're returned to the earth..."

"Uh..." Story hummed, noticing as the girl's attention started to fall on him. However, taking it as the girls expecting Story to describe the scene, he quickly started to do so. Unfortunately, having no idea how this 'Ulaa' goddess worked himself, he made a lot of it on the spot but did well-enough pulling it off.

Sunset took the chance to snatch the cloud die from Rainbow. In an instant, the cloud die gave a brief flash before becoming the bronze die once again. The moment it did, Rainbow felt all the foreign memories stop. They were still there but she was able to focus again.

Thorn Wielder and the others watched as Ravathyra stepped forward and bowed her head in prayer. She then began giving last rites to the pair of fallen horses. It was all in dwarven, which Thorn Wielder couldn't understand, but the motions were appreciated all the same.

As the rites continued, the musician, Ricven, and arcane user, Stostine, had been looking over the trail and tied up goblins that were along the side of the road. They were fully aware that they weren't doing nearly as much work as the others so investigating tracks was the least they could do.

Or at least one of them thought so.

"Remind me again why we're doin' this?" Ricven huffed. "The road's almost cleared up anyhow. In a few minutes we'll be relaxin' on tha cart whilst we coast ta Phandalin."

"To Phandalin?" Stostine turned fully to the gnome. "Are you serious?"

"One a' the few times I am. Yes."

"This wagon belongs to Gundren," Stostine pointed out. "The others proved as much. He and Sildar might be in trouble."

"An' I'm certain that they'll be saved. However, we got our orders. An' they ain't ta play hero, Ms. Stostine."

Stostine rolled her jaw, thinking of her next choice of words. "Our orders, hmm? Who gave us those orders?"

"Gundren," Ricven stated. And with another huff, he caught Stostine's line of thinking. "Ya think the goblins took 'em."

"Is that hard to believe?"

"That goblins took a prisoner? No. Them vermin are nothin' but rotten ta tha core," Ricven surrendered quickly.

Applejack gave Rarity a look. If it wasn't for the New Orleans accent, AJ could swear Rarity was trying to copy her way of talking.

"What I am sayin', is that we barely managed a small ambush that we all...sorry, that most of us," he corrected. "Saw comin'."

"I knew it was an ambush," Stostine defended.

"An' yet ya fell for it anyhow. If that don't shout under our knees, nothin' does."

"Under our...what?" Stostine leaned her head to the side. "Did you mean...over our heads?"

"Head, knee, don' matta to a goblin. They'll strike at anythang. Point is we ain't capable ta pull off a rescue."

Stostine was determined to prove the gnome wrong. So she turned around and knelt down near the tracks without another word. The whole reason Stostine came to them in the first place was so that she could prove she was worth something. Ricven only followed so he could try to chat her up.

Now, with Ricven's idea free-falling out the window, he tried changing tactics. "...Why are ya so determined ta throw yaself at these goblins? There some history ta that?"

Stostine gave her a second to cool down as she kept looking at the tracks. "I do not like turning a blind eye to problems like this. The goblin part doesn't matter to me."

"A valiant thought ta be sure." Ricven shrugged. Valiance didn't interest him. New topic, he thought. "That magic a' yours seems somethin' special. How long ya been practicin'?"

Stostine looked off into the distance as she started having trouble keeping her patience. "Ricven, I...appreciate your curiosity in my life." She paused. Even Stostine couldn't find a way to make that sound believable. "But I am trying to make myself useful. If you do not want to, that is fine. But, and I am sorry to say this, but please do not include me."

Giving Rarity a sorry expression, Sunset turned to Story and wordlessly steeled her nerves as she picked up the bronze D20. "I would like to—"

Suddenly, Rarity stood up as her chair skidded backwards. With Sunset and Rainbow looking more worried than the others Rarity figured now was as good a time as any to try and put everyone's minds at ease. After all, if Applejack thought Rarity was copying her, why not copy from Pinkie Pie too?

When all eyes were on her, Rarity cleared her throat and, with confidence, sang.

"Go forward, go forward, and find us the trail~"

"You'll find all the goblins and fight without fail~"

"For the humans, and the elves, and the Dwarf, orc, and gnome~"

"Will journey, ever onward, into the unknown~"

With the last of Rarity's verse complete, she turned to Story.

"I'd like to inspire Stostine with her trackin'," Rarity explained in Ricven's voice.

"By singing?" Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Dunno how makes sense."

Despite Pinkie questioning how that made sense, That was weird to write Sunset noticed a six-sided die in front of her begin to glow with Rarity's cyan aura.

