Thomas stood in the doorway of his old family home, or rather his memory of it. At his back was the familiar furniture and stained carpet, almost as real as the last time he’d seen them before leaving that world behind. But Equestria’s only human didn’t dwell too long on such thoughts. Instead, he was set upon by a feeling of self-consciousness and checked himself in a nearby mirror. He was not terribly handsome, at least by his own standards, with a rather plain face and hair that looked like it had got in a fight with an angry blow-dryer. His physique was lean without being overly muscular; a product of his recent lifestyle of semi-rigorous exercise.

Peeling away from his nude image, he turned his attention out the door into the abyss of the dream realm. The shimmering, silvery orbs of dreaming ponies drifted aimlessly through the endless expanse. After scanning the horizon for a few moments, he caught sight of his guests for the day and eagerly waved them over.

Silver Bell and Moonlight Shield clung to Luna’s right hand while Apple Honey and Surprise held more tightly to her left. The first two mares had contented grins on their faces as they waved back at Thomas. They were familiar enough with Luna’s realm that the feeling of weightlessness no longer bothered them. The new mares, by contrast, weren’t so relaxed, although both put on brave faces as they tried to pretend to be anywhere but here. Luna smiled in elation as she glided closer, anxious for the special day they had planned.

“Welcome, ladies!” Thomas declared. They came to a halt directly in front of the doorway, their hooves clopping on the floor Luna had conjured. He stepped aside to allow the mares entry.

Sensing the familiarity of normal ground, Honey was the first to rush inside, causing a gust of wind to follow in her wake. The large, green, muscular mare found the support beam to the house and clung to it like a lost lover. It was a good thing everything in this realm was a dream, otherwise the beam might not have held up against her tremendous earth pony strength. She even kissed it in appreciation for existing. “Oh ground. Sweet ground! Ah’ll never leave ya again.”

“Wheeee!” Surprise cheered as she gleefully bounced inside, her full figure jiggling each time her hooves made contact with the ground. She was by no means obese, but still a far cry from the small and lean figure often expected of pegasi; having a build more akin to a slightly chubby earth pony, which jiggled in all the right places. “Whoa! This place is neat!” the large white mare awed as she looked around the living room.

“That’s one way to put it,” Silver added, nodding to Thomas. The lean, silvery bat mare entered the humble abode with a refined elegance to each step. “It never fails to impress how similar our cultures seem, despite such vast differences.” She fixed her attention on the large flat screen TV, smiling in fond memory of the last time Thomas, her boss and favorite human, had invited her to sit down and watch with him and the others. It had been especially amusing because she’d been human at the time, thus allowing her to sit comfortably in Thomas’ lap. “I’m just glad I’m not being made the smallest one for a change.”

“Don’t be like that,” Moonlight encouraged. Walking past Thomas and giving him an affectionate brush with her tail, an almost subconscious act to mark her mate with her scent, the orange unicorn came up behind the little bat mare and patted her back affectionately. “I promise no pony would step on you.”

“Tis not the ponies we should be wary of,” Luna cautioned. The alicorn’s tremendous eight foot height cast a small shadow over the others as she entered to join them. Her ethereal tail also brushed against Thomas, but added a playful swipe to his behind for good measure. “Remember that this will be a day of adventure!”

“Yay, adventure!” Surprise threw her arms up in cheer, making her breasts bounce.

“So long as it’s on solid ground,” Honey added after testing her hoof against the floor, finally relinquishing her grip of the support beam. “Although, what kind o’ adventure we talkin’ ‘bout here. Ah mean, its jus’ a video game.” She looked over at the TV screen. “Eight bits ‘n’ music on repeat, jus’ like an arcade, right?”

“Human video games outclass pony arcades by centuries,” Luna corrected, showing off her familiarity with the human world after her numerous ventures into Thomas’ dreams. “The worlds within are almost lifelike and the stories told can be quite engaging.”

“Although, this will be more like an engagement book,” Moonlight added, making sure she understood what was going on. “The kind that literally suck the reader into the story, right?”

Luna nodded in affirmation.

“Ah heard ‘bout those. They’re supposed ta be super expensive.”

“Yeah, but they’re also super fun!”

“And that’s what we offer here at Casa de Thomas, the private, luxury suite to Luna’s harem, also known as the inside of my head,” the human explained. “I don’t mind, but I still find it weird everyone always has to hang out in my dreams.”

“Oh! Ohohohohoh!” Surprise frantically waved her hand. “We can try my dreams next. They’re super-d-dooper funeriffic!”

Luna blinked and came up behind Surprise. She grabbed the mare’s shoulders and gave them a calming massage. “Perhaps after we try a few other dreams, dear Surprise. I fear the contents of your mind might be a bit… exhausting.”

Thomas blinked and imagined a number of cartoon depictions of being hi as a kite, specifically that of Mable Pines after overdosing on illegal sugar. He looked around and found similar looks of apprehension on the other mares.

“Okay,” Surprise conceded simply. “I wanted to try this human video game, anyway.”

There was a collective sigh of relief.

“So how do we begin?” Silver asked, directing her question at Thomas.

“Don’t ask me. I just provide the setting. She’s the one driving.” He gestured at Luna.

“Verily!” Luna clapped her hands together. “And we shall begin by getting into character.” She snapped her fingers and the group were momentarily blinded by a flash of light.

Blinking until his eyes cleared, Thomas looked down at himself. White strips of cloth were wrapped around his hands and lower legs with open toed, leathery shoes on his feet. He wore a long blue shirt and white baggy pants. A simple pack held to his back, fastened by a large buckle across his chest. The material was as soft as satin against his skin, but an experimental tug showed it to be quite strong. Feeling the nostalgia taking hold, Thomas reached up and grinned as his fingers traced along the eight inch length of his ear and the even more impressive height of his spikey anime hair.

“Wowee!” Surprise exclaimed.

Thomas turned around to see what had become of the others. Their manes were all the same color, but definitely spikier. Their muzzles had all flattened out considerably while things like hooves, horns, tails, and wings were absent. Their ears were all much longer and thinner, coming out of the sides of their heads rather than sitting on top. Further, much to the human’s interest, he was no longer the only human in the room.

“Heh. Would ya look at that,” Honey said as she spun around, looking over every inch of her new body. She was human now, with an overall Caucasian appearance, save for the somewhat fuller lips and greenish skin that still somehow looked tan. Her height had changed only a little, bringing her down to about six and a half feet tall, which still left her tremendously tall. Her ensemble featured full length blue jeans, blue shoes, and a red tank top that just barely contained her massive cleavage. “Ah make this look good,” she beamed as she examined her new feet.

“Hehe. I look funny.” Surprise wore a green button up top that showed off her midriff, a light brown skirt, and red and orange boots that came up just below her knees. She also wore a fingerless glove on her right hand. Her height remained equal to that of Honey’s, although her fuller figure put Thomas in mind of someone of African descent, with an especially stark contrast brought on by the skin tone that remained as white as her fur. She paid only a brief glance to her absence of wings before shrugging it off, likely the dream magic assuring her that all was normal. “But also daring, like I’m ready for anything.”

“Strange. I want to say this look is terribly unsuited to adventure of any sort,” Silver began as she played with her new ears. She was dressed in an aqua vest with a baggy white undershirt. Her tan trousers were held up by a dark brown belt and leather straps covered her lower legs, which stood in stark contrast to her silvery-pale skin. As far as height went, she’d only lost a couple inches, making her the shortest person in the room. Having transformed in dreams before, she also made no fuss as her hands ran along her high cheek bones and shapely nose, making her look rather regal. “However, I have to admit there is a peculiar charm to the simplicity.”

“That might just be Thomas’ feelings of nostalgia at playing a childhood favorite spilling over to us,” Moonlight offered. She was currently playing with her violet tube top that hugged her chest almost too perfectly, outlining every detail. Almost as snug were her tattered legless jean shorts. She also wore knee high boots with a number of buckles. Following the theme of the other mares-turned-women, Moonlight’s skin retained its orange tint. Her lips had thinned somewhat and her eyes had a slightly squinted look, making her look vaguely Asian. She’d lost about six inches of height, leaving her about half a head taller than Thomas. “Although, I’m definitely starting to get an affinity for these kinds of clothes.” She gave her human a sly wink.

“There is most certainly bias at work here,” Luna said conclusively. Her outfit was the most formal of all with guards covering her shoulders, elbows, and knees. A silken crimson top hugged her chest snugly and a thick brown belt held up her hip-hugging black trousers. Holes were cut in said trousers to allow her cutie marks to poke through and a black tiara resembling her crown adorned her head. She remained the tallest, about as tall as Surprise and Honey were normally. Her skin had a somewhat darker hue reminiscent of the game’s villains. However, her appearance was far more regal with angular cheek bones, a well-defined chin, and somewhat larger eyes. Seeing the way the others were now staring at her, she cocked her hips just slightly in an alluring pose, enjoying the attention. “Although I will not say that I mind.”

“I know what I’m wearing next Nightmare Night,” Surprise announced.

“This is awesome!” Thomas cheered as he took in the mare’s, or rather, women’s new appearances. A silly grin split his face as he watched them examine themselves, in mirrors Luna had summoned for them. Surprise and Honey had taken a special interest in playing with their new toes while the others were more curious about their new skin tones compared to what they usually had. Thomas found it rather fitting, given where they were going, but eventually, like most men, he grew bored of standing in front of a mirror and longed for some action. “So, onto the first cut scene?” he asked of Luna.

Luna nodded and waved her hand in a dramatic arc. The room around them shimmered and shifted until it became a scene on a small dock. Wood planks replaced tile beneath their feet and a full moon with many glimmering stars filled up the vast blue of the night sky. A wind carrying the salty smell of the ocean blew in, drawing everyone’s attention to the vast ocean that stretched across the horizon. Many houses dotted the nearby cliff side, with one particular hut on an outcropping declaring itself to be of special importance.

Thomas looked up the dock to see if they were going to be joined by the title characters, but they were nowhere in sight. “Anyone else coming?” he asked Luna.

“It would seem not,” Luna answered curiously. “I may have provided the machinations for this adventure, but the outline and implementation were all up to your subconscious.” She indicated Thomas. “It would seem that you desire for us to go on this adventure without the aid of the game’s original protagonists.”

Thomas thought this over a moment. “I guess that fits.” Daxter’s character no longer had the same appeal as it did when he was little and Jak’s muteness wasn’t what most people would consider compelling. Besides that, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the idea of remaining the only male adventurer surrounded by so many beautiful women.

“Does that mean we get to be the heroes?” Surprise asked.

“I believe it does,” Luna answered.

“Yay, heroes!” Surprise threw up her arms in cheer, once more causing her breasts to bounce, even in spite of her shirt’s efforts to contain her jiggle physics.

“So where we headed, partner?” Honey asked, setting one hand on her cocked hip.

Thomas quickly scanned their surroundings until he found the speedboat. “We take that to there.” He pointed from the boat to the distant island that looked to be drowning in fog. “If I’m the Jak of this story, then my mentor, Samos, gave me strict orders never to go to Misty Island.”

“And the naïve student is explicitly disobeying his master’s orders anyway?” Silver asked and Thomas nodded. “I almost want to call that cliché, but I suppose it makes for an adequate beginning for the hero’s journey,” she conceded.

The group filed into the speed boat, which took off of its own will once they were all aboard. It was a tight fit, meaning Moonlight had to ‘reluctantly’ sit in Thomas’ lap, with her arms around his neck and shoulders. Moonlight didn’t seem to mind their size difference as Thomas endeavored to explain the premise of this game. “This is a world filled with this sort of magical energy called eco. Its powerful stuff and some people are out to abuse it.” He found it increasingly difficult to speak as Moonlight started teasingly rotating her hips against his groin. “Bad mare-er, girl,” he scolded. “Don’t make me spank you.” Thomas immediately regretted his words as Moonlight looked down at him with a ‘seriously?’ look in her eyes.

He really should have known better. The other women agreed as they began laughing at his expense.

“I feel I should explain a few things before we carry on,” Luna interjected. “This game is not entirely as you remember. It is much more flexible, ready to adapt to the decisions we make. Moonlight’s comparison of the engagement book was most fitting, as I have modeled our adventure off of that very spell. We are fully incorporated into the story, meaning the other characters will interact with us as though we are meant to be here. In fact, it may even be interesting to learn how they see us, or rather how dearest Thomas imagines they would see us.”

“Thomas mentioned he was a student of a master,” Silver spoke up. “Does that mean we are all students?”

“Likely so, but I cannot say for certain,” Luna admitted with an anxious grin. “I truly do not know where this adventure will take us, but I am excited to learn.”

They were nearing their destination and a thought occurred to Thomas. “If I’m the Jak of this story, then who’s the Daxter?” He looked around the assembled women.

“I am not familiar with that character, but it could be any one of us,” Luna acknowledged. “The only way to find out is to press on and see where the adventure takes us.”

“Who is Daxter, anyway?” Surprise asked.

“Jak’s best friend and sidekick,” Thomas replied. Thinking of what happened to Daxter reminded him of something more urgent. “Just for the record, what happens if we die?”

Luna stroked her chin as she considered. “If I am interpreting the mechanics of the game correctly, the fallen individual will reappear in one of the numerous save points, leaving the rest of us to either wait or press on.” She smiled reassuringly. “It would not be a very fun game if we could actually be hurt. I assure you nothing bad will happen.”

“Of course it won’t,” Moonlight agreed. “Not with us protecting you.” And she kissed his forehead while the other women vocalized their own vows to protect their stallion and Princess.

There was no fanfare when they arrived on Misty Island. Thomas pressed his feet deep into the sandy beach, experimenting with its squishiness, though he found the sensation lacking for some reason. The others were more mindful of the environment as they took in the spooky atmosphere. Massive, monstrous skeletons littered the area with torches as the only source of light. The stone looked dark and grimy and the surrounding waters had an inky opaqueness to them. Before they even realized it, the group had assembled in front of the meeting place where the creatures, which their minds immediately identified as lurkers, were assembled. They were hunched over, gorilla-like brutes with magenta fur, bright orange eyes, thick arms that hung down to their feet, and Mohawks along their backs. For attire they wore simple loin cloths and metal collars with rings hanging below their chins. Two dark figures, an aged man in a blue overcoat and a buxom woman in red, body hugging armor, appeared before a large metal wall and began issuing orders to their troops.

“Continue your search for artifacts and eco,” wheezed the man, clutching his chest as if the words had winded him. “If the locals possess Precursor items, you know what to do.”

“Deal harshly with anybody who strays from the village,” continued the woman. “We will attack it, in due time,” she finished with a menacing glower.

“Bad guys?” Honey whispered, but it was obvious to all. “Do we fight ‘em?”

Thomas considered this. Gol and Maia were never shown to have any real offensive abilities, relying on their army and machines. They could fly, which his party could no longer match. Magic was also useless, meaning they were defenseless against eco blasts. All that was left were physical attacks; meaning Moonlight, Honey, and Luna were probably in the best shape to fight. Having what he imagined to be Jak’s strength, Thomas figured he could be backup, or maybe guard the rear with Silver and Surprise. However, he decided instead to shake his head and motion the group to leave. The odds simply weren’t in their favor against such numbers. Besides, beating the game before it even started didn’t sound like much fun.

The group moved on, not really intending to go anywhere in particular, only to find themselves suddenly trekking over the metal that surrounded a well of dark eco. All looked down into the shimmering, bubbling substance, sensing the danger it posed.

“What is that dark ooze?” Moonlight asked as she looked apprehensively down in the well. “It sure doesn’t look friendly.”

Thomas gave the woman a deadpan scowl, hoping she hadn’t just jinxed herself. Even after Luna’s assurances, the thought of any of the women getting hurt, especially Moonlight, made his stomach turn.

“Dark eco,” he explained, not wanting the others to worry. “Of all the different types of eco out there, this is the stuff that’s basically liquid death.”

“Like concentrated dark magic?” Luna asked quietly. At Thomas’ nod, she too leaned over to look in the well, scowling at the bubbling tar as if it had kicked her puppy.

“What’s this thing?” Surprise asked, lifting up the orange, vaguely cylindrical canister Daxter was meant to trip over.

“Careful with that!” Thomas warned. “It’s basically a bomb. You throw it and it explodes!”

As carefully as she could, Surprise set the canister back down in the place where she found it and backed away. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back for you later,” she whispered to the canister.

Thomas shook his head and picked up the canister, holding it between his hands until blue lights came to life all around it. “Careful everyone. This is the part where we get attacked.” At his words, the women immediately formed a defensive ring around him, their instincts driving them to protect the male. Thomas gaze lingered worriedly on Moonlight as he clutched the canister tightly to his chest. He didn’t know for certain if her words had marked her for what was to come. “You’re sure no one will get hurt, right?” he asked Luna.

“You have my word as a Princess,” she vowed, crossing her heart.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” Moonlight assured.

As if in response, a blue lurker covered in bone armor jumped down from the ceiling. It was followed by two more of the magenta colored gorilla variety.

“That’s different,” Thomas muttered.

“Back, fiends!” Luna ordered, her voice sending tremors through the metal floor.

The lurkers hesitated a moment, but the one in armor grunted something to its fellows, rekindling their courage. The three of them let out bestial roars and made to charge. The women held their ground, save Honey who tackled the armored leader, knocking his club away as she grappled. Surprise and Luna took on the smaller lurkers.

