Chapter 27

Intermission

"There is now a large group of heroes standing around the library," Roller thought aloud. He looked up to the others at the table and told them, "I've never played with a party this large before. This could get interesting." He then gave his three old friends a sly grin and joked, "Don't baby the newbies too much, okay? Things are already easy enough for you three."

A Capella turned up his nose and gloated, "It's not our fault we're perfect. We were born this way."

X gave him a playful jab to the shoulder and said, "What he meant to say was, 'please have mercy on us, oh great Horse Master.' Right?"

The author gave another evil laugh, declaring, "No mercy! Rule one of game mastering! Bwahahahaha! Beg for salvation that will not come!"

The other six stared at Roller with looks of worry and confusion. The author felt their gaze and calmed himself down. Applejack cleared her throat and suggested, "Maybe we should take a little break. You know, before Roller loses the rest of his marbles."

The author shrugged, but then agreed, "Alright. It's getting to be about dinner time anyway. Does anypony want something to eat? I could whip something up in the kitchen."

X giggled and asked, "Will that something be leftovers from your freezer?"

Roller looked away, "Maybe. I do have a lot of leftovers. How much do you guys like pancakes?"

Concerto chuckled, "Let us take care of dinner, CR. It'd be good to hang out in town with you again and I don't think I can stomach your cooking anyway."

The author was stunned as he turned to Concerto and gasped, "My goodness! I think that was your first back-hoofed compliment!" There was silence for a brief time before he continued, "I... am so proud."

"We brought him up as best we could," A Capella joined in with the faux pride, "He's finally becoming a real part of the group. This calls for a celebration!"

Concerto rolled his eyes, "You're not funny, guys."

X apparently disagreed as she was laughing openly at her friend. The other six couldn't help but laugh a little too, though most of them tried to hide it. Concerto blushed a little and joined in the laughter after a few seconds.

Twilight's stomach growled, turning everyone's attention to her. She laughed nervously and suggested, "Let's meet back here in an hour to keep playing. Alright?" to which everyone at the table agreed and left the shop.

Rarity and Twilight sat at another table outside of a restaurant, enjoying the sunset. The fashionista had been talking for what felt like ages about all the gossip she had heard around her shop while Twilight sat and listened as intently as she could given her lack of interest. A waiter came by and put a pair of salads between the two and Rarity had to take a break from her gossip to thank him, giving Twilight an opportunity to change the subject, "So, what do you think of X and the others? You've talked to them more than anypony else."

Rarity blinked and few times and thought, "Well, those three are some juicy gossip just waiting to happen. X is constantly trying to play matchmaker, but can't seem to see her best match when it's right in front of her face. Poor A Capella, if it weren't for his celebrity status then maybe he could have a second alone with her."

Twilight nearly choked on her food, "A-A Capella and X? Really? That sounds like a bad fanfiction."

"Like A Long Night in Coldfell?" Rarity smirked and told her, "Dear, trust me. If that colt was sending out signals any harder then you'd pick them up on every radio in Ponyville. Why, he even means to give her a gift."

Twilight remembered helping Rarity earlier. "You mean that dress?" she guessed, "You really think it's for X? Even if it is, can't he just give her a gift as a friend?"

Rarity almost took offense to that last sentence. She stated, "Twilight, you do not commission the greatest fashion designer in all of Ponyville to make a dress like that for someone who's just a friend. Besides, even if I'm wrong there's no harm in a little gossip."

Rainbow Dash locked eyes with the pink pony across the table from her. They tried to psyche each other out for only a few seconds, but in her mind they were hours. She was hungry for victory. Victory and blueberries.

Fluttershy drew in a deep breath and gave the signal, "Go!"

Pinkie Pie and the blue pegasus both dove face first into the pies before them. Taking large gulps, barely chewing, swallowing only when they couldn't fit more into their mouths, each pony tried to clear their plate of pastry before the other. It was neck-and-neck, but in the end there could only be on winner.

"Done!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she held her empty pie tin up high. She smiled, revealing a set of bright blue teeth. Rainbow Dash looked up from her plate before taking her face out of her pie and resting it in one hoof on the table.

"Darn," the pegasus grunted, "You always win eating contests, Pinkie. Where do you put all that pastry?"

"I have an extra stomach for desserts," she said smugly. The pink pony stepped away from the table, saying, "Let's get back to the game. I was having fun!"

Fluttershy was as quiet as ever, "Um, I don't think the others would be done yet. Has it been an hour?"

"Who cares?" Rainbow started towards the door, "I'm getting there first if we leave now or in another fifty minutes."

Applejack was the first one back to the Hobby Horse. On the door was a sign that said the shop was closed for the day and even though she knew it was mean, the farmer let out a small chuckle at it. It wasn't like it made any difference to most of the ponies that had been spending any time there whether the store technically open or not.

From above came the sounds of flapping wing and labored grunting. Applejack looked up and saw Ditzy Doo hover just above her, struggling with heavy saddlebags. "Howdy, Ditzy," Applejack greeted her while taking a few steps out from under her, "Got some mail there?"

