A/N: You guys... this is going to be a sixteen man fight. I haven't written anything like this in like, half a decade. Please leave a review because this chapter seriously left me exhausted.

A/N 2: Mad props to those of you that guessed "Nothing," but it's not the right answer either. You're getting close though.

Chapter 10

Hoof and Claw

Either entrance of the circular chamber was blocked by diamond dogs wearing iron breastplates and helmets. The monsters growled at their captives, gnashing their teeth and flashing their sharp claws as they did so. The two opposing forces of ponies and canines stared each other down for a few seconds before some unseen cue sent Reyna charging at one group of diamond dogs, screaming with fury.

The barbarian turned around just as she got close enough to her enemies and unleashed a powerful buck with her hind legs. One of the dogs caught the attack on his unprotected jaw and flew high into the air, soaring over his comrades and landing behind them. A cloud of stars spun around his head and he groaned some incoherent melody to himself.

Not to be outdone, Jack rushed the other group of canines and planted a hoof against one of their helmets. The beast's helm rang like a bell and his whole head shook. Though clearly dizzy, the creature didn't fall down and prepared to strike back.

While her friends ran into the fray, Pin Kay continued playing her guitar and sang in as threatening a tone as she could muster, "In times of war we fight where spirits of vengeance collide. Paralyzed fear deep inside, voices calling, 'Raise your head and hail!' One step in mind. Two for the fight!" She spun around and her singing became oddly cheerful, "Across the fields of pain we march. Glory to the land!"

As the bard sang, the remaining dogs near Reyna pushed forward. Two forced the savage pony back while the other two tried to get around her...

"You know, Rainbow Dash, you could make an attack of opportunity here."

Twilight looked at the board and nodded approvingly, "It would really help us out if you did. The bard song would give you a boost too, so you might even knock a baddie out."

Rainbow Dash scratched her head. She started filliping through the rule book and asked, "What's an attack of opportunity? Is that some kind of super baddie-bashing maneuver?"

Roller pointed at where the different pieces sat on the board and explained, "Attacks of opportunity can be taken under special conditions. Basically, if you ever try to do something that would take a lot of time when you're right next to an enemy, they can get a free shot at you. The most common opportunity like this happens when you try to move past someone without tumbling, but the rules for that make this kind of complicated. There are also ways to avoid taking attacks like this, but that makes it even more complicated. Really, it's pretty of hard to keep the rules for this kind of thing straight after a while and more than one pony has probably gone crazy trying to memorize them."

The blue pegasus put down the book and asked, "So, I get a free attack on one of these guys? It's not even my turn and I get to kick one of 'em?"

"Yep. So, are you taking the shot?"

One of the dogs that tried to run past took a nasty kick in the ribs from Reyna, but kept moving. It limped as it ran, but clearly was not ready to give up the fight just yet. The other dog passed without incident. Both hounds now stood close enough to strike the softer members of the team.

Lady Styles still dangled from the opening in the grate they had climbed through. She tried desperately to pull herself up, but to no avail. As the two dogs that had rushed past her ally approached, she pleaded, "Pin Kay, stop playing that foalish song and help me up! Please! I implore you!"

"But the song is giving everypony extra power," Flute told the thief, "If she stops playing, we're doomed for sure. Here, let me help you."

The forest pony gripped the thief's hood in her mouth and pulled. Just as Lady Styles was almost safely on top of the grate, one of the dogs struck Flute hard across the back and she yelped in pain. Her friend fell back down, barely holding on to the edge as she was before.

As Styles continued to beg for help, Jack was having his own problems. One of the dogs that he was trying to hold back pushed against him while the others barked encouragement from behind. Gathering all his might, the knight threw his foe away and the entire enemy group stumbled, the one in front falling flat on his back. Jack added insult to injury, "and THAT is how we wrastle down on the farm!"

Twin star stood face to face with two armored diamond dogs over the grate. She jumped back, away from her enemies and stated, "Watch and learn, girls. First, I can take a five-foot step to avoid an attack of opportunity," then her horn began to glow and she finished, "Then, it only takes a standard action to cast a a spell like this one: Thunder Bolt!"

"Wait, what happened?"

Pinkie's question hung in the air for a second or two. All the ponies at the table besides Roller and Twilight wore confused expressions. Applejack was the first one to regain enough of her senses to ask, "Could you run that by us again?" to which Rainbow Dash added, "Was that even legal?"

Roller thought for a second and checked the rulebook in front of him. It took him a moment to find the right page, but he eventually came to it and read quietly to himself. Closing the book, he told the others...

"It looks legal to me."

Lightning arched from the tip of her horn into the face of one of the dogs. The enemy twitched and flashed, giving those nearby a comical x-ray of their enemy before her collapsed in a heap of heavy breathing and burnt fur. The sorceress took a few breaths before saying, "Reading Spike's old guidebooks back in the library really comes in handy sometimes."

Reyna was still struggling against two diamond dogs when she asked, "Why don't you just freeze them all like you did before? Can't somepony over there keep 'em off your back while you cast that frozen wind thing again?"

Twin star explained, "I can only cast a spell that powerful once a day. I guess we kind of wasted it," her tone changed to one of encouragement, "but, we probably won't need it if things keep going this well!"

As is on cue, one of the dogs she was struggling with lifted Reyna above his head and threw her back onto the grate. The barbarian grunted as she made contact with the cold iron bars and slid next to the opening that Styles was still dangling from. The thief and the savage pony locked eyes for a second before turning to see how Jack was doing.