“Enemies on our six!” Moonlight called.

Thomas turned around to see Moonlight had just dodged the swinging claw of one of the common lurkers who’d attempted to sneak up behind them. “This is way different from the game,” he added apprehensively as he felt the adrenaline of the moment pump through him.

“Don’t worry, Thomas,” Silver encouraged. She struck a defensive posture as she stood between the human and the largest body of enemies. “Just stay back and we’ll take care of it.”

“Hot damn!” Honey growled with a grin as she landed another punch on her foe. “These buggers is tough.” She panted heavily. “Ah haven’t had a good fight like this in moons!”

“Same,” Surprise agreed as, despite her generous, jiggling figure, she still managed to weave around her opponent’s strikes, wearing him down and striking at his unguarded joints.

“I think I’d like to start training in dreams,” Moonlight offered as she delivered a roundhouse kick to her enemy.

“I would advise against that,” Luna cautioned as she delivered her best uppercut into her lurker, causing its jaw to make a crackling sound. “Dream action is strictly for entertainment. It provides none of the exercise, muscle memory, or other benefits of actual training.”

“Poop,” Moonlight replied flatly as she shuffled between her new feet, needing to be ready to move on a moment’s notice. “Either way, we’re playing this more often.”

While momentarily distracted by the casual exchange going on, Thomas blinked as he remembered the canister in his hands. Peering into its glowing runes, he saw his own reflection staring back at him, as if asking what he wanted to do. Was he just going to sit back and let everyone else fight for him, like always? Was he going to ignore his social conditioning and biological compulsion as a male to defend the women he cared for? Was he going to do nothing and let everyone else have all the fun? “Oh fuck me!”

“Oof!” Silver grunted as Thomas carelessly bumped her aside, charging towards where the others were fighting. “Thomas! What are you doing?”

“Sorry, but I’m the game, too,” he answered back and readied his best pitching arm. “Everybody duck!”

The women all did as instructed, acting in reflex to the authority in the man’s words. Thomas launched the canister into the armored lurker, fracturing the device’s shell. The resulting explosion incinerated the three lurkers in front, but the shockwave also forced everyone else to step back or fall over. Luna, who was standing closest to the explosion, was knocked clear off her feet and sent flying into the well. This left the final lurker to look around, assess the situation, and decide he had better places to be.

“Luna!” Thomas cried out as he crawled up to the well. His body was shaking from the aftershock and his hands felt uncomfortably tingly. He gazed anxiously into the globulous mass of glowing darkness, his emotions in turmoil as he realized what he had done.

“What happened?” Moonlight asked as she came up beside Thomas. “Where is she?”

The other mares followed suit, staring helplessly into the darkness, not knowing what they were looking for.

Thankfully, before Thomas could fall into his spiral of depression, a small burst in the eco, like the popping of a bubble, spat out a small creature. The creature was sent flying over the players’ heads as she screamed in a familiar voice. She rolled to a stop a short distance before snapping up. “Faust, that stung!” Luna hissed as she stood.

The players blinked at what they saw. The creature speaking in Luna’s voice was some manner of weasel and only came up to Thomas’ knee at full height. She had thick, indigo fur, but was completely naked. The weasel’s body was lean in figure, but only possessed the most miniscule remnants of the mare’s formerly generous assets. At least she still wore her tiara, even if it was sized down. The little indigo weasel turned around, fixing her teal eyes on the others.

“It didn’t really hurt,” she assured at seeing the expressions of worry. She was so focused on their concerns as she walked up to them that she hadn’t yet noticed the hobbling of her now shortened legs. “It was more like my mind receiving a signal that pain was meant to be there and my imagination filling in the blanks.” Her tone was casual and matter-of-fact, hoping to assuage any and all worries. “There’s no reason to fret or-when did you all get so tall?” she added, realizing how far she had to crane her neck back.

“L-Luna?” Silver asked, bottom lip quivering and eyes wide as saucers. “Is that… you?”

Blinking, Luna snapped her head down low to take a look at herself. Her clothes and generous chest were gone, her flanks might as well have been flat, and, after feeling around, she found her marehood, or rather womanhood, was missing. All in all, her reaction was rather subdued.

“AHHHHHHHH!”

**********

Luna was pouting, nonplussed by the loss of her figure and stature.

Silver hummed happily as she held the tiny Luna tightly to her chest on the ride back to the village. She just could not help but beam as she nuzzled and cuddled the former alicorn with all her might. Her hands roamed freely, caressing every inch of the little creature’s new body. Her hope was to find some of Luna’s sensitive spots, with which she would be able to massage and coerce the melody of moans from her alicorn’s lips. Alas, the alteration had also stripped the once mighty mare of many of her erogenous zones. However, Silver was not one to be deterred from caressing her pint-sized Princess.

Once, seeing how displeased Luna looked by this turn of events, Surprise attempted to reach out and extract the little creature from her captor. When said captor nearly bit the other woman’s fingers off, Surprise decided she wouldn’t try again.

Honey, meanwhile, was doing her very best not to burst out laughing. “Ah, Ah’m sorry,” she said between breaths at Luna’s glower. “It’s jus’… you look so adorable! Bahahaha!”

“She is adorable,” Silver agreed, never ceasing in her assault of cheek rubs of her tiny lover. “She’s so warm and snuggly. I almost want to keep her like this forever.”

“You do, you die,” Luna growled. “I still can’t believe this happened to me.”

Thomas shook his head, smiling incredulously as he watched the former mare made helpless. He was glad that Luna did not seem too terribly upset by this turn of events. She was more upset with her own carelessness rather than him. “You and me both.”

“I thought you knew about this game,” Moonlight said. Without Luna to take up space, she was free to sit beside Thomas, rather than on him as she comforted him, warry that he might fall into self-blame for his actions. “Didn’t you plan for something like this?”

Luna averted her tiny eyes. “I… did not actually watch these particular memories.” She noted the way the others were now glowering in disappointment. “I wanted to enjoy the surprise with the rest of you,” she insisted.

“I mean, I guess you said that earlier, but,” Surprise offered uncertainly. She extended her hand to gesture at Luna’s new form, careful not to get too close. “Look at you. You’re, like, the team mascot.”

“The Naughty Ottsels,” Thomas suggested, his words clicking in the minds of the others as what Luna’s new species was called. “We should get shirts.”

“Mark my words. There will be a reckoning the likes of which this world has never known,” Luna said, trying her best to sound menacing. Her efforts were neutralized by the way Silver was continuing to coo over her, so she groaned instead. “Please tell me there’s a way to fix this.”

“I’m guessing just changing yourself back is out of the question?” Thomas asked.

Luna huffed indignantly. “What do you take me for? Just because I am unhappy with the outcome does not mean I’m willing to cheat!”

“My honorable little ottsel,” Silver sung happily.

Thomas just sighed tiredly. “The only way forward is to play the game.”

The party arrived at the dock soon after, following Thomas as he navigated through the small village and up to the biggest hut. Silver, distracted by her favoritest possession in the whole world, thoughtlessly stepped in. The top floor of the hut was lined with a variety of potted plants, including one with razor sharp teeth, machines made of wood, and several bookshelves.

A floating, grizzled old man with green skin and a log on his head spun around and met the group with an angry scowl and lopsided spectacles. His white beard covered most of his body and he stood on little logs for stilts, with an even larger log adoring his head like some bizarre crown. “What in green tarnation do you six want?” he barked out, sounding like he hadn’t had his morning coffee.

“Well-” Thomas began, only to be cut off.

“Wait. Don’t tell me,” barked the man the group recognized as Samos. “Instead of heeding my wisdom, the six of you went mucking about in the only place I told you not to go.” He gestured with his staff out the window. “Misty Island.”

“Master Samos. Please,” Luna implored, finally wrenching herself free from Silver’s grasp. She approached the old sage, swallowing her ire to be as diplomatic as possible. In her centuries of experience, shouting angrily at one’s mentor rarely yielded ideal results. “I know we disobeyed, but-”

“And Luna,” Samos cut her off, much to her chagrin. “You finally took a much needed bath, but in a bathtub filled with dark eco,” he said dramatically, paying no mind to the way Luna’s eye twitched. “Now you look like something the fisherman uses for bait.”

“Look old man!” Luna snapped, feeling the game compel her words. Either that, or she simply wasn’t in the mood for such disrespect after suffering such an indignity, especially the accusation of poor hygiene. “Are you going to keep yapping, or are you going to change me back?”

“I’m going to keep yappin’,” Samos replied snarkly. “Because, while I must admit this change is far from an improvement,” he said, trying to sound sympathetic, “I couldn’t change you back if I wanted to.”

“Whaaaat!” Luna cried.

Silver pumped her fist in triumph, only to flinch back when Luna shot a death glare her way.

“There are only two people who have studied dark eco long enough to return you to your previous form. The sages Gol Acheron and his sister Maia.”

“Wait-wait-wait!” Surprise waved her hand out. “Dark sages?”

Samos nodded. “Excellent, Surprise,” he congratulated facetiously. “A sage of dark eco is called a dark sage. Here. Have a cookie.” He plucked the pastry from his white beard and tossed it to the former pegasus, who caught it like a dog.

“Almonds! Yum,” Surprise beamed as she quickly downed the treat.

“But they live far to the north,” Samos continued. “Far, far to the north. No one has spoken to either of them in ages. I would teleport you there, but I can’t do that either.” He motioned to the ring containing a rippling blue energy. “None of the three sages that maintain the other teleporter gates have seen fit to turn their ends on in quite a while. The only other way north is through the fire canyon, but it’s volcanic soil is hot enough to melt Precursor metal.”

“Shoot,” Moonlight swore as she looked to the party’s former flyers. “If only we could fly.”

“But you can,” chirped a new, somewhat scratchy voice. It belonged to a woman with green hair and green eyes. She wore orange bracelets, a white top with purple overalls, and blue goggles hanging from her neck. “If you had a zoomer equipped with a heat shield. I just happen to be working on such a thing at this very moment,” she bragged as she idly inspected her finger nails before resting her hand on her hip in a show of raw confidence.

“Kiera?” Honey asked, being the first to pull the new girl’s name from the dreamscape.

“You know it.” Kiera shaped her hand into a gun and pointed at Honey before walking into the hut. It was already growing crowded in the small space, but the others stepped aside to make room. “All I would need is twenty power cells to give it enough energy to withstand the canyon’s heat. Isn’t that right, daddy?”

“Yes, Kiera, that might work,” Samos agreed hesitantly. “But where are a boy, four amazons, and a weasel without nipples going to get twenty power cells?”

Luna reached out her hands to the old man and made a strangling motion. “They’ll never find your body,” she whispered too softly for all but the former flyers to hear.

“We can just go out exploring,” Thomas cut in, wanting to wrap this up. He decided to test what Luna had said about their ability to control this reality. “There’s plenty of stuff just lying around out there, and you’re always going on about how irresponsible it is to leave such precious artifacts out in the wild, right Samos?”

Samos nodded. “True.”

“Well, you’ve been training us for years to go out and explore the wilds, so let’s just do that and gather what we need. Plus I’m sure we can convince the villagers to make a little contribution,” he added while rubbing the ends of his fingers together.

“He’s got a point, daddy,” Kiera agreed as she mosied up to Thomas. She was shorter than him, so had to crane her neck back a bit to look up adoringly into his eyes. “The wilds are just full of treasures waiting for some brave adventurers to find.”

Moonlight looked like she was ready to say something, only for Kiera to shoot the taller woman a wink and a smile, putting her at ease. Even if it was just a game, Moonlight felt her instincts assuaged by the fact that this new female was interested in the entire herd and not out to steal her stallion.

Afterwards, Samos sent the party through the gate to Geyser Rock for the final steps in their training, to prove that they were ready to begin their quest.

I’ve just had Jak and Daxter on the brain a lot, so I decided to play around the with the possibilities of the dreamscape to allow for a little VR experience. Originally I was going to have the titular characters along for the ride, but decided the story would be stronger if I stayed focused on our mane characters. But for me, the real fun has been in fleshing out this world and playing with the premise of players making changes as they go, which will become more prominent as the story progresses.

And with that said, the opening cut scene comes to an end and our characters can finally start playing the game.

Geyser Rock proved to be an informative tutorial for the players. After fanning out to explore the immediate vicinity, Samos spoke up over the communicators, the spherical devices each member of the party carried that orbited around them, explaining the value of the various items they’d encounter, how to jump, hit, and so on.

Now that the game had properly begun, sensations had become much more pronounced. The grass was soft and cool beneath Thomas’ feet and the sand on the beach was almost as squishy as he remembered. However, as he interacted with the world around him, there was still a vague dullness to it all. Sure, the world itself had a majesty and wonder, but it still felt lacking in places. He asked Luna and she informed him that besides dreams lacking the substance of reality in general, the spell of the engagement book worked under similar principles. It was a safety mechanism to keep ponies from becoming addicted to the fantasy over reality, much to the human’s relief. He didn’t want to risk such a temptation.

Picturing himself pressing the buttons as the screen held his attention; Thomas punched with all his might. The force actually carried his body forward a surprising distance, nearly costing him his balance. The mares also experimented with the moves at their disposal, finding particular amusement in the double and triple jump.

“Hoo. Heh. Hya!” Honey cried out as her punches sent her forward, only to rocket herself up in a devastating uppercut. “This is great!”

“So what’s our plan of attack?” Moonlight asked as she jabbed at a dummy, testing how her physical strength had changed. “Set up a perimeter to defend the village?”

“The lurkers won’t invade until they get the order.” Crouching as he spoke, Thomas felt a surge of power rocket through his legs, propelling him to ridiculous heights, only for his feet to find the ground again with the grace of a cat. “It’s our job to stop the bad guys before that happens.”

“Even so, we should try to weaken the enemy’s forces where we can,” Moonlight added. “That way they don’t have their full army at the ready once we attack their main base.”

“Just for the record,” Luna began, “these dark sages we’re looking for; they’re also the ones leading the lurkers, yes?”

Thomas ceased in his punching to meet the ottsel’s gaze. “How’d you guess?”

Luna paused and shrugged between jabs. Being tiny wasn’t going to stop her from fighting for her right to be tall again. “You said this was an older game from your childhood, but that games had come far since then. I figured a less sophisticated story would have villains with rather obvious appearances and motivations. There is little quite as obvious as those who study darkness being corrupted by their research.”

“I was thinking the same,” Surprise chirped as she spun around, attempting to achieve perpetual motion. “You know, if we figure out what those meanies have over the lurkers, we might be able to convince them to change sides.”

“It wasn’t an option in the game,” Thomas pointed out. “But I guess anything’s possible if we put our minds to it.” The notion of injecting choices and consequences into his old favorite was exhilarating for the young man.

Meanwhile, a predator was lurking just on the outskirts of the grassy area where the group was training. This predator kept to the shadows, making no noise as it crept through the bushes, inching ever closer to its prey. Night had fallen ridiculously soon, which the predator knew would grant her the advantage. Step after careful step, she neared her prize. It lacked the supple figure she was used to and the fur was on the coarse side, but that mattered little. The prey was cute, and it would be hers!

Silver lunged from the underbrush with a triumphant battle cry. “Mine!”

Despite her seemingly harmless shape, Luna maintained the warrior skills she’d honed over the ages. Having known she was being stalked from the beginning, she effortlessly rolled out of the way. This unexpected turn, alas, meant that Silver lost her balance and skid to a halt along the dirt. She was ass up and face down in a crater of her own making.

“Next time, Mistress,” Luna teased with a salute.

Silver spat out a clump of dirt and grass. “Next time,” she vowed.

Their warmup complete, the group set out to begin their exploration of the island along the set path. After begrudgingly admitting that her little legs simply wouldn’t carry her fast enough, Luna agreed to ride on Thomas’ shoulder, mostly because his knowledge of the environment usually put him in the lead. Collecting the Precursor orbs proved immensely satisfying, especially because of the charming jingle they made each time one was acquired. It was interesting taking the football sized objects and watching them shrink down as they were stored in the party’s pockets, Thomas’ pack, or Surprise’ mane. They jumped over spike pits, broke many boxes, and enjoyed the adrenaline rush that came with using blue eco. Kiera sounded especially grateful once they’d rounded up all her scout flies, which caused the women to exchange knowing smiles. When it came time for the power cells, they took it in turns to collect them and stash them away while the others performed the obligatory celebratory dances. With training complete, they returned through the teleporter.

Samos welcomed them back with his personal brand of condescension, but thankfully Thomas managed to anticipate enough of the old man’s dialogue that it was kept relatively short, freeing the group to start exploring. Naturally, their first stop was with Kiera in the open workshop of the hut’s first floor.

“Hey there, sugar,” Honey greeted confidently as she moseyed up to the woman who was currently bent over inspecting some circuitry. Unable to help herself, she gave the sage’s daughter a firm slap on the behind.

Yelping, Kiera turned around, brandishing a wrench in preparation to strike. She relaxed at seeing who it was. “Oh, Honey,” she exhaled in relief. “You gotta give a girl some warning before you do that.”

“Don’t worry, sugar.” She reached under Kiera’s chin and tilted her head up. “Ah trust you.”

Kiera blushed and pulled away. “You know I’m busy working. Plus you guys have an adventure to go on. Can’t you keep it in your pants for, like, five minutes?”

The former mares all looked down at their pants, wondering what it was that the woman meant before the dream explained the idiom to them. Thomas rolled his eyes as he watched the confusion turn to realization in their expressions.