Story snapped his fingers a couple of times in appreciation to Rarity's ballad. "Done and done. And nice singing," he complimented. "Sunset, you can go ahead and make that survival check on the tracks now. And you can add a D6 if you want."

Sunset noticed how both of her twenty-sided dice, the bronze and the regular one, glowed as if inviting her to pick one of them over the other.

She turned and thanked Rarity, who sat back down with a grin, and scooped up both the D6 and not-bronze D20 before rolling them.

After clambering around, Sunset counted up the dice and the number appearing on the table and sat back. "Everything together's a twenty."

Ricven trailed off his song with a rhythmic hum while Stostine's mind began to give itself clarity despite the added noise. Stostine allowed herself to nod along to the ballad and, she recognized, the tracks began to seem easier to read and discern.

At face value there were smaller tracks that went up and down the road constantly. Those, Stostine assumed, belonged to the goblins. Although, older tracks helped her to show a different picture.

When Ricven's humming ran its course, the rest of the group began to approach the two magic users as Vareén went to guide the oxen and cart closer.

"Any luck?" Platick asked.

"Yes." Stostine stood up and began to use magic to clean away the dirt and dust that gathered on her robes. "There are at least a good dozen more goblins. It looks like they've lived around here for a time now."

"Infestation," Thorn Wielder said, staring at the goblins as they sat tied to the tree. They were still unconscious and luckily unable to see the look from Thorn Wielder's gaze.

"Didn't we already know that?" Ravathyra wasn't as interested.

"There's more." The group watched as a spectral hand appeared, picking up a nearby stick and floating it into Stostine's grasp. With the stick, she pointed out one large, faded footprint. "There was something else with them too. Something as big as Glemerr."

"Another orc?" Glemerr asked curiously.

"Not sure. What I am sure of..." She used the stick to poke at the large marks pulled through the ground. They were hard to spot but both of them were signs of something getting dragged. "If they did take Gundren like the goblin said, then he and Sildar were taken this way."

Ricven sighed. "Ms. Stostine, I believe you're missin' tha point I was makin' earlier. We ain't fit ta go on any rescue, assumin' that they really took Gundren in the first place."

"The goblin said they did." Ravathyra pointed a thumb at the goblins.

"Well...It said that," Platick started. "But you have to remember those goblins attacked us for no reason. They don't seem that smart. Could you really believe them?"

"What else could dem drag marks be d'ough?" Glemerr folded her arms.

"A deer? Boar? Hell, them goblins mentioned catchin' wolves before." Ricven listed, not noticing the death glare Thorn Wielder was using. "A line in tha dirt don't mean nothin'."

"But this does."

From behind the group, Vareén held up the cylindrical tube she had found in the wreckage earlier. "The goblin said they were looking for the map Gundren had."

"Map?" Platick frowned. "Gundren never mentioned a map."

"He said he found an old historic mine," Vareén reminded him. "How do you think he found it?" For emphasis, she gestured to the map carrier.

"You knew about this map?" Stostine asked.

"In a way," Vareén shrugged, throwing the map carrier strap over her shoulder so it sat next to her quiver. "I knew Sildar, Gundren's friend, before this job. I only knew about the map by word of it."

"Well there we go then," Ravathyra said. "Goblins are bad and they have the Dwarf guy. We go fight 'em."

"Not quite," Platick shook his head. "If there are dozens of goblins like Stostine says then we're outmatched. Six almost had the better of us and we outnumbered them."

"In. Fest. A. Tion," Thorn Wielder spoke slowly. Less out of being unfamiliar with the language and more trying to remind them. "Infest forest. Capture wolves. Fight Infestation."

Glemerr gave a stern nod. "Yeah! Dem goblins can't get away wit'it."

Stostine nodded along.

"Ladies, please," Ricven pleaded. "I hate goblins as much as the next gorgeous man but look around. Some of us are injured, and some are a bit tapped for ability." He then turned to Stostine. "Don't think I didn't see that little Shield trick a' yours. Ya can't keep that goin' forever. And..."

"If we. Get. Hurt," Rarity warned as she tapped a die along the table, staring at Sunset and the bronze die as she did without Story having any clue.

"We should be careful," Ricven concluded.

Stostine gave herself a second to breath. She wanted to think this clearly.

On one hand, Sunset knew Rarity was right. If falling asleep wasn't a warning enough to be careful then Rainbow's memory a minute ago was an even bigger sign. Purposely throwing themselves into dangerous situations in the game could have consequences.

On the other hand, what if the opposite was true? If dangerous situations had consequences, what would the consequence be for letting a bad thing happen? If Sunset being in danger meant she'd stop a worse situation, she would take that chance. To expect the same from her friends though? She would never ask that.

