It hurt. Everything began to hurt as Roland resumed consciousness. He was on a hardwood floor, the same one he remembered being flung onto. He remembered putting the disk into the reader, starting up the game, clicking a button... and then an explosion.
Prying himself off of the floor, Roland looked around the room: his bedroom and study. It was very bland and void of anything interesting, at least to the common eye. He liked to counter that argument with the fact that he didn't need to remind himself of what he enjoyed every time he woke up. There was a simple, double bed at one end of the narrow room, and an equally simple desk on the other, complete with desktop and toppled office chair.
However, the monitor on the desk was nowhere to be seen. Only scraps of plastic and a large scorch mark were left on the desk.
Although, as he looked at the ruined desk, Roland noticed that everything seemed to be a bit blurry. He reached to adjust his glasses, but they didn't seem to be there. Obviously, they had been launched somewhere when the blast had occurred, no doubt breaking upon impact with whatever it hit first.
Roland began the agitating job of finding his spectacles. As much as he loved crawling on the floor, he needed to see where he was going. It took a while, and by some miracle, they were only a little dusty. After thanking whatever god spared him from have to buy another pair and cleaning the lenses, he donned his titanium, square glasses.
Then something happened that he couldn't explain with sound logic. Text appeared out of thin air, like his glasses were a heads up display.
"Welcome to the game."
Then the words blurred and disappeared, only to be replaced by a red bar on the top left of Roland's vision labeled "Blood: 5.2/5.2", and an experience bar along the bottom of his vision.
Roland quickly removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, but the bars were still there, albeit blurry. Was this a dream? No, he shouldn't be able to read if that were the case. Not only that, but he could feel his body aching all over. Then was he drugged? Possibly, but he didn't know if hallucinations could be affected by his glasses.
Nonetheless, Roland needed to remain composed. He just needed to contact the authorities about the bomb planted behind his monitor. He opened a drawer in the desk and retrieved his smartphone. Unlocking it, Roland paled at what he found. All of his apps had been deleted for the exception of two that he did not remember downloading: "Chat" and "Card".
This... was impossible. This entire situation did not make sense in the slightest! Who would put a bomb in someone's room and change the apps on his phone?! It was as if whoever did this expected him to live! But then why a bomb in the first place?! Not only that, but it looked as if the status bar at the top of the phone had been removed!
Roland nearly broke the roof when his phone vibrated. He dared to look at the screen to find that "Chat" text bubble icon was flashing red rhythmically. A white screen with four names appeared when the curiosity got the better of Roland. Three of the names brought Roland comfort, but the last name did the opposite.
The names were Donatello, Vivian, Mitsuru, and "Game Master". For Donatello and Mitsuru, there were "offline" statuses next to their names, but for Vivian and the "Game Master", it said "online". Not only that, but a envelope symbol was flashing beside Vivian's name. Tapping the name brought Roland to a chat screen much like that of skype or facebook.
Are you dead?
Ah, Vivian certainly had a magical way with words. Roland hit the text box at the bottom of the screen and began to have a conversation with his good friend.
You tell me, Vi.
Surprised? I certanly was when my FUCKING LAPTOP EXPLODED!
Oh goody, it wasn't just me. Is that one of the unique features of the game? Turning your computer into a bomb?
It get's better.
You notice the hud yet?
...I'm not high as a kite?
...have you been outside?
What are you talking about? I have a job, you know.
...
Don't bother with the GM. You need to do two things:
Go outside, and when you get over that hurdle, check what class you are.
And for the fucking love of god, get back to me quickly. You have no idea what kind of hell I'm in right now.
Rolland locked the screen and marched to his front door. This was getting weirder and weirder by the second. Moving though his living room and past the kitchenette, he made his way to his apartment's door. Grabbing his keys, Roland unlocked the door and stepped into the hall of his apartment building.
Or, he would have if it were even there. No, Roland was greeted by the sight of endless mountains and hills sprawled out before him. If it wasn't the rocky and barren terrain before him, then it was the fact that he saw no civilization at all that pushed him onto his knees.
What... What was... How...?
Roland's phone called out to him, and he answered with gusto.
Your mind blown yet?
VIVIAN WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!!!
Woah... I think that's the first time I've ever seen you write the word fuck before.
You okay there?
HOW can I be okay when my house in IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING MOUNTAINS?
Ha! Fuck yea, I got a forest!
GOD DAMN IT VIVIAN
THIS ISN'T A JOKE!
WE'RE IN SERIOUS DANGER HERE!
OKAY LOOK,
I know it doesn't make ANY sense, but get over it and start looking as soon as you can for any sort of civilization.
If you're lucky, I might actually be closer than you think. I saw some mountains off on the horizon, but that was from a clock tower that wasn't really high, and I didn't get a good look.
Clock tower? You found people? Do they know what's going on?
Er... yes and no?
They're not exactly human, per say.
...
Look man, you aren't dealing with fucking gryphons who think you're some sort of demon spawn, okay?
Well, at least they see you for what you are.
Ayy! There's my sweet roll!
So, find civilization, right? You going to be okay?
Bitch please.
Roland laughed a little at his friend's laid back attitude at the possibility of death. Not only that, but he was also comforted by a new thought. What if this was some sort of virtual reality test? It wasn't impossible that he and his close group of friends were secretly chosen by the government to be unwittingly put into VR to see if people could differentiate between reality and the virtual world. It was improbable as all hell, but not impossible.
With that in mind, he played along with his new hypothesis and stepped outside. Doing a short lap around his new "house" yielded the same result: barren mountains surrounded him. However, he also spied what looked kind of like a volcano off in the distance. Not only that, but there was also a cave at the foot of a mountain, close to the bottom of the hill is apartment now resided on.