“Oh come ooon,” Surprise whined as she draped herself around the smaller woman, pressing her breasts tightly against Kiera’s back. “We’ve got all day to go adventuring. Why don’t we slip off somewhere to have a little… fun?” She licked her lips sensually.

Teasing Kiera, it seemed, was proving to be an irresistible pastime, as even Silver felt the call of temptation.

“You should come adventuring with us,” the former bat mare purred as she took Kiera’s hand and began nuzzling her fingers. “A strong, strapping young lady like you could be of big help out there.”

“B-but I gotta do the… the shield thingy,” Kiera protested weekly.

“Is this normal?” Thomas asked the ottsel on his shoulder. “I know ponies are more flirty, but this seems a little too fast.”

“Except it is not,” Luna countered wisely. “You might not have noticed, being familiar with the game’s story, but the rest of us have been informed of the nature of this girl’s affection for us.”

“Dream logic?” Thomas asked.

“It’s more like the writer speaking directly to his reader,” Moonlight answered. Being the only full sized woman to resist the call to tease, the unicorn seemed quite content to watch the show from her spot beside Thomas. “There’s what we see in the character’s actions, like the way she looked at us earlier. But there’s also a subtle element to it. If I had to compare, it would be like reading the line: she winked playfully at her crush.”

“Precisely!” Luna agreed, sounding much less sour than before.

Thomas smiled at the former alicorn’s improved mood.

“The dream tells us of her affections, and while I would not go so far as to call it a compulsion,” Luna offered, “there is a certain inclination to reciprocate and follow what the story intends. As for that,” she gestured at the woman being assailed by the three players. “The point of an engagement story is to delve into a new world and do as you please within it. Ponies might want to go on an adventure with Daring Do, but they also want to play around with the setting a little.”

“That’s… wow,” Thomas replied, agreeing that if humans had the ability to safely enter a story, most would probably end up just sleeping around with their favorite characters. Even so, he considered the ramifications of the changes to this world. Jak and Kiera’s early relationship had always been left a blank, up to the player to figure out through their interactions. But this world was meant to adapt around the players’ new decisions. There was no real Daxter, and the role of Jak as Kiera’s crush was divided among one man and five other women. This meant that Kiera’s character had been altered to accept the pony’s polyamorous standards of a relationship. “I wonder how that worked out.”

“We can ask her later,” Moonlight answered. Stepping forward, she clapped her hands and got the other players’ attention. “For right now, we’ve got questing to do!”

“Party pooper,” Surprise mumbled with a pout as she and the others abandoned their posts around Kiera.

“We was jus’ having’ a bit o’ fun.” Honey slipped her fingers into her pockets and kicked at a tuft of grass.

“I, for one, cannot wait to see what else this world holds,” Silver declared. She reached for Luna, but the ottsel just scurried over to Thomas’ other shoulder.

Kiera was left with flushed cheeks and burning hot ears. She braced herself against the zoomer to keep her balance. Her clothes were ruffled in several places and her hair was a mess. The hand that was placed on her hip also looked like it was twitching in the direction of her groin. She also muttered in a whisper, almost too soft to hear, “stupid sexy adventurers.”

Almost, but not quite.

“Later, Kiera.” Thomas waved goodbye as he and the others turned to leave. “You’ll see us again later.”

“I’d better,” the green haired woman muttered as she tried to resume her work.

Thomas smiled to himself as he crossed the bridge connecting Samos’ hut to the rest of the village. Hey, Luna, he mentally reached out.

Yes.

Between you and me, I just remembered Kiera is only 15 in the game. Would you mind if we turned her eighteen real quick? I don’t want things getting weird about her age.

Luna’s eyebrow rose inquisitively. Why didn’t you say anything earlier?

Thomas shrugged. I kinda only just now remembered. It’s not like it was made obvious. The designers just made her young and hot.

Then there is no need to fret, Luna informed with a nod. The young lady is as the others imagine her, legal and fully capable of offering consent.

Thomas nodded appreciatively and the group continued on their quest.

At Thomas’ direction they split up to talk to everyone in the village. Although none of the other villagers were attractive enough for the same degree of fondling as Kiera, the women still took advantage of flaunting their smoking hot bodies. Even Thomas got in on the fun, pulling his pants down just far enough to tease at what lay within to the old bird woman. It was hilarious to watch her stutter, her emotions warring between telling him to get dressed and her blatant desire to see more. With new quests attained, Thomas led the way to Sentinel Beach.

Upon entering the beach’s main area, Thomas decided to withhold instructions unless specifically asked, granting the women the chance to figure things out on their own. His only word of warning was to not swim out too far from shore. That was a bit of sphincter clenching terror he wanted to hold off on until later. Their first step was to clear the beach of all hostiles, granting them free reign to move as they pleased. The relative openness and size of the beach allowed them to split up and pursue orbs and power cells at their own discretion.

Honey actually managed to intimidate the dogs into behaving, leading them against other enemies as she focused on orbs and scout flies. Silver had dedicated herself to defeating the wretched winged beast known simply as ‘that alicorn damned pelican’. Surprise went straight for the large bird egg and went through the unnecessary labor of rolling it down to safety rather than punching it off the cliff. This left Thomas, Moonlight, and Luna to explore the far end of the beach where three stone temples stood. Once they’d sufficiently harassed the seagulls to cause an avalanche, Thomas felt a wave of relaxation wash over his being and found a nice, warm spot on the sand to lay down and rest.

“This is nice,” he sighed contentedly. His relaxation was promptly broken by a discontented cough from Moonlight. She was standing over him, arms crossed and looking quite upset with her man. Thinking over what he might have done to earn such a foul look, he turned to Luna. The ottsel wordlessly answered by pressing her hands together and rested her cheek on them like a makeshift pillow. “Oh. Sorry.” He smiled meekly and propped himself up on his elbows. Beaming, Moonlight immediately darted down and place her lap directly below his head.

“Shame on you for forgetting something so important,” the orange woman teased.

“Yeah. Shame on me,” Thomas agreed as he allowed himself to fall back and rest his head against her comfortable thighs. He was joined by Luna who curled up beside his head.

Moonlight’s lap pillow held a dangerous power that, under normal circumstances, was more effective than the strongest sleep medicine. However, since they were all already dreaming, they were merely brought into a state of mildly blissful relaxation, hampered only by the periodic yet distant explosions of the lurker’s bombardment of the main beach. It wasn’t long before the other women, having cleared everything they could find, snuggled in to join them. Tragically, Moonlight was the only one who was not able to rest her head in Moonlight’s lap pillow, but she seemed more than pleased to be of service to those she treasured most.

“We should go to the beach someday,” the former unicorn said. “A real beach with real sand and real seagulls.” Her statement was met with a round of relaxed affirmations from her lovers. The vow made, no more words were spoken as the group just relaxed and listened to the ambience of the fake beach. Even the lurker on the tower seemed to grow a sense of propriety and held off on chucking bombs at the sand for a little bit.

Thankfully, the coming of night and the subsequent drop in temperature made things just uncomfortable enough that the group was motivated to resume their adventures.

Next on the itinerary, after Honey had rounded up the farmer’s yakows with a single shrill whistle, was the Forbidden Jungle. This environment was much less conducive to relaxation, forcing the party to stay on high alert at all times. They were also much less prone to free exploration and stuck close to their leader. Thomas didn’t mind, though. It was nice being in charge when there weren’t any real stakes involved. The former mares could handle themselves in a fight, the winding paths were familiar enough that he had no trouble navigating from memory, and it was an endless source of amusement to watch the women repeatedly try and fail at the various jumps in the area.

More interestingly was the way they all adapted to the more malleable environment. The swinging spiked logs were cut down so that they would no longer pose a threat, except when Honey threw them at anything she didn’t like. While Luna’s declaration of fair play still held, the other women held no such qualms, especially when it came to the fisherman’s challenge, where Surprise went upriver to deter the eels while Silver and Luna each used a net. Moonlight was really getting a knack for fighting lurkers, learning how to beat them into submission without killing them. They became much more docile afterwards, so she sent them back to the beach to deal with the lurkers on the canon.

It was about a half hour into the jungle when the heat and humidity started to take their toll, despite the lack of fur. Moonlight was the first to strip, relieving herself of her top and bottoms, which she stored in Thomas’ pack. In the end she wore only her boots, having no underwear to speak of. With ponies being herd animals, it wasn’t long before the others followed her lead and started stripping as well. Despite being well accustomed to the women’s naked bodies, Thomas couldn’t deny the way they were stripping to their bare, furless forms was having an effect on him. Even so, he remained the only one wearing his full gear in the end.

The nudist women immediately began to regret their decision once they actually entered the jungle temple. The inside was cool to the point of chilling and there was just enough wind blowing through the corridors to add that extra bit of shiver. Thomas could have done the gentlemanly thing and returned his friends’ garments, but he decided instead to go full tyrant, abusing what power had been bestowed on him and forcing the women to snuggle up for warmth against him. The velvety furless skin was a treat he felt no shame in enjoying, especially when he saw the way they were smiling between each other when they thought he wasn’t looking.

“You would make a terrible Princess,” Luna informed flatly from his shoulder.

“Noted.”

At last, after entering the power chamber and activating the eco vents across the world, as informed by Kiera, the group finally made it to the boss room. At the far end of the considerably large chamber sat the massive plant monster. It’s massive, blue, bulbous head opened into a mouth of jagged teeth and two yellow stalk eyes gleamed menacingly at the group while it swayed a little on its vine-like body.

“Now that’s the second meanest weed Ah ever did see!” Honey exclaimed.

“Second?” Moonlight asked.

“Trust me. You don’t wanna know,” the green woman cautioned.

“So how do we fight it?” Moonlight asked, looking around the room from across the gap that kept the monster and its giant bugs at bay. “Is there some secret switch?”

“See that ring in front of it?” Thomas pointed to the metal floor. “That’s the range of its bite. Stay out of there and let the bugs come to us. We kill them once their spikes retract, then we’ll get an opening.”

“Sir!” Moonlight and Surprise affirmed, leading the charge over the gap.

The instructions were about as easy to follow as they were given. Mindful of the giant, bear-sized bugs while their spikes were out, the players split up to opposite ends of the room. They attacked when the spikes retracted, jumping back in the nick of time as the plant was too confused to pick who to attack. In that frustration it retracted its mouth bulb and stood perfectly still as a number of leaves grew out around the main stem, creating a perfect stairwell up to the bulb. The players attacked, retreated, and repeated the action until the plant was killed.

Even after the power cell was retrieved, Honey insisted they stay a while longer to burn the remains in case it tried to resurrect. Thomas would have argued that it never did in the original game, but figured her suggesting the possibility automatically made it probable. Thankfully the room was well insulated, allowing them to burn the abomination without risking the rest of the jungle.

Returning to the warm embrace of sunlight, something even Luna was happy to do, the group made their way along the jungle path until they were approached by a group of lurkers. Thomas tensed, ready for a fight, but Moonlight approached without fear, recognizing them as some of the ones she’d beaten into submission. They bowed their heads submissively and offered the power cell and orbs the group would have gotten from the cannon.

“Good boys,” Moonlight congratulated, scratching the lead lurker behind the ears. When the others started whimpering in protest, the remaining harem joined in the deliverance of scratchy scratches. Lurkers, as it turned out, could be trained.

The party made a quick pit stop at the Precursor Oracle, who offered up vague words of wisdom, before heading for the village to trade for any power cells they could.

“Oh thank you, dear ladies,” the mayor said as he heard their footsteps. He was too busy looking in awe up at the turning gears, but decided it would be more polite to face those who had saved his job. “You’ve restored power to the-ya hoo!”

“Hi, Mr. Mayor!” Surprise chirped happily. She held her hands behind her back and swayed her body in the way she knew would give her breasts the best bounce. She giggled at how the mayor was watching her chest melons swing with the attentiveness of a cat. “See something you like?”

“I, uh, ahem. That is to say…” the mayor stuttered helplessly before such a display.

“You can touch them if you like.”

“I, uh, I wouldn’t dream of, uh…”

Eventually Surprise decided to have mercy on the little guy, giving him the orbs and taking the power cells.

“Hey there, sugar,” Honey greeted as she threw an arm around the nameless uncle’s shoulder, pressing his face against the side of her breast. “Got them orbs ya asked for.”

“Well now, I say, good lass,” he stammered. He tried pushing away, but dared not lay his hands on the woman’s bare form.

“Gosh, yer cute,” she cooed and tightened her grip.

“Having fun, are we?” Thomas asked from the doorway.

“Thomas. Don’t just stand there. Save your dear uncle!” the uncle pleaded helplessly.

Thomas just stood there, ruminating on what he was looking at. On the one hand, there was really no way to describe this scene other than sexual harassment. Then again, he was just a fictional character. As if to affirm this, the uncle’s protests quickly died down as he came to accept his fate against the woman’s cleavage. It put Thomas’ mind at ease to think about how this person, real or not, wasn’t really all that bothered. Besides, he’d laughed at worse in watching various anime depicting this very scenario.

“‘Bout what ya’ll were sayin’ with us bein’ free ta do whatever we wanted,” Honey began. “Does that mean anythin’?”

“That it does,” Luna affirmed. “Why? Does his moustache make you curious?”

Honey snapped up to face the ottsel and gave her a smirk. “Get out o’ mah head.”

Thomas decided to leave his friend and the nameless character to their own devices and left the house. Looking around the quaint scenery, he gave voice to his thoughts. “Think there’s a way to make the village bigger?”

“How so?” Luna asked.

“Well, if this world is ours to pretty much mess with as we please, I was wondering if we could add some houses with whole new characters.” He looked up as Moonlight jumped from roof to roof, enjoying a bit of parkour. “Really expand and flesh things out.”

“And maybe add a few females to the mix?” Luna suggested as she elbowed Thomas.

“Well there is only one other female character in the whole game,” he conceded. While he did find the geologist cute, he had a feeling her looks alone would not be enough to satisfy the former mares, especially with how few characters there were in general in this game.

Luna attempted to fold her arms in thought. It was an awkward motion, as she was used to having to work around the twin masses that were notably absent. “It would be difficult here, as this setting has already adapted to serve our presence, but perhaps more could be done for the next village before we venture off.”

Thomas blinked. “Can engagement books really do that?” he asked, thinking about what other games, movies, books, and shows he might want to visit.

“To an extent, but dreams are far more flexible,” Luna answered. “The dream pulls from the conscious and subconscious thoughts of the dreamer. As when we entered the houses you never visited, the dream pulls on what you believe to fit this environment and makes the changes accordingly. All magic has intent behind it, but my dream spells have a special quasi-intelligence behind them, actively working to shape reality to whatever the dreamer desires.”

Thomas grinned. “But I’m not the only one dreaming, am I?”

Luna giggled and looked around the village, listening to the sounds of his favorite ladies playing with NPCs from his childhood. “That you are not.”

Once everyone had had their fun, they all regrouped and headed for the speedboat. The return trip to Misty Island was significantly shorter than the first time around, but no one was complaining. Moonlight took the lead this time, showing the others how to subdue lurkers without killing them. The blue, armored variety seemed to have nerve enough to fight to the last, but the more common variety were relatively easy to domesticate.

When it came to the sculptor’s muse, Silver declared that she’d learned her lesson from the pelican and was willing to accept help this time. However, the cat-like creature ultimately proved ‘more slippery ‘an a greased up pig,’ as Honey so eloquently put it. The creature was not bound by any set pathway, freeing it to evade any and every strategy thrown its way. In the end, it was neither power nor cunning that felled the sadistically playful beast, but raw animal hormones. Luna just had to present herself for mounting and the shimmering cat creature, which was apparently a lesbian, was easy pickings.

Unfortunately, the island was home to more than just lurkers. There were large frogs that made themselves home in the mud, reptilian tripods that scurried into holes in the rock whenever someone approached, and so much more. The worst of it, however, were the dark eco abominations. Hulking grotesques that lumbered through the muck, spewing out of at least a dozen orifices at a time as they let our pained, skin crawling screeches. They’d even beheld the birth of one such creature.

Spying from around a corner, the party bore witness to a group of lurkers hauling a load of dark eco crates. One lurker lost his footing, causing the crate to shatter and its contents to spill out in an explosion of violet mist. The other lurkers looked on in horror, backing away or readying weapons as they stared into the cloud. The creature that emerged was vaguely insectoid with a giant pincer where its right hand used to be and a face that looked half melted. It let out a pained cry, yipping and snapping at its fellows as they began circling. With its good arm, the horror clawed desperately at the good side of its face before reaching out, beseeching its kin to end its pain. Weapons raised, they complied.

“Disgusting,” hissed Luna, the sight of such substance being handled so recklessly bringing up bad memories.

“Luna?” Silver asked worriedly.

“I care not for eco or whatever else the locals might call it. That, my friends, was dark magic.”

The former mares and even Thomas all flinched at the malice in Luna’s tone, all having a good idea of what she was thinking.

“Such recklessness cannot be allowed to continue. The lurkers and their masters must be stopped before they destroy themselves.”

The next and far more pleasant obstacle, after navigating the hazardous crevices and mud pits that made up the landscape, was the arena. Lurkers of the two main varieties descended down the walls and charged. Again the women tried to form a protective ring around Thomas, but the man was insistent on fighting with the rest of them.

“Leeroy! Jenkins!”

