A/N: Ooh... everypony is trying to guess the answer to the riddle now. This should be interesting. Guys, I'm going to let you keep trying to get the right answer, but you're only at the end of a legitimate review of the story so far. I will ignore (and probably delete) any review that nothing but an answer. Oh, and don't just google the riddle. That's cheating.

A/N 2: The following guesses are not the right answer; Time, Death and Air.

Chapter 9

The Fellowship

Reyna, Flute and Twin Star desperately tried to think of an answer. Pin Kay lay unconscious on her barbarian friend's back, unable to have her nerves rattled with the others as the sorceress repeated the riddle, "It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after. Ends life, kills laughter. What is it?"

Flute stuttered as she gave her answer, "I-is it water? Water d-doesn't really have a smell, it's clear so it's k-kind of hard to see, it would gather at the b-bottom of a hill, you can drown in it and if rains a lot then it could ruin a day out. Does that count as 'k-killing laughter'?"

The gem atop the smooth wall apparently didn't think so as it shot another bolt of light into Flute's head. The forest pony flailed around for a second before succumbing to the attack and passing out. Twin Star strained to use her magic to lift her out of the water.

The gem started to glow again and Reyna roared in anger, "Forget this!" She threw Pin Kay off her back and onto Twin Star's before taking flight and charging the gem. Her front hooves collided with the dull stone, only for a blast of brilliant, purple light to send the barbarian slamming against the far wall. As she lost consciousness, Reyna could hear the last pony standing shout her answer.

"It's ions! Charged particles! Stars send those things flying everywhere, they can't be detected without special equipment, a lot of scientists believe that they came before a lot of stuff in the universe, enough of them can cause an electrical discharge which can give a really painful shock and..."

She didn't get to finish her explanation before another purple bolt came shooting out of the gem and her whole world went black. The sorceress thought she could hear the sounds of someone walking through the water, but her conscious mind was too far gone to really tell. The last thing she felt was something dragging her through the cold stream.

"So, what? That's it? Game over?"

Rainbow Dash seemed quite cross, "That's not fair! How were we supposed to figure that out? Shouldn't Pinkie's freaky bard knowledge figure that out for us?"

Roller shrugged, "Sorry, but she didn't roll high enough. Besides that, this game is about more than just smashing things. I have to throw some kind of puzzle your way on occasion or the whole thing turns into one, long repetitive string of meaningless monster encounters."

"Um, is the game really over?" asked Fluttershy, "I kind of wanted to know what happened to all the missing ponies. Do we really have to stop playing?"

Roller shook his head, "The party was knocked out, but that doesn't mean the game is over. There's still more of a story to be told. You guys didn't really think I'd end this so soon, did you?"

Pinkie waved a hoof, "I finished helping Rarity and Applejack with their characters! Was my answer to the riddle right? I was kind of distracted. Did we win?"

The others in the adventuring party shook their heads. Twilight explained, "Everypony was knocked out, but Roller says it's not game over yet," she then turned to the author, "What happens next, Horse Master?"

"The four heroes begin to wake up one by one..."

Reyna was the first to open her eyes. She was in a small room just barely big enough to fit a foal on either side of her. One three sides of her was hard stone, but iron bars directly in front. She pushed on the bars a little and tried to look between them to survey the outside.

Along the far wall, only a few yards away there was a row of cells like the one she was in. Only two of them seemed occupied, one by an orange earth stallion with a white tail who was clad in armor and the other by a white unicorn mare wearing a dark purple hooded cloak that matched her tail that poked out the back. "Hey," the barbarian got their attention, "Where are we?"

The armored pony responded, "I reckon we're in some kind of jail, though I can't rightly say what we're in for. Maybe..."

"Wait, wait, wait."

Rarity was shaking her head. "You're supposed to be a knight, Applejack," she told her friend, "Why not try to speak like one? Role-play as a proper noble."

"Alright, Rarity. I'll Try."

The armored pony cleared his throat and tried speaking again, "Uh, yeah verily and forsooth. I doth believeth that we have become... uh... imprisoned by..." he looked frustrated and muttered, "Aw, forget it," before addressing the pegasus again, "We done got jailed by Diamond Dogs for trespassin' in their mines."

The cloaked unicorn shook her head, "You know, a little bit of class wouldn't kill you, Applejack," She then started examining the lock to her cell, "Why, just a tiny bit of grace..." her horn glowed and the lock clicked. The door to her cell swung open and she finished, "Could go a very long way."

"Uh, I thought my name was just Jack," the knight corrected her, "At least, that's what I got written where it says 'name'."

"Whoa, wait a second..."

"...you're playing as a boy?" asked Rainbow Dash. The others at the table seemed eager for a response as the farmer's expression became nervous. Roller put his face in one of his hooves and tried to pretend that the conversation around him wasn't really happening.

Applejack answered, "Well, yeah. It's all just pretend, right? If I want to play as a boy then there ain't no rules against it."

The others were quiet for a moment. Eventually, Roller asked, "Does anypony really have a problem with Applejack being Jack of the house of Apple? I mean, come on. It's the modern age and it's just a game anyway."

