Idol Daydreams

by Caffeinated Pinkie

Chapter 7

Once again, under the guise of night, changelings infiltrated Canterlot Castle. Plans were planned and schemes were schemed — all nefarious, of course — by the invaders. Or, more accurately, invader. Even still, this nefarious, scheming invader was role-playing. Worse yet, in a board game. Downright chilling.

This disturbing scene took place in the heart of the castle: the dining room. Shining Armor and Bold Bigflank bravely defended against the bug, holding their ground the best they could. Unfortunately, said bug had also taken their landlady, Topaz Showers, hostage. As a result, both protectors were far too cautious to elevate tensions further and had instead deigned to dine with the changeling over an intense game of Ogres and Oubliettes.

A cardboard barricade was set up on Shining’s side of the large wooden table, blocking enemies from seeing the tools of war and role-playing behind it. Near to Shining was Bold, bringing up the rear as a pegasus bard. On the other side of the table, Idol was playing as a unicorn solar angel, leaning conspicuously close to Topaz. Topaz was unsurprisingly a changeling mage.

“The train rolls up to the station,” Shining described. Everyone was quiet as they took in this vital piece of information.

Eventually, Topaz spoke up. “This train,” she began, “what color is it?”

Unsure, Shining looked down at his hidden materials. “Um, it’s pink with red hearts on it.”

“How far away is it?” Idol asked.

Shining quickly answered, “About fifty hooves.”

Idol nodded. “And how big is it?”

Both stallions stared at him in confusion before Shining hesitantly answered, “The engine is around thirty hooves long. The train itself is probably two-hundred-fifty.”

“I use my sword on it to detect good.”

Topaz heaved a sigh and rested her head on the table.

“It’s not good, Idol. It’s a train,” Shining slowly replied.

“I call out to it.”

Bold murmured quietly, “No, you don’t.”

Shining glared at Idol. “It. Won’t. Answer. It’s a train.”

Idol rubbed his chin. “I sheathe my sword and draw a bow. Does it respond in any way?”

Shining grit his teeth, creating audible grinding noises. “No, Idol. It’s a train.”

“Then I shoot it with my bow and roll to hit.”

Shining begrudgingly rolled a pair of dice. He sighed in defeat upon seeing the result.

“What happened?” Idol inquired.

The unicorn shook his head. “There is now a train with an arrow sticking out of it. Ponies boarding the train are giving you very odd looks.”

Idol only stared in confusion. “Was it not wounded?”

“Of course not, Idol! It’s a train!” Bold shouted, getting out of his seat.

The changeling gulped, visibly sweating. He wrung his hooves together. “But that was a plus-three arrow!”

Shining stood up as well, slamming his hooves on the table. The cardboard barrier fell over. “It’s a train, Idol, a train! If you really want to destroy it, you could try to get some explosives, but I don’t know why anypony would even try! It’s a bucking train!”

He breathed deeply and extended a hoof from his chest in a placating motion.

“I run away,” Idol eventually responded, meekly.

Again, Shining slammed his hooves on the table. A splintering sound and a sharp crack echoed around the room, but he paid it no mind. “It’s too late!” he exclaimed, manically, “You’ve awakened the train and it eats you!”

Despite having just died, Idol pumped a hoof in the air. “Hah! I knew it!”

Still with her head on the table, Topaz groaned. “Nice job, DM. He’ll be impossible now.”

Author's Note:

And so it is here, the fabled retelling of Idol Hooves and the Dread Train! This is arguably the most well-known conversation in The Changeling of Discourse server, even getting an audio reading by the talented Equinox3141!

As for why this is out so much faster than many of the other chapters, I just happened to have an excess of time recently. There are a few more conversations that have been written out in script format at this point, but the rest are much longer than most of the previous. Hopefully, those will be done sooner rather than later.

In other news, find the original conversation for this chapter below!
So, Shining Armor is the DM

However, here is the version this chapter and the reading are based on.
Idol Hooves and the Dread Train

---

And so the editors have continued their campaign against horrific grammar errors.

• Equinox3141
• KarmaSentinal
• Keybounce

Comments

[hanatoro]

No! Not THE DREAD GAZEBO!

[Caffeinated Pinkie]

11002851
It is quite dreadful, isn't it?

[Trimontar]

the train is a giant mimic

[keybounce]

My favorite treatment of the gazebo in ponyworld has to be CherryBerry making friends with it while on Mars.

[Caffeinated Pinkie]

11029615
Oh, I forget about that. Honestly, pretty great.