When the players put up a solid defense, the remaining stalled. Far from mindless beasts, the lurkers were smart enough to tell when bum rushing a foe wasn’t the best strategy. So they waited, stalking along the outer area of the arena, looking for an opening.

“How many of them are there?” Silver asked.

“At least seventy by my count,” Luna answered. “Maybe more waiting to see how things play out.”

A lurker on the wall roared as loud as he could, causing all eyes to fall on him. He looked down at the party assembled in the middle of the area, and tossed down several red canisters near their position. They shattered on impact, revealing clusters of red eco.

“Strength booster!” Thomas called. “Boo-yah!”

The remaining lurkers of the arena, having more intellect than most would give them credit for, knew a losing battle when they saw it and retreated before the intruders could massacre them. That left only the lurker who’d helped the ponies. He hopped down and lumbered up to the players. Thusly he was rewarded with scratchy scratches for his bravery.

Lurkers, as it turned out, not only respected strength, but were highly susceptible to affection and positive reinforcement. After following the helpful Lurker, who Surprise decided to name Shaggy, they came upon an area Thomas had never seen in the original game. It was a cave full of lurkers, predominantly females and younglings. Most looked underfed. Shaggy pulled out a strip of meat from his loincloth and handed it to a female, who nuzzled him in appreciation. Shaggy then looked at the newcomers and waved his hand across all the lurkers present.

“We should go fishing again,” Thomas insisted. “I bet Gol and Maia are offering to feed them in exchange for their services. If we can provide a new source of food, they’d probably follow us instead.” It made sense as the sort of thing that would go in a story like this. Lurkers were subhuman brutes who raided rather than produced for themselves, earning a bad reputation among humans. Appealing to their sense of self-preservation, the bad guys had rallied the poor, misguided creatures with promises of a better future. This would lead to a backlash in the future when their kind would be enslaved.

Shaggy grunted his affirmation.

Afterwards, the party made the quick boat trip back to Sandover and headed for the fisherman with their proposal. He was aghast at first, loath to do anything to help those ‘blasted monsters’. He didn’t even show any signs of discomfort at the women’s nudity. Thankfully Silver, armed with impassioned words and feminine wiles, was able to convince him otherwise. The fisherman would teach a handful of volunteer lurkers how to fish, granting them the ability to be self-sufficient and no longer need to raid human settlements just to survive. In exchange, the lurkers offered the party all remaining items of value on Misty Island. Inspired by the return of his muse, the sculptor even crafted a large lurker statue as a gift of good faith for the new friends.

“They remind me of diamond dogs,” Luna said, her expression sorrowful. “They have such potential, the ability to form a civilization all their own that could negotiate for what they lack without force. Yet even when presented with the option, the dogs who accept are few and far between.”

Thomas said nothing, remembering the episode where the dogs had kidnapped and enslaved Rarity.

“Perhaps that is why this strategy works so well here,” Luna continued. “I had quietly compared these brutes to the dogs, and my own wishes warped their perception of themselves.”

“You didn’t do it alone,” Moonlight added. “I admit I’d also made the comparison. When I was little, I’d always thought all those bad dogs needed was a good spanking to turn a new leaf.” She laughed weekly. “I guess I finally got my wish.”

Thomas nodded his understanding. As Luna said, the spell was pulling from not only his subconscious to shape the world, but everyone’s. It drew from the women’s pony desire to help, rather than hurt. And as much fun as he’d had putting the kibosh on the monsters, he had to admit that the solution his friends, perhaps instinctively, sought out was terrifically admirable.

With that sobering thought, the party readied themselves to proceed along the next leg of their adventure.

A bit of light world building of an old classic as our leads take advantage of manipulating the world around them. Everybody’s having fun playing with the scenario, but none more so than me. The whole point of video games is escapism, so it’s been pretty fun exploring the idea of taking that to the next level, of making your own decisions of how the story should go and obstacles be overcome. In this case, it quickly became self-evident that the more peace inclined ponies wouldn’t be all that comfortable with killing their enemies, and would seek out a peaceful solution. The diamond dog comparison sort of tacked itself on at the end, but I may explore that idea in some future story.

Also, Kiera was originally meant to start as being fifteen, with her blurting out this fact causing the mares to jump back in fear of assaulting a minor. Thomas would then laugh at the mares’ expense, having known from the start and later conspiring with Luna to age the girl up. But as funny as that was for me, I think this way works better. I actually wouldn’t mind either way, as Kiera’s body makes her look perfectly legal and I wouldn’t even know her real age if I hadn’t looked it up, but I gotta be wary of the site’s rules on underage humanoids.

Thomas was greatly enjoying the way time moved in the dream world. By his reckoning, about four or five hours had passed since this reenactment of Jak and Daxter had started, and he was feeling absolutely spiffy. He wasn’t tired, hungry, or exhausted. Feats of total exertion would only leave him winded for a couple minutes, after which he’d be right as rain. The other players were in the same boat, infused with massive amounts of phantom energy just waiting to be put to good use on the next leg of their journey.

The air stank of rotten eggs and hot coals as they neared the edge of the canyon. Most of the ladies covered their noses, except for Honey who was used to smelling worse and Thomas who was too busy enjoying the heat. It was nothing at all like being next to lava, but more like being just close enough to a fire pit that the warmth washed over his entire body.

“Great,” Kiera cheered as they neared the zoomer on the edge of the fire canyon. She stepped around from behind it, idly cleaning the grease from her hands with a rag. “You’ve got enough cells to… oh.” She went bug-eyed at the sight of so much bare, luscious, female flesh. Cheeks tinted a hot pink; she averted her eyes and rubbed the back of her head.

Said women, after seeing such a reaction, were all too happy to flaunt their stuff, striking various alluring poses as the young woman eventually lost the will to look away. Even Thomas had to admit his appreciation for how far his friends were going in their lewd little show as his loose pants became tighter.

“Uh, I see you guys decided to go commando again, heh-heh,” Kiera laughed nervously, trying to keep her attention on the zoomer and not on crawling over the supple, shapely bodies before her.

Thomas smirked at the girl’s response. Again meant they’d done this before, at least in this version of the story. However, the men of the village, and even Kiera, were still terribly flustered. It was as if they weren’t used to such open displays, but still expected them. This place, Thomas thought, just keeps getting more and more interesting.

“It was more comfy this way,” Surprise said as she swaggered up to Kiera and pulled her into an almost bone crushing hug. “So great to see you again.”

Kiera inhaled deeply after being set back down. “Same,” she panted as Surprise remained beside her, her eyes repeatedly darting over to the tremendous breasts that seemed to be looming over her shoulder. “Always a pleasure to see you guys.” She paused to sneak a less-than subtle peak of the white woman’s pert nipples and gave her lips an unconscious lick. “Also, there’s something you might want to know.”

“About the mission?” Moonlight asked, trying her best to keep everyone on track.

“Yeah. See, a lot of my previously captured scout flies to the north have been released,” Kiera explained. “They’re back to hunting for power cells, but they’re also sending back reports on recent lurker activity.”

“Good news or bad?” Silver asked.

“Great news!” Kiera’s scratchy voice cheered as she shook her fists in celebration. “Lurker armies are experiencing desertions by the thousands. I’m not sure how word spread so quickly, but not only are they not attacking human settlements anymore, there are confirmed reports of them actually repairing some of the damage they’ve caused, at least along settlement outskirts.”

Moonlight clapped her hands together. “That’s wonderful!”

Her sentiments were shared by the others, all exuberant at the prospect of having helped so many.

“But how’re the po-people handlin’ that?” Honey asked cautiously, the dream correcting her diction. “Ah don’t imagine they’re too keen on old enemies turnin’ nice without explanation.”

“Like I said, they’re sticking to settlement outskirts,” Kira repeated. “They run whenever it looks like the people are getting aggressive, and they’re even holding the bad lurkers at bay to keep them from causing more trouble.”

Silver huffed and crossed her arms under her chest. “Then it would seem our enemy has been deprived of their militia.” Her brow furrowed as she thought. “Surely it was not that simple.”

Kiera gave a forlorn sigh. “I’m afraid you’re right. By my calculations, the lurker armies lost about a fourth of their number, but that still leaves a lot you guys’ll have to deal with.”

“Then we’ll just have to work harder,” Moonlight asserted. “The lurkers we’ve met so far have been pretty receptive to a show of dominance, so maybe we just need to subdue a few more of their alphas and we can get even more desertions.”

“Yay!” Surprise cheered and threw her arms around Kiera from behind, her well-endowed chest wrapping around the smaller, thinner woman. “Let’s show these meanies how much more fun it is to be friendly.”

Kiera smiled and gave Surprise’s arm an affectionate pat. “First thing’s first. You guys gotta take the zoomer,” she gestured with her thumb, “through fire canyon. You should be careful, since the shield’ll only protect your zoomer ‘til it reaches five hundred degrees. Hit five hundred degrees and its,” she snapped her fingers, “over.”

“Let me guess,” Thomas cut in. “You’ve taken precautions to help keep us cool, right?”

“That’s right,” Kiera confirmed with a giggle. “I’ve released several blue cooling balloons into the canyon to keep your zoomer’s temperature low. Oh,” she remembered, overcoming the obvious distraction of a naked woman grinding on her back, “and when you get across, be sure to activate the teleporter gate in the blue sage’s lab. Then the rest of us will be able to teleport over to meet you.”

It was only then that the group looked at the zoomer and noted how there was only one. Then they looked at each other. Silver and Honey looked wary of the strange piece of technology and kept a safe distance. Surprise and Moonlight looked mildly curious, the former more for the glowing parts, but not especially eager to climb on.

“I’ll go,” Thomas volunteered. He was carrying the designated ‘Daxter’, so it was only right. “You guys can give it a try later.”

Kiera giggled. “I figured you would. Strong, silent Thomas likes to let his actions speak for him.” She flexed her arms in a ‘manly’ pose.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Moonlight asked. She was clearly uncomfortable in looking over the device and not understanding how it worked or if it would provide suitable protection for her mates.

“Come on Moonlight. Do you really think I’d let Thomas ride something without running every safety check in the book?” Kiera asked, earning a smile from the mare. “You’re not the only one with an interest in keeping his butt safe.”

Thomas suddenly coughed, certain he’d just inhaled a bit of ash from the canyon. Luna gave an affectionate pat to the side of his head. He ignored the way the others were laughing at his embarrassment as he threw a leg over the device and mounted. He’d never been much for motorcycles or roller coasters, however, something was definitely happening to him. He gripped the handles and revved the engine, making the machine vibrate beneath him as the propellers turned. His whole body shook and he felt the machine’s power resonate within him. It was exhilarating, but also had the vagueness of the other sensations. He knew it was the dream magic reminding him that this wasn’t real. That said, it was way more real than the PS2 version, or the PS3’s vibrating controls, and that was good enough!

He took off into the canyon. Luna braced herself against his shoulder as they went. She was clinging for dear life, but she was also smiling. There was an immediate spike in heat, but not so much that it was too uncomfortable. It had been a while since the man had driven, but it was fairly easy to get back into the swing of monitoring the dashboard and ‘road’ simultaneously. He swerved, bodily, left and right to avoid obstacles and guide his vehicle. Lurkers and scout flies were absent, but there were still plenty of dark eco boxes to contend with while the cooling balloons provided a refreshing breeze to counter the heat. Blue eco vents provided an exciting boost that made Luna cling all the tighter to his shoulder. He nuzzled her as best he could, knowing he couldn’t speak over the blaring of the engine. It also satisfied his OCD to hit orb boxes, shattering them and hearing that delightful jingle of the currency being added to his inventory.

In no time at all they’d arrived on the other side. A single lurker stood vigilant as Thomas carefully guided the zoomer in to dock at the transpad. After awkwardly watching each other for a few seconds, the lurker stepped back and motioned to several power cells laid out behind him. He gave an affirming grunt, and then departed up the canyon wall.

“Nice to have these guys on our side,” Thomas said as he dismounted and gathered up the offered Precursor items. By his reckoning, these were probably all the orbs and power cells he and the others had missed thus far. “Also, can I confess something?”

Luna nodded. “What bothers you, dearest Thomas.”

“Dearest Thomas is overthinking things again,” he replied and hopped up the ledge. “Is it wrong I’m glad that we still get to fight lurkers? It’s been fun so far, but…”

“Do not worry, my little human,” Luna assured and stroked the top of his head. “If fighting is what you need to relax in this game set in a dream,” she reminded, “then so be it.”

Thomas smiled at her. “Ya know, Silver’s got a point. It’d be fun to have you fun-sized every now and then.”

Luna huffed and turned away, her mood soured. “Easy for you to say. At least you still have working genitalia!”

Thomas slowed his pace as he walked along the familiar trail to the blue sage’s hut at the edge of Rock Village. “You still working on expanding the new place to have more people?”

“That I am,” Luna affirmed, her back to her first true friend in centuries. “The changes have already been made. We need only move forward to investigate.”

“So you’ve got the power to change the whole world at a whim, but-”

“I told you I am NOT a cheater!” Luna growled. “I shant return to mine original form, especially not when it so conflicts with the narrative.”

“And I get that,” Thomas agreed, wanting the placate the little critter before she decided to start biting. “You’re trying to be a good sport about all this. It’s admirable. Really.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Luna said warily.

Thomas grinned. “Even if you can’t change back completely, why not just go part way? Give yourself the parts to enjoy the same sexual harassment everyone else is.”

Luna’s shoulders slumped and her arms went lax against her fuzzy sides. There was a prolonged moment of silence, save for the sound of Thomas’ feet crunching against the grass. She spun around, meeting Thomas’ gaze with a snarl. “I was aware that I could do so from the very beginning. Is that understood!?”

Thomas laughed.

“I mean it!” Luna insisted. “It was by mine own decision that I went without feminine parts for so long. It was curiosity, NOT negligence!”

“I get it. I get it!” Thomas assured, clutching his sides. “Even pintsized, you’re still the super special awesome gal everyone thinks you are.”

Luna’s ears folded back and her scowl morphed into a concerned frown. “Then, should I admit my lapse, remind the others of my fallibility to keep mineself off of any pedestal?”

Stopping, Thomas sat himself down against the cool stone wall and lifted Luna from his shoulder. Hands under her armpits, he then held her out in front of him as he regarded her. “You really are cute like this.”

The dark fur of Luna’s cheeks was tinted pink as she tried to avert her gaze. “You are just saying that to make me feel better.”

Thomas beamed back and set the little creature down on his knee, looking down at her as his fingers glided down her back. It was so strange to do this for her after all the times she’d done the same with him. He wondered if she found this size reversal equally jarring. “Do you want me to say more?”

Luna fiddled with her fingers. “If you would not mind, I should enjoy hearing your thoughts.”

“You’re Luna,” Thomas began flatly. “We can pretend all we want, but when this is all over and we’re back in the real world, you’re going to go back to towering over all of us.”

Luna sighed. “‘Tis true.”

“You’ll probably never fully escape from that image people hold you to, so you really shouldn’t try.”

Luna blinked and looked up at Thomas, curious of where he was taking this.

“You’re Luna, and everything that comes with it. You’re tall, big in all the best ways, you’ve got the wisdom of the ages, you’re prideful, playful, and everyone with a passing knowledge of history knows you’ve made mistakes.” Thomas paused when Luna flinched. “But that’s just part of what makes you so lovable. I’ll admit, sometimes even I forget there’s more to you than the mask of confidence you like to wear, but it’s nice to remember there’s more, that I’m not the only one who constantly worries about stuff.”

Luna giggled and nuzzled Thomas’ arm.

“There’s just one thing you gotta remember, one feature that, as far as I’m aware, all people everywhere have in common.” He paused, looking into Luna’s eyes as she awaited his next words. “An asshole.”

Luna tried to restrain herself, but inevitably burst out laughing. She’d have fallen backwards if Thomas hadn’t caught her. “You have quite the way with words, my little human.”

Thomas beamed proudly at making his first love smile. “You really in a position to call anyone little?”

Recovering from her mirth, Luna gave Thomas a saucy wink. “Would you like to find out?”

Thomas had to take a moment to think on this. On the one hand, Luna was basically an overgrown weasel devoid of any of the physical qualities he found attractive. Ponies were anthropomorphic and human in all the important ways, but an ottsel was borderline bestiality. On the other hand, she was still Luna on the inside and he was experienced in reading a variety of clop stories. The answer was obvious. “Eh. We’ll see,” he said with a noncommittal shrug.

“Then let us make haste to the gate!” Luna commanded after scurrying back up Thomas’ shoulder and motioning him forward. “The others have been deprived for too long of my glorious touch.”

“There’s that pride we all know and love,” Thomas said as he climbed to his feet.

“Onwards, noble steed!” Luna slapped her tail against Thomas’ back for extra encouragement. “Onwards to adventure and happy endings for all!”

Thomas did as bid and soon emerged into an opening. The smell of the sea instantly wafted into Thomas’ nostrils. It was stronger than at Sentinel beach, more real, but still had that subdued quality to remind him of its fakeness. That smell was mixed with the smoke of many hearths. Someone was probably having barbeque. The dew of the grass felt cool against his toes and he could hear the crash of thunder off in the distance.