But again, Rainbow told everyone that the game didn't seem dangerous. There was no reason to suspect otherwise. That's why everyone was so keen on seeing this game through until they figured out the magic.

And then there was Story. In the first game, he had the goblins attack them; not the other way around. He would play the game like nothing's wrong because, to him, nothing is. Sunset figured that if the girls tried avoiding every issue either Story may present an unavoidable problem. Maybe in the form of another ambush. At least if the girls looked for trouble it would hopefully be on their terms.

"They need to be taken care of," Sunset spoke in Stostine's tone. "And the sooner the better."

Rainbow leaned forward, looking to the rest of the girls. "She's right. We need to find out how..." Realizing that Story was there, Rainbow thought her words over. "...to fight the goblins. I mean, we've gotta fight 'em eventually, right?"

Rarity looked ready to retort but the more she thought about it, bit her tongue. Rainbow was right. Even if it wasn't for the reason Sunset was thinking.

"Well," Twilight spoke next, keeping her voice low and bored as Vareén would. "Splitting up is even more dangerous. There have been wolves howling in the distance behind us. If there's more goblins we would need everyone to fight them off."

"Wolves?" Fluttershy sat back. "Wolves..." She let out a sudden gasp as she put something together. "Wolves howl," she spoke as Thorn Wielder. "Infestation. Catch wolves. Wolves howl, Infestation?" Fluttershy watched Story to see if she was right but Story Spinner gave no response. He was letting her put it together.

The girls watched as Fluttershy's expression soured. "Wipe out. Infestation." It was now that the girls knew what Thorn Wielder truly looked like.

During the silence, Pinkie Pie swiped the bronze die from Sunset and stood up, striking a pose.

"Den we need ta hurry," Pinkie shouted in her gruff Glemerr voice. "Dem goblins can't be let go wit'out a figh' now! Everyone!" She took a second to giggle at her own speech. "Follow behind ol' Glemerr! She'll keep y'all safe from da gobbos! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! And Glemerr runs down the trail," Pinkie cried out in a cheer.

"Wait, Pinkie!" Sunset shouted.

"NOT MY NAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." Pinkie started making her shouting quieter and quieter until finally she stopped shouting completely.

"Ugh." Stostine smacked her forehead. "Fine. GLEMERR!" Stostine shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Toofaraway,can'thearyou—let'sgoooooooo!" Glemerr shouted in return, now definitely out of shouting distance.

"Well, looks like she chose for us." Ravathyra wore a flat look. "Guess we're fighting goblins."

Platick's head sat in his hands. "This is a bad idea."

"Can't help but agree," Ricven added. Then, as he shrugged, "But even if we put it to a vote, I think we woulda lost anyhow."

"Yeah." Platick glanced over at the cart and oxen. "I suppose that only leaves us figuring out what we do with the..." Platick stopped talking when Thorn Wielder got onto the wagon, followed soon by Stostine beside her in the seat. "We're taking that with us?"

"Ox come," Thorn Wielder said. "Ox safe...When come."

"She's not wrong." Vareén took up position at the front of the cart, eager to make up for her failure with the tracks from earlier. "If we leave the oxen unattended then anyone can take the cart and leave."

"Ox come," Thorn Wielder affirmed again with a nod.

When Ricven and Platick watched the other girls pack up around the cart, ready to charge after their half-orc acquaintance, the two guys silently fell in line. Ricven climbed back on top of the cart and Platick hung in the back as before.

With everyone in place, Stostine gave a nod to Thorn Wielder and the group was headed down the path the same minute. At a much slower pace than Glemerr.

---

Story's POV
Ms. Cheerilee's Classroom
3:12 PM

---

"Now then." I settled into his seat and watched as the girls all had different reactions. Fluttershy and Twilight seemed to have this look of determination but still nervousness. Completely understandable. Sunset seemed to have that same determination but looked more nervous with Pinkie as she tried to whisper something to her.

Rainbow seemed a little harder to read. She was following the others' example but certainly seemed more focused than Tuesday. Although Rarity and Applejack seemed to be less focused and were glancing all over the place. At their papers, the dice, whatever Pinkie was holding, and just around the table in general. It looked like they may have been taking the game more seriously than anyone else. Except that may have been because they were against going after the goblins to start with.

Finally, there was Pinkie. She already sat back down and was apparently trying to reassure whatever Sunset seemed worried about. The phrases "it's all a game" and "don't worry, it's in good fun" were loud enough for me to hear.