Roland noticed as flopped onto his couch that despite there being no external power cables leading into his apartment, he still had power. As he took out his phone again, he smiled at his fortune. With power, he could survive for longer without hunting for food. However, he assumed that water would be a different story all together. He had a case of water bottles in the fridge, but that would only last for a few days.
Unlocking his phone, he tapped the rectangular box labeled "Card". Roland was shocked that the first thing he saw was a three-dimensional model of himself, wearing his current clothing. Roland had short, messy, brown hair, and brown eyes as well. He was wearing a tattered, black, t-shirt, blue jeans, and slick, no lace, black dress shoes. Of course, they weren't actually dress shoes, those would be too uncomfortable for him. They were a type of running shoe that everyone he knew mistook for dress shoes.
The next shocking thing was that his vitals and blood total were beside his portrait, right below his name. Below that was the experience bar, and the next thing was what he was told to find: his class.
"Judge of the Abyss."
"Judge" was not a class he was familiar with. Next to it was a grey button with the words "level up" on it. Roland understood when it didn't work: he didn't have any EXP now, did he?
Exiting the app, he resumed his conversation with Vivian.
Here's the "Judge of the Abyss"'s sit-rep, Ma'am. No civilization from what I can see, although the mountains are blocking most of my sight, but I did see what looked like a volcano in the distance and a cave really close to my house. I have power(?), but I have yet to check water and gas. If those aren't working, I estimate that I can survive for about a week and a bit with the water I have in the fridge. If I can find a clean source of water, I could survive for maybe a month.
Judge of the Abyss, huh?
Wolf of Hellfire for me.
Maybe you are a demon? The evidence clearly suggests it.
Ha ha, very funny mr. Abyss=darkness=emo.
Something's been bothering me.
You said you were dealing with gryphons?
Yea? What of it?
What constitutes as a "monster" then?
Huh, didn't think of that.
No, wait. I caught word that there were new, dangerous things as of late.
You're going to have to be more specific than "things", Vi.
Like, imps and shit.
I think mythology is fair game in this world, cuz I heard about pegasi and dragons, too.
Here's hoping I don't run into a dragon. I rather like having all my bones intact.
What about you? Situation calm down?
Yea, I got a bird-friend. He's gentle.
You aren't getting frisky a bird-lion, are you, Vi?
Har har, I meant broteam gentle.
Although, if he had lips and not a fucking beak, then maybe. He's a cool dude, considering everyone I've met so far is a bird-cunt.
*Knock Knock Knock*
Roland's head swiveled to the door as his heart began to pound in his chest.
Something just knocked at my door. It must have seen me come out of the apartment.
Okay, that's significantly worse than my situation, considering you're in bum-fuck nowhere.
Get a weapon, preferably a gun of some kind.
Sorry, Ms. Texas! No handguns allowed! Canada, remember?!
Knives? Chair?
No knives after we threw them at a tree, remember?
And no chairs either. Not enough room to swing at the door.
...spoon?
*Knock knock knock*
It's getting harder. I think I'm going to have a guest soon.
Damn it, Rol, this isn't a time for wit!
...
No, it's exactly the time for wit.
Roland locked and dropped his phone on the couch as he launched off his backside and landed before the door. He could hear something moving the small stones just outside his door.
Taking a small breath to calm himself, he steeled his resolve and took the first step in his new plan.
*Knock knock knock*
The shuffling stopped as he knocked back on the door. "Who dares to knock upon the door to the house of enlightenment?!" Roland exclaimed in an almighty tone as best as he could. "Be you friend or foe?!"
Silence, and then...
"Friend!" a woman's voice appeared from the other side of the door. It was deep, but soft, not raspy at all. Roland took a peak through his door's peephole as the voice awaited an answer. He saw... yellow scales, like what you would see on scale mail. It had a humanoid chest with an off-white underbelly like a snake, but lacked breasts if it was indeed female. Roland couldn't see below it's waist, or above it's neck, but he could see it was wielding a makeshift spear.
"However," the thing on the other side of the door shouted after Roland forgot to respond, "if you are of the same race of beast that killed my brethren, I will be foe!"
"If you wish this door to open, then answer my questions three!" Roland called out. It was risky opening the door, but with a local to help him, his survival chances would increase. Perhaps he could even find out where Vivian was. "The first question is: in which land do we speak?!"
"The Iron Mountains! Home of the dragons!" it shouted. Oh good, Roland had jinxed himself. Most likely, the thing on the other side of the door was a dragon.
"Question two: what tongue are we speaking?!" Roland expected something other than english, considering that he was in a land where gryphons and dragons existed.
"Common, or Equestrian if you'd prefer!" Good. Roland was counting on that to be the case.
"The last question: what is thirty two plus three?"
Unlike the previous times, the dragon didn't answer. Roland waited for a full minute before she said anything at all. "I... I don't know!" the dragoness shouted with what sounded like disappointment. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time! But I would like to know if you are indeed the one who—"
She was interrupted by the sound of the door's lock moving. Roland opened the door and leaned against the frame of the door with his armed crossed as they stared at each other, taking in the features of the other. Roland now could see that this creature must have been some sort of dragon, if not then at least it was a close relative. Along with it's meter and a half long tail, it bore no wings, but it's head had two backwards curving, pearl-white horns, two slitted, pink eyes, and a mouth full of dangerous looking teeth. It stood a good head above him, and considering that Roland was 6'3", she must have been at most 7' tall.
"I never said you had to answer them correctly," Roland remarked. "I have to thank you. You answered some really important questions for me."
"You used me," she chided, looking a little hurt.
"Not to play the blame game, but you're the one pointing a spear at me," Roland pointed out. "I needed information and what you provided lead me to believe that you're not here to hurt me."
Her spear inched ever so slightly closer to Roland's chest. "And how do you know that?"
"Because I know I'm not the one that killed your friends." Roland noticed a slight shift in her eyes, possibly because she knew it already. "I also know that you know that as well."