The cliff side granted a lovely, if gloomy view of Rock Village, or rather what had become of it. The entirety of the stone walls surrounding the small gulf were covered in buildings. Housing made of stone and wood were connected by layers of scaffolding and ladders, with waterfalls built into the aesthetic. Trees of dark green lined the cliffs and the blimp tethered down over the swamp could be seen from even this distance. Even the top of the ancient Precursor city poking out from the sea floor had a majestic quality about it, the orange metal catching the sheen of each lightning strike. Although damage from the flaming rock bombardment was still evident, the giant lurker responsible for it all was notably absent. It was likely because of this absence that Thomas was able to make out the most surprising sight of all. People, real people had mustered up the courage to exit their homes and walk about the village.

Anxious to get to exploring what this modified level had to offer, Thomas hurried into the blue sage’s three story metal hut. He had to sidestep the debris of turned over book cases, furniture, and broken glass. Looking around, he saw a spiral stairwell leading upward. He smiled, recalling how the game designers had given the hut seemingly three floors on the outside, but no means of reaching the upper two. However, despite his almost overwhelming curiosity, Thomas managed to compose himself and activated the teleporter.

Honey and Samos were the first to come through, with the green woman helping the green old man along. “Thank you Honey,” the green man said, paying no mind to his green student’s nudity. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that teleporter tingling sensation.”

“Mah pleasure,” Honey said with a smile, letting go after Samos made it clear he could stand on his own. The other players and Kiera followed shortly after, the former mares still nude as ever.

Moonlight hurried to Thomas’ side and checked him over while the others took in the messy state of the hut’s bottom floor.

“Hey!” Samos gasped as he looked around. “It looks like the blue sage threw a party.”

“Oh my! Rock Village is covered in flaming boulders!” Kiera exclaimed, causing those assembled to tense. “But it looks like they’ve got the fires under control.” She adjusted to look out the telescope, bending over slightly and showing off a bit of plumber’s crack. “Oh. And it looks like the blue sage was working on a levitation machine to move them.”

“How can she tell the machine’s purpose from over here?” Silver asked, earning shrugs of confusion from the others.

“Assuming it’s operational, we’re going to need power cells to fuel it. I guess you six are going to have to find some more,” she said matter-of-factly, smiling at the players.

“We’d better look at his notes,” Samos suggested. “Thomas. You and the other perverts go check on the villagers, then come back and give us an update.” His words earned subdued snickering from those present, much to the old man’s annoyance.

Rather than immediately do as the old man said, the players split to assist in various tasks around the hut. Thomas smiled at the way Honey was now fussing over Samos. It reminded him of himself with his own grandparents, always being the first to volunteer to help them walk up ramps and hold the door. Silver stuck by Kiera and was discussing the Lost Precursor City. Surprise was also helping Samos to clean up the scattered books to help him assess the surrounding areas. Flirtations seemed to be momentarily suspended as everyone was sucked into their various tasks, almost like this hut was a second tutorial level of some sort; or just general pony altruism to help those they considered friends, even if they were fictional.

Although he was impressed by such a display, Thomas decided to pay a visit to the upper floors to see if there was anything worth seeing. Had this been part of the original game, he’d wager there would have been at least a few orbs lying around to reward the player’s curious exploring. Having nothing better to do on the bottom floor, Moonlight went with him.

The second floor looked to be an extension of the blue sage’s lab, with several chemistry sets and machines none of the three could quite figure out. Everything looked mostly in place, suggesting the blue sage’s struggle had been contained on the bottom floor. Thomas ran his hands over the machines, feeling the way the metal was cool in some areas but hot in others.

“Check this out,” Moonlight beckoned. She was holding a book. “History of the Lost Precursor City by Tanner Avadin,” she read aloud and began flipping through the pages. “It looks to be a collection of journals from Avadin’s various expeditions into the city. It details his observations of working and nonworking machines, theories on how it all works, and… Oh. Someone’s been scribbling in the margins.”

Thomas leaned over to read the messy handwriting, having a good idea of to whom it belonged. “I remember the blue sage was working on a way to raise one of the city’s chambers to the surface. I bet he used this book as a reference.”

Moonlight beamed. “Do you think there’s a way to include something like this in ‘Lotus Blossom?’”

Thomas smiled back and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. He was gladdened to hear that his favorite unicorn was still looking for inspiration for their book. “Having a story within the story helps a lot with world building. Makes the story seem like a place that could really exist, but we should be careful about adding too much clutter.”

“Right. Right.” Moonlight nodded, continuing to flip through the pages.

Thomas left his girl to her reading as he ruminated on what he’d just said. More than seeing the expanded village and all those people, somehow that little book had done so much to help build this world in his mind. There were people who came before, people whose lives had impacted others and left lasting imprints. It was electrifying to think about.

The top floor was the blue sage’s bedroom, but even here there were tables with half-finished machines, haphazardly stacked books, and a number of Precursor items. There were also the orbs Thomas had hoped for. But then he noticed something was off.

“You’ve been awful quiet,” he said to Luna.

She smiled down at him. “Moonlight is not the only one who likes to watch.”

Thomas made a face at Luna’s peculiar remark. “Please tell me there’s a context to that.”

Luna giggled. “You love telling stories. Even if they are not your own, you still love the act of sharing, and I love to listen. This time, however, the story is one you tell by living it, and you are clearly enjoying it.”

Thomas laughed softly. “I’m enjoying playing a game with my best friends. It’s not as much fun if you aren’t playing, too.”

Luna scratched at her chin. “Very well. I will endeavor to be more proactive in future events.”

With the hut fully explored and Samos and Kiera having offered final suggestions for places to check out, the party was off to begin their exploration. Rather than a series of cliff steps that would have been rather tricky for an old man to traverse, even if he was a sage who could fly, the path to the village was bridged with actual steps built into the rock face. That probably helped a lot in maintaining communication with the sage and the people. The village itself was a massive, sprawling place with the people traversing the scaffolding reminding Thomas of an ant farm.

“Hello! Excuse me.” A woman waved the group over. She was dressed in a red vest, white undershirt, brown pants, and a maroon hat similar to that of the mayor from Sandover. Her skin had a healthy tan and her lips were a luscious red, reminding Thomas of the geologist. “Can I help you with-er, something?” She stammered after noticing the nudity of the female players, something they were all too happy to exploit with sexy poses.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Thomas replied. Deciding he was the most normal looking person here, he stepped up as the group’s representative. The woman looked relieved to talk to someone who knew how to dress themselves. “Name’s Thomas. My friends and I are adventurers.”

“Adventurers? That’s great,” the woman cheered. “I’m Celine, mayor of Rock Village, and it saddens me to admit we’re in quite a state.”

Thomas had to fight the smile from growing on his face at meeting the new character. After learning a bit more about Tanner, he couldn’t wait to see what this new girl had to offer. “Whatever you need, we’re here to help.”

“Wonderful news,” Celine sighed gratefully. “Not too long ago, this massive lurker began a vicious bombardment of our fare village. Our warriors attempted to fight him off, but they were all beaten back. The lurker’s gone now, but we’re still dealing with the collateral damage.” Celine paused to look over Thomas’ shoulder at the nude women. “Are your friends aware that they’re, um, naked?”

“Hey! I’m not naked!” Surprise protested and held out her hand. “See? I’m wearing a glove.”

The other players laughed their amusement and indicated their own articles of clothing that covered up nothing of importance, but still technically exempted them from the label of full nudity.

“I’m not naked, either,” Luna added and adjusted her tiara.

“Gah!” Celine jumped back. “Th-that thing can talk!”

Luna flinched as if physically struck.

Thomas frowned and folded his arms. No one talked to Luna like that on his watch. “That thing,” he stressed, not seeing the way the others were now attempting to restrain and calm Silver, “happens to be a hyper-evolved entity that is commonly worshiped as a goddess where we’re from.” And where you’re from, for that matter.

Silver nodded her silent approval, her temper eased.

Celine flinched back, her political instincts kicking in. “I… I beg your forgiveness, dear lady.” She gave a small, yet gracious bow. “I assure you I meant no offense.”

“None taken,” Luna said with a dismissive wave. However, just as Celine was starting to relax, the ottsel turned around on Thomas’ shoulder, bent over, and flipped her tail up. “That is, if you are willing to offer an apologetic kiss.”

Thomas chuckled at seeing how Luna made good on her word in restoring herself.

Celine gulped nervously. It was impossible not to stare at the puckered white star resting between the two grassy hills, or the red, glistening slit that almost seemed to be calling her forward. “Do I,” she gulped again, “have to?”

“The better question is,” Luna gave her rump an enticing wiggle, “do you want to?”

Thomas was gladdened to see Luna’s more playful side. She so rarely brought it out in the presence of strangers.

Wetting her dry lips, Celine stepped forward, her eyes glassy, and leaned in close, giving her answer. For a moment she hesitated, uncertain of where exactly to place the kiss as the creature’s butt fur tickled her cheeks. For whatever reason, she decided to plant her lips on the puckered star. Luna shook with giddy excitement, barely able to restrain her laughter. Celine lingered for a solid three seconds before making a loud “mwah!” when the kiss ended.

The sight of not-Daxter having her ass literally being kissed by a politician was surreal enough as Thomas’ face split in a silly grin. However, he soon became aware that their little show was much less than private. Taking the lack of attack as a sign of safety, villagers had begun poking out from various hiding places, only to stumble at the turn of events. They watched with expressions ranging from curiosity, to anger, and even to a few cases of interest.

“Th-there!” Celine gasped, giving her lips an involuntary lick. Her cheeks and the tips of her ears were almost as red as her lips. “Was that, uh, satisfactory?”

Thomas heard many giggles and chortles from the players behind him.

Luna giggled and turned back around, shaking her rear as the lingering sensation of such enthusiastic lips against her most private place. “Immensely. Thank you, mayor.”

“I believe there was a matter of the village needing help,” Moonlight cut in, once more putting everyone back on track.

“Oh right,” Celine said with a nervous giggle, her eyes continuously drifting up to Luna’s as she spoke. “Well, we’ve gotten most of the fires taken care of in the village, but I’m afraid things aren’t doing so well in the nearby areas. Some of our eco collectors went into the Lost Precursor City just before the attack and they haven’t come back sense.” She shifted from one foot to the next. “My wife and daughter were with them.”

That was definitely never in the original! Thomas thought.

“You can count on us, ma’am,” Thomas affirmed with a salute.

“Anythin’ else we should know about?” Honey asked as she walked up to join the others.

“Oh don’t worry,” Celine encouraged, gazing briefly down at Honey’s breasts. “For a group of… strapping,” she licked her lips again, “young adventurers like you, I’m sure you’ll find plenty to keep yourselves occupied.” Celine then turned around and tried not to look like she was hurrying away.

Other villagers came up to take her place and unload their various problems upon the party. There were cases of missing persons, dropped valuables, and numerous other menial tasks that needed doing. All in all, Thomas figured they had around twenty power cells worth of side quests to deal with, and that was before counting the ones just lying around. Without the giant lurker providing an imminent threat, the group agreed to split up to cover more ground.

“I was impressed by how you handled yourself, back there,” Silver offered as she hurried to catch up with Thomas. “Very diplomatic.”

“Think so?”

“Most certainly. You even came up with an amusingly clever way to defend Luna’s honor.”

“It was amusing,” Luna agreed.

“And unexpected,” Thomas added and turned to Silver. “Luna’s made some tweaks to the game world to add a bit more content. That’s why there are so many more missions this time around.”

“I cannot take all the credit,” Luna countered. “I have been conversing with everyone via mind link and all were in agreement that a bigger world would be more fun. I merely helped things along,” she added, trying to sound more modest than she felt.

“Well it’s awesome,” Thomas said with a laugh. “There definitely weren’t any lesbians in the original game, especially none that were willing to literally kiss ass.”

“Lesbians?” Luna furrowed her brow, looking puzzled.

Thinking she had simply forgotten the word, Thomas opened his mouth to explain, but then Luna continued.

“Did you not see the man Celine ran to, the one who cradled her in his arms?”

Thomas blinked. “Now that you mention it,” he trailed off, recalling the buff warrior with green hair. That was the same guy who’d pulled the pontoons out of the water to keep the giant lurker from coming down.

“I would wager the young mayor holds proper Equestrian mores regarding relationships, viewing both the woman in the city and that man as her mates. After all, such are the views of most of the dreamers.”

Thomas blinked, taking this all in. “So, if everyone has Equestrian views on relationships, why is everyone still acting like you guys are breaking a taboo for being basically naked?” He gestured to a nearby couple who were staring as they passed. “Shouldn’t you have changed that, too?”

“Because it’s fun?” Silver suggested playfully.

“Verily!” Luna cheered in agreement. “Nudity taboos are truly a delight to defy.”

“Fair enough,” Thomas conceded and they continued their trek through the village. “So where are you heading, anyway?” he asked of Silver.

“I noticed a rather shady looking fellow watching us from the shadows,” the wingless bat answered. “I cannot be certain, but I suspect he may be some sort of spy.”

“If the game’s more complicated, then I guess that sort of thing would make sense,” Thomas agreed. “Need help watching him? We were going to take the zoomer out to the basin, but your thing sounds fun, too.”

“Thank you, but I can handle myself,” Silver assured. “I’m just surprised Moonlight is letting you go off alone again.”

Thomas shrugged. “She made me swear up and down not to get myself hurt. Besides, it’s safe here. We’ll meet up again before doing any actual dangerous stuff.”

Silver looked like she had more to say, but decided against it after meeting Luna’s eyes. “Well I’m happy for you.” She gave him a light slap on the back and they split ways, with her climbing up one of the countless ladders to the village’s upper levels.

Mounting the zoomer, Thomas found the basin was a much different experience than he remembered. Many varieties of lurker had broken out in a full civil war. The lurker he recognized as Shaggy came bounding up and motioned to the blue cape around his back. Shaggy then pointed out at the battle, grunting urgently. Thomas couldn’t understand the creature’s language, but it wasn’t too hard to tell that the lurkers in blue capes were the good guys.

“‘Tis as Moonlight said,” Luna advised. “Find the enemy leader and the rest will fall.”

Thomas nodded, primed the engine, and zoomed out into the fray. Allied lurkers had the good sense to duck down whenever the oncoming vehicle came close, but the capeless charged head long into the whirling blades. Their bodies would instantly dissolve into green eco upon contact, freeing the blue capes to help their comrades in some other area, and then Thomas would move to the next batch. Other lurkers tried flanking on foot, but it was easy to evade so long as the human kept moving. After the tenth group had been decimated, the capeless lurkers were in full retreat behind a wall separating the second half of the basin. The blue caped lurkers rallied around Thomas, throwing their fists up in celebration.

“Do not dally, my warriors!” Luna proclaimed, her booming voice silencing all others. “The enemy may be beaten back, but this day is not yet won. Even now those who still cling to the dark ones rally against us. Those wielders of the dark energy want nothing more than to twist the world into a shape most heinous. The world, your mates, and you!”

The lurkers growled, beating their chests and snarling in defiance, all while Thomas was reasonably certain someone was playing patriotic music in the background.

“How many of you, your brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, have already fallen prey to the vile machinations of the darkness?”

Thomas chose to interpret the uproar of grunts and growls as ‘too many.’

“Then rally, my warriors.” Luna hopped on to the front of the zoomer as Thomas angled himself towards the entrance to the second half of the basin. “For the hope of a better tomorrow, I ask of you. Please help me save your brothers and sisters from their own ignorance. Save them before all are doomed!”

The lurkers gave a thunderous roar that shook the entire basin.

“Chaaaarge!”

And they did.

Thomas’ zoomer plunged headlong into the fray, tearing through capeless lurkers like a lawnmower. Spotting the bone armor variety, he quickly zeroed in and made them his targets. They went down as easily as any other, leaving the enemy army quite disorganized by the time the blue capes tackled them to the ground. Without leaders, the capeless were routed and soon surrendered.

“Hot damn!” Thomas panted excitedly. His adrenaline had his body feeling tingly all over and his hands were gripped around the handles so tightly it almost hurt. A stupid smile was practically stapled to his face. “That was… wow!”

“Zons!” Luna cheered, her volume just shy of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “‘Tis been centuries since we enjoyed such a successful campaign!”

Eventually Thomas managed to release his grip on the handles and relaxed his body against the zoomer, taking a moment to calm himself down. “I still don’t think I’m an adrenaline junkie, but that was awesome!”

Her chest rising and falling with her heavy breaths, Luna picked up Thomas’ head as best she could and planted her lips firmly against his. Thomas’ grin continued as he returned the kiss. Luna’s lips were not as fuzzy as he’d feared, likely due to her ‘secret’ changes. When her tongue probed his own lips for entry, Thomas readily accepted and laughed as he found Luna tasted the same as always.

The world of the dream and everything in it had a slightly muted effect, eternally reminding him that this place wasn’t real. By contrast, Luna’s lips weren’t muted in the slightest. If anything, they seemed all the more real in comparison, driving the human to devour them more hungrily. The smallness of her mouth was a little off-putting, but then he just remembered that such was part of his own appeal. The ladies of the harem all liked the way he resembled a young colt, essentially making the harem a club for shotacons, but that was okay. However, he still chose to think of Luna as just a smaller version of herself and not a loli as they meshed lips.

A bit more building of the new world, we take things a step farther by expanding upon Rock Village. I know a lot of you are probably disappointed that I don’t go into all the possibilities the scenario has to offer, but I think that would just take too long. I still want to finish up this arc so I can move on to the next one. But don’t worry, as Rock Village will return next time.

