Return to Equestria

by David Silver

50 - Imagine That

David sat behind a tall GM screen. He had a tablet between himself and it, having pulled up a suite of assisting software to speed things along. "You push forward into that foggy hallway, each step echoing off the wet bricks around you. You have only yourself and your trusted friends to rely on, knowing danger lurks from every other angle."

Onyx squeaked and hugged Joypad for security while Gerome grinned like he was enjoying it a bit much.

David let a d20 roll. It meant nothing. It meant everything. His players could hear it, and know he was thinking wicked thoughts of the one who prepared the trouble ahead of them. "The smell of the fog becomes denser, fouler with every step."

Joypad reached onto the table and nudged her figure forward, a brave knight of a pony. "Well, I'm not scared. What do I see, besides fog?"

Onyx willed her piece forward in her magic. "I'm right behind her!"

The store had a vast treasure trove of pieces. David never actually got to play with those before, but it was fun, so he grabbed some, extending the hallway they were in. "You come into a larger room." He spread out the walls to either side, piecing the room they were entering. "The fog abates somewhat, allowing you to, barely, see the other side. There..." He slapped down a little dias with a chest on it. "You see something glittering."

Gerome brought his hooves together. "Is that what we came for?"

"Too easy." Joypad nudged her figure closer. "But we won't know if we don't check it out."

"Unfortunately..." David set down another pony, and another. "It seems you're not alone. Emerging from the same fog from other angles come other would-be adventurers, their eyes locked on that prize. They spot you as you spot them, surprise on their faces." He leaned one figure back, shaking it a bit as if to imitate it talking. "'Who're you?! We got here first!' proclaims the one in front, an agitated pegasus with a scowl as wide as their wings."

Joypad tossed her mane, looking to the little angry figurine and leveling a hoof at them. "Well, that's not how I saw it. That chest was right in front of us before you all showed up."

Onyx shook her head quickly. "Let's not be rash."

David leaned back another figurine, an earth pony. "'Y-yeah! Let's... stay calm,' agrees one of their side." He switched back to the pegasus leader. "'Stay calm?!'" He shook the figure angrily with their words. "'How can I stay calm? They want to take our stuff!'"

Joypad threw up her hooves. "We don't even know what's in there yet! We could be arguing over nothing!"

David turned both minis towards Joypad's minis. Quiet filled the area. The earth pony figure was nudged forward. "'She has a point...'"

David sat back. "Sounds like it's time for a roll." He locked eyes with Joypad. "You can try a Kindness roll, taking Onyx's suggestion, or..."

"A loyalty roll." Joypad was already bouncing a d20 between her hooves. "Because they aren't taking our stuff."

"Which will it be?" David leaned forward, fingers steepled. "Your choices affect your party."

Gerome raised a hoof. "We can at least check out what it is before we get worked up about it."

David jumped. His phone was ringing melodically suddenly. "Who?" He knew Joypad was right there. There weren't many other ponies he'd pause for. He swatted his phone until it quieted. "Sorry about that."

Joypad huffed. "Alright, alright." She let the die fly. "Let's see what we're fighting about first." The die tumbled and rolled, slowing to a 14. "That good enough?"

"What's your score?" asked David, pointing at her sheet.

Joypad grabbed her sheet and pulled it up for a look. "My kindness is... 12."

Sensing an opportunity, he looked to Onyx. "Want to help?"

"Sure!" Onyx willed her d20 out in an energetic arc that ended in a 16. "Woo! Just had the put the beat down." She drummed her hooves on the table with excitement.

"With your calm voices, you two manage to ease the situation." He nudged the pegasus forward. "He agrees to wait and see what it is. Maybe it's nothing good, and even if it is, you could all talk it out, right?"

Joypad looked uncertain of that, but Gerome shoved his piece forward. "I search for traps."

That was a more experienced thing to immediately think of. Maybe there had been a trap there, maybe not, but David called for a check, and announced that one had been spotted.

"Oh ha! I'm ready for this." He waggled his die so excitedly. "Gonna disarm that trap." The mares were cheering him on as he made his roll. 1. His face fell, hooves clopped to faces with communal despair.

Onyx flipped her sheet over suddenly with a twinkling horn. "Wait. Wait wait! I got this!" She thrust the paper at David. "This!" She curled a hoof around to point at a part. "This helps, right?"

David had to push the paper back for a look. 'Timely saver,' read the Feat's name. "Oh, right. Sec." He did not remember exactly what that did. He grabbed the rulebook and flipped it open rapidly to find the answer. "Timely saver... uh hmm... and then... Alright!" He set the book down open to the page. "That means you get a check to save your troubleshooter at the last second. Let's see it."

Onyx grinned so broadly her cheeks squeaked with the effort. "In the nick of time--" She flung the die out. "You will stop, on a dime!" The die stopped, not glowing with her magic. 20. Cheers erupted, not just from the players, but other ponies that had been wandering past and took notice of the dramatic moment.

"Razor sharp needles explode in all directions." He made an explosive gesture out from the chest. "Ready to impale your friend, but you're there." He grabbed Onyx's figure, but it began to move on its own.

Onyx floated it over with a dramatic, "Nooooo!" as her piece collided with Gerome's, both falling to the side.

