Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, and Barney the Wolverine looked around the room. It was fairly small and made from simple, grey stone. Across from them was another door like the one before them with a sign overhead reading ‘Dungeon’. To the left of was a simple, wooden table with a variety of items on it.

The group walked over to the table and began to examine the items. There were five in total, presumably one for each of them excluding Barney. From left to right: a bundle of cloth wrappings that they knew were used by boxers to stabilize their hooves, a long, wooden stick with a small crystal embedded in the top, a pink butterfly clip that glowed softly, a long sword with a diamond hilt, and a long, wooden rod with several holes along the length and on the top and bottom.

“What in tarnation are these supposed to be?” Applejack exclaimed.

“Your weapons!” Topsy-Turvy shouted.

Everypony, Spike and Barney included, jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. “However are you doing that, darling?” Rarity said.

“Eh, it’s just one of the perks of being me.” Topsy-Turvy responded.

“Um, did you say that they were W-weapons?” Fluttershy said nervously.

“Oh no, Fluttershy. You won’t be using them to kill or hurt anything just to interact with the dungeon.”

“Interact? Like a simulation?” Twilight asked surprised.

“Yeah,” -Rarity, Spike, and Twilight gasped- “I made it while you guys were sleeping last night.”

“You made a magical simulation?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Well, yeah. It wasn’t that hard.”

“W-wasn’t that hard?!” Twilight spluttered, “This is ridiculous! How could you even create a simulation, you're a Pegasus.”

“Well, I am a Pegasus forged through the bond between two Elements of Harmony, soooooooooo…” Topsy-Turvy drawled.

“Okay, wait a minute. What exactly is a ‘magical simulation’?” Applejack interrupted.

“It’s a fabrication of reality used primarily for training the Royal Guard in combat situations,” Rarity explained, “I also am very confused as to how a pony, not to mention a Pegasus, could have created something like this. Only a group of highly trained unicorns can even come close to a simulation of this caliber.”

“Which does the beg the question of how you can do it,” Twilight said, “What kind of abilities do you even have?”

“Not telling,” Topsy-Turvy said jovially, “it’s much more fun to keep you guessing.”

Twilight could practically feel the mischievous grin behind the words. She could feel her eye beginning to twitch, reserved solely for things Pinkie says, and Ponies disorganizing the library. The others look decidedly worried over this new information.

Topsy-Turvy felt the apprehension of the group, “Well, look. It’s not dangerous. I checked everything earlier today and made sure it’s fine. I just want you to trust me, or rather Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, that we would never put you through something dangerous.”

Most the group did relax upon hearing that except for Rarity and Fluttershy who shared a meaningful look between the two of them.

“Well, okay,” Applejack relented, “What do ya need us to do?”

“Excellent question!” Topsy-Turvy started enthusiastically, “Excluding Barney, sorry for not including you by the way” -Barney whined piteously- “Each of you need to choose one of the items in front of you. That will determine your class and abilities you can use.”

“Our class?” Rarity inquired.

“It’s just another word for what role you’ll play in the group for the upcoming dungeon.”

The ponies, and one dragon, looked at each other nervously trying to decide who should choose first, but surprisingly Fluttershy was the first to walk closer to the table. She scanned the various items and settled on the pink butterfly clip. “Cleric Chosen.”

Fluttershy yelped and hid behind Applejack. Applejack gave her a blank look then walked over to the table and said, “What exactly was that, Tops?”

Topsy-Turvy, or rather ‘Tops’, laughed. “Ah, yeah. I love that new nickname.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Come on. Answer the question.”

“It was just notifying you all of what class Fluttershy picked.”

Applejack nodded and turned to Twilight. “I don’t suppose ya can break out of this simulation, could ya, Twi?”

Topsy-Turvy laughed uproariously as Twilight glared at Applejack. “Really, Applejack? You’re asking about that now?”

“Well, yeah. I reckon Tops won’t hurt us, but this is starting to give me the creeps.”

