It was now the day following the Timberwolf situation, and Dale has finally managed to leave Ponyville. The only issue in his eyes was that he was stuck going with some of the ponies of said town. They didn't seem to grasp the fact that even though Dale helped them out, that he wasn't their friend. Dale didn't hate any of them, he just thought that there were more important things to worry about currently. But, he'd be lying if he didn't admit that it was nice to travel with someone other than himself.
Before the group left town, they made sure to stock up on supplies and make a schedule for how they would be travelling. Matt and Twilight were coordinating everyone to get tents, food, water, and all the necessities to make this travel. Twilight estimated that the trip would take about four days if they moved at a reasonable pace and took breaks every couple of hours. She even made sleeping schedules for everyone.
Dale had a lot less to worry about for the journey now, but the thought of being eaten by an unbeatable monster still lingered in the back of his mind.
The light of the sun sliced through the trees, illuminating the dark green grass of the Everfree Forest. The atmosphere of the forest felt different than it was back when the group was closer to Ponyville. Even though the forest looked really calming and friendly, in the back of the group's mind, they knew it was some sort of trap to lead them into a false sense of security.
Twilight was the one leading the pack. She was scanning the map in front of her eyes while occasionally glancing upwards to see if they were heading the correct way. Matt followed closely behind her; he volunteered to be the first line of defence if any monsters were to attack the group since he could summon his Parasprite as a backup if needed. The rest of the ponies were behind Matt with Dale being at the very back of the group. Matt directed Dale to stay in the back in case something came at them from behind. Dale didn't mind this position as he could just zone out until his arm brace gave him the warning to watch out.
Dale and Matt were both tasked with carrying the supplies in their inventories. Twilight questioned the men constantly about how their arm brace devices worked before the left town, but they both just dodged the questions by saying 'it's just a human thing'
Dale placed his hands in his pockets as his eyes darted around the trees of the forest. The forest reminded him of the times when he was younger where he and his childhood friends would go on make-believe adventures. In real life, it would just be a simple park, but in their minds, it was a sprawling jungle filled with vicious creatures. It was kind of humorous to the young man now that he thought about it. He had been on his own real-life adventure for a bit now, and he couldn't wait for it to all be over when he reached his destination. At least, that's what Dale hoped.
"ugh, I cannot believe that there is this much filth around here!" Rarity complained. She was attempting to avoid as much of the gunk on the ground as she could. Edging around puddles of dark green water, dodging strange goop that was just laying on the ground, and making sure that her hooves stayed as clean as possible.
"Quit your whining. It ain't that bad," Applejack responded bluntly. She stepped in a puddle, causing the liquid to splash out of it and almost land on Rarity.
Rarity quickly moved her front left hoof out of the way in response, "Easy for you to say. You don't spend nearly as much time as I do making sure everything looks good!" Rarity said back, "You should have let me bring the proper clothing for the trip. The ground is so icky!"
"Like I said before we left, it would only slow us all down if you brought all of your designer clothing or whatever" Applejack and Rarity continued their argument to themselves as they walked. Twilight, however, was beginning to get annoyed with their bickering. Her eye visibly twitched as she tried to focus on the map before letting out a groan in annoyance.
"How about we take a break!" She shouted in frustration. Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at her with worry in their eyes. Dale had a slight idea of what Twilight Sparkle was capable of, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her might again, "We've been out for a while already and we could all use a rest for a bit."
Rainbow Dash, who had been flying for the entire journey so far, landed on the ground, "Already? C'mon, I can go for much longer!" She boasted.
Pinkie Pie skid to a halt, her eyes filling with glee, "Hurray! I've been waiting for this moment my entire life! I get to share the snacks I baked for this occasion!" Pinkie Pie quickly dashed over to Matt and began to bounce up and down while squealing, "I made a very special one for you too Matty!"
Matt scratched the back of his head, his face flushing slightly, "That's real nice of you, Pinkie,"
Fluttershy, however, looked a little down from the exchange. Her eyes drifted to the ground and she dragged her hoof through the damp grass. Dale saw her actions from where he was standing and took a mental note. Dale tapped his arm brace to bring up his inventory and selected a single apple. The fruit materialized in his hand as he walked towards Fluttershy.
