Roll for Initiative

by David Silver

7 - End Episode 3 -Chadwick Bound

With their somewhat run-down, but functional, wagon, the heroes set off in the direction of the fortress of Chadwick.

"Castle."

Spike lifted his shoulders. "But if it has a town in it, isn't it more of a fortress?"

"Still it's name. Chadwick Castle." He gave a sure nod, eyes closed.

"Alrighty." Spike made a little note for later. "To Chadwick Castle!"

While the two brave warriors... waited on their cart, Garbunkle tried to make small talk with his companion, "So, this is your home to--castle?"

McBiggun nodded, the wind blowing softly through his mane. "Ayup. Ah was raised t' help protect it... And... maybe ah failed."

Garbunkle frowned at the serious tones. "If this foul wizard is as powerful as he seems, perhaps there is little you could have done, even if you were there. Your being away gives you an opportunity."

"Like what?"

Garbunkle lifted his shoulders. "It means you can track the fiend down, and exact revenge." He clenched a fist and shook it in the air. "It means we, together, can learn what makes this wizard tick and take him down, forever, saving countless other ponies' lives instead of dying trying to stop him at Chadwick."

"Ya might have a point there." McBiggun sat up a bit in his seat. "Ya know magic, right?"

"Certainly." Garbunkle nodded as he clutched his staff and laid it across his lap. "It is my profession."

"Don't suppose ya could teach me a thin' or two?"

"Your talents lie clearly more in the physical department, my friend. What makes you want to learn magic?"

He shrugged. "Well, ah am a unicorn, right?"

"So why not before now?" Garbunkle's brow rose with inquiry.

"Jus' never needed it... Maybe against an evil wizard, might be time." He gave a firm nod. "Can't hurt t' have tricks."

"I'm glad you used that word. Learning magic as a whole takes years of dedication."

Spike snickered softly. "I got to see Twilight trying. Trust me, even with her, it isn't a fast thing."

Big Mac nodded as he shuffled in his seat. Grabbing another slice of pizza, he asked, "So kin ah learn somethin'? Ah mean, ah don't need t' learn everythin' all at once." He chomped into his slice with a great bite, sighing softly before he swallowed and went for the next.

Garbunkle waved his staff at his friend, the end of it starting to glow softly. "We can start with the basics! Any unicorn worth their salt should know how to make light. For your kind, it comes almost naturally. Almost. You must learn how to start using that horn on your head, besides for swinging that sword. Still, since you know how to use it for that, making it glow shouldn't be that hard."

"Ah'm ready." McBiggun clopped a hoof down on the cart they were riding.

So their lesson began. Garbunkle likened McBiggun's horn to his own magic staff and they practiced getting him to make it glow as a way to pass time.

"Say." Big Mac leaned in towards Spike. "Do ya know how to do that? Ah mean, with Twilight?"

Spike lifted his shoulders. "In theory? I don't have a horn myself, but I heard some of her lessons, and her repeating them as she studied for tests. She wasn't quiet about that back then, and sometimes not even now, but she's gotten better."

Big Mac got a big dopey smile. "So, if ah got a horn, ya'd be able to show me how t' use it?"

Spike let his head fall to the side a little before it snapped back upright. "I could try. I mean, if you asked, I would." He smiled a little. "What are friends for? But... you don't have a horn."

"Nope." Big Mac deflated a little before tapping his hooves together.

"Why do you wanna be one, anyway? A unicorn, I mean."

"Oh, uh, I don't!" Big Mac glanced around furtively before grabbing another slice of pizza.

"Dude, it's alright. I'm not trying to make fun of you or anything, but why a unicorn?" Spike held up a placating hand. "Just curious."

"It's... not a unicorn... specific like?" He didn't even look as if he was sure of his own words. "Ah jus' wanna be... important, and helpful. Ah wanna be a hero, not jus' a worker." He pointed further into the castle. "Twilight's a nice pony, but what does she do?"

"She reads a lot?" Spike lifted his shoulders softly. "Then she saves the world when they ask her to, then she mostly goes back to reading if there isn't a friendship crisis that needs her."

"And what kinda 'crisis' do ah fix?" Big Mac leaned in. "Even mah sister, who ain't no unicorn, gets ta save the day. Apple Bloom just... She's so proud of Applejack. Ah know she's not tryin' ta be mean t' me, but it ain't hard to see how big she gets every time she hears somethin' 'bout the adventures Applejack's done got herself inta."

Spike sank his head onto a propped up hand. "You're telling me? Half the 'adventures' I go on with Twilight, I feel like I'm just there for comic relief, and holding stuff they don't feel like carrying. Tell me how fair that is! Twilight could pick up everything I could, twice, with less effort than me, and there I am, still hauling the load."

He waved his free hand over the table and figures. "At least, here, we're the stars of the adventure, and no one can take that from us." Spike hopped upright. "Speaking of that! It would be a bit boring if our heroes got to Chadwick without any problems at all."

Big Mac's ears pricked. "What happens?"

It was late evening, the sun barely a hint in the sky overhead. They were just putting the finishing touches on their camp when new light spilled over them. It was no single light, but more of a... cloud of light! All sorts of different colors as it washed over the campsite.

Sir McBiggun drew his blade and looked around in alarm. "What's going on?!"

"It's a migration of Will o' wisps!" explained Garbunkle even as he dived for cover behind a rock.

Big Mac tapped at his chin with a hoof. "Huh, bet Fluttershy could fix this real fast."