Thomas helped Luna to smooth out her fur as they left the basin. They hadn’t gone any further than heavy snogging, but appearances were still important. They’d claimed a number of orbs and cells as the spoils of war. However, while the missions regarding the race and lightning moles had been notably absent, Thomas decided to graciously accept these changes as a necessary sacrifice to the expanded world. Looking around, the duo were able to spot all of the other players in various parts of the village, continuing with their various quests. Still emotionally exhausted after the basin, Thomas thought of a way to pass the time without exerting himself.

“Hey Kiera.”

The communicator popped up and began its orbit. “Yeah, Thomas?”

“I’m feeling nostalgic. How about you tell us how we all met?”

“… seriously?” Kiera asked incredulously. “You want to reminisce at a time like this?”

“Come on!” Surprise’s voice chimed in over the communicator. “Tell us the story.”

“Tell it,” Honey added.

“If we’re voting, I want you to tell it too,” Moonlight offered.

“You’re not getting out of this, so you might as well give in,” Silver advised.

“Oh fine,” Kiera huffed her annoyance. An old man laughing could be heard in the background. “I guess it all goes back to when we were kids.”

Thomas found a comfortable spot in the grass and leaned against a nearby rock. Luna hopped in his lap, nuzzling his hand until he started petting her like a needy cat. Both were comfortable and ready for story time.

“To call Sandover an actual village is pretty generous,” Kiera began, her eye roll evident through her tone. “It’s a hamlet at best. The mayor doesn’t even really do anything except manage the power and he defers to daddy whenever there’s actually a decision to be made. Anyway, as far back as I can remember, I don’t think there was ever a time when you guys weren’t around.”

“One o’ the perks of growin’ up in a small town,” Honey chirped. “Everybody knows everybody.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Kiera agreed with a sigh. “We were the only kids around, so we had to play together by default, but we still had a great time together.”

“Tell us about it,” Surprise encouraged.

“Yeah, tell us.” Thomas smiled, glad to finally have this bit of backstory explained. Knowing who Kiera was to his character would hopefully help ease his awkwardness at what was to come.

“Well, we explored a lot,” Kiera continued. “The seven of us would run up and down the beach until we knew every rock and sand dune like the backs of our hands. I was never all that athletic, but you guys made sure I never fell behind.” She giggled fondly. “So many piggyback rides. The moment daddy’s lessons were finished for the day, you’d all basically kidnap me and drag me out to the beach.”

“Doesn’t sound like you’re too upset,” Moonlight noted cheekily.

Kiera giggled. “Well I can’t exactly complain about the company. I remember when we tired ourselves out playing, we’d just walk along the beach, talking about everything and nothing. Mostly we talked about what it’d be like to leave our little speck of a village to go out and really see the world.” She sighed. “Guess dreams really do come true.”

Closing his eyes, Thomas could actually see the events as Kiera described them. The child versions of himself and the others, probably no only than six or seven, were walking down the beach, chatting idly even though their voices were all muted. Figuring this must have been some sort of flashback cut scene, and hoping that the others were seeing the same, Thomas took in the ways the children were interacting.

Honey was running around with Kiera on her back while Surprise chased her. Silver was sculpting a sand castle with Luna. But when a stray foot crushed what must have been half an hour of backbreaking labor, the littlest player joined in the chase, seemingly shouting obscenities at the others. Luna fell to her back, clutching her sides as she laughed uproariously at the display. Sitting on a nearby patch of sand, little Thomas and Moonlight also joined in laughing, little Moonlight had stealthily grabbed hold of Thomas’ hand while doing so.

The scene then changed to a montage of images. The seven of them were sitting in the grass near a green eco vent while Samos was giving a lecture. Then the six players began practicing in martial arts while Kiera was working on some sort of machine. Carrying water skins filled with green eco, the seven were then guided by Samos in tending to batches of dead earth and the restoration of life. All the while, hands were being held, kisses stolen, and the bonds of friendship were blooming into something more. Then the flashback came to a conclusion.

“What about the streaking?” Thomas asked. He smiled at the way Luna’s ears perked.

Kiera laughed nervously. “I guess that was just how you guys were, or are as the case may be.” There was a small chorus of snickers over the communicator. “The other villagers tried to discourage it, but you guys just wouldn’t listen. Eventually the old farts settled on the brilliant plan of just ignoring it until the problem went away. As you can probably guess, that worked out great!” she declared sarcastically.

The flashback resumed. An older Luna, probably in her early to mid-teens, had stripped herself naked with a single sweep of her hand, and was laughing her naked ass off as the slightly younger uncle fell backwards in shock and horror. Similar scenes followed with the other young players flashing themselves and the adults, while far from happy, never actually brought themselves to discipline the kids for their transgressions. Samos was the only one seen actually telling the kids off, only to face palm when they went right back to doing the same thing the moment his back was turned.

“What about you?” Moonlight asked. “I can tell you from personal experience there’s nothing quite as liberating as feeling a cool breeze between your legs and over your breasts.”

Kiera coughed, clearing her throat. “I never really had the guts to do it. Also daddy would never let me.”

“You’re damn right I wouldn’t!” Samos’ voice blared over the communicator. “Let the hamlet’s weirdoes follow their culture’s bizarre customs all they like, but no daughter of mine is going outside to shamelessly flaunt what her mother gave her.” There was a pause. “What? Obviously you take after your mother as far as looks.”

A chorus of subdued chortles was heard over the communicator as Kiera began yelling obscenities at her father. There were also the sounds of objects being thrown and glass breaking. And from the adventurers’ various vantage points, they could see bursts of green glowing out from the metal hut’s windows as multi-colored smoke began wafting outwards.

“Childhood friends who became lovers, huh?” Thomas asked idly.

“Hmm, so it would seem,” Luna sighed contentedly as Thomas’ scratching continued. “You know, you were rather cute at that size,” she tittered.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Thomas teasingly warned.

“This is the realm of dreams,” Luna reminded. “Here there is nothing but ideas.”

Finally Kiera finished telling off Samos and resumed her story. “When I started getting into machines, you guys were there to make sure I still got sunlight every now and then, even if you had to literally drag me out by my boots like I said.” She giggled. “And that was pretty much our quiet, simple life until, you know… puberty,” she whispered the last word as if it were a dirty secret.

“I can only imagine how fun that was for everyone,” Thomas commented.

Kiera giggled again. “The old farts kept tripping over themselves whenever you guys would start stripping, too busy looking anywhere but at you and where they were going. Then you guys started, uh, doing stuff with each other and…” she trailed off, sounding uncomfortable.

The flashback picked up one more time. Now in the full bloom of womanhood, a very anxious looking Moonlight was holding an acne ridden Thomas by the hand, pulling him to parts unseen.

“Don’t tell me we didn’t invite ya along, too,” Honey insisted. She sounded offended at her fictional past self’s hypothetical insensitivity and not sharing the burdens and beauty of puberty with what was supposed to be one of her closest female friends. Such was unthinkable among mares, a sentiment shared by her fellow female players.

“Oh no. You guys definitely invited me,” Kiera assured. “It got to the point that I’d get worried if you guys went more than two weeks without reminding me that you were, ahem, interested. But between daddy, my work, and all the other stuff, I guess I just kept finding excuses,” she admitted, sounding regretful.

Thomas felt Luna stir and tense against his hand. She, like the other female players, was not willing to stand for this outrage.

“Samos!” Silver spoke up.

“Yeah. Something the matter?”

“I understand the importance of our mission, but I cannot ignore my friend’s continued suffering and feelings of neglect,” she informed authoritatively.

“Silver. You really don’t have to,” Kiera said, trying to reassure her friend. “I’m really-”

“And we’ve been teasing you this whole time!?” Surprise exclaimed aghast. “At least tell me you’ve been finding the time to masturbate in all this.”

The girl gave no answer. Thomas mused at the thought of what Samos must be doing right now, all while he buried his face into his hands, trying to smother his snickering.

“Samos. You can’t allow your daughter to continue depriving herself like this,” Moonlight insisted. “It’s not healthy.”

The old man’s grumbling could be heard over the communicator. It sounded like disgruntled agreement.

“What say you to a deal, Master Samos,” Luna chimed in cordially.

“I’m listening,” Samos allowed.

“The giant lurker who attacked the village is still at large and may yet pose a threat. If we can take care of him, and all other problems in the area to make Rock Village safe once more, would you then agree to give us consent to give your daughter what she so desperately needs?”

There was a short pause. “If, and that’s a big if, you can get Mayor Celine to come and tell me you’ve solved every last problem facing Rock Village and its people, I’ll… I’ll go see if I left anything back at my hut,” he finished reluctantly.

The women’s hoots and cheers could not only be heard over the communicator, but they also echoed across the rock walls surrounding the village, startling the inhabitants.

“Then onwards, my warriors!” Luna proclaimed, fist held high in a show of righteousness. “Let us make haste to save the village and our friend’s aching loins!”

There was an even louder cheer of agreement from the female players and even Thomas felt the need to raise his fist in solidarity with their cause.

“Hey wait!” Kiera protested. “Don’t I get a say in this? It’s my virginity on the line, here.”

“Most certainly,” Luna agreed. “Would you prefer face up or face down?”

A series of incomprehensible stutters could be heard over the communicator, accented by Samos’ growls of frustration in the background, as the devices all shut down and returned to their users.

As if saving the world weren’t mission enough, Thomas felt the excitement of his friends rekindle the fires of adventure in him as he sprung to his feet and made ready to continue questing.

At first he went from house to house on ground level, talking with anyone who would listen. Mostly they’d already had their quests completed by the others, but Thomas was still able to trade a few orbs for power cells. After which he made his way up the scaffolding, a place he’d put off seeing for too long. The wood of the planks had the nostalgic creaking of the game, but was perfectly smooth and solid. No risk of splinters here. The view from up here was lovely. The many lit windows dotting the rock walls were reminiscent of stars in Luna’s night sky. Without too many quests to deal with, he instead passed the time by just exploring people’s houses.

As he went, he would occasionally hear chatter over the communicator as his friends gave updates on their mission. However, most of these updates were in reference to a game they had started to see who could get the villagers to do the most outrageous things without going all the way. Honey was playing without really competing, just being very touchy-feely with anyone who caught her fancy. Surprise had gathered about thirty villagers and threw a nudist dance party. Paying a visit to the barracks, the top of Moonlight’s list had been convincing the warriors the best way to recover was to do naked jumping jacks. Silver’s greatest accomplishment was going house to house and advising married couples, trios, and so on that she knew how to improve their sex lives if they performed while she watched. Samos found this utterly hysterical, claiming that the naïve villagers deserved whatever the women did to them, all while Kiera stammered in the background.

“Having fun?” Luna asked.

“It’s funny,” Thomas commented. “You live in a place for so long, but you never have much of a desire to look at it. Then, suddenly you go someplace new, and you’ve got the urge to look at everything.” He was currently investigating a simple hut built into the rock face. It was two stories high with the bottom floor being an open living area and the top floor being divided into two bedrooms. All in all the setup wasn’t significantly different from any of the other houses he’d visited so far, but the little touches like the designs of the carpet and choice of furniture somehow made looking at it worthwhile. A husband and wife sat reading quietly at a table, paying no mind to the man who’d technically come in without asking as their son played off in the corner.

“Thinking about doing some exploring back in Canterlot?” Luna inquired. “You spend so much time cooped up in the castle, I can hardly blame you.”

Thomas pressed his lips together flatly and his ears gave the slightest droop.

“If you fear bothering any of us with such a request, I feel obligated to remind you of the nature of Equestrian sex roles,” she informed. “A stallion dropping hints that he wants his mares to take him out on the town would hardly turn any heads.”

Thomas laughed softly. “It’s not just that.”

Luna nodded her understanding. She knew Thomas often had trouble getting the words out, so she decided to save him the trouble. “This is about Moonlight. You worry you might be stifling her.”

Thomas opened his mouth to reply, but then felt the thwack of Luna’s tail against his head.

“Dare call yourself silly, or make any kind of suggestion that your feelings are somehow irrelevant, and I promise to tell the others you’ve abdicated your chance to be with Kiera. Is that clear?”

Thomas nodded, smiling even in spite of the threat. “Well, not to say anything that might upset any overemotional fuzz balls-ow!” He flinched from the sting of Luna’s slap. The husband and wife tried not to laugh, but they were clearly eavesdropping. “But is it alright to feel like you’re, well, spending too much time with someone, even if you love them?”

“Not at all,” Luna assured, smiling as she rubbed the spot she’d hit. “The two of you spend virtually every waking and sleeping hour together. As the old saying goes, be wary of too much of a good thing.”

Thomas sighed and gave Luna a thankful smile. Just her saying it had already eased much of the guilt he’d been bottling up. “It’s nice having someone to talk to about this.”

“One of the numerous advantages of the herd over monogamy,” Luna boasted. “If you are having trouble with one mate, you have another trusted companion to hold your confidence.”

“See?” The wife cut in. “I told you having a third would be a good idea.”

The husband rolled his eyes, not putting his book down. “You just like that redhead who works at the docks.”

The wife blinked. “And your point?”

Thomas shook his head, laughing good-naturedly as he left the married couple to their bickering, closing the door behind him. “I don’t think I’m quite ready to go out alone,” he confessed as he walked along a rope bridge. “But, ya know, maybe Moonlight rotating shifts with another guard might be for the best.”

Luna gave Thomas’ head a pat. “I feel safe in saying that Moonlight will agree spending a few hours apart each night will not cause significant harm to your relationship. You picked a very understanding mare.”

“Mares,” Thomas corrected. He reached up and scratched Luna’s belly. “That’s been another nice thing about this game. Just us getting to spend some time alone, you know, without you getting your urges.”

Luna grabbed the scratching hand and gave it an affectionate pat, smiling all the while. “I have enjoyed this as well. ‘Tis nice to be able to go out without needing to spirit one or more of you to the bathroom every few hours.” The pair rubbed noses and continued their journey. “However, do not dare believe that my mind has been entirely devoid of such thoughts,” she added with a hungered lick of her lips.

Patting the ottsel’s head, Thomas gave Luna a promissory nod and they continued onward.

Spying a rather large and open building, Thomas entered and was pleased to find a general store. The shelves were lined with clothes and various kinds of gear. The woman at the desk was a few inches shorter than himself with a red Chinese dress that barely covered past her hips, black hair tied in a bun, pink eyeshadow, and soft, almost Asian features.

“Oh hello,” she greeted warmly. “I haven’t seen you around here before. My name is Cho. What can I get for you this fine day?”

Thomas looked back to see if the sky was still as dismal as ever. It was.

“Okay, so we’ve seen better days,” Cho admitted. “Say, are you one of those adventurers that everyone’s talking about?”

“Sure am! I’m Thomas, and this is my sidekick, Luna.” He gestured his thumb between himself and the fuzz ball, earning a light tail whip to the back of the head and a playful glare. “Don’t mind her. She’s got little dog syndrome.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed dangerously on the man. “A reckoning was promised, dearest Thomas. “And a reckoning shall be wrought upon thine tender flesh.”

Thomas just laughed and shook his head. He turned back to face Cho. “Don’t suppose you’ve got any power cells you’d be willing to trade?”

“Sorry, but no.” Cho bowed in apology. “Your, er, friends stopped by and cleared me out almost an hour ago.” Her pale white cheeks suddenly grew red.

Thomas laughed at the woman’s reaction. “They didn’t happen to molest you, did they?” His question was free of anger or accusation. He was just curious.

Cho averted her gaze. “The green one, Honey. She was, um, very gentle.” The woman’s hand snaked its way down the front of her dress, behind the counter where Thomas couldn’t see, but she was clearly fidgeting.

“That’s good. She actually used to have a problem with that, but I’m proud of her progress.”

Cho’s cheeks were growing redder by the second. “She was gentle, but…” She trailed off, looking uncertain of how best to express her words.

“Don’t tell me she left you without finishing?” Thomas asked. After his friend’s impassioned words earlier, doing such a thing herself seemed terribly hypocritical.

“No! No, I definitely finished,” Cho assured. “It’s just, well…”

“Well what?” Luna asked.

“If it is not rude to ask, I wonder why all of your female companions are so willing to go out with so little clothing?” Cho finally asked.

“Luna?” Thomas gestured for her to explain, but she just gestured back for him to go instead. The man shrugged and decided to give the best answer he could. “I want to say that it’s a culture thing, that they’re from a place where most people go around naked all the time and no one minds. But if I’m being honest, they just really like messing with people and freaking them out with their nudity.”

Luna had to choke back her laughter. The result was a crude, snorting sound.

Cho giggled nervously. “And you do not?”

Thomas thought on this. Sandover only had a bunch of old guys and that one older lady. He could see why his friends would enjoy messing with those people, but the comedic factor just wasn’t as strong for him. By contrast, Cho was quite the looker. More than that, she was an NPC and he had hacker powers. How could he go on resisting such an opportunity and continue calling himself a gamer?

“I just haven’t been feeling up to it, at least not yet,” he explained with a smirk that made Cho tense. After which he casually undid his belt and let his trousers and underwear fall and crumble around his feet. Cho’s eyes went wide as her fidgeting stopped. Even Luna’s ears and brow rose in interest. The length of Thomas’ blue vest managed to keep his groin and bottom covered as a sort of dress skirt. However, that ‘skirt’ was cut in the middle of the front and back to allow free leg movement. One good step and the goods would be on full display.