Jack stepped down the hall to where one of his enemies was laying on his back and stomped down hard on his stomach. The dog yelped, but then went silent and panted for breath as the wind was knocked out of him. The knight scraped a hoof against the ground and challenged the dogs in front of him, "Which one o' ya'll is next?"

Pin Kay reminded her friend, "I'm next!" before dancing off the grate and away from the dog nearest to her. She continued her song, "Holy knight! Guiding light! Give us hope and feel our desire. No more fear! No more pain! Save us, Equestria, freedom!"

The dog on the grate ignored the music and looked down at Reyna with a menacing glare. He raised a claw and brought it down hard towards the barbarian, but she was too quick and rolled out of the way. The two dogs that pushed her back now stormed onto the grate and tried their own luck at hitting the pegasus, one of them succeeding and leaving a scratch across the savage pony's face.

While the dogs did that, Lady Styles finally managed to pull herself up. She now found one of her opponents had their back to her and she had the perfect opportunity to use an old thief's trick. The cloaked pony jumped onto the unwary foe's back and clobbered him on either side of the head with her front hooves! The beast's eyes swirled around inside his head, his vision blurred and he fell backwards down the hole the Lady Styles had just climbed out of as she hopped onto the grate where he once stood, whispering, "I knew that Sneak Attack thing would be useful in a pinch."

Flute R'Shye heard the sound of the enemy hitting the bottom of the pit before focusing her magical powers and disappearing in a cloud of buzzing insects. One of the dogs still on the grate now found himself surrounded by hundreds of bees, all of which were stinging him. The monster flailed wildly to get the tiny creatures off him only to stumble down the open door that his ally had fallen through just a moment ago. The bees ceased their attack and simply hovered over the grate, waiting to see how the battle went.

The four dogs stuck in the corridor that Jack had blocked looked to each other after hearing the chaos going on in the room ahead. The lot of them nodded to each other before they all charged ahead as a single group. Jack tried his best to hold his ground, but it was met with no success as the knight was pushed onto his side and trampled by swifter feet than his own.

As the four canines entered the room they were met by a flash of bright light. One of them was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning from the sorceress's horn. As her enemies stood in awe, she challenged them, "I've got three spells like that left today and there are only three of you. Don't. Tempt. Me."

"Yeah!" Cheered Reyna as she kicked the last diamond dog on the grate into the pit, "You go, Twin Star! Shock 'em into next week!"

The enemy looked back down the hall they came from and could see a very angry knight standing there. His armor was a little dented and he was breathing a little heavier then before, but this somehow made him more intimidating. As he spoke, a chill went down their spines, "Ya'll are in for whole new world o' hurt if'n you think you're coming down here!"

Pin Kay seemed lost in her own little world as she continued her song, "We stand up awaiting the dawn. By daylight the kingdom is born!" She then felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She stopped playing and turned around, seeing Lady Styles behind her.

"The fight's pretty much over, dear," she told her, "Take a break. Please? For my sake?"

The bees buzzing over the grate flew over the group of dogs that had just entered the room. They didn't swarm around them or start stinging, but instead simply buzzed around the ceiling. They seemed to be threatening more then anything else.

One of the dogs raised his hands above his head and cried out, "I surrender!" The rest of his group that was still standing followed suit. Soon, the ponies had them surrounded and were using the last of their rope to tie them up for questioning.

"Alright, you guys did pretty well..."

Roller was congratulating the group. His normally melancholy disposition had been replaced by a sort of quiet pride in the six other ponies at the table. " You've stomped out some bad guys and now have a few tied up for questioning," he reviewed, "Not bad at all for your first adventure."

The author sat back in his chair and chuckled a little. His gaze drifted into space and a look of nostalgia came over him. He told them, "You know, this group that I played with before didn't act this much like a team until one of them stopped trying to multiclass into everything. He was so focused on trying to do it all himself that..." He sighed and shook his head, "Nah, you guys don't want to hear about that."

Twilight's interest was piqued, "Oh, but we do," she sounded sincere. The others gave her curious looks, unsure of what the librarian meant by "we". The clock ticked on for a few seconds and the rain beat on the windows before Roller continued.

"A few years ago, there was this group that I played with," he told them, "We were all friends since grade school and picked up the game because, well, I'm kind of a nerd and they had nothing better to do. We would go on these grand adventures, creating quests for one another and rolling up really interesting characters. Anyway, our first game had me as the Horse Master and one of us was trying to make a character that had a level in each and every character class. He had at least one level as a thief, a bard and sorcerer. The problem was that he thought he was a one stallion army when really..."

He sighed again and left the sentence there. Soon enough, Roller's look of nostalgia faded and he looked to a poster on the wall. It was the poster that Twilight had seen before, the one that featured Robin Hoof, Beopony and Horsecules. Rainbow Dash, never one to tolerate sentiment, tried to get their attention. "Guys?" she asked, "Are we going to keep playing?"

"Of course we are," Roller answered as he forced his gaze away from the poster, "I was just thinking of some old heroes of mine."

A/N: Ah, some more of Roller's personality and past revealed. Good thing too, we're already ten chapters in. Tell me what you guys think in a nice little review, okay?

Disclaimer: The song is Holy Knight by Freedom Call and I don't really own the rights to it. I also changed one of the lyrics for obvious reasons.