Twilight sighed and then bit her lower lip pensively. “No,” - Twilight shook her head- “Without knowing exactly what abilities Topsy-Turvy has, or how he even made this place, I can’t risk tampering with it, especially with all of us being in the simulation itself. Sorry Applejack, my hooves are crossed.”

Applejack sighed, “‘Fraid ya would say that.”

Applejack left the much calmer Fluttershy behind and trotted over to the table. She looked over the various items and settled on the cloth wrappings. “Monk Chosen.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes slightly, but tied the cloth wrappings around her hooves. They were fairly comfortable, but also durable. She stepped back.

Rarity rushed over to the table and grabbed the sword in her magic. “Knight Chosen.”

Everypony stared at her. Rarity looked back quizzically and said, “What? I have some stress I need to sort out, and cutting through swathes of enemies with a sharpened blade feels like just the way to do it.”

“I don’t suppose it’s because your mane is-” Spike began.

“Purple.” Rarity automatically replied.

Twilight blinked a few times, “Well, alright then.”

Twilight trotted over and looked at the two items before her. It didn’t take long to settle on the stick with a crystal set in it that was presumably a wand. “Magician Chosen.”

Twilight grinned and stepped back as Spike came to the front. With no other choice, Spike grabbed the long rod with the holes in it, which Spike had a sinking suspicion was a flute. “Bard Chosen”.

“Aw, seriously? I don’t wanna be no spoony bard,” Spike grumbled.

“Okay is everypony, and Spike, ready?” -several nods of agreement- “Well, then let’s get started!”

The door across from them swung open revealing a rocky corridor filled with hanging stalactites. The tunnel was lit by evenly spaced glowing crystals embedded in the wall.

“Huh, neat.”

Twilight turned towards Spike incredulously, “Neat? We’re going into an unknown area on the whims of a fused Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie who, while being Pegasus, can create apparently the most detailed and powerful simulations in all of Equestria’s history and your response is ‘neat’?”

“Uh, yes?”

Twilight groaned. “Whatever, let’s just do this.”

Twilight walked on with Spike trying to keep up with her. The rest of the group soon followed.

----------------------------------------------------------------

After what seemed like a few minutes, the corridor opened up into a large cavernous area. Here the cavern was brightly lit by a network of large crystals overhead. In the center of the room were three bipedal, furry creatures with canine features. They wore well worn clothes and carried makeshift knives.

“What are those, Topsy-Turvy?” Rarity inquired.

“They’re called Kobolds.”

“Well, um, what do we do?” Fluttershy tentatively spoke.

“Well, Ah can’t say for certain, but Ah reckon we smash’em.” Applejack bumped her hooves together for emphasis.

“T-That’s horrible.”

“Well, she is technically correct,” Topsy-Turvy broke in, “But it isn’t really killing or smashing if the creatures as they are just illusions.”

“Oh, um, then I suppose it’s okay?”

“Yeah! And besides it’s just for fun,” Topsy-Turvy coughed to clear his throat, “Anyways, time to start the tutorial. Applejack could you step towards one of the Kobolds?”

Applejack nodded and moved towards the Kobold nearest her. She waved a hoof in front of one of them, but there was no reaction. “Are they suppose to not do anything?”

“Yeah, I’m trying to teach you how to play, so the Kobolds have been told to follow only direct orders from me. Now, could you kick that Kobold?”

Applejack shrugged and turned around. She quickly kicked the monster in the gut with her hind legs. Though the Kobold didn’t react, a red bar appeared over top of its head. The bar then shrunk in on itself until it was only a fraction of what it once was.

Twilight tilted her head questioningly. “What’s that?”

“Glad you asked! This is the enemy’s health bar. Every time it is damaged, the bar will shrink until it disappears. Rarity, could you finish it off with your sword?”

“With pleasure, darling.”

Levitating the sword within her magic, Rarity trotted up to the weakened Kobold and deftly sliced it with the sword. As the sword made contact with the Kobold, the monster’s health bar disappeared. The creature’s eyes went wide and then it disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

“Excellent! That is the basics of physical combat with an enemy. Now, Rarity, I will have one of the Kobolds attack you. Don’t fight back. I need to demonstrate Fluttershy’s ability.”

