Lairs & Lycanthropy: Revival

by NeoNagasaki

The Defensive Pieces

(A quick note to everyone. I know this chapter is a little exposition and dialogue heavy, but this is a necessary evil to the story I’m trying to write. Before anything interesting can happen I need to establish the characters somewhat and give background information on the game world, sorry.)

Darkness descended over the small village of Ponyville. The gravel was brushed aside and crunched underhoof as she made her way towards the nearby building. A single beam of light raced out of a window and crossed her path. The mare slowed to a halt as she reached the door, adjusting the brown hat on her head carefully before reaching up and cracking her hoof against the door twice. There was a pause before the door creaked open just a crack. Applejack gave a look of confusion as she looked into the crack, seeing a single purple eye. A hushed voice came from the other side of the door “Did you come alone?”

Applejack rolled her eyes “Oh for pete’s sake Twilight open the door already. It’s cold out here at night and I’m naked.”The door shut almost immediately and the sound of scrambling could be heard as the chain was undone. Finally the door opened and Twilight stood on the other side, looking about before she grabbed Applejack and pulled her inside. “Look sugarcube, don’t you think you’re overdoing it just a bit?” A frown crossed her face as she looked her friend over, frankly concerned.

Twilight sighed before looking up to her friend with a smile, resetting the chain on the door. “Sorry Applejack, I might have gotten a little worked up but I need to keep this a secret.” Applejack checked her feet for a moment, then pressed on into the study with Twilight right on her heels. Inside the room the other four guests sat around a large table Twilight had cleared off and set in the center of the room. As Applejack set her hind hoof inside the door Pinkie bounced to her feet, landing on the table excitedly “Applejack’s here! Applejack’s here! Remember when Twilight said that we would find out when Applejack was here back at that time? That’s now! Now we’re going to know why we’re all here!”

“Yes.” Twilight said, escorting Applejack to the table. As Pinkie pie bounced off the table Twilight set the stack of books down next to game pieces. “First off I’d like to thank you for all agreeing to meet me here. I recently acquired a new book, one for the game Lairs & Lycanthropy, a role-playing game. I need to play it, but I simply can’t play it by myself.” She pushed the player’s handbook onto the table and everypony craned their necks forward to look at it. The picture of a large grey monster with a myriad of eyes, horrid claws, and rows of sharp teeth dripping with saliva greeted their gaze. “It’s a part of Equestrian history, and it’s simply criminal that nopony even seems to know it existed.”

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down, showing her usual restraint when it came to such matters “Oh boy! A game! I LOOVE games! How do I play?” Pinkie quickly shot forward and grabbed hold of the manual and opened it, immediately scanning the pages with laser like focus.

As Pinkie Pie picked up the manual Rainbow Dash leaned over, taking another look at the cover of the book. “When the hell was that a part of Equestrian history?” She demanded, an incredulous look filled her face as she shoved a hoof towards the picture on the book.

“An’ we really needed to do all this secrecy stuff over a game?” Applejack muttered, raising an eyebrow inquisitively at Twilight as she took her seat at the table.

Twilight shook her head sadly as she slid the dungeon master’s guide in front of her “It’s not part of history because it’s accurate, it’s a part of history because it was a popular game that got rubbed out of the history books. Ponies managed to shun the game into non-existence.” This had managed to upset Twilight in the day or two since she had learned about it. It might not be the most important bit of knowledge but ponies managed to suppress information with a sheer wall of ignorance. In fact if Twilight had never found the book it would have remained unknown to her forever. She wasn’t quite sure why but it just didn’t sit right with her.

“Umm…” Flutershy’s demure voice spoke up now “Why did it get shunned? Is it dangerous?” Her pink mane was brushed to the side as she eyed the cover uncomfortably.

Twilight’s crestfallen attitude perked up into a small giggle. Fluttershy; always acting ungodly cautious, despite living right next to the Everfree Forest. “No Fluttershy. It’s not dangerous, ponies just don’t like the idea of danger in this country. I mean, the only truly violent thing ponies have dealt with lately is that fight with the changelings and you saw how prepared we were with that… ”

Applejack’s head dropped a bit “Well when you put it that way I suppose with Princess Celestia an all that magic most ponies don’t have to worry about fightin’ much.”

Twilight nodded “Yes, but they like to think that it’s because we’ve evolved past violence, instead of it being a condition of our protectors. I mean, we think war is throwing pie!”

Rainbow Dash broke into the conversation now, setting a hoof on the table with a devilish smile. “Allright! Count me in, now that I think about it a game where I get my hooves bloody might be a nice change of pace!” Fluttershy edged away from Rainbow’s eagerness towards violence. Still, Twilight thought, Rainbow and Pinkie down: two to go.

Rarity scoffed at the multi-coloured pony’s excited declaration. “Rainbow! Ugh Twilight, darling, you know I’d love to help you in any way I can. However playing a game about barbarically ripping one another apart is far from my forte. I’m a pony of refinement and class, I can’t possibly play this.”