"Can you read minds?" she question with serious caution.
"No, but I can read expressions." Her expression softened as she reluctantly returned her spear to her side. "I don't want to be enemies," Roland explained with a calm and almost sad voice, "and you don't seem like a bad person. If you want, I can make some tea and we can talk about our side in this unique situation."
The dragoness looked away for a moment in thought before turning back to Roland. "I've never had tea before, but... I'll try some."
Roland moved out of the way and motioned towards the living room. Hesitantly, the dragoness moved past Roland and into the apartment. After closing and locking the door, Roland was about to motion for her to sit on the couch, but with her tail, his guest wouldn't be comfortable. "You can lay on the couch if you want. I don't have any sort of seating that would be comfortable for your tail, so you lay there and I'll grab a chair for myself."
The dragoness looked at Roland with suspicion, but eventually took his advice and took her place on the couch. Roland was about to move into the kitchen when his guest spoke up. "Hey," was all the dragoness said before Roland turned around to catch his phone flying towards him. With his phone in hand, Roland moved to the kitchenette and turned on the tap.
His hopes sunk when no water came out. He checked the stove as well and it yielded the same result: no gas either. He had expected this, but for the power to be on and not the water or gas made his heart sink. At least he could still use the outlets. Grabbing an electric kettle from a cupboard, two water bottles from the fridge, and a can of tea leaves, Roland went about making some apple pie flavored tea.
As the kettle was heating the water up, Roland thought it would be a good idea to contact Vivian again. However, when he unlocked his phone, Vivian appeared to be offline. Did something come up? No, she probably got tired of waiting for him. Still, Rolland sent her a quick message telling her what he learned.
I have... news. it's not good or bad, but you should know everything I learn so that we may be able to meet.
There was a dragon at my door. 7 feet tall at least, no wings, but had a spear. She told me I was in the Iron Mountains if that helps at all. English is referred to as common, or equestrian. No gas or water for me either, just tested it. I'm going to have tea with this dragon in hopes to gather more info. I'll relay it to you when I can.
And that was that. She would for sure get the message, but when was a big question. As he returned to the contacts screen, he noticed that Mitsuru was online. If she was just waking up, then she'd need guidance.
Hey, you okay?
It took a moment for her to respond.
I'm scared, Roland.
I'm about to meet with a princess.
Just remember your manners and you'll be fine. Have you been awake for a while?
No, only like 5 minutes.
I woke up in bed in a castle with bandages all over my arms.
Then, this weird horse (I think it was a unicorn) came up to me and said a princess was coming to see me.
I'm really scared, Roland.
I know, don't worry. At least you aren't having tea with a dragon.
Excuse me?
Never mind that. Just listen to what I have to say.
Go to the app called "card" on your phone. Ignore everything else, including the HUD in your vision. Find and tell me your class, okay?
Okay.
It's "Maiden of Pink Breath".
I don't understand, why is my blood amount and vitals on here?
I don't know. I think this might be VR, but I can't be sure. Nothing is making sense to me anymore.
What class are you?
"Judge of the Abyss".
That's fitting. I think you would have made a good judge.
No point dwelling on the past.
I need you to ask some questions to this princess for me, okay? When you get the answers, send them to me when you're finished your conversation.
Okay.
1. Where are you right now? Like the land's name. Just for reference, I'm somewhere called the Iron Mountains.
2. What are the native species there? For me, it's dragons, and for Vi it's gryphons.
Vivian's okay? That make's me more relieved. =)
Yea, she's cool I think. She's the "Wolf of Hellfire".
I think that fits her as well. She gets heated really easily.
That she does.
You haven't heard from Don, have you?
No, I just woke up.
"You realize the water's been boiling for two minutes now, right?" the dragoness called out from the couch.
I gotta go. I believe in you. Stay safe.
You too, sweet roll. ;)
Locking his phone, Roland grabbed two mugs and tea strainers. He placed the strainers into the mug and then poured some leaves into the strainer. Then he poured the hot water and took the two drinks to the coffee table in front of the couch. After quickly running into his room and grabbing his office chair, Roland took a seat opposite of the couch.
"Careful," he warned as his guest reached for her drink, "it's hot."
"I can breath fire, you know," she responded as she reclined on her side. "Hot doesn't affect dragons, human."
Roland was reaching for his glass, but he stopped dead as soon as she said human. "I never said I was human," he quipped with a smirk.
"Well, you certainly fit the myth's descriptions, except for one point," she explained.
Roland raised an eyebrow. "One point?"
"Power that could rival the god's."
"Ah," Roland mused. He certainly didn't have power to rival a god's. Or... maybe he did? Perhaps the myth was talking about human intelligence? He couldn't know for sure, but he kinda liked the idea of being worshiped.
"Don't get the wrong Idea, human," his guest warned after noticing his perverted smile. "Your power may rival the god's, but you're not going to be liked a lot. See, it's a cautionary tale of greed."
"Oh," Roland said, slightly disappointing. "Well, that's a little disappointing." He reached over and removed the strainer from his mug. Then he took a sip of his tea. "You guessed it, I'm human. My name is..." Could he tell her his name? What if she betrayed him and he had to run?
"You don't need a fake name," she said, as if reading his mind. "My name is Ash, and I am a dragon." After taking a sip of tea, Ash extended her claw towards Roland.
"Roland. Sorry, I'm nervous," he explained as he reciprocated the gesture. After that, he felt calmer. Maybe it was wrong of him to let his guard down, but this was the first normal thing to happen since he woke up. He was relieved in a way.
There was silence as the two enjoyed their tea for a few minutes. "This is good," Ash commented.
"Yea, it's my favorite kind." Roland put down his glass and crossed one leg other the other. "So, Ash," he began, "should I be a gentleman and explain my side first, or allow you to explain what brought you to my home alone?"
