Chapter 24

Outside the Game Box

Gai stood atop a large pile of unconscious bodies, his bright red manes flowing in the gentle breeze. He took a few deep breaths before walking down the hill of ninjas that he had single-hoofidly taken down. As he neared the bottom, the shining form of Tsukuyomi appeared in the sky above him.

"So, the ruler of the moon has returned," Gaikoku huffed as the shining figured slowly descended, "To what do I owe this would-be honor? Is it the fact I just took down your entire ninja army and stopped you from opening Yomi? No, that couldn't possibly be it because you told me that was impossible and the sky rulers are never wro- oh wait. That's exactly what happened."

The shining pony let out a low growl, "One day, the Elements of Balance WILL be mine, Gaikoku Jin. Mark my words, this is NOT OVER!" and in a brilliant flash, he was gone.

The mortal colt with the shining red mane laid down on the soft grass of the field as the defeated army vanished into the dawn behind him. He took a deep breath and turned to look at the rising sun. He would serve as the guardian of the Elements of Balance and the gate to Yomi; the Underworld, just as his ancestors did before him.

"Okay, PC. The others should be here soon. We should really get ready."

Piccolo Concerto closed the small book on the table. He smiled and said, "Yeah, we're done for now anyway. I really don't have any more planned for this setting right now anyway."

Roller nodded and put his dice into a satin bag. He quietly hummed the slow opening to the only Japonies song he knew as he put the game away. Suddenly, he stopped when Concerto asked, "What did you think? Not bad for a first adventure, huh?"

The author thought for a moment, took a deep breath and told his friend, "Not bad at all. The pacing was a little rushed, but we were pressed for time anyway. Most of the other problems I had with the campaign have nothing to do with your abilities as a story teller and everything to do with the fact that I know almost nothing about Neighpon other than the H & H modules based on their folklore. You did a good job making something engaging out of the Three Stat System and with your guidance, character creation was pretty easy. For a beginner, you did pretty well."

The portly pony smiled and boasted, "I told you I'd been working on my gaming skills. I guess all those Horse Mastering for Dummies books really paid off. Right?"

"I should hope so," The author answered, "I wrote a few of them when I ran out of ideas for novels."

Just then, the door to the shop opened and in walked a familiar, white unicorn. "Hello, everypony," he greeted in a posh voice, "Shall I grace you with my presence?"

"Afternoon, AC," Roller and Concerto said in unison. The author looked back to his round friend a told him, "We've really got to stop doing that. Other ponies are going to start to think we share a brain."

X walked in from behind A Capella. "If that's the case then it would explain a lot," she said before having a quick giggle at her friends' expense, "Anyway, we brought everypony with us. Should we get started?"

"Everypony?" Roller was surprised, "How do you guys pull this kind of thing off?"

Pinkie bust into the room with her friends in tow, declaring, "Nopony can resist a good party!"

The other were silent for a moment. Pinkie cleared her throat and awkwardly explained, "you know, like an adventuring party? Like what we have in the game?" only for more silence to follow. She rolled her eyes and said, "Well sure it's not funny when I have to explain the joke. Duh."

All the players took a place at the table as Roller set up the board. Out the window, he could see that the light of the day was starting to fade. He wondered how long he had spent with his friends when he could have been trying to make sales, but then remembered how few customers he had seen that day and shook such thoughts from his mind. Soon enough, the board and all the players were ready to play. The author took his place at the table and started to speak...

"Alright, let's start with the group that's still in town..."

Twin Star and Jack stood up with a start as two new ponies came tumbling down the basement stairs, landing next to them. They'd been waiting by the secret passage for a while, though unsure of exactly how long, and were surprised to see new arrivals. They didn't recognize the one clad in armor, but when the hooded unicorn got to her feet...

"Lady Styles!" Gasped Jack, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again. Thank goodness you're alright. You are alright, ain't you?"

The thief used her magic to dust herself off as she answered, "I'm fine, Sir Jack, but our hosts are being quite rude. I mean, the nerve of some ponies! Who are they to throw a lady and her escort into a place as filthy as this?" she sniffed at the air twice and almost gagged, "What is that smell?"

Twin Star looked away and told her, "Sewage. We kind of had a bad night," but then looked back up and said, "You had a bad night too, huh?"

"I should say so!" Styles continued to complain, "and a bad day! Pin Kay has been bewitched!"

"No way!" Jack exclaimed, but then had to think for a minute, "Uh, how bewitched are we talkin' here?"

The other armored stallion rose up from the ground and shook off some dirt. "Her mind is no longer her own," he told them, "and as long as Faust can keep feeding her lotus soup, there's not much we can do to change that."

"Faust?" the sorceress and the other knight asked in unison.

Styles and Beopony looked to each other, then back to their friends. "We have some explaining to do," the thief sighed.

Reyna, Horsecules and Flute stood in a corridor line with prison cells. The voices of many angry ponies could be heard echoing around them, shouting, "Let us out! We want revenge! Down with the king!"

Reyna took the keys in her mouth and started unlocking cell doors. Ponies of all sorts came out as their doors opened and when they were all free, they looked to the three adventurers. One of them wearing a cloak stepped forward, " Thanks for springing us. My name is Oliver."

"That sounds familiar," Reyna said, rubbing her chin, "You were the one talking to Jack and Twin Star before, weren't you? Hey! You can probably get some of your friends in the Resistance and..."

"Whoa! Wait! How would you know about that conversation?"