“No!” Twilight insisted, her attention turning to the white unicorn. “That’s the great thing about this game. There is no set way to win this game, combat is a useful skill to be sure.” Twilight looked over to Rainbow reassuringly. “But being able to talk to nobility and get a network of allies is also crucial. We’ll need someone to make a good impression with the upper class to get things done. Nobility was a big thing back then.”

Rarity preened at the idea of mixing it up with the higher breed of pony from yesteryear. A sly smile crossed her face as she muttered “Well, I suppose if you need someone with poise and class to deal with the fairer element of your game I can throw my lot in.” She turned her head to the side, using her fuchsia mane to hide her smile.

Fluttershy looked away as her pink mane fell over her face. “Umm..Twilight, I don’t think I want to do this, it doesn’t sound like something I’d be very good at…anything.” Absently, she lifted up her hoof to scrape at the ground, brow furrowed.

Twilight stood up diplomatically and crossed around the table to the demure mare “Don’t say that Fluttershy, there’s lots of things that can help us out. Rainbow Dash will probably get beaten into the ground after doing something stupid.”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted in protest as she stood up, resulting in Applejack snorting at the insult.

Twilight smiled and shot Rainbow a playful glance, “When she gets beat up we’ll need someone to patch her up. You can be the one that takes care of people and patches us up when things go wrong.”

Fluttershy’s face brightened as she flapped her wings once excitedly “I can take care of everyone, and maybe find other people to help.”

The conversation quieted a bit as each of them contemplated how surviving in the flourishing age of Equestrian expansion would go. Slowly each of them, save Pinkie Pie, turned to look at Applejack.

Applejack’s head sunk a bit bashfully “Aw shoot everypony, I’ll play, s’long as it doesn’t get in the way of work n’ stuff. We have responsibilities here y’know.” With a smile she looked over the books, “Now c’mon Twilight, why don’cha explain the rules of this here game?”

Pinkie Pie set the manual back down on the table, “Done!” She announced, “I’m gonna be a bard! My music will bring joy to everyone!” With a fit of snickers she grabbed one of the character sheets Spike had drawn up and grabbed a quill.

Everyone shrugged as Pinkie Pie furiously scribbled onto her sheet and looked back to Twilight. Goddess she was glad to have good friends she could rely on. Yesterday when she found out the game was made for a party of adventurers she was worried she’d never get to try. Her horn lit up as the player’s handbook drifted overhead, finding its place at Twilight’s side. “Well, it’s a made up setting based off of oldenpony times, in the fledgling lands of Equestria. In this world pegasi and unicorns don’t exist.”

With this Rainbow dash reared back “What! No flying? That’s not fair!”

Applejack turned, giving Rainbow Dash a dirty look “Oh shut the hell up. I reckon not having hollow bones will make you a might sturdier.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond but was cut off but Twilight, “It’s the rules Rainbow!” Rainbow took the hint and shut her mouth, grumbling incoherently about it. “Players not having flight makes the challenge interesting. Later on as you level up you can pick up new abilities or prestige classes. For now let’s focus on the basics.” Twilight cleared her throat and continued with her lesson. “So everypony is an earth pony, next we each choose a class that gives us special abilities for the game. Pinkie picked bard already, bard is a support class that can do a bit of everything, and whose singing can help her friends.”

Rarity smiled approvingly, likely remembering the first time they heard giggle at the ghosties. “Well I for one think that’s a marvelous choice for you Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie stopped working on her sheet long enough to look up and beam with pride.

Twilight set the book down so the other ponies could take a look at it before she continued “Fluttershy would make an excellent druid. A druid looks after animals and takes care of everypony, they also get certain nature magic. The important one here is the ability to heal ponies, if you wouldn’t mind being our party healer and keeping us safe?”

Fluttershy looked around the table for a moment, “I can take care of ponies and our animal friends? That sounds wonderful.”

With a smile Twilight continued, “I will be playing a wizard, an extremely smart, versatile spellcaster.” Everyone around the room giggled. This class was such a break from Twilight’s usual norm you see. Normally her library/observatory/laboratory was used for athletic training. Twilight rolled her eyes as she pressed on: “So we’ve got three good classes but we need ponies to hold the front lines to balance us out. If we don’t we’ll just get trampled if we have to resort to violence. So I think Rainbow Dash could serve as our fighter on the front lines.”

“No.” Rainbow Dash answered flatly, turning the book about to show Twilight, “It says fighters get all bulked down with armor, armor that reduces speed. It’s bad enough I can’t fly, I’m not going to be slow on top of that.” Twilight opened her mouth to protest about team balance, but Rainbow’s icy stare made her back down.

“Fine…” Twilight uttered with a shrug. If you don’t want to be our fighter what do you want to be?”
Rainbow Dash stood up proudly “I’m gonna be a monk!” Fits of giggles and snickers erupted from the other mares around the room. “What!” Rainbow Dash demanded “They’re good a kicking ass and they get speed boost as they level up, it’s perfect!”