"I have a suspicion that your story is longer, so I'll begin if you don't mind." Roland shook his head and motioned for her to continue.
After taking a sip of tea, she began. "About a month ago, strange beings began showing up all over this world. Some were harmless enough, but others were fierce. It wasn't too much for us dragons, but for others... there was great loss. Equestria, the pony capitol, held out the longest, along with us dragons."
"Then about seven days ago, a handful of creatures showed up and decimated just about everyone. Just when we began to get comfortable with the idea of monsters, these guys came and showed us the real meaning of pain. I heard even the pony princesses had a really hard time against a few of them."
"Three days ago... my group and I were celebrating a victory against a group of the weaker monster. We laughed and sang, had a large fire going... And then they all died. It took me a moment to realize when this lone monster attacked and killed our leader. When I got a good look at it, it vanished and soon we began falling one by one. I had the foresight to see that it was one of the more powerful monsters, and I'm here because of it."
"After a few days of traveling, I found that cave at the bottom of this hill and stayed there for a bit. I saw you walking around when I awoke, and I panicked. You look a lot like the monster that killed my... well, they were my family."
As Roland looked at Ash, not only could he see that she was having a hard time keeping her composure, but he could feel how tense she got at talking about such a sensitive topic. Rolling over to her side, Roland gently placed a hand on her claw. "I'm sorry." She looked away from his gaze at the words. "I actually know what it feels like to feel helpless — to watch your family die."
"You do?" she asked, with a little whimper in her voice.
"Yea, my mom fought a disease called cancer for a long time. She got really sick and was in pain a lot of the time. There was nothing I could do to help her. Then after about two years, she died. A little while later, my dad died in a — in an accident. Then, I was alone for a long time."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Ash comforted as best she could. Roland took her claw and held it as they both tried to compose themselves.
After a few minutes of waiting, Ash looked at Roland. "What about you, what's your side in this?"
Now it was Roland's turn to look away. "I... I dunno. To be honest, I just sorta showed up here," he said quietly.
At that moment, Roland's phone buzzed in his pocket. Taking it out and unlocking it, he looked at the chat and found that he had a message that he had been waiting for. "I need to go for a second, wait right here and we'll discuss what to do next," Roland said quickly as he stood and left the room. Entering the bedroom, he closed the door and pressed his back against it. He looked at the chat screen again.
He had a message from the GM.
Lying to your new waifu? How could you! You're ruining my ship!
Roland felt his blood boil. It may have been the anger, but it felt like the GM was mocking him.
I didn't lie. If you're the one who set this all up, then you should know that.
Having fun watching behind a desk, coward?
Oh yes, I'm loving the show. Might I add that you didn't tell the whole truth either,
sweet roll.
Fuck you.
Oh, believe me I would, but I'm a one-mare sort of person.
Mare huh? Looks like I'm coming to Equestria then.
Yes, I am in Equestia at the moment. I suppose I'll let you have that one, but from now on...
No
more
hints!
When I find you, I'm going to do things that people wish they could do to others they hate.
I don't think your friend... what's his name? Donutella? Whatever, he wouldn't like that.
He's taken quite the liking to me!
Good.
...good?
Yea. I have something that I needed. Thanks for that.
No problem.
Now, back to our original discussion.
Are you afraid of what she's going to do when she finds out?
Finds out what?
That you killed her family.
Please. I'm going to help her gut you when we find you, you piece of shit.
Then why did you lie to her?
Because in the state that she's in now, she won't take kindly to the fact that we caused you to make monsters.
You're assuming quite a lot there, Bucko.
No, not really. It makes a lot of sense actually.
Don got those keys to the beta a month ago, the same time monsters showed up here. It took a month for all of us to get a copy from him, and now we're here because you gave him the keys.
The only thing I'm assuming is that you made the monsters.
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn't.
My only job is to make sure the game runs smoothly.
You'd better go and console your new bed-buddy,
she's beginning to cry.
I'm going to make you suffer a fate worse than death.
Love you, too. Ta-ta.
Roland shoved his phone back into his pocket and reentered the living room to find Ash standing next to an open window, looking out into the barren landscape. She looked back at Roland for a moment, but then turned away, quickly wiping her eyes with an arm and sniffling a little.
"S-so," Ash said with a whimper. She cleared her throat and continued. "What's our n-next step?" Roland looked at her for a few moments in silence. Ash became confused at what he was doing, but became more so when he walked up to her and hugged her suddenly. After a few seconds, Ash discarded confusion and replaced it with her own hug. "I'm s-sorry."
"So am I."
Is that all?
Yea, pretty much.
With Phoenix, her new roommate, asleep on her bed, Vivian was forced to sleep on her couch until that morning. With nothing better to do, she decided to chat with Roland, since he was the only one online at the time. Apparently, he had a tough time sleeping and got up extra early. As for herself, Vivian had a hard time because these fucking birds didn't know how to shut the fuck up at night.
As a result, Roland told her almost everything. The only part he left out was about his new partner: Ash.
I told you not to bother with him.
So you did, but I got the info I wanted. We now know three things:
Everyone's alive and kicking,
we know everyone had at least one ally,
and we know where everyone is.
We do?
Yea, we do. I'm in the Iron Mountains,
you're in the Gryphon kingdom,
Don is in Equestria, the pony kingdom,
And I would assume Mitsuru is near Don, since she told me she was meeting with the princess, and her guard was a unicorn.
And for allies, I have Phoenix,
you have Ash,
Mitsuru has the princess she's meeting,
And Don has...?
The Game Master.
Sorry to be a downer, but that hardly seems like an ally to me.
Actually, Don's the safest right now because he has the GM watching over him.
The GM seems to enjoy this "game", so I doubt he'd want Don to die right off the bat.
I'd also bet dollars to doughnuts that the GM likes Don,
since it was him the GM approached and not us.