“Alright, Darling.” Rarity peered nervously at the creature in question.

The Kobold closest to Rarity turned towards her and lunged forwards. Rarity flinched as the Kobold stabbed at her throat with its knife. The rest of the group yelled her name. When the knife collided, Rarity felt a sharp jolt, and a red bar appeared over her head. It decreased slightly.

“Rarity, are you okay?” Spike yelled.

“If that caused ya any harm, so help me-” Applejack started.

“Oh no, I’m fine.” -Rarity waved a hoof dismissively- “It was irritating at best.”

Everyone was skeptical, but didn’t voice any more concern over the attack.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Topsy-Turvy stated, “Even if she had been hurt, I can stop the simulation immediately. Alright, Fluttershy. Now, your job is a Cleric. You can’t attack, but you can heal your allies within a certain range.”

“Oh, really? That’s nice.” Fluttershy smiled.

“Hehe, yep. So, if you want to heal somepony, or drake, simply look in their direction and say the words ‘Heal’.”

Fluttershy nodded and stared intently at Rarity. “Heal.”

Rarity was bathed in a soft pink glow and her red bar returned to full. Rarity sighed contentedly.

“Thank you, darling. That was simply divine.”

“Your welcome, Rarity.”

“Now, Fluttershy, keep in mind that you can heal only one pony at a time, but you can still be attacked by monsters.”

Fluttershy gulped, but nodded in understanding.

“Okay, good. Now, Twilight, you’re up.”

Twilight stepped closer towards the Kobold. “Let me guess? I point the wand at an enemy and yell a spell at it?”

“Yep, that’s the way to do it. The spells you can use are Fireball, Frost, and Lightning Bolt. Try using Fireball on the Kobold.”

Twilight nodded and pointed her wand at the creature that had attacked Rarity. She narrowed her eyes in concentration and yelled, “Fireball.”

A ball of flame formed in front of the wand held in Twilight’s magic. It got steadily bigger and then launched at the Kobold. The Kobold’s health bar appeared with a message above it that read: “Super Effective!” It quickly drained to zero and the monster poofed in a cloud of purple smoke.

“Woo Whee, that was mighty impressive, Twi.”

“Outstanding, darling.”

“That was awesome, Twilight.”

“Yeah, um, great job, Twilight.”

Twilight grinned sheepishly at the praise being given by her friends.

“Great job, Twilight! Keep in mind that certain monsters are weak to different spells, so make sure you experiment,” Topsy-Turvy explained, “Alright, Spike, you’re up next.”

Spike walked towards the Kobold keeping close to the group.

“Alright, Spike. You’re a bard, which means you can buff allies, and debuff enemies. That’s just a fancier way of saying that you can make your allies stronger, and enemies weaker. Try playing your flute, while focusing on Applejack.”

Spike gulped nervously and looked at Applejack. He brought the flute to his lips and played a few notes. The sound echoed briefly, and then Applejack was encircled by a green glow. A green arrow pointing up appeared above her head.

“Now, kick the last Kobold, Applejack.”

Without preamble, Applejack back kicked the last monster. The creature’s health bar drained instantly and poofed in the now familiar purple smoke.

“Yeehaw! Well that sure did the trick. Thanks, Spike.”

“Uh, yeah no problem, Applejack.”

Topsy-Turvy laughed, “Yeah, good job, Spike. Keep in mind that buffs and debuffs fade away after a time” - as if on cue, the glow around Applejack disappeared- “Well, now you know combat basics, and are ready to take on the dungeon.”

A small cheer was let up from the group as they started to get into the game. Though they would never admit it, most of them had started to see the dungeon as something that could be fun.

“Alright, the goal of the game is to reach the end of the dungeon and defeat the final boss, so you can grab the super-duper awesome treasure. If at anytime you lose all of your health, you will be unable to interact with the simulation, but will can stay with the group. I’ll be with you every step of the way to make sure nothing bad happens, so have fun!”