The players all either shrugged or shook their heads. As they resumed play, Rainbow Dash stated, "No problem, it's just that everypony usually says that I'm the tomboy," before laughing a little.

"Moving along..."

The unicorn approached Jack's cell and pointed her horn at the lock to it. After about half a minute there was another clicking noise and the door opened. "Thank you kindly, Miss... um, what should I call you?"

The unicorn bowed and introduced herself, "I am Lady Styles, professional jewel thief and soon to be world renown fashionista. How could you forget, Sir Jack? We've been traveling together for how long?"

"Uh..." Jack was absolutely clueless at first, but then remembered, "According to this card that Roller just gave me, about a month."

Lady Styles lowered her head in shame and suggested, "Sir, I must ask that you at least TRY to stay in character. Alright? Some of us do love to be a thespian once in a while."

Reyna kicked the door of her cell and shouted, "Hey! This door isn't gonna unlock itself and I've got some friends to find. Have you seen a bard, a sorceress and a forest pony?"

Jack pointed as he told her, "Yep. Their in the cells just next to yours. We'll get 'em out in a jiffy if'n m'lady would be so kind."

"Indeed she would," Lady Styles held her head high and got to work unlocking the doors one by one. As their cells opened, the different ponies stepped out and thanked their new ally though Flute was a bit nervous near the stranger. The six now stood between two rows of empty cells in a hall just narrow enough for them to walk through single-file.

The group moved down the prison hallway and came to a circular room big enough for them to stand in a circle. The walls seemed scuffed and chipped, especially at the bottom, and reached very high. Before the ceiling was a grate of some kind and the sound of barking dogs and marching paws sounded from beyond it.

Twin Star nodded and told the others, "There's nowhere to go but up. Reyna, fly up there and see if you can open that grate. After that, lower a rope or something and try to pull us up."

Reyna replied, "I already used the rope at the waterfall and you used yours on the Diamond Dogs in the first hallway. Don't any of the rest of you have one?"

The thief's horn began to glow and a coil of rope floated from under her cape to around the barbarian's neck. Reyna nodded approving and flapped her wings as hard as she could, quickly ascending to the grate and kicking it as hard as her tired hooves would allow. With a thunderous "CLANG!" the grate shook, but it didn't break or move out of the way. Reyna landed and said, "Well, that didn't work. Any other bright ideas?"

Styles squinted her eyes and peered at the metal barrier. She then motioned to the pegasus and said, "I have a plan. There's a square door on that grate with a lock on it. If I can open that, then we can get through and lower the rope. Give me a lift, if you would be so kind."

Reyna gave a single nod before grabbing Lady Styles and lifting her high into the air. Once near the top, the unicorn swung under the grate and hooked her legs under the metal bars so she could hang from them. After a few seconds of pointing a shiny horn at it, the lock was disarmed and the door opened. The six adventurers all smiled as Reyna flew through the door and lowered the rope.

"Great job, Lady Styles," Twin Star complimented her and she and the others bit down on the rope. The thief swung herself over and climbed out of the opening herself if only to show off her agility and helped her savage friend pull the rest of the party up. Soon, all six stood atop the grate that once blocked their path.

Pin Kay could hardly contain her excitement, "We made it to the top! You know what this calls for?" before anyone could answer, she had her guitar ready and shouted, "A PARTY!" and then she began to play a very long, very complex and very loud melody.

Before anyone could get her to stop, the sound of footsteps was fast approaching. There were two openings to the large, round room that they stood in the middle of and either one had that infernal noise growing louder and louder within. Jack and Reyna lowered their heads and glared, preparing to attack the first dog they saw while Twin Star and Flute R'Shye got behind them. Lady Styles backed away a few steps only to slip and nearly fall into the gate she had left open, barely catching the edge with her front hooves. The thief called out, "Somepony save me!"

Jack didn't look away from the entrances for a single second, telling Styles, "Sorry, m'lady, but first thing's first. I can't help you up and protect you at the same time," just then, the entrances to the room were filled with diamond dogs, "Ya'll are gonna have to take care of yourself for a minute."

"Okay, everypony. It's time to determine initiative."

Roller rolled two dice behind his screen as the others all rolled their own twenty siders. After they all announced the results which Roller wrote down on a small notepad and informed them, "The order will be as follows; Reyna, Jack, Pin, Dog Group 1, Styles, Flute, Dog Group 2, then, last but not least, Twin Star. Everypony know their turn?"

The others all nodded. They all seemed to understand perfectly except for the farmer. Applejack asked, "How many diamond dogs are in each group exactly?"

Roller told her plainly, "There are five. You're fighting a total of ten enemies this time and I control all of them. Don't worry, nopony loses their first fight."

Suddenly, Roller's tone became very deep and very dark. "Of course," he continued, "There IS a first time for everything," before breaking out in a fit of evil laughter. Rarity and Applejack looked to each other as if to ask what they had gotten themselves into.

A/N: Next week is going to be a sixteen man brawl. I hope you'll all be quite satisfied. See you all there.