"But she isn't here," noted Spike with a shake of his head. "We are, so we have to deal with it."

"Well... then..." He considered what Fluttershy might try to do, then thought of Pinkie Pie, who had defeated an entire colorful hoard once before. He pressed his hooves together, smiling. "Ah know what I do."

Sir McBiggun sat down in the middle of the rushing color storm and cleared his mind. There was a rattle of dice in the distance that signified he had... succeeded at creating light at the end of his horn, flickering but present. He began to sway and bob softly. The whirling mass of lights parted around him, motes that matched his light starting to circle him.

McBiggun stood up and started to walk away from the camp, leading the way with his horn as he went. With the movement of some of the flow, others began to move with them.

"Clever." Spike hiked a thumb. "They like to stick together, so if you get some of them following you, you divert the migration." He clapped his hands together. "With your quick thinking, the camp and wagon are spared the wrath of a bajillion will o' wisps!"

Big Mac nodded with a satisfied grin. "Ah come back once they're on their way n' show off mah light t' Garbunkle.

Spike rolled a die over towards Big Mac. Without having to say a thing, Big Mac scooped up the die and let it fly.

McBiggun returned to camp with a satisfied smile, proud of his accomplishment. "Look! Ah learned what ya taught nice and fast."

The strain of holding the light for so long, coupled with his desire to show off different colors, came together in a rainbow of sparks before McBiggun's horn went dark. "Oh..."

Garbunkle hopped up onto the rock he had been hiding on before. "A good show, friend McBiggun. You have to practice more, but that is the way these things work." He shrugged softly. "For your first real go at it, a very good job. You should have seen how things went the first time I tried to get my staff to light up properly."

McBiggun rubbed at his mildly sore horn as he sat down near Garbunkle. "Yeah? What happened?"

"Quite simple, I set the poor thing ablaze." Garbunkle chuckled softly as he waved his non-scorched staff around. "It was my practice staff, of course, long before I got this one. Light may seem like a simple trick, but it is still a flow of magic, ready to do what you wish, or go out of control with its own will."

"Ah'll practice." McBiggun nodded firmly at Garbunkle. "Thanks fer showin' me th' trick."

With the immediate danger put aside, our heroes bed down for the night so that they would be ready for more adventure the next day!

Big Mac rose from his seat. "Sounds like a good spot t' take a break."

"Yeah, good call." He plucked up the remains of the pizza, holding cardboard high as he hopped from his seat. "Help me clean up?"

"Ayup." Big Mac started gathering things and putting them away alongside Spike, returning the room to order. "So, what'll happen at Chadwick?"

Spike made two finger guns at Big Mac. "We'll find out when we get there and not a moment before then. What's the fun in knowing ahead of time?"

"Oh, yeah... Ah was... just wondering..." He squirmed in place, shuffling from hoof to hoof restlessly.

"Yeah?" Spike tossed the last bit of trash away. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, y'see... Ah was... hopin' maybe... we could save McBiggun's pa?" Big Mac's ears fell. "Ah ain't got much chance, you know... in the real world."

Spike cringed, "O-oh, sorry! I didn't mean..." He had killed Big Mac's fictional father without a second thought. His teeth showed in a grimace. "I've been such a doofus."

"Nope." Big Mac set a big hoof on Spike's shoulder. "It happens, part of life. Jus' wanna chance to... do somethin', ya know?"

"Yeah..." Spike perked up. "Well, we have to get to Chadwick first before we even know for sure what's going on there."

"Ayup." Big Mac nodded firmly. "We'll get there, deliver what we promised, then check in at the castle." His expression turned from eagerness to curiosity. "Ah mean, ah ain't the only one who wants ta do things. Maybe Princess Schmarity's around."

Spike glanced left and right. "I... doubt she'd be there, but that would be a happy coincidence, right? We probably have way more adventures ahead of us before we track her down."

"But we'll do it." He stood up. "We're together, fer the long haul."

Spike's arms swayed forwards and backwards. "For the... long haul..." He reached out his right hand. "Together?"

Big Mac met the hand with a hoof, bumping it against Spike. "Together. Adventurers against evil and dark."

Spike hopped up and gave his larger friend a hug, a brief embrace before dropping to the ground. "I'll see you next time, alright? We have ponies to save!"

"Maybe even a dragon?"

Spike blinked. "Oh, yeah... I guess maybe?"

"Well, why not." He pointed down at Spike. "Some of them are right nice people, and if they need savin', why shouldn't we help 'em just like anyone else?"

Spike flashed a big grin. "Or griffon, or even a diamond dog. If there's someone in need of our heroic effort, we're ready to do our part."

"Ayup." Big Mac nodded firmly. "Take care, Spike." He turned for the door and walked away in no particular hurry.

Spike gathered up his book and bag of dice. "Good session"

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

"Well, y'see... Ah was... hopin' maybe... we could save McBiggun's pa?" Big Mac's ears fell. "Ah ain't got much chance, you know... in the real world."

A few other connected moments in the story, too. While Shining Armor was a better player with the rules, he didnt get to where Spike and Mac are getting, here.

I wonder if it would also still happen if the delivery boy stayed...

[Voldine]

gathered up his big and bag of dice.

His big...what?

[David Silver]

8381805
Oops, should be book, fixed!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Good session indeed. Some great character interaction here. This is clearly good for both players.

[RadicalDishonesty]

8383352
Hah. That's a good way of putting it.

[OmniFox]

Jolly good session!