At least she has the right mindset, I told myself. I had to be careful though. If I let anyone think that for too long they'd get reckless. Kind of like what Pinkie was already doing running ahead of the party.

I think now's a good time to nip that in the bud. Sorry Pinkie. That may have sounded apathetic but it sadly wasn't as such. Especially since I was hiding behind my screen with a grin too evil to belong to someone feeling guilty.

When attention fell back to me, I perked back up from my screen with the smile without trace and spoke. "The trail through the woods turns wider and thinner as you go but its easy enough to drive a cart through. Some of the wider areas are even big enough to turn the oxen around should you need to.

"However, as you progress through this small wood, you realize that the trail seems to have been naturally made by the goblins going up and down constantly. You assume that they've lived out quite a while.

"Now with Glemerr." I turned to Pinkie and saw she was excited for her moment in the spotlight. I told her that I had a story for her but we didn't have time to go over it. Also I didn't have a way to send it to her since I didn't have anyone's email.

"Despite popular opinion on orcs, you don't know the wilderness too well. You were a city girl," I introduced. Exposition was my only method of telling her. "Except, I don't think the change in scenery's bothering you," I said with a fake shrug.

As though to agree with me, Pinkie let out a small war cry as she held up a twenty-sided die.

"Exactly," I said in a chuckle. "And in your glorious rampage of justice," I called out with a deep, monstrous tone. "As you bound ever forward," I then switched my voice from monstrous growl to innocent happy-go-lucky. "are you ready to have your own mini-adventure?"

"AAAAAAAAAUGH—Wait, what?!" Pinkie's face lit up as the others had looks ranging from confused to interested and even worried from Rarity and Applejack especially.

It was likely a combination of the girls worried about Pinkie's character alone and the girls worried about me letting Pinkie run reckless in a game about imagination. And, I'll admit, letting the personification of ad-libbing do whatever she pleased sounded too fun to pass up.

Of course, I wasn't insane. Rarity and Fluttershy had given me a few warnings about 'Pinkie just being Pinkie.' And while I didn't really know what that meant, I've met people like Pinkie before. I could probably handle it.

"A mini-adventure," I repeated. "You split off from the party and something's going to happen to you alone. You up for it?"

Pinkie slammed the die she was holding on the table and her grin began stretching past her face.

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Am—" Rainbow leaned across the table and put a hand over Pinkie's mouth.

"Yes, yes she is," Rainbow told me almost pleadingly. "Just go with it, please?"

I saw the other girls giving me knowing nods. Except for Twilight who didn't seem as 'in the loop' as they were.

I gave a mock sigh. I had a good punchline. "Alright, that's fair. In that case, would it be alright if everyone but Pinkie stepped out of the room for a minute?"

Sunset blinked. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing bad," I explained. "Since it's Glemerr's Mini-Adventure, only Pinkie Pie's gonna be a part of it. It's like the whispers; it adds flare."

"Well...I s'ppose that ain't too much." Applejack started to stand. "Can we 'least wait outside tha door?"

"That'd be perfect actually. If you're nearby we can get you if we need anything."

Rarity bit the corner of her lip. "Well...Is it absolutely necessary?"

Before I answer, Pinkie did it for me. "Aw, come on Rarity! If you stay than you'll know everything that's gonna happen!"

"That'd be nice," Sunset mumbled under her breath. I tried hiding my smile from that.

When the girls saw that Pinkie didn't want to budge, they relented.

After wishing Pinkie good luck, and Sunset whispering something to her on the way out, the girls retreated to the hallway and left Pinkie as she sat there playing with the dice in her hand. Somehow, Pinkie was bouncing it back and forth between her hands as if the plastic die was a rubber ball.

Huh. I guess that's 'Pinkie just being Pinkie.' Weird...But not bad. I told myself not to question it, that's what Rarity and Flutters said anyway, and sat back in my chair. "Ready to start?"

"Am I?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Ar..." I caught myself. As much as I wanted to prove Rainbow wrong, we were on the clock now. The girls were waiting outside and I didn't want to take forever.

"Sounds like you are," I answered. "Then let's get this started. I believe you were still bounding forward?"

"Oh, right. Give me a second." Pinkie brought a fist up to her mouth and cleared her throat and held that pose.

"..." I waited for her but after a solid ten seconds of silence I began rolling my jaw.

She's gonna wait until I say something isn—

As though interrupting my thoughts, Pinkie let out a deafening war cry.

---

Glemerr's POV
Forest Trail

---

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!"

I kept running. Running as fast as I could. With no canals to leap over and no one to duck around, I covered ground faster than normal.