Implying Don isn't the easiest out of the four of us to manipulate.
That may be the case, but my point still stands.
Vivian slightly jumped when a pair of bird arms wrapped themselves suddenly around her neck and a floof of feathers pressed up against the back of her head. "Thanks again for saving my stupid ass last night," her roomie said tiredly.
"Yea, yea," she waved him off. "Now get back in the kitchen and make me some fucking bacon! I'm fucking starving, and we're going on a road trip, remember?! Bad idea to do that on an empty stomach!" Her new friend chuckled and wandered off into the kitchen as Vivian resumed her conversation.
"Wait, you remember how use the convection oven, right?!" she called out towards the kitchen.
"Yes, M'lady!" he joked back.
Looks like bird-brain finally woke up.
He said it was a five day travel to get here, right?
Yea, we were going to leave now.
Don't.
Ask him if Equestia is closer than here.
Yea, gotcha.
"Hey! My bro Roland wants to know if Equestia's closer!"
"Not necessarily!" Phoenix replied. Vivian soon heard the convection oven door close. "But it's faster to get their! Two days faster by train!"
It is. By a whole 2 days.
"Wait, you guys have fucking trains?!" Vivian exclaimed, confused as all hell.
"Yea! A few towns over, there's a train that can take us straight into the equestrian line!"
Now he's saying that a town near here has a train station that connects to the Equestian line.
Okay then. I'm going to come to you then.
Uh, why?
I thought you said that Ash was against leaving the mountains?
I did and she is, but we need to get to Equestria as fast as humanly possible.
Because of Don and Mitsuru?
Exactly.
I don't like saying this, but they're not equipped to fight right now.
And you are?
I have a fire-breathing dragon.
Fair enough.
I hope those two are okay.
Almost as if someone had planned it, as she hit the send button, Vivian's phone buzzed. Going back to the contacts screen, she saw that Mitsuru was not only online, but had sent her a message!
Are you and sweet roll dating yet? ;)
Vivian quickly switched chats.
Oh shit! Mitsuru's online and messaging me!
Alright, say hi for me. I'm going to prepare to leave.
Hey, cutie-pie! Na, he ain't my type of dude, even though he's cool.
How did the princess treat you?
Well! =) I guess Roland told you, huh?
She was super nice! We were both really scared of each other, but then she tripped and we both had a good laugh about it!
Good to hear!
If she were rude... I'd have to show her my 12-gauge.
No no! Don't be mean! She was nice, and even answered sweet roll's questions!
?
Oh, yea... I forgot to message him while he was still online...
I think I'm going to be busy soon, so could you message me for him when he isn't busy?
I always got my girl's back. You can count on me!
Okay! =)
I'm in a place called the Crystal Empire! It's really cool: everything's made of crystal! And the main population is made out of "crystal ponies"!
Like, horses made out of rock?
I think it's just a name.
Oh, I need to go now. Cadence wants me to talk to some ponies about going to a place called Canterlot. I'll be meeting the other princesses as well!
The other princesses? Like pony princesses?
Yea...?
Okay, Mitsuru. Two things:
1. Be safe please? Roland told me about some wicked-nasty monsters that the princesses you're going to meet had trouble fighting, and with all of them in the same place, it might attract them.
2. Don might be there. I think Canterlot is in a place called Equestria.
Really?! I'll be sure to look for him!
Be CAREFUL around Don, Okay? Sweet roll told me that the GM is lurking around him.
Oh no! =(
It's fine as long as you don't go looking for him. Be safe, huh?
I will! ;)
Thanks, Vi.
And with that, Mitsuru went offline just in time for Phoenix to place two plates on the dinning room table. "You hungry or what?" he called. Locking her phone, Vivian stretched her arms in the air before getting up and walking over to the table, sitting down in front of one of the plates. "You ready to go after this?" her partner asked as he sat down on the opposite side of Vivian with his own plate of bacon.
Vivian looked at the gryphon. He was as big as a bicycle, with ruffled, dark grey feathers on the top half of his front, and a chest of white feathers. His lion half was... a lion, with dark yellow fur and a tail with a brown fluff-ball at the end. Two things caught her eye immediately as she looked at him: his bright yellow eyes, and the sullied bandages that wrapped around his midsection and his neck.
"There's been a change in plans," Vivian announced, "we're waiting for him to get his ass over here. Which is good, considering your not leaving this house until your wounds heal." The wolf took a bite out of one of the strips of bacon. It wasn't burnt, but it was overcooked. Better than nothing, she supposed. "By the way, I need to change your bandages."
Phoenix slammed one of his yellow talons on the table, frustration overtaking his expression. "You can't be serious! From what you told me about him—!"
"I don't give a fuck what you think!" Vivian said, slamming her own fist down on the table. "He'll make it! I know he can! He's gotten us out of a lot worse!"
"And if he runs into a dragon?! What then?!" Phoenix countered. "You can't fight a beast with asthma!"
"He doesn't need to fight," the wolf growled, "he's smart enough to deal with it on his own."
"And if he isn't?"
"Then someone else is talking with me over his phone," Vivian smirked. "He's already run into a dragon. A yellow one named Ash."
Phoenix looked away, biting his tongue in defeat. Soon, the two resumed eating the meal that was before them. "Sorry," Phoenix murmured after taking a bite. "I was looking forwards to leaving..."
"Yea," Vivian sympathized, "don't worry about it." She took another bite out of the bacon in her hand. "It's easier for him to find us anyways, with us right next to a town and all. I'm worried that his new gal pal is going to stir up some trouble..."
"It's a female?" Phoenix mused. "That's unusual. They don't like to approach males that often. In fact, I heard it was the other way around for them."
"It's the same in human culture as well, you know. From what broland told me, she was alone when she approached him," Vivian mumbled as she finished one of her final strips. "And she had a good reason, too. He didn't tell me what though."