"Hey," Dale said to the pony. Fluttershy snapped back to reality and jolted back to her regular position, her eyes wide in surprise. She looked up at Dale a little embarrassed. Dale smiled lightly as he offered her the apple with no words. Fluttershy cautiously took the apple from the usually cold human with her mouth. She sat on her haunches and bit into the apple, using her forehooves to hold the fruit in place.
Dale walked away without saying a word and leaned his pack against a nearby tree. He summoned a bottle of water from his inventory and began to take drinks from it casually. His body cooled off because of the liquid, letting him clear his mind and think about things.
"Five whole days of this? Canterlot better be worth it because I can already tell that this journey is going to be a slog," Dale thought to himself.
"Hey bro, how are you holdin' up?" Matt walked over to Dale, taking bites out of the treat Pinkie Pie made for him. Dale looked towards Matt and at the cupcake, he was holding. The sweet has a little pink heart on it that was half-eaten. Dale opened his mouth, about to tell Matt about Fluttershy's feelings but decided against it. Whatever was going on between those two didn't involve Dale, so he decided that he shouldn't try to intervene.
"I'm doing alright," Dale quickly said.
Matt raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Uh, okay?" Matt took another bite from his food while leaning on the tree close to Dale, "You know, it's weird. I never imagined the Everfree forest to look calming,"
"What do you mean?" Dale asked.
"Well, from what I was told and what I knew about this place, it was supposed to be nothing but trouble. It's dangerous in here yeah, but when something isn't trying to kill you and you get the chance to take it in, it's actually pretty nice," Matt's eyes followed a leaf that fell off of one of the trees, "That doesn't change the fact that from here on out, the monsters are gonna get stronger than they were back at Ponyville," Matt stood up straight and began to stretch his arms and legs, "And I for one, can't wait to see what else I can recruit!" He gave Dale a thumbs up and winked at him before walking towards the mares and instantly beginning a conversation.
"Stronger monsters..." Dale thought to himself. He knew that Matt was right; video games are supposed to get more difficult the farther on you get, and Dale wasn't sure if he was really prepared for that fact.
Dale quickly opened up his status screen and examined it.
Name: Dale Stevens
Level: 13
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
Stat Points: 9
Status
Strength: 6
Magic: 8
Vitality: 10
Agility: 6
Luck: 8
EXP: 37/1200
App Points: 50
Dale had forgotten that he had earned a lot of rewards for defeating the Alpha Timber Wolf. The stat points alone was a huge thing since he had 9 that he could spend. Dale had to think about what he prioritized most; his biggest issue was the fact that he kept running out of MP, so he needed to rectify that. Dale quickly dumped 5 of the stat points into magic to fix it. It also helped that his spells would be more effective this way.
"Matt said that there were going to be stronger monsters... Maybe I should put more into luck to make getting new ally's easier?" Dale thought. He hadn't realized it at first, but Matt actually gave him a tip when the two were talking. Dale spent the remaining 4 points upgrading his luck stat.
Dale decided to also check the Functions to see what he could spend his App Points on.
Functions
(More Functions will be available to purchase at a later date)
Advanced Translator (Translate monsters that don't speak your native language making it easier to negotiate with them) -30AP
Skills
(You may also spend App Points on skills that you can learn. You can know a maximum of 8 skills before you have to begin to discard them. You may repurchase a skill if you choose to do so. More skills will be available to purchase at a later date)
Zionga (Medium Electric damage to one foe, medium chance of shock) -20AP (8MP cost)
Mazio (Light Electric damage to all foes, low chance of shock) -15AP (8MP cost)
Bufu (Light Ice damage to one foe, low chance of freeze) -5AP (4MP cost) (Currently Installed)
Mabufu (Light Ice damage to all foes, low chance of freeze) -15AP (8MP cost)
Agi (Light Fire damage to one foe) -5AP (4MP cost) (Currently Installed)
Garu (Light Wind damage to one foe) -5AP (4MP cost)
Rakukaja (Rah-Koo-Kah-Jah) (Increases defence on one party member for a short period) -20AP (12MP cost) (Currently Installed)
This one was a no brainer for Dale as he wanted to obtain new monsters, the last thing he wants is to be stuck with the Timberwolf he has when it can get curb stomped. Dale also saw that there was a new Zio skill that said was more powerful than the old one. It costed as much as the Mazio skill to use, but it was a single target attack instead. It seemed like a really good improvement, so Dale took the plunge and spent the last of his AP on the Zionga skill. He hoped that he wouldn't get buyers remorse from the purchase.