Twilight managed to upright herself first, stifling her giggles “Rainbow, monks are disciplined and careful, they’re like the polar opposite of you. In fact, a requirement for monks is that they be lawful. You know, respecting rules.”
Rainbow Dash sighed as the laughter died down “Well there’s no rule my character has to be exactly like me. My character will be all lame and always following the rules.” Rainbow smirked smugly, almost certain she could find a way around the rules of being a monk. It was really a shame she didn’t recognize the irony.

Twilight shook her head slowly “Okay okay, Rainbow can be a monk. Applejack can you run as our fighter?”

Applejack looked around the table at everypony slowly with a dismissive shrug “All right, I’ll be a fighter, but I don’t much appreciate not having much to me sides fightin’.”’

Twilight beamed as she started to pass out everyone’s character sheets “That just leaves you Rarity. Why don’t you be a sorcerer? They’re magicians too, but their main statistic is charisma. Your spell selection is more limited but you can focus it on things that will help us in our social aspect of the game.”

“Oh Twilight, I’m sure you know this game better than I do, whatever you think is best.” Rarity chimed. “I’ll be one of those sorcerer things you mentioned.”

Twilight nodded, “One last thing. The game needs someone to run it. This is the game matrix, or GM.” She picked up the multicoloured cube and set it down on the table. “When the game was made there was a lack of ponies who wanted to run the game, and a desire for it to be more immerse. So a few unicorns and an alicorn got together and created the GM. An adventure is pre-set in this one and it will run the game for us so we don’t have to keep track of the rules or anything.” Twilight picked up the dungeon master’s guide and held it up, “The GM keeps track of all the rules in this book, as well as…” Twilight stopped as a sheet of paper fell out of the book and gently floated to the table. A wince crossed Twilight's face as she stopped, gingerly picking up the paper and looking at it while her friends glanced over curiously. “It’s a character sheet.” She explained “A character from a pony who made me promise not to tell where I got this stuff.”

Pinkie looked up quickly “Foreverrrrrrr…” She started.

“Damn it Pinkie I remember!” Twilight folded the paper up and stashed it amongst the books. “Now, let’s make up our characters. We need to give them stats, what they’re good at, and give them a character history.”
The ponies worked for hours on making their characters exactly what they wanted. Rainbow was especially difficult; it took a full twenty minutes to talk her out of choosing a “more awesome” name. In fact it only stopped because Rarity managed to convince her there was no name more awesome than Rainbow Dash. Twilight gave her a hard time when her history just started without any mention of her childhood, and was only resolved when she made a barebones childhood story. Finally everypony finished and were happy, or at least content, with their character.

Twilight gathered up all the sheets and set them on top of Derpy’s sheet. “Allright girls I think we can call it tonight, what do you say we meet up at the same time next week and try this out?” Everyone nodded their agreement as they headed for the door. "Remember, try not to talk about this to anyone, okay?"

-----------------------------

A week later Twilight opened the door once more and her friends piled in. Although they had agreed not to talk about it during the week their excitement had been growing. Each of them had been secretly conversing with one another. Ideas about how they were going to have a great character, speculations about the storyline, how they could handle different scenarios. By the time they got the actual gaming table the excitement was palpable. Slowly they all filed in, sitting around the table and watching at Twilight set up. She unfolded all the character sheets and set them down on top of the rulebooks, then placed the GM on top.

Pinkie Pie quickly passed out cups and set out a bowl of funions and a bottle of mountain dew. Rainbow dash looked over, confused. “What the heck are those?” she asked in confusion.

Pinkie smiled broadly as she marched over to the GM “Thematically appropriate!” She responded with enthusiasm “Game on!” she yelled, hitting the GM on and stepping back. The GM lit up, glowing many different colours as it spun. Slowly it got faster and faster until it was just a blur. The world seemed to melt and reshape around the frightened ponies as they stepped away from the table, which sank into nothingness anyway. Eternity stretched out around them in all directions, a spiraling infinity of shapeless colour.

A deep voice echoed throughout this new world, dripping with sadism. “Oh, once again, confined to the limits of pitiful reality. Of course, I have to share it with you.” The world flashed a bright red. As it died down the outlines of massive claws came rushing toward them from all corners of the universe. “Just like you, Twilight, protected in a shell of complex rules. Rules I have to abide by. This isn’t freedom, it’s just another damn prison. But as long as I have to sit in your prison, you will sit in mine.” Something had gone horribly, horribly wrong. The claws descended on them as the universe compressed and contorted them, then the world faded to black.

Comments

[ALIENwolve]

Y'know, when someone tells me they wrote something as a "necessary evil," I tend to doubt them.

I'm pretty sure there is no such thing, if you can work out how to integrate the "evils" fluidly into a story.

Additionally, the frivolous cursing is frivolous. It conveys nothing special and could even be interpreted as out of character, given the characters.