Phoenix took his plate to his mouth, leant backwards, and ate the rest of the food on his plate in one fell swoop. Vivian applauded the show as the bird swallowed the meat. "So," Phoenix began, getting up off of his seat and moving to a piece of paper on top of a nearby dresser, "what's the new plan?"
Vivian waited for him to spread the map out in front of her before explaining. "Here," she began, pointing towards the Iron Mountains to the east of the village that Phoenix had come from, "is where Roland and Ash are. It's going to take them five, maybe six days to get near here, depending on Roland's asthma." Vivian tapped the village to emphasize her point. Next, the tapped the area north of Equestria. "This is where my friend Mitsuru is: the Crystal Empire. However, — ah fuck it."
Vivian launched out of her chair and into the kitchen, but returned as quickly as she left with four different coloured "Sorry" pieces in her hand. "Okay!" She placed the blue piece on the Iron Mountains, the Red piece where her house was, the green piece on the Crystal Empire, and finally, the yellow piece on the name "Equestria".
"So, like I was saying, Mitsuru said she might be moving to a place called Canterlot, which is here in Equestia." Vivian moved the green piece onto the star labeled Canterlot. She then moved the blue piece across the map to her red piece. "We'll meet with Roland and Ash here in Coopit, then we'll all get on the train in Gryphonstone and meet with Mitsuru." She moved the polar pieces to Canterlot, reuniting them with the green piece.
"What about you're last friend?" Phoenix questioned, pointing to the yellow piece. "The alpha of your group?"
Vivian gave a curt laugh at that. "Don? The alpha? Please," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "We have no need for a leader. We're all competent. Don's more of... maybe the lighthearted one is the best choice of words."
"Well, that aside my question still stands."
"That it does, my dear Phoenix," Vivian said. "Roland informed me that Don is definitely in Equestria, but where is still a mystery. Now, if I were a princess, I would need to keep a close eye on any aliens in my country. I think Roland probably agrees with me that the most likely city Don is in. is Canterlot. However, I can't hold any faith in that assumption."
"Because...?"
Vivian sighed as she rested her head on her hands, tired from the whole situation. "Rol said that the GM has got Don around his finger, but we can't assume they've met in person. The sole reason for this is because... well, the GM told Roland that he had Don around his finger. What's stopping the GM from contacting Don?"
"I see," Phoenix mused.
"But," Vivian continued, "I haven't seen Don come online yet."
"So you think there actually is a possibility that this "Don" and the "GM" have talked in person?" Phoenix questioned with interest.
Vivian sighed again. "That possibility never left the table..." Vivian closed her eyes and thought about how little they actually knew of Donatello's situation. "We'll just have to assume that he's in Schrodinger's hands now." The wolf giggled a bit when she heard Phoenix's head tilt in confusion. "We can consider him in a state of being both alive and dead, until we finally see him," she explained. "I really hope he's alive, though."
"Is... he your mate?" the gryphon reached.
Vivian broke down in laughter, unable to verbally answer his question, but Phoenix got the point pretty quickly.
With three of the five days of traveling completed, Roland couldn't help but feel hopeful. There had been no adversaries other than the terrain, and most of the time was spent in silence. Ash wasn't happy when he told her about the new plan, but she decided to travel with him until they reached the tree line, then she would resume looking for the one who killed her comrades.
However, with the sun rising on the fourth day, Roland couldn't help but feel as if something had changed with Ash. He noticed while they gathered up the camping equipment he'd brought along that she would glance over at him for a brief moment, before looking away and continuing her work. Sometimes, he'd even catch her sigh as if she were distraught about something. Then, as they were traveling, Ash would try to start up a conversation, asking about his past, about his friends, about himself. Of course, he answered most of her questions, leaving out the information that she could use against him if she were to betray him.
"Hey," Ash started as they started up another mountain for the nth time that day, "about these other... other..."
"Humans," Roland said, laughing internally at his companion's forgetfulness.
"Yea, humans," Ash repeated. "How'd you come to be a hoard?"
"We're not a hoard, Ash," he explained. "We're just a bunch of people who happen to share similar interests. When I was in university, I to—"
Ash turned to Roland, shocked at this new information. "You learned at a university?!"
"Yea," he replied, slightly confused. "I guess universities exist here?"
"Only the snootiest of magic-users get the chance to go," she explained. "How'd you pay for it? From what I've heard, it costs a treasure pile and a half to even apply!"
"It works a little differently where I'm from," Roland explained, waving off the question. "Anyways, I met them when I took a literature class on... I've actually forgotten. It's been awhile, I guess!" Roland chuckled at the faint memory. "Two of them came up to my country, Canada, to learn a thing or two, and Mitsuru and I just sort of hit it off with them. At that point, me and Mitsuru were actually dating, believe it or not."
"What were you studying? Magic?" she asked, putting a underneath her muzzle.
"No, no," Roland laughed. "Magic doesn't exist where I come from. I studied law for a bit, then got a major in physics."
Now it was Ash's turn to laugh. "Law?! Why would you study something so useless?!"
"Useless? How exactly is law useless?"
"Because," Ash flexed one of her arms to emphasize her point, "if you're strong enough, you can do anything you want! That's how the world works!" Roland looked away and smiled sadly. Her words, despite her cutely determined tone of voice, caused a well of melancholy to ripple inside Roland. "Hey, are you okay?" she said, sounding a little worried now. "Er... why'd you quit?"
"You said it yourself." he said coldly, "it was useless to me. Not to mention it was boring as all hell."
Ash didn't say anything else as the continued up the mountain. She kept interlocking her claws and twiddling with what Roland could only assume was the dragon equivalent of thumbs. He felt a bit bad about stopping the conversation on a sour note, but the topic was sour to begin with.