I had been at top speed for all of five minutes. The path curved to one side or another but mostly it kept straight. Good thing; I would have been so lost if I had to pick a road to go down.

It wasn't like back home. No water flow to follow and no landmarks. Just leaves and dirt. Too many leaves. Too much dirt too. The concrete felt nicer to run on. No sudden rocks or sticks in the road. Maybe a tooth though. Or a nail that fell off of a building.

I looked over my shoulder. The others weren't there. Weird. Why weren't they there? Some of them said that we needed to fight the goblins so I figured at least a few of them would've been coming. Like Scythe Elf or Hood Woman. Maybe even Armor Lass, assuming her legs could've kept up.

To tell the truth, I was never good with names. I knew mine. Glemerr! And then a couple from back home like Mord and Ugo. Everyone else was fine with me calling them whatever.

But still, none of them came? Maybe I ran too fast for them. Aside from Knife Guy. He seems fast. Not me fast but...Fast enough.

---

3rd Person POV
The Classroom

---

After Pinkie telling Story that she keeps running forward, Story rolled a couple of dice behind his screen. Although despite the excited grin Pinkie was keeping on her face, her expression started tensing up a little.

With each roll, Pinkie watched those same tendrils of energy from the other day started to stretch out from beyond Story's dice. One even stretching towards Pinkie's direction. That one caused her to lean to the side.

When Story finished rolling a third time, with a tendril going through the table and below, they all faded away as though turning invisible.

"Now Pinkie," Story looked up. "I need you to roll me a perception check. Disadvantage."

A bead of sweat started forming from under Pinkie's puffy hair. "Okay," she cheered.

There were only two dice for her to choose from. The regular die she already had which was now pink with yellow and blue numbers. It changed colors like everyone else's. But the die she got from Sunset was different still.

Like Story almost recognized, the die had turned rubber, with the base looking like a swirl of light reds and pinks. Almost like a ball of cotton candy. The numbers and symbols on the other hand were multiple colors and looked like a child drew them. They were differing sizes and imperfect but that's what gave it a sense of charm.

Pinkie took in a small breath and gave out a small 'wee' as she rolled the dice. She rolled a 2 and a 4.

Her 'wee' was short-lived.

After counting the number appearing on the table, Pinkie's grin was now weaker but still there.

"Five...?" She shrugged pitifully.

Story bit his lip. "Okay...Now roll initiative."

Author's Note:

Something I want to mention here, Ricven's song is to the tune of Skyrim's The Dragonborn Comes song. In this link listen from 0:12-0:41 seconds and that's where the lines Ricven sings fit in.

---

Originally, I had the story written up past this point when I first wrote it. But when I decided to rewrite the story, I had to reroll a few things too. Like I said in the story summary, I do IRL rolls for whatever happens in the game. And I normally write them down but I don't write all of them.

Well, one of the things I had to write had a different outcome which butterfly effected the entire story from then on. Which meant rerolling everything.

I rewrote this Author's Note some time after posting this chapter so by this point I've caught up. So, as someone from the past writing this Author's Note for the future of this chapter, I hope you're enjoying the story!

Cheers,
-Zeke

Comments

[Spacemarine64]

I would love to see the character sheets, I havent played 5e, but I have played quite a bit of pathfinder.

[4428Gamer]

9889182
i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/028/727/Screen_Shot_2019-02-26_at_3.38.50_PM.png
Oh don't worry. I haven't run out of tricks yet.
I hope you're enjoying the story though!

9858407
Hey, I don't mind a good rant! Rants are what make this more fun!

9887687
I'll start putting them up then. Look out for the author notes on the bottom, I'll probably put one out when it's appropriate (also to make sure nothing's spoiled about them).

[Moonlight Tome]

"Well," Twilight spoke next, keeping her voice low and bored as Vareén would. "Splitting up is even more dangerous. There have been wolves howling in the distance behind us. If there's more goblins we would need everyone to fight them off."

Vareén=Raven

Am I correct? If so: FCKING GENIUS!!!!!!!

[Talipedsnake780]

I would love to see these character sheets, I'm especially interested in what sunsets subclass is.

[bright spark]

"Oh my god, she just ran in"

[Bookwurm666]

Oh right, Trixie was there, I blinked. After seeing the book I forgot all about that. We'll need to figure out what to do with her.

I would personally recommend Cement shoes and a lake personally

[Bookwurm666]

10193070
I was thinking the same thing

[Supertoe]

Rarity, it's an unspoken rule that GM gets best chair and first crack at snacks. You aren't getting the teacher's chair I'm afraid.