Twilight glared at her friends sitting around the table with as much judgment as she could muster. For all her effort, it was a pretty small amount of judgment, the kind that probably wouldn’t even show up under a microscope, but still. They all carefully avoided eye contact, staring down at the floor, or the walls, or the ceiling, or anywhere else, meager attempts to hide their blushes all around. Except for Pinkie, who grinned widely, and stubbornly refused to glance away when Twilight looked at her.

“Seriously. The first dungeon. And we TPK,” Twilight said flatly.

Pinkie giggled. “It was a challenging dungeon, Twitwi.”

Rainbow raised her gaze to meet Twilight’s. “You know, if we’d had one more pony, we might’ve had enough mare-power to make it to the boss with more than one of us left.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Rainbow continued, “You just gave yourself up before the game even started! What’s up with that?”

Twilight felt her cheeks light up instantly, quickly averting her own gaze. “I… Um… I thought you would need motivation…?”

Rarity chuckled from the other side of the table. “You thought we would need motivation, or you just wanted to make sure you got to experience supernatural bliss?”

Twilight tapped the tips of her fingers together and smiled sheepishly. “... Both?”

The group laughed softly.

“Where is Trixie, anyway?” Applejack asked, pushing her hat back to uncover her eyes.

“She’s downstairs, wrapping up putting everything back to normal,” Twilight said.

The group fell into silence for a few moments.

“... I’m just saying, I put a lot of work into that backstor–”

“Hello, everyone,” Trixie called cheerfully as she stepped through the door to the basement, a small bag slung over her shoulder and a bright smile across her face.

A small chorus of “Hey, Trixie,” greeted her.

“The Great and Victorious Trixie hopes you all enjoyed our game,” Trixie said as she took an empty seat at the table.

“Oh boy, did we ever!” Pinkie grinned. “That was totally awesome! It had monsters, and caves, and sex, and towers, and tentacles, and–”

Twilight reached out and covered Pinkie’s mouth. “It was wonderful, thank you for GMing, Trixie.”

“What’s in the bag?” Rainbow asked, eyeing it with suspicion.

Trixie buffed her knuckles on her chest, smiling happily. “The Victorious and Generous Trixie thought you might want some souvenirs.”

Fluttershy finally came out from behind her mane and looked wide eyed at the back. “Souvenirs?”

Trixie lit her horn and the bag opened. The white, gemmed corset and thong floated out in a field of light blue magic and landed in front of Rarity, followed by a small golden chest which landed in front of Pinkie, a small potted plant which landed in front of Rainbow, a jar of green goo which landed in front of Applejack, three pads of an octopod’s tentacles which landed in front of Fluttershy, and finally a small ball of inert tentacles which landed in front of Twilight.

Trixie smiled at her friends in silence as they stared at her gifts, deep shades of crimson crossing each of their faces. Except Pinkie, of course, who couldn’t stop giggling.

“Ooooooooooh,” Pinkie said, opening and closing the chest. “Do they still work?”

“Yes,” Trixie said nodding. “You will find them still as potent as they were during the game, and will activate and deactivate whenever you wish, simply by saying ‘Kumquat.’”

Fluttershy squeaked quietly, picking up the pads in front of her and slowly rising from her chair. “I have to… Um… Thank you, Trixie, I just… Um… I need to… Um… Excuse me,” she stammered, heading towards the stairs to the second floor.

Twilight watched her go and scratched her head. “Uh… Thank you, Trixie. This is very… thoughtful? I think?”

“Do not mention it, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said.

Pinkie opened the chest. “Kumquat!” A score of tongues shot out of the chest. “Kumquat!” They receded. Pinkie laughed again. “So, when’s the next session?”

Twilight frowned. “Not that it wouldn’t be fun, but we TPKed. We’d all have to roll new characters.”

A door slammed upstairs.

Trixie pursed her lips. “Well, it was actually pretty close, in the end… When the orb fell off its pedestal, it took minimum falling damage. Had it taken even one point more, it would have exceeded its hardness and shattered, which would have resulted in Bellatrix’s lair being destroyed, and the heroines freed…”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Are you talking about… fudging dice?”

Trixie shrugged, a playful grin gracing her lips. “Who’s to say that didn’t happen?”

Twilight considered this, but the thought was interrupted when she heard the water begin to run upstairs. “Is Fluttershy… taking a bath?”

Rarity giggled softly. “Darling, please.”

Twilight cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

Applejack shook her head. “Seriously, Twi? C’mon, you know what she’s doin’.”

Twilight frowned. “How would I know what she’s doing? I can’t see through walls.”

Rainbow covered her mouth and snorted.

“You know, Twi, Octopods are aquatic,” Pinkie said with a wink.

Twilight stared at her friends for a moment before she heard a sharp moan through the floorboards. “Oh, come on, not in my tub!” she shouted, getting up from the table and hurrying up the stairs, her friends’ laughter ringing in her ears.

Twilight set aside her blowtorch. It had taken her many moons. Finding the proper balance of magic and technology. Drafting blueprints, revising, redrafting, throwing them out and drafting again. The sleepless nights spent in the laboratory. All the times she told her friends she couldn’t come out to the bar tonight because she’d be ‘studying.’ All the sweat, and blood, and tears.

Twilight lifted her face guard to gaze upon the small, blue cube, glowing in the darkness of the lab. Lifting it in her magic, she walked across the room to a large, chrome construct, placing it inside a small square chamber and closing the hatch. Immediately she heard gears and pistons spring to life, filling the lab with whirrs and clacks.

Twilight grinned. All that work was about to pay off.

Now all I need are some test subjects…

~The End~