With his old memories of the city still fresh in his mind, Roland couldn't help appreciate the new scenery. The clean air in his lungs, the raw stone underneath his feet... it was a change of pace that under normal circumstances he would have enjoyed to the fullest, but with a seven foot tank walking next to him, he found it hard to enjoy nature. Ash was a constant reminder that he was not in his element anymore.
As they crested the lower section of the mountain, Ash spoke once more. "So..." she reached. "Physics?"
"Yea," he laughed, confusing Ash in the process. "I switched from moral law to physical law! I guess I really never quit to begin with, huh?"
"I... I don't understand," she admitted, scratching the back of her head. "What's a physic?"
Roland laughed harder at her question, causing the dragoness to get flustered and punch him lightly in the arm. "Sorry, sorry," he said. "Physics is the study of how the universe works, for example..." He borrowed a small stone from the ground and after showing it to Ash, he hurled it down the other side of the mountain. "Gravity is a part of physics."
"As neat as that is, look over there." Ash pointed down the mountain towards a grassy field, which quickly turned into a treeline not to far ahead. "There's the forest. Through that will lead us into gryphon territory..."
"You sound nervous," Roland commented. "You don't like gryphons?"
"Let's just say they're a little too rape-y for dragon standards."
Roland felt a chill of fear crawl up his spine. Instinctively, he looked at his phone to see if Vivian was online. To his misfortune, she wasn't. "God, I hope she's okay," he whispered to himself.
"Don't worry," Ash comforted, "if the female is strong enough, the aggressive males will keep their distance."
"I'm not worried about the aggressive ones," he explained as they reached the bottom of the mountain, "it's the quiet ones that are the biggest threat to her."
Ash looked at Roland, confused by his choice of threat. "The quiet ones?"
"Let's just say that Vivian is a little too trusting if you're nice to her," he explained. "Although, there is the off chance they'll assume she's a lesbian. Wouldn't be the first time..."
"Your logic confuses me, Roland."
The two reached the edge of the forest after a short, silent walk. When they stopped just before the treeline, Roland turned around and raised his hand towards his partner. "I won't force you to come any further," he said with a smile. "Thanks for taking me this far, Ash."
"It would harm my honor not to," she explained, taking his hand in her claw and shaking it.
"Alright then, I guess this is goodbye," Roland said, letting go of the claw. He turned and proceeded into the forest.
He silently awaited for Ash to say goodbye as he walked, but the way it was said made the judge hesitate a bit. "Goodbye..." he overheard the dragon sigh from behind. It was filled with despair and sorrow.
Stopping suddenly, Roland pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed in frustration. Why couldn't she just say what was wrong? He turned and saw Ash looking at the ground with her arms crossed, a forlorn look on her face. "Okay," Roland sighed, now annoyed, "what's wrong?"
"What do you mean, what's wrong?!" Ash suddenly snapped back, looking at the human with malice. "Nothing's wrong! Go! You're friend needs you! It's not like I want you to stay! Go!"
"Why are you mad?!" Roland replied, now angry himself. "If you want to come with me, that's fine! Just say so!"
"Why would I?! To me, your just— just a stranger! It's not like I want to come with you, or something..." she said resentfully, turning her head to the side.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Roland murmured to himself, shaking his head. "Okay, fine. I need you, Ash." The dragoness looked up suddenly with her cheeks red somehow and a shocked look. "How 'bout this," Roland started, clapping his hands together and looking Ash in the eyes. "Since this "game" I'm in vaguely resembles games on my planet, I have reason to believe that my friends and I will acquire a large amount of treasure or some other sort of currency. If you come with me, I'll give you my share of treasure at the end of the "game." Okay?"
Ash looked away again, still red from the embarrassment of Roland's previous words. After a few moments of thinking, she looked towards the human and walked up to him.
"Deal," she agreed as they shook again.
"Lovely," Roland said with a hint of frustration.
The judge turned and walked further into the forest, now with his permanent partner in pursuit. Although he was frustrated, he was relieved that he could continue to travel with her. Not only did he enjoy her company, but she was literally a dragon. "Next time," he started out of the blue, "could you just say you want to come with me? I hate beating around the bush." There was no response at first, making Roland think that Ash was mad at him still.
"I'm sorry," she said surprisingly timidly, causing Roland to look back at her. Her empty claw grasped the arm holding her spear, and she looked hurt. "You're..." she trailed off, he eyes glistening with tears. "You're the only one I— that I can trust anymore."
Roland sighed and swore in his head. He needed to change the topic.
"So..." he started, "did I tell you about the time I switched my friend's drink with hand sanitizer?"
"...what's hand sanitizer?"
"Oh you poor girl."
As Roland reflected upon the forth day's events, he couldn't help but feel like the fifth day was worse. He chocked it up to not being well rested since he volunteered to take the second watch, but he thought he began to see things darting through the forest's shadows. It started just before the sun came up, he saw a bush off in the distance moving in the opposite direction of the breeze, before returning to normal. Then it happened several times when Ash was helping him remove the tent. Roland found it rather odd that he never saw the creature, just the movement.
And now, again it was happening as they walked through the tranquil forest! "Have you been seeing shadows move through the forest? Like, at all?" Roland asked, cautious of the possibility of an ambush.
"Just animals, why?" she asked, lacing the last word with concern. "Are you seeing something I don't?"
"I doubt that sincerely," he responded, "since I'm the the blind one here. Aren't dragons an apex predator here? Don't you have really good vision?"
At the question, Ash's cheeks caught aflame and she looked away in embarrassment. "I— er... I was the... the runt of our hoard." She began to look sheepishly at Roland, who gave her a deadpan expression back. "And... maybe... the greenhorn as well..."
"You're lucky you're cute, or else I would call off this arrangement right now," Roland remarked, shaking his head slightly at what he had gotten himself into.
"You — " she stumbled with her words, looking even more embarrassed, " — you think I'm cute?"