Pleased by the female attention on him, Thomas crouched down, making sure to keep his valuables hidden by the fabric. He gathered up his trousers, stood, and stuffed them into his bottomless pack. He could always get them back later if he needed to. Thomas then swaggered over to the counter where Cho looked frozen in place and leaned over. He noted the way Luna tried sneaking a peak of his backside, but his attention was firmly on the NPC.

“I-is there s-something I c-can help you w-with?” she stammered.

Thomas smirked at the power he held over this stranger, this person who wasn’t really a person, but was still mindful of himself as he acted. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any panties around here?” he asked, scanning the shelves.

Cho opened her mouth, but sounded like she was choking on the words she meant to say.

“The ladies of my merry band are all lookers. Of that there can be no doubt,” Thomas explained. “And as much fun as they have streaking, I can’t help but think it’d be more fun if they didn’t actually show everything. It’s way sexier to tease at what you’ve got, rather than showing it all at once, wouldn’t you say?”

Cho gave a nervous, quick nod as she glanced down at what Thomas was hiding.

Smooth, he complimented himself. Having charisma was fun, even if it was just pretend. “Then how about we make a little deal. We’ve got to save our orbs for power cells, but what if I trade you a good luck charm for some panties?”

Cho blinked, coming out of her daze. “A charm?”

“Yeah. With all the crap that’s been happening around here, a bit of good luck can go a looong way, if you catch my meaning.” Thomas gave his eyebrows a playful bounce.

Cho tapped her chin, apparently giving his suggestion far more thought than it deserved. “That depends. What kind of charm is this?”

Thomas beamed. “You wearing any panties under that?”

Cho nodded plainly, showing no anxiety or other signs of discomfort. Whatever was coming, she seemed open.

“Well take ‘em off. We’ll both need to be bottomless for this to work.”

Luna was grinning ear to ear as she watched the exchange. She, too, was getting a kick out of Thomas having charisma. She knew it was only because this was all a game, but that was the whole point of role play. So long as everyone was having fun, it was all good.

Again Cho nodded. Making sure to bodily face Thomas as she hid behind the counter, she crouched down and slipped the silken white garment down. She held onto it for a moment, uncertain of what to do before settling on laying it down on the counter, the wet spot plain for all to see. Her cheeks grew even redder as she waited for the man’s next command, but she showed no other signs of apprehension. She trusted the strange adventurer to know what he was doing..

“Now come around here,” Thomas said, motioning around the counter.

Cho did as instructed. Her walk was slow. Her thighs were pressed together like she had to pee, but eventually she made it to the indicated spot directly in front of Thomas.

Thomas looked the woman over. Cho was fidgeting, nervous, but fully accepting of what was to come. She was an NPC, his toy to play with, but her mannerisms were just real enough to make the illusion of reality all the more enticing. She also had a nice smell, like a scented candle. Setting his hands on the woman’s shoulders, Thomas gently spun her around until she was facing away. “Now you take a breath,” he waited for her to do so, “and let’s have some fun.”

Without further warning, he thrust himself forward, pressing himself fully to Cho’s back. She gasped in shock from the contact, but then gave a squeak when she felt something hot and hard poking between her thighs. Thomas had wrapped his arms around her middle, but his hands were creeping upwards towards her breasts. She did as she was told and relaxed, less nervous and more curious to see where this was going. Thomas smiled when he felt the tension leave her body, and readied to enact his ‘charm.’

How’s he doing? Moonlight telepathically asked.

He’s finally playing with the characters, Luna informed. She’d hopped down to the floor and was now standing directly in front of Cho, granting her an ideal view of the saucy show. She went on when she sensed a relieved sigh from Moonlight. However, he is not enjoying himself to the same extent as you and the others.

Moonlight tensed. She had just wrangled a couple of escaped dogs and was currently transporting them back to their owner. Can you tell why?

Luna smiled and sent a small wave of reassurance to the hornless unicorn. It has nothing to do with you, she promised. While there are no feelings of abandonment, I suspect his discomfort stems largely from the fear of taking advantage of this figment of his own imagination. As adept as the alicorn-turned-ottsel was in holding multiple conversations at once, especially via telepathy, the moans Cho was making as Thomas put her thighs to use was proving to be a captivating distraction.

Moonlight chuckled to herself. That’s my Thomas. It was an immense relief to know Thomas was playing the same game as the rest of them in toying with the NPCs. She’d been worried that, because of his monogamous views, it might bother him that she would be messing around with other people, even if they were fictional. It eased her thoughts to know that her beloved wouldn’t begrudge her for doing the same as him.

After all, armed with limitless phantom energy, even Moonlight had indulged in several of the humanoid women, but not the men. She’d let husbands watch as she sat on their wives’ faces, followed Silver’s example in playing a sexual marriage counselor a couple times, and the sight of so many human bodies bouncing for her entertainment had been tucked in her memory for safe keeping. However, while her hands had certainly been free with the women of the village, she’d not touched any of the men. Not to say that none had caught her eye. Some most definitely did, especially during the jumping jacks. However, they just didn’t have Thomas’ charms, so she didn’t bother.

That said, there was still something troubling Moonlight. She swallowed, considering her choice of words before continuing. But besides that, how’s he doing, you know…

Without you after you had agreed to split up and leave him in my care? Luna finished and felt Moonlight’s mental flinch. Honestly, he is having quite the blast. I would wager roughly 80% of his time sense coming to this level has been spent grinning. He even kept a smile when we discussed his worry about wanting to go out more often while also spending a little less time together with his loving mares smothering him.

Moonlight physically and mentally slumped. He’s been thinking about that too? She felt Luna’s mental nod and heaved a huge sigh of relief. Oh thank Faust! I was wanting to tell him that he should try to be a little more independent, but he’s so sensitive I didn’t know how to break it to him.

Luna beamed, even around her mouthful as her little paws went to work coaxing all manner of lewd sounds from the woman’s lips. Then take comfort in knowing that Thomas also believes it would be healthy for the two of you to go out a little more, but maybe not feel so obligated to stay glued at the hip.

Moonlight grinned and sent her Princess her raw feelings of gratitude for her help, free of the awkwardness that words would inevitably bring. In exchange, Luna granted the unicorn her own sensations at what their stallion was up to. Luna then laughed when Moonlight had to duck into the bushes to relieve herself.

**********

Luckily there was a washroom in the back of the general store for the three perverts to fix themselves up when the fun was over. Thomas slipped his pants back on, but moved the purchased from his bottomless pack to his bottomless pockets, wanting to have them in easy reach for later. Contacting the others, everyone shared their status reports and concluded everything that was to be done in the main village had been completed. There was only the Lost Precursor City and Boggy Swamp to deal with, so they agreed to meet up in the tavern set in the middle of the village.

“Hey guys,” Thomas greeted his dear friends. “I got you something.”

“Ooh! A present?” Surprise chirped.

Walking over to a nearby table, Thomas emptied out the contents of his pockets for all to see. “Streaking is fun, but eventually people will get used to it. It’ll be just like Equestria and the fun’ll be over,” he explained. “So, I thought it might help if we mix things up a little.”

The female players looked down at the offered articles of clothing, up at Thomas and Luna’s lascivious smirks, and then to each other. They liked this idea. As it turned out, Cho had been so thankful for the ‘charm’ that she’d made suggestions for clothing other than just panties.

Moonlight chose a pair of tight, purple pants that matched Kiera’s, save for the holes cut in the groin and just below where her tail would be, leaving her privates on an even more scandalous display than if she were fully nude. Surprise chose what was technically a one piece swim suit, but really it looked like an oversized thong. Two thin, black straps connected at the bottom, covering the woman’s groin and riding up her ass, while the loops held tightly over her shoulders and somehow, impossibly, completely covered her nipples. Honey, being a simple gal, picked out a too small apron that just barely covered her groin, but only when she stood perfectly still, and held fast to her breasts, somehow preventing any nip slips. This left the daring Silver to don a red and black corset with holes cut for the crotch and breasts, black latex gloves, and bright red socks.

“Woof,” Luna said as she drank in the sight of her lovers’ new looks. She licked her lips, but it wasn’t involuntary.

Villagers who had come to see the group off on the next leg of their journey were left utterly speechless as they watched the female players dress in their new attire. They stared in silent, abject fascination as the women posed for their audience. Men covered women’s eyes, the gambler had his hands down in his barrel, and mouths were hanging open so wide that a few people even swallowed some bugs.

Finally deciding that he was overdressed, Thomas once more slipped his trousers and underwear off, stashing them in his pack. Gasps of shock rang out from the villagers, not expecting the only male adventurer to also go nude. Emboldened, Thomas ‘accidentally’ knocked over a cup, turned his back on the villagers, and bent over to pick it up. This proved to be the last straw for the NPCs, pushing many of them over the brink as worried cries for fainted loved ones rang out behind him.

Looking into the approving and predatory eyes of his friends, Thomas knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he’d never, under any circumstances, do something like this in the real world. But here, in this place of save points and simple minds, he could have fun exposing himself to strangers.

Character development! That’s right, folks. You might have thought this was just a fun little side story, a piece of filler with no long term consequences. Nope! Thomas and Moonlight, using Luna as an intermediary, have decided to talk to one another about an issue they’ve both been having in their relationship.

…

I swear that sounded more profound in my head!

This story is still B-canon, of course, but it still seemed good to throw in a stronger connection to the main story.

Anyway, the fun times continue with a nice bit of backstory for the fictional versions of our characters within the game’s universe. A good backstory and chemistry, I feel, are always a plus when shipping. The best romances and clops I’ve read on this site spend a pretty fair amount of time building up the characters’ relationships before putting them in bed together.

I kind of fear I might be giving too much buildup for when we finally get to the sex scene, but oh well. As per usual, I can only write my best and hope you guys enjoy.

Thomas’ prior courage from flashing the villagers promptly evaporated once they began crossing the pontoons to the Lost Precursor City. The floating masses of wood were close enough together that it wasn’t even a hop from one to the other. He could see the reef directly beneath the path, assuring him with its familiar, shallow presence. However, what terrified him most was just past the reef, that place where visibility was lost, replaced with a murky darkness that promised an endless hoard of swimming, chomping, heartbeat thumping death!

“You okay, sugar? Ah swear Ah can almost hear yer butthole clenching from over here.” Honey set a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder.

“I remember you advised us not to go out too far at sea,” Silver recalled. “I was speaking with Kiera and she mentioned the dangers of lurker sharks.”

Thomas shivered, and not just because a breeze was blowing between his legs. “Old game mechanic that served as nightmare fuel for an entire generation,” he informed.

“Tell us.” Moonlight came around Thomas’ other side and grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Thomas smiled appreciatively, unconcerned with the woman’s provocative attire. “A big selling point for this game was that the player was able to visit pretty much everywhere they could see. However, to keep the players from swimming out to where the game designers never intended you to go, rather than adding an invisible wall, they threw in a giant fish to swallow you up.”

“What’s so bad about a little fishy?” Surprise asked, earning a glower from Thomas.

“You want to find out? Swim out past the reef,” he motioned, “and see what happens.”

Surprise stared out at the murky abyss for a good long while. “Well I am the only one wearing a swimsuit!” she declared and cannon balled into the water, splashing the others. They were about half way out from the village, but still well within the zone of the reef’s shallow protection. She sprang up and spat a short fount of water from her mouth. “Salty,” she chirped happily, although her smile faltered when she saw the way Thomas continued to stare at her.

“Does this beast truly hold such power over you?” Luna asked worriedly.

“It’s not just the shark. It’s…” Thomas tried to think of how best to describe it. “Just go out a little ways and you’ll see.” He felt a little bad about saying such a thing, but reminded himself that this was only a game and they couldn’t really be hurt.

Saluting where she swam, Surprise started swimming out. She was doing the breast stroke, which, ironically, did the best job of showing off her lower assets. The woman was just about to ask how far she was supposed to go, when she heard it.

“Goh-rack!” the aquatic creature growled.

Surprise came to a dead stop in the water, hair standing on end. Her ancient herbivore instincts had kicked in, alerting her to the presence of a predator. She did not dare even move, for risk of attracting unwanted attention.

Ba-dump!

Even those on the pontoon bridge had frozen solid, sphincters unanimously clenched in fright.

Ba-dump!

“Surprise!” Thomas cried urgently.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Surprise could see it now. It looked to be more than twice her usual size. It’s scales were yellow with orange stripes. Red, spikey fins adorned the fish’s back as lifeless, orange eyes stared at her. Even from this distance, she could tell that more than a third of the creature’s mass was comprised of it’s mouth, which was opening and closing in anticipation of its imminent meal.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Surprise didn’t know if that was the beating of her own heart, or perhaps even that of the monster. She could vaguely hear the cacophony of screams of her friends, calling her back to the safety of the reef, but their voices didn’t quite register in her mind. Instead, it was a different voice that drowned out all others. When the compulsion to freeze had failed, and fighting an aquatic creature in its own domain was ludicrous even by her standards, there was only one option available.

“NOPE!” Pulling an about face, she power swam with more strength than she’d ever known. “Nope-nope-nope-nope!” She noped her way right past the pontoon bridge, across the vastness of the village’s bay, and all the way to the other side of the village. Somehow she noped her way right up the cliff side, climbing up the rocks with the fluidity of a swimmer until she reached the scaffolding. Standing on the highest point in the village, she turned around and, tapping into the dream’s logic, flipped the shark off with all her might as she screamed her defiance. “Nope! Nope you right up the plot hole!”

The shark continued to swim in place, seemingly as baffled as everyone else at the woman’s antics. In time it decided that there was more manageable food further down and descended back into the abyss.

Afterwards, when the others had postponed their mission to go up and meet her, Surprise was surprisingly gung-ho about continuing the mission, wanting to save the eco collectors who had been trapped down there with all those monsters. When asked by Thomas if she wasn’t just putting up a strong front, she pulled him against her warm chest and flooded his senses with the presence of her embrace. She assured him that she was tougher than she looked, that she’d dealt with worse ‘meanie faces’ during clearance sales at her old store. However, she did stop by Celine and, in a tone that brokered no argument, made her promise to fish the ‘damned monsters’ into extinction, to which the mayor’s sense of self-preservation made her readily agree, and the players resumed their quest.

Gathering together around the large platform at the top-most tower, the man and ladies stepped on the giant button that seemed to be a peculiar feature of Precursor architecture. The elevator immediately took them down below the sea. Unsurprisingly, the women all thought this was quite charming and scattered to look out the surrounding windows. Surprise, having seemingly forgotten her traumatic experience, readily pointed out the different colors and shapes of fishes. Even Thomas had to admit this was remarkably similar to a trip to the aquarium. It even smelled right, the air thick with the scent of the salty sea, dead fish, and burning metal. That last one didn’t quite fit, but it was equally hard to ignore.

Entering the first hallway, the mares and man were dazzled by the lights. Burning orange, metallic chords lit up the floor, decorative pools of water glowed with green electricity, and the curved, glass ceiling gave off a calming blue. It was pretty, but also dangerous. Thomas made sure to remind the mares about the many hazards of this level.

The first main chamber was more or less unchanged from what Thomas remembered with floating pads, glowing waters, and lurkers. Lots of lurkers skulked about, eyeing the intruders warily from their various patrol spots. Apparently no one had clued these guys in on the rebellion. Whatever the case, the mares decided it’d be easier to fight in their natural states and stripped, giving their clothes back to Thomas.

For the first time since the game began, the group’s flyers were really starting to miss their wings. Even Honey was complaining about the wrongness of her inability to trust the ground beneath her hooves as platforms rose, fell, and swiveled in a manner the mare found unnatural. But together they pulled through, bashing lurkers, hopping across the countless platforms, and collecting everything that was worth collecting. It was hard work, but not excruciatingly so.

Thankfully the rooms had been sized up to accommodate the group, allowing them to move about relatively freely as they fought. Honey and Moonlight focused on most of the timed challenges since they were the more athletic and had experience in obstacle courses, the latter because of soldier training and the former thanks to games played at family reunions. Much to Luna’s delight, there were numerous vents networking throughout the complex that were small enough for only her to fit through, granting her both the time to shine and the excuse to give the others a good mooning. Thomas, Silver, and Surprise focused on fighting the surprisingly numerous enemies that assailed them.

“Why are there so many?” Surprise asked. She’d just delivered a roundhouse kick to an especially scruffy looking lurker.

“I have a theory,” Luna’s voice spoke over the communicator. “It appears several chambers are filled with dark eco, which the lurkers have been packing up for transport.”

“But there weren’t any lurkers at the top of the city,” Moonlight pointed out, having just retrieved another scout fly. “Why wouldn’t they post guards if they have such a delicate operation going on down here?”

“Celine said the team of eco collectors went missing down here, but didn’t know what happened,” Silver added, delivering a vicious uppercut to her foe. “I spoke to her and she did not mention anything about unusual lurker activity around the city, so they may be using a different entrance.”

“So they probably got some other means of getting down here, like a submarine,” Thomas concluded. “If so, I’ll bet it’s got power cells.”

“Still got them missin’ villagers ta worry about,” Honey reminded. “Celine’s wife, daughter, ‘n’ the others. Any clue where they might be?”

“I have seen no trace of them yet,” Luna informed from the vents. “They are likely deeper within the complex, assuming they still live.”

“Shush-ush-usssh,” Surprise shushed. “Don’t say stuff like that. You’ve gotta keep a positive attitude, otherwise all the bad what-ifs might mess with your head.”