Roller glared at Rainbow Dash from across the table while his three old friends cringed a little. "Hey, she is new, Roller," Concerto's voice shook a little, "She probably doesn't know that metagaming is bad."

"What's metagaming?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"See?" now A Capella was trying to calm his friend, "First offense. She didn't even know it was wrong. Let it slide just once?"

"What's metagaming?" Rainbow Dash asked again a little louder.

X turned to Fluttershy and whispered, "This won't end well. I hope you weren't too attached to that character."

"Would somepony tell me what metagaming is?" Rainbow demanded, speaking just below a shout, "I mean, did I do something wrong?"

There was quiet for an uncomfortable moment but then Roller spoke in a tone that was calm, yet threatening, "Metagming is when you blur the lines between what's happening around the table and what's happening in the story. It is the worst thing a player can do because it breaks the illusion that the Horse Master works so hard to maintain. Essentially, you have broken my fourth wall and now you must be punished."

"I don't get it," Rainbow dash scratched her head, "Shouldn't we be trying to win?"

"Aye, that's one way of looking at it," X said, "but the way you're doing it is kind of like cheating. You're supposed to keep what you know as a player and what your character knows separate."

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash was still confused, "But, I am my character. I thought that was the whole point."

"You control your character," Roller tried to correct her, "But what Reyna knows and what Rainbow knows are not always the same. Reyna only knows about what she's seen or heard about. Got it?"

"But I AM Reyna," Now the pegasus was frustrated, "What? Does not Reyna not know how to fly either just because nopony else has flown in the story?"

Roller rubbed his temples and told her, "Of course Reyna knows how to fly. She's a pegasus. The problem is the she isn't sitting around the table with us right now, and yet you're playing as if she is. Understand?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, "No, but we're wasting time here. Can't you just ignore any meta-whatever thing I say so we can move on?"

The author sighed and said, "I guess I don't have much of a choice..."

"...Mark my words though, you'll pay for this later."

Oliver turned to Flute and Horsecules. "So, what' the plan for our escape?" he asked, "Start a riot? Overpower the guards? Dig our way out? This crowd won't wait forever for a plan."

Horsecules started walking to the door to the cell block, saying, "I'm not good for much else but brute strength. I say we fight."

"Um, that sounds violent," Flute R'Shye shrank away from the door, "C-can't we just talk to the guards to get them to let us out?"

Reyna arched an eyebrow, "You think you can roll another twenty?"

"Roll?" Oliver asked, "Twenty? You've got a funny way of talking, stranger."

Horsecules continued toward the door. "Negotiations aren't my strong suit," he stated, "Kicking baddies in the head is. Come on, let's get that door unlocked and take the fight to the enemy before they barricade the door."

Reyna unlocked the door at the end of the hall and opened it. She then had topin herself against the wall to avoid being trampled by the escaped prisoners. A flood of angry ponies came pouring out of the doorway, sweeping her two party members with it.

"...and then we wound up here," Styles finished explaining what had happened to her friends, "as far as I know, Reyna and Flute are locked up some where or worse. We have to get them out of there."

"No problem, M'lady," Jack smiled, "We just gotta convince the resistance here to give us a helpin' hoof. How hard could that be?"

Beopony scraped at the ground with on hoof and said, "It'll probably be harder than you think. They have no reason to trust us and fewer reasons to risk so much just for a pair of ponies that we don't even know the location of. Besides that, they probably think we're spies."

"Oh, that's a shame," came a new voice from the top of the stairs, "Whatever shall you do, Sir Beopony?"

The four adventurers looked up and saw a white unicorn covered mostly in a green cape. His whole face was hidden in the shadow of his hood except for a devilish grin. He came down the stairs, saying, "Come now, fearless leader, this isn't the worst pickle you've been in."

"Robin hoof?" Beopony took a step up the stairs for a better look, "Is that you, old friend? I thought you..."

"Met my end at the hooves of that sorcerer?" the new figure finished, "He only wishes. It takes a lot more than a faulty summoning charm to get rid of me. Of course, I did wind up here in the Colony so that's rather bothersome. Ah well, keep calm and carry on and all that," he reached the bottom of the stairs and embraced Beopony, "It's good to see you again, mate."

"Uh, mind introducin' us?" Jack asked, "Ya'll are actin' mighty neighborly. Old friends?"

Beopony turned to the other knight and smiled. His face beamed as he introduced, "This is my good friend, Robin Hoof. You may have seen him on a few wanted posters, but trust me when I say that there's no better stallion to have watching your back. We used to travel together."

"Charmed," Lady Styles gave a small bow, "I'm Lady Styles. This is Sir Jack of the house of Apple and Twin Star the sorceress. Will you help us rescue our friends?"

Robin Hoof held his head high and told her, "If it means causing trouble for that Faust bloke, consider it done. I've got loads of friends in the Resistance eager to storm that castle. We'll be in and out of the treasure chamber before you know it."

"Treasure chamber?" Twin Star sounded confused, "What about helping our friends?"

"Did I say treasure chamber?" Robin Hoof asked, "I meant... uh... jail. Right, that's it. Jail. To help your friends. I'm not thinking about just looting the place and leaving them for the dogs if that's what you're implying. Uh... you weren't implying that, were you?"

Roller looked to A Capella from across the table, an amused glimmer in his eye. "You still don't have any ranks in Bluff, do you?" he asked.

AC laughed a little and answered, "What can I say? You don't need to lie to the guards unless they catch you."

Fluttershy looked at the floor and mumbled, "I'm starting to worry about this quest."