Thank you for your purchase! Installing new Skills and Functions now!
App Points: 0
Dale closed his screen and stood up from the tree. It was about time the group went back onto the road.
The group have been back on the journey for about an hour. The terrain became murkier as they travelled through the swamp section of the Everfree forest. The sun had begun to set and the path became darker. The group walked much closer to each other than before. There were no signs of enemies just yet, but they were all anticipating something to go wrong.
Somehow, through all of this, Pinkie Pie kept up her usual bubbly self. She was still bouncing around and whistling, but that made it tenser for everyone else. Fluttershy kept very close to Matt, almost using him as a shield.
"Don't worry, we'll be alright as long as I'm here," Matt reassured his friend. Fluttershy only nodded in response and pressed up against him, shivering lightly.
"Keep your guard up everypony, we're almost in the clear," Twilight said as she ignited her horn. The violet glow of her horn illuminated the area around the group, but Twilight didn't consider how much this exposed the group to predators. Dale and Matt's arm braces both flashed red before the swamp water began to violently bubble. Twilight let out a yelp and stumbled back slightly, startled.
Out of the water sprang a crocodile, but it wasn't like the ones back on Earth. This crocodile was completely made out of stone, much like the timberwolves near Ponyville. Different colours of rocks covered the creature like it was armour, and its teeth were also made out of stone. Dark green rocks ran across it's back and black stones protruded out of the creature like spikes. The size of this crocodile was overwhelming. If it stood on its hind legs, it would tower even over the two humans in height.
Cragadile
HP: 150/150
MP: 30/30
Skills
(Unknown)
Actions
Fight
Talk
Run
Twilight quickly ran to the front of the group and lowered her stance slightly, igniting her horn. Even though the creature surprised her, she was able to quickly recover and get ready to fight. Rainbow Dash flew to her side and the mares nodded their heads to each other. Dale had also begun to take his battle stance. Without words, the group came to the conclusion that they needed to fight the thing.
"Wait!" Matt shouted, catching everyone off guard, "Let me try something!" Matt ran up to the front lines and raised his hands to the cragadile. Matt gently approached the creature, "It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you," Matt told the cragadile. The cragadile snarled at the young man, swamp water pouring out of its agape mouth. Matt looked behind him and saw that everyone was still ready to attack if the creature made any wrong moves, " Hey, hey! Take it easy, guys!" Matt shouted at the group.
"What are you doing? That thing is dangerous!" Twilight shouted at Matt.
"Yeah, just let us kick that things tail!" Rainbow Dash pounded her hooves together.
"Trust me on this! Just calm down and watch this," Matt replied calmly. The two mares looked at each other and without words, came to an agreement to lower their guard a bit. Dale also lowered his guard a bit, he knew what Matt was trying to do. Matt turned back towards the cragadile, "See? They were just scared, we don't mean any harm," Matt summoned a strange rock to his hand and placed it on the ground, "It's called a 'Life Stone' you can have it if you want," Matt lowered his own guard. Dale watched in awe at how easily Matt was winning the creature over.
"No way..." Dale thought. The cragadile took the stone in his mouth and swallowed it; the creature looked pleased.
"So how about it? You want to come along with me?" Matt asked the cragadile, gently patting it on the nose. The cragadile smiled, it's sharp teeth being illuminated by Twilight's magical light. The creature walked pass Matt, the human smirking, "Don't worry about it guys, he's friendly." Everyone but Dale looked at Matt in shock at how he managed to tame a beast. Twilight ran up to Matt, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"That was amazing! You need to tell me how you did that!" Twilight quickly pulled a quill and parchment out of her saddlebag and began to fire questions at Matt at a rapid pace.
"Slow down for just a second, we should probably set up camp before you get too excited, Twi," Applejack bumped Twilight and stuck her tongue out at her. Twilight blushed at her actions.
"Oh... Y-Yeah we should do that," Twilight quickly recovered from her own missteps.
The group made a lot of progress today towards Canterlot but they were still a long ways away from the upper-class city. The journey there will be much more difficult from here on out...