Ditzy landed in front of the door, gasping for breath she answered, "Yep... It's for... Doctor said... Sender is..." she took a few very big breaths before asking, "Can I have a minute? I need... Catch breath... Whew..."

Applejack nodded and leaned against the wall. "Take your time, Ditzy," She yawned, "I was just waitin' for my friends to get back. Don't you usually deliver mail in the morning?"

The mailmare nodded and tried to talk again, this time she was a little more coherent, "Usually, but this mail is late... Why didn't anypony tell me who Sender is before? I would've delivered these letters as soon as I got them."

"Beg your pardon?" the farmer asked as she arched an eyebrow, "Sender?"

Ditzy gave a frustrated sigh and explained, "I got a whole bunch of letters that have 'Return to Sender' on the envelope, but I didn't know who Sender was. The Doctor told me that when these letters say Sender, they really mean Roller. Who makes a typo like that? Roller doesn't even sound like Sender!"

A higher voice suddenly and cheerfully sounded, "Letters! For Roller!" Before the other two could find the source of the noise, Pinkie Pie appeared next to them. The bright pink pony bounced up and down with enthusiasm as she continued, "Is it fan mail? Magazine subscriptions? More chapters of Twilight's fan fiction? Let me see!"

Applejack put a hoof between Pinkie and ditzy. "Hold on there, sugar cube," she ordered, "It all says 'Return to Sender'. It ain't any of those things."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed nearby and walked over. They saw Ditzy's bags and looked puzzled. Rainbow asked, "Anything in those bags for me? Like the forecast?"

Ditzy shook her head and replied, "Not until next week, Dash. This is all for Sender... Roller... Whatever his name is." She turned to the door to the store and knocked a few times. There was no answer.

"Ya'll lookin' for him?" Applejack asked as she gestured down the road. Roller and the rest of the group could be seen approaching. As they got closer, they could see that Rarity and A Capella were blushing and X was giggling madly at something.

"Can you lot believe the imagination on this one?" X asked the others, "She actually thinks that AC..." she then got right back to laughing, "C-can you picture it? Me and AC... oh, that's rich, Miss Rarity!"

A Capella looked away and muttered, "Indeed. Rich. Idle gossip and all that. Tabloid material."

Ditzy ignored the ensuing conversation around her and took a pair of boxes from her saddlebags, putting them at Roller's feet. "I brought you some letters," she told him, "Sorry they're late."

The author opened his door and said, "Um, thanks, Ditzy," before picking up the packages and going inside. The rest of the group followed as Ditzy flew off. X was still giggling as they took their places around the table.

While the others got ready for another part of the game and tried to get X to stop laughing, Roller took the opportunity to open one of the boxes. Inside, he saw several stacks of letters all marked in large, red block letters, "Return to Sender" and they were all initially to go to the same place. The author blinked several times in disbelief.

Suddenly, he heard Twilight's voice, "Roller? Are you alright? You've got that thousand-mile stare you get when you remember something."

The author looked back up for his mail looking very confused. It was like he was caught between outrage, sorrow and nostalgia. As if someone had just brought up a very painful childhood memory. Roller passed the letter across the table to A Capella and asked, "What's all this about, AC?"

The letter was addressed to A Capella. The singer opened it and started reading...

AC, PC and XP,

It's been almost a year since you left home and this old shop isn't the same without you. I've been writing to you for a while now, but you've yet to respond. Perhaps you're simply too busy to talk to an old friend and that's understandable, but at least let me know that you're receiving my mail.

I've run out of adventure logs to base stories off of and for the past several nights I've stayed up until sunrise trying to write something. It doesn't work. I've tried to get another group together, but nopony seems to even know I'm here. My friends from Manehattan University aren't much fun to play with by mail or otherwise seeing as they get wrapped up in the mathematics of the game rather than the narrative.

On a side note, I'm glad I didn't major in engineering. It takes all the fun out of fantasy.

Anyway, it's not like any of that would even matter. Rolling dice and graph paper are hardly the muses they once were to me. Nothing seems to inspire my writing anymore. Even the letters from my readers seem formulaic to me now, usually starting with compliments and ending with them begging me to continue the Game of Horns story.

It should come as a surprise to no one if this letter is the last thing I ever write. I only hope that one of you actually reads it. Of course, I wouldn't be shocked if you didn't as you haven't responded to any of the other letters.

Sincerely,

CR

XP whispered, "Well... that was grim," before looking to the writer and asking, "What is this, Roller? Some kind of joke? It's not funny."

The author growled, "That is one of over one hundred letters I wrote to you three. I wrote a letter every week since we went our separate ways for college and once you made it big, you stopped responding. Not cool."

A Capella claimed, "We never got any letters, mate. See? This one wasn't even opened. No idea who returned it to sender."

Roller muttered something under his breath, but then cracked a familiar grin. Everyone felt a chill run up their spine as he told them...

"Fine. We'll table this for now. Back to the game..."