"Well, you're not three stories tall..." Roland murmured under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
"No." Ash stopped dead in her tracks, Roland quickly following her lead and looked at her stern expression as she stared off into the distance. "I saw something that time. Pony sized. Maybe... six of them," she relaid to Roland.
His eyes darted throughout the forest. Six?! He couldn't even see one clearly! Roland gulped and got close to Ash, so close that their arms were touching.
Where were they?!
A sudden laughing resounded from the forest, all male voices. "Hey, hey," one of the voices called out coolly, "no need to get so worked up!"
"Show yourselves, you coward birds!" roared Ash, brandishing her spear.
Roland looked up front, seeing a shadow in the distance. It wasn't a pony, nor gryphon. It was...
"This one's got fight 'n 'er!" another voice called. "'Ey, Boss! Let us have a go at 'er! Ain't ever put meself inta no dragon before, 'ey boys!?"
It's mask — the tragedy mask — held Roland's vision. He couldn't look away. It was like his body was covered in ice.
Many of the voices laughed in agreement. "Alright, alright," the apparent boss calmed his crew. "Now then, ape! We'll let you go if you give us your valuables and, of course, your dragon friend there!" After a few chuckles he added another part to the deal. "And if you want, you can get a round in if you'd like, that is if you help us!"
Roland could feel it's misery, it's self loathing. It wanted to help him. Help him prevent the same regret that it had felt all those years ago.
"Roland..." Ash whispered in shock, seeing her partner's empty eyes.
The masked, tar-like being raised its hand, and so to did Roland until his palm was skyward. With this, the wicked could be punished.
He felt them. He could feel their cores. Two on the right, two on the left, two guarding the road ahead.
Roland threw his hand dramatically towards the ground.
There was the sudden snapping of many branches and twigs, the confused shouts of pain from the assailants, and finally, the sickening sound of bodies hitting the floor hard.
After a moment of silence, Ash ran towards one of the sources of sound. There she found a gryphon highwayman, complete with cash, bandanna, and sword. Ash didn't need to be a doctor to know what had killed the bird: several of his bones had fractured through his skin, tainting his feathers, coat, and the grass beneath him red with blood. Not only that, but his neck was twisted at a very odd angle, a sure sign that his neck had been broken.
She didn't understand what had just happened, but she needed to make sure to use this to her advantage. Ash gathered all the supplies she could from the corpses, then came back to Roland — who was now on his side, coughing up a storm — and began packing the swords, food, and coins she had brought.
Just as she was finishing, Ash noticed Roland was unusually quiet for someone who had been having a coughing fit just seconds before. "B—" she heard him stutter. "...black?"
Roland couldn't believe his eyes.
He expected blood to be on his hand when he felt it get unusually wet, but instead tar trickled down his hand. No, it wasn't tar: too fluid. Ink? No, too viscous. He didn't know what it was, but there should have been nothing black in his body. He pushed himself up from the floor into a sitting position and looked to where the monster was standing.
Only to find it lurking directly in front of him.
"Oh my fucking god!!!" he screamed in panic. "Ash! ASH!" Roland scraped himself backwards towards his partner, who caught him and struggled to hold him still. "What the fuck is that thing, Ash!?" He pointed to the monster in horror.
Ash stood — bringing Roland to his feet with her — and looked around for the monster in the direction he was pointing. "What are you talking about? Nobody's here..."
"It's standing right there, Ash!" How could she not see it?! The pile of tar was staring right at them!
"Roland, calm down," she tried to comfort. "I know it may have been the first time you've killed someone, but—"
"They're dead?!" He looked back to the monster in front of them, who nodded in confirmation. "I— I...!"
The sudden weight of the situation forced it's way down onto Roland's shoulders, and in desperation he tried to recollect the events that had just transpired. First, he started to see shadows move in the distance, then came the ambush. Had they been trailing them since the day started?
No, Ash would have spotted them earlier. Not only that, but it was one shadow he saw, not six. What happened next? He saw the masked tar monster in front of him now. It talked to him: whispers of forgotten truths in a language he didn't understand. Then, it showed him that power, the one that had killed the gryphons. It wasn't telekinesis, it couldn't have been. When he was "feeling" them out, he could see their "cores".
It was gravity. He was moving their centre of gravity downwards. No... that couldn't be true! That's physically impossible!
But... this was a game. It didn't have to be.
Roland swallowed at the revelation. It was a useful ability, but it was also dangerous to use. If he were to mess around with gravity too much, he might pull something large down. Not only that, but he didn't know if it could affect his allies as well. He'd have to use it with caution until he had the time to test it out.
Roland pried himself from Ash's grasp. "I... I'm fine now."
"Really?" Ash questioned with reasonable doubt. "You just started screaming bloody murder that there's something standing here not even a second ago."
"Yes, I did," he admitted. "I think it has something to do with the game. Or — just maybe — my class."
"What did you do?" she questioned, suddenly aware of the situation herself. "And what's on your claw?"
"It's not—!" Roland looked back to the hand he had coughed into. The black substance was still there, mocking his knowledge of what was going on. Roland looked suddenly at the monster beside him. No, it wasn't a monster: it was intelligent. It had showed Roland a way to defend himself.
Holding out his hand, Roland compared the substance on his hand to the "flesh" of the being. They looked remarkably alike. The question was, why did he cough up the same substance? Why was the substance inside of him?
"Let's... just go," Roland huffed in exhaustion. Without waiting for a response, he continued down the same the pair was walking towards before they were interrupted.
"Hey, wait—!" But it was too late. Roland walked by a tree that one of the highwaymen had been perched on, and instinctively looked to the red splotch that stood out amongst the grass.
The reaction wasn't immediate, but soon enough Roland hurried to one of the nearby bushes. Ash rushed to his side when the sound of what they ate earlier that day hit the ground with a splat.