David nodded at the two fallen tokens. "Knocked down, but largely unharmed, quiet settles on the room." The applause in the room grew louder with the excitement of the play. "But they have words about it." He wiggled the pegasus with their words, "Hey! Did you wreck what's in there?!" He went for the earth pony. "Calm down, they almost got hurt... I'm glad we weren't--"

"Ugh!" He began stomping off the pegasus figure. "Why do I bother with you?!" And off he went, stomp stomp stomp.

Onyx willed her figure back upright. "That was nuts... Hey, thanks for being cool." She fired a hooves up at the mini of the earth pony.

"T-thanks," voiced David. "But I'm alone now..."

Joypad nudged her figure next to the earth pony. "No you're not. You got three ponies right here." She pointed to herself and the two others. "See?"

"Oh, um." David wriggled the earth pony. "I can join you?"

Gerome shrugged. "Why not? What's your specialty?" And so the party grew by one member that day, and one pony in the crowd sat down, eager to take up the shy earth pony as their character.

She giggled with joy. "I'm not that shy, but this should be fun! I'm Windy, by the way." She tapped hooves against each of the other players and David's fist.

Play devolved as the other players there, new and experienced, eagerly helped Windy create her persona, the demure earth pony that had been left behind by her adventuring partner and signed on with the next so quickly. David jumped as something nudged his elbow. It was Carty, looking with a smile. "Hey."

"Hey," she echoed back. "Sounds like all kinds of fun is happening over here" This fact clearly pleased her. "Which reminds me, when you get that book ready, you bring that over here. Pretty sure a few ponies would like to get that human book." She raised a brow. "Is it about humans?"

"Alicorns, actually." He let the others work on that character. They didn't need him for that. "I didn't see any support for them so far."

"Because they're kinda brand new." Carty shrugged. "But you're not wrong. No alicorns in any of the books... yet. Better finish fast, or you won't be the first."

"Wait." David pointed at Carty. "Do you know any layout artists? I could really use one."

Carty sank to her haunches. "Me?! I run a store, not a publishing company. You already try one of those?"

The image of human publishing companies with its myriad challenges danced in David's head... But these were ponies. surely ponies handled it differently... "Do you know one I should try?"

"Well... there's Discord House. I hear the unicorns--" She pointed the way. "Have Tree Chopper Group. Then there's Harper, and Macapple. Thos're the big one! Pick one and try them out. Worst they'll say is no, and that's free." She nodded with confidence in this. "You could try a company that makes these books." She grabbed for the book David had been using and flipped it over to show the company tag on the bottom front. "But you're also their competitor, so... maybe? Maybe not?"

Maybe... "Worth checking, thanks." He offered a fist and got a hoof against it. Hoof to heart. "But, for now." He twirled around back at his plays. "We have adventure to get back to. Just because you got this, it's hardly the end. It's not even in there."

Joypad shrugged. "But there's a Book of Fiery Secrets. That's cool, right?" She lifted a random book that had no fiery secrets. "Oooo. Can I use the secrets?"

"You'll need some time to read it, which this place is hardly the place for. You need to find that coin, remember?"

Gerome sighed softly. "Or we can't save the town, right. Gotta focus. Book time comes later."

The game went on, with ups and downs, but they all seemed to have fun with it, to David's pleasure. "And this feels like a good break point," he announced just as a bad guy came crashing through a wall. "Will our heroes be able to stand against this? We'll find out, next week."

Onyx clapped with joy. "That was fun. I should get going home though. Thanks for inviting me!"

Joypad slid to her hooves. "Me too, but I'll be going with David. We live in the same place and all."

"Lucky." Gerome tried to hide his blush by putting his things away.

David didn't have a lot to put away. Most of his things were borrowed from the store. "Carty?" She looked up from where she had been. "Want any help straightening up?"

"I won't say no." She finished a transaction quickly. "But you don't have to. You did me a favor today."

And yet, he was already putting things away. Seeing him, Joypad joined in, then Gerome. Windy, on the other hoof, was already gone. Soon they had everything neatly placed where they had started, leaving the table nice and clean for the next group that'd come in.

They waved at Carty on the way out, but she wasn't having that, shoving a hoof in their way. "Thanks for the helping hoof. See you next week?" All three of them nodded. "Great! I'll keep your spot warm." It was only then she let them flee.

As they walked home, smiles on their faces, David's phone rang. He had ignored it before, but he wasn't in the middle of a game, so he dug it out. Pegasoft? "Hello?" He called into the phone.

"David, buddy, pal!" The excited voice of the media manager was hard to miss. "Good news and bad news."

"What's the... good news?" He clicked it over to speaker phone.

"Good news! We have another human on the team that can live locally!"

David tensed, imagining. "And the bad news is..."

"We won't be needing your services for a while."

Author's Note:

Roleplay time! Roleplay in a story? Characters playing characters? Absurd.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

They found someone who knew the fine print was there, but didnt realise it was also over there, and thre, and a bit hidden behind the coffee machine overe there?

Discord publishing house? I wonder if there will be any A from the Q?

[David Silver]

11534734
You are my most loyal reader of this story. :D

[Dravkwn]

11534763
Other you has been locally reverse outsourced.

[David Silver]

11534850
Oops! And he did it to himself, ultimately.

[howard035]

So fun to read David as a GM!

shacking it a bit as if to imitate it talking

I believe that should be "shaking. "

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

I usually read this story as soon as it's updated. I guess that I should comment on it at least occasionally.

[David Silver]

11539293
Fixed! GMing is a thing I do maybe too often :D

[howard035]

11539397
That's not possible! (Unless you mean you don't get to be a player very often).