“You know, we just might do that Topsy-Turvy.” Twilight said.

Topsy-Turvy was silent for a moment, but muttered his thanks.

The ground shook for a moment, and a door appeared on the far side of the cavern, which swung open. The group nodded and made their way through.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Red mist that had been unnoticed during the teaching session, drifted down from the ceiling and condensed into the familiar form of the violet Pegasus. Dust quickly formed nearby and started bouncing around happily.

Topsy-Turvy grinned widely. Everything was going great and his new friends would probably love the game he had set up. However, his good mood didn’t last as he thought about what he knew about fusions from Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash’s memories.

He recalled how Twilight had thought maybe they, the fusions, could be dangerous, but as he was now a fusion, he couldn’t see how that was a problem. He even made a big dungeon for the group to explore and have fun in. How was that bad?

Sure, maybe his pranking from this morning went a little too far. He was fairly certain Rarity was still very conscious of the fact that her mane had remained pink. Also, Fluttershy would probably still be peeved that he left her a Wolverine in her bathroom, if only because he had mistreated the poor creature. In his defense, though, it was Fluttershy. The pegasus had tamed dragons before, Topsy-Turvy didn’t feel that a Wolverine was much of a challenge.

Besides, he couldn’t help it. He was primarily, by nature, Rainbow Dash’s mischievous side. He practically had to prank his friends. It was only the right thing to do.Of course it also helped that he had Pinkie Pie’s awareness of others. It helped having part of a mare that knew her friends better than they knew themselves.

This, of course, brought up the question of where his thoughts came from. He knew he was a fusion of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash as well as the Elements of Laughter and Loyalty, but he didn’t feel like he was two different ponies. Rather, he felt that he was his own pony.

That was a little scary to think about because that meant that Twilight was wrong. The fusions weren’t just a combination of two ponies, but a new personality altogether. Admittedly, he didn’t really care, but at the same time he did because he was curious about what made him different from his parts.

Topsy-Turvy decided that maybe this was a little over his head. Possibly literally as Dust had taken that moment to jump over his head. Does that make Dust a personification of his problem? Actually for that matter, what the heck is Dust?

Topsy-Turvy turned and looked at the energetic cloud. Dust took that moment to start circling around itself like a dog trying to grab its tail.

Topsy-Turvy blinked and then mentally flushed all of his extensional problems down a proverbial toilet. Then for good measure, he called forth his abilities and created a toilet. He then flushed said toilet which sank into the ground with a WHOOSH.

It was so nice being able to manipulate space.

Topsy-Turvy grinned and prepared to follow after his friends and then stopped. He didn’t want to think about it, but were they really his friends?

The only reason they were doing this because they thought Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were in control, but that wasn’t really true. The only time either of them had interfered as a separate being was if a prank was about to go too far. Immediately, Pinkie Pie had voiced her objection.

He was really, really, really confused about how this fusion thing worked. He felt amazing, one might even say awesome, but to his friends, or rather Pinkie’s and Rainbow’s friends, he wasn’t them. Even though he was them, sort of.

Fusion was weird. It went against the very nature of things and seemed to not follow the normal rules of logic at all.

Good thing he was the aspect of Defiance.

Dust was looking at him piteously. Topsy-Turvy realized he had been frowning. He put on a smile for Dust’s sake and promptly filed his thoughts away for another time, “Come on Dust, let’s go after them.”

Dust bounced happily as Topsy-Turvy brushed a wing on the ground and opened another hole, this time overtop of the group. Topsy-Turvy willed himself into red mist and sifted through the hole with Dust following behind.

.

Author's Notes:

Hey Guys,

Here is the next chapter. I decided to have the dungeon exploration separated so I could explain how the mechanics work. I decided that I won't go into a ton of detail in how their adventures went as I have an entire story still to go and I feel that's unnecessary. There will still be a battle with the big boss and then some fun for the two uninitiated to fusion.

Also Bouquet because sure why not.

Anyways until next time~