“Surprise is right,” Thomas agreed. He was busy collecting the fragments of green eco after the lurker he’d elbowed to death had dissolved into oblivion. “Stuff’s different, but this is still the first of the Jak trilogy. Nothing too dark happens this time around.”

“I take it you are less keen about playing the sequel game next?” Silver asked.

“Let’s just say if we do, one of you guys can be the Jak,” Thomas replied dryly.

“Hold, everyone!” Luna called, silencing the others as she listened. “I hear voices.”

“They telling you to burn stuff?” Surprise asked, only to wince when Silver gave her a sharp slap to the behind. “What was that for?”

“You were being rude,” Silver reprimanded.

“No I wasn’t,” Surprise whined, rubbing the spot Silver had struck. “I was just gonna remind her that those are the bad voices she shouldn’t listen to,” she said as if it should have been obvious. “Also we’re under water, so burning things wouldn’t really work anyway.”

The others just stared at Surprise, silently wondering whether it was worse that she was just making a joke in poor taste regarding Luna’s mental stability, or if she was speaking from experience.

“I see them!” Luna whispered. “Thomas. You, Surprise, and Silver take the door second from your right. It leads down a winding chamber that will take you to where the prisoners are being kept. Honey and Moonlight. You two take the path on the far left. This path will take you to an upper floor, giving you the jump on the guards. Wait there until I give the signal.”

The group declared their understanding and began their mission.

It was truly fortuitous that lurkers were so dim, otherwise some might have run on ahead to warn their fellows of the intruders. Instead, the group was free to clear them out room by room, never taking on more than they could handle. In no time at all they arrived at the indicated chamber. Blue and maroon lurkers stalked about while three purple flyers listed lazily overhead. About half a dozen people were held behind a green shield in an adjacent room.

“Moonlight, Honey, and myself will take the flyers,” Luna whispered into her communicator. “The enemy will be greatly weakened without air support. At the same time, Surprise will take point in the ground assault with Silver and Thomas watching her back. I count twenty ground units total, but there may be more in hidden compartments.”

“Sounds like a solid plan,” Moonlight confirmed. “But what are those lines on the floor?” She pointed down at the neon blue lines scattered around the room. Each was comprised of three or four segments, usually bent at right angles, with the ends all evenly spaced from one another. “They almost look like a maze.”

“Uh, guys,” Thomas spoke up. He and his group were standing just outside the door to the prisoner’s chamber while he was staring at a screen. “Is there, like, a glowing area in the far right corner of the floor?”

“Yes,” Luna confirmed. “How did you know?”

“Because the same thing is on the screen right in front of us,” Silver answered.

“What’s it mean?” Surprise asked, trying to climb over the others to get a better look.

“It means,” Thomas began, pushing the big mare back, “that we might not need to fight.”

“Ow. Don’t be so rough,” Surprise pouted, rubbing at her now sore boob. “At least not without asking.”

“Care ta fill the rest ‘f us in, gamer boy?” Honey asked.

“Normally I’d say this is a lock puzzle. You guide the charge from this end to the other to unlock the door,” Thomas pointed between the sides of the screen. “But since the same pattern is on the floor in the next room, I’m betting it’s more like a pre-fight puzzle. You work to solve the puzzle and it makes the fight easier.”

“How so?” Silver asked.

“Just give me a second.” Thomas grabbed the screen, causing it to light up.

“Something’s happening in here,” Moonlight warned. “The lines just went extra bright.”

“But the lurkers have yet to notice,” Luna informed.

Thomas turned the screen in his hands, causing a metal marble to begin rolling around. A white charge appeared on the glowing spot and began to move down the line. “Oh yeah,” Thomas confidently declared. This was almost identical to a Ratchet and Clank puzzle. He congratulated his own subconscious on the reference as he maneuvered the marble around.

“Don’t. No!” Surprise hissed. “Go slower or it’ll fall.”

“No backseat driving,” Thomas growled. “It’s hard enough to focus as is.” The puzzle was significantly more complex than anything he ever remembered from Ratchet.

“No. Turn it. Turn it right!” Surprise urged.

“Hush, you,” Silver admonished and pulled the larger mare away.

Thomas didn’t see what happened, his attention fully devoted to the familiarity of the screen, but he did hear a lot of muffled moans. “Almost there,” he muttered, being as careful as possible with his movements. “Almost… there… Ahah!” He’d successfully guided the charge into the designated slot.

“Hot dawg!” Honey exclaimed.

“What happened?” Thomas asked.

“Well…” Moonlight began, sounding uncertain. “You definitely made the fight easier.”

Surprise was the first to approach the door, forcing it to open at her proximity. The lines on the floor had gone completely dull, but the floor was positively littered with the glowing green remains of former enemies.

“It was as though a hundred spears of lightning shot up at once,” Luna informed as she hopped down from her hiding spot, landing perfectly on Thomas’ shoulder. “Why would any species go to such extraneous and bizarre lengths to set up such a death trap? It boggles the mind.”

“We can look into that later,” Moonlight cut in as she and Honey hopped down from their hiding spot. “Right now we have prisoners to save.”

“Hello!” a woman called out, banging on the shield. Her voice was muffled. She was blonde with shoulder length hair, wearing a dark green jumpsuit, and had preposterously large goggles hanging around her neck. “Can you hear me?”

“We can.” Moonlight jogged forward to meet the woman face to face. “Don’t worry. Mayor Celine sent us to save you.”

“Celine? Oh thank the Precursors,” the woman exclaimed. “I knew my muse wouldn’t abandon us. I’m so happy, I don’t even care why you’re all naked.”

“I care,” informed a younger girl who bore a striking resemblance to the first. “Especially him. Why aren’t you wearing any pants?”

Thomas looked down at himself. He’d completely forgotten he was going commando. “Uh, for the breeze?” Thomas had to role his eyes at the weakness of that excuse.

“Really?” the younger girl asked, sounding like she actually bought it. “How is it?”

“Quiet, Solana,” the first woman hissed. “You can make goo-goo eyes at the cute boy later. Right now we have to get out of here.”

Solana rolled her eyes. “Come on, mom,” she whined.

The other four prisoners had awoken from the women’s bickering and were beginning to stand. All were dressed in gear similar to Solana’s mother. They approached, smiling gratefully at their rescuers, only to stumble when they noticed the nudity issue. The only male in the group was a young lad who had a thin, red moustache and the makings of a spiffy goatee. The remaining three women all had generic looking faces and didn’t bother to speak.

“Shot in the dark here, but I’m guessing your Celine’s wife and kid,” Thomas stated.

“That’s me,” she affirmed. “Name’s Tess. I’m Vice chairman of Rock Village’s Precursor Research Society/Eco Collection Team.”

“That’s a mouthful,” Surprise said dryly.

“We’re geniuses who spend all our time studying an ancient civilization that might have built the universe as we know it, while also delving into ruins to make sure our village has enough eco to survive,” Tess protested defensively. “We don’t have time for clever acronyms!”

“Whoa there, little lady. Let’s not get our tails caught in a tussle,” Honey said, trusting in her soothing country accent to quell any rising tempers. “Now Moonlight said we was here ta get ya’ll out and that’s what we intend ta do. Just give us a li’l time and you’ll be back with yer families before ya know it.” She smiled when her words had the desired effect.

“Is that the switch there?” Luna asked and pointed off in a small alcove.

“I’ll get it,” Surprise chirped. Skipping merrily across the room, she jumped as high in the air as she could, double jumped, and slammed down on the button with full force.

The shield went down and the prisoners stumbled out. However, they’d been weakened by their prolonged captivity and could barely move without help.

“They won’t make it back to the surface,” Moonlight assessed. “Not the way we came, anyway.”

“The chamber!” Silver remembered. “Kiera said the blue sage was working on a way to bring one of the city’s chambers up to the surface.”

“So where is it?” Moonlight asked.

“Two chambers that way,” Tess indicated. “Far left door.”

“Right then. Thomas, Silver, and myself will stay here and watch the prisoners,” Luna informed. “Moonlight will lead the others and secure the desired chamber. We shall join you when all is safe.”

The group nodded and split. Silver took the opportunity to have a sit down by the wall. The metal was just warm enough to be comfortable. This left Thomas to start looking around the room. It was pretty open with not much room to hide anything, but it was still nice to look around. The chamber wasn’t at all like one of the originals from the game, but it continued to fascinate him by not only how familiar it felt, but also the novelty of looking at everything from this new perspective.

“So,” Solana spoke up. She was sitting down just outside the cage with the rest of her fellows. “I, uh, your name is Thomas?”

He nodded and smiled. “And you’re Solana.”

She blushed and looked away. “I still can’t believe none of our rescuers saw the need to wear pants while spelunking through the ancient ruins of a legendary race.”

Off to the side, Silver was attempting to take micro steps towards the diminutive Luna, hoping a lack of sudden movements wouldn’t scare her away. Luna, pretending not to notice, idly sidestepped away whenever Silver came too close, maintaining a constant distance between the two that was driving the former bat mare batty. It was like watching the world’s slowest high-speed chase.

Thomas shrugged, standing beside her. “Honestly, it really didn’t seem that important,” he admitted frankly. “As for the others,” he jerked his thumb at Silver, “they’ve all been flaunting their stuff and driving the whole village into a second puberty.”

Solana’s blush deepened. “This might sound silly to ask, but, why?”

Thomas shrugged again. “They’re the sexiest things on two legs and they want the world to know.”

“We,” Luna corrected. “As far as this world is concerned, we are the sexiest beings on two legs.” She motioned to the gap in the bottom of Thomas’ vest.

Noticing said gap, Thomas reflexively covered himself, earning amused giggles from the others.

Silver shook her head, momentarily giving up on her chase and having a sit by the wall. “I admit the notion of a nudity taboo still baffles me. And while I can appreciate that it was a value drilled into you by the whole of your culture since you were small, I fail to see why you still feel the need to cover up in front of us.”

Thomas relaxed his hands. “I’m pretty good around you guys.” He looked at Solana and the others. “It’s just strangers that bring up the old reflexes.”

“Except, would not these particular strangers be ideal practice for becoming more comfortable in your own skin?” Silver asked.

“I have been thinking the same,” Luna added, hopping down from Thomas’ shoulder. “Of all the members of my harem, you have easily shown the most restraint and self-control on our adventure, thus far.”

“Harem?” Solana asked, but no one was paying her any attention.

“Not that this in any way suggests fault in your behavior,” Luna clarified. “A timid yet composed stallion is not without his appeal. However, I confess hoping to see you cut loose a bit more, like you did at the tavern.”

Thomas chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. He remembered the many catcalls he’d earned and even the way his friends had whistled their approval.

“And not just for mine own carnal gratification at glimpsing my favorite human’s shapely and delectable bottom,” Luna continued to the full attention of the former prisoners. “Although that is a big part of it.”

“Um, excuse me,” Solana spoke up. “Not sure if I’m following this right, but if you need to practice being naked in front of others,” she trailed off, her cheeks and ears as red as hot metal. “I wouldn’t mind if you p-p-practiced on u-us.”

The rest of the former prisoners nodded their agreement. Even Tess and the guy with the moustache and goatee looked eager to see where this was going.

Thomas laughed. His friends had a point. Practicing in front of NPCs and in the company of good friends did seem like the best way to deal with strangers. Exhaling to steady himself, he pulled back the folds of his vest and gave the NPCs an unobstructed view. They oohed and awed, marveling at it as though it was the first they’d ever seen. Even the one male NPC looked utterly transfixed by Thomas’ flaccid member. However, all this attention inevitably led to his little soldier standing up to attention.

Seeing the effect this had on his audience, Thomas decided to give them a little show. He bucked and swayed his hips. He spun his cock around like a pinwheel while all watched with the focused attention of cats. Thomas laughed, knowing that he could easily compel these simple-minded beings to do whatever he wished, but again he abstained. Playing with Cho as he did had been fun, but he felt much more comfortable with harmless strip teases. It just seemed less intrusive.

Growing bored with the game rather quickly, Thomas moseyed over to Silver and sat down beside her. He made no effort to pull her close or lean on her, as the others might do in his position. Instead, he left the couple of inches between unchanged and just gave a sigh, ignoring the pleading looks of the collectors. “So how’d things go with that spy, anyway?”

Sensing the two wanted to talk in relative privacy, Luna kept the collectors entertained with tales of her own adventures in this world. She’d already heard the tale as it had taken place, anyway.

“As well as you’d expect,” Silver bragged, beaming in pride. “As I suspected, the man, who went by the name of Remus, was in communication with a dark skinned woman who had a particular interest in keeping the villagers occupied and away from the city. Maia, I suspect.”

Thomas just smiled, saying nothing as he gave his friend her turn to tell a story.

“I had actually stumbled upon him making contact via a hologram. Apparently he was the one responsible for a number of the village’s grievances these last few days, such as stolen possessions and missing pets.” She snorted. “The fool had played up his deeds as some great accomplishment in sewing chaos, but I could tell that Maia saw threw his petty façade. It was in her tone as she promised to let Remus be the new mayor once she’d gotten what she wanted, though I suspect she doesn’t actually care either way.”

“What does she care about?”

Silver gave a thoughtful hum as her left ear twitched. “A valid question.” She gave a tired sigh and supported her cheek on her fist. “Maia was most irate about the loss of her lurker militia, but only in regards to how it was disrupting eco collection and artifact hunting. Remus certainly seemed to believe that this was all a matter of conquest, but the way the woman agreed sounded non-committal, like she was just affirming what her crony wanted to hear while she focused on larger concerns.”

Thomas nodded, thinking back to the game’s opening when they’d first laid eyes on the siblings back at Misty Island. “The game made it pretty clear they were planning on attacking Sandover, playing up the whole cliché of bad guys wanting to take over the world, but I don’t think they ever actually said that this time around.”

“Or if they did make such a claim, they could have been retroactively rewritten to have said otherwise,” Silver offered. “Given that our own preferences are affecting the world around us, I’ve always had a fondness for more nuanced villains, those who weren’t simply evil for the sake of evil and…” she trailed off with a musical giggle.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s a mystery, isn’t it,” she beamed. “The villains seem to have one dimensional motives, but the flexibility of the story leaves things open for greater complexity, thus adding to the uncertainty of it all.” She swooned and finally leaned over, resting her head on Thomas’ shoulder. “Quite the exciting game you’ve devised.”

Grinning, Thomas grabbed around the woman’s opposite shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Glad you’re having fun.”

Silver sighed and nuzzled under the man’s chin. “I’d be having a lot more fun if I got a turn as the Luna carrier.”

Thomas chuckled and pulled her closer. Having been together for a few months now, he was quite comfortable with her nudity, even if it was her human form, thus this bit of platonic cuddling elicited no involuntary reactions. “So what happened to that spy, anyway?”

“Oh him? Given that he so carelessly wrote down all of his deeds in a journal, I swiped it when he wasn’t looking and personally delivered it to Celine, earning a total of three power cells for my trouble.”

“Hey guys,” Moonlight called over the communicator. “Area secured. We’re heading back to help with the collectors.”

“Roger that,” Thomas answered. He and Silver brought themselves to their feet as they readied to receive the others, holding hands as they waited.

Upon their return, Honey immediately picked up two of the collectors and slung them over either shoulder. Moonlight and Surprise carried a couple bridal style. This left Thomas and Silver to simply offer a shoulder to lean on as they escorted their charges through the halls.

Moonlight gave Thomas a knowing smirk when she saw the way Solana was cozying up to him. “Looks like someone made a friend.”

Thomas smiled back. “She is cute,” he agreed, pretending not to notice how the girl blushed and averted her gaze. “You up for sharing?”

Moonlight’s ears stood tall and proud while her tail swished excitedly and her nostrils flared.

“No? Eh, you’re probably right,” Thomas conceded with a shrug, much to Solana and Moonlight’s horror. “Best we save ourselves for Kiera, anyway.”

“Don’t be a meanie pants,” Surprise advised gently. “You never know how a girl might retaliate after she’s been teased too much.”

“She speaks wisely,” Luna affirmed. “Best not tempt her into doing anything you might regret.”

Thomas looked back at Moonlight, who was giving him an evil grin, promising repercussions if he didn’t start behaving. He just laughed, naively believing this was all just playful banter.

They arrived at the room with the detachable chamber. Thomas coordinated the others to channel the blue eco from the vents and carry it around to the balls on the pedestals. As expected, the chamber opened. However, before anyone could climb aboard, they saw the theorized submarine come in to dock further along the city’s corridors.

“We cannot evacuate with that vessel nearby,” Luna stated, voicing what everyone else was thinking. “It would surely shoot us down the moment we detached.”

“That must be how they’re bringing in troops and shipping eco out,” Moonlight added. “If we destroy it, it’ll cut off a good portion of the enemies’ resources.”

“I guess this makes for a fitting boss battle,” Thomas allowed as he and the others set their charges down.

“Hold on. You’re not just going to leave us here, are you?” Tess asked, making herself look extra pitiful.

“There’s no need ta fret, li’l lady,” Honey assured and gave Tess’ head a pat. “We cleared out all the bad guys in this place.” She hesitated when Tess started giving her the puppy dog eyes. “But… if’n it’ll make ya feel better, Ah guess Ah can stay to watch over ya’ll.”

“I see a vent up there.” Moonlight pointed upward. “Luna. Could you scout ahead?”

“As if you need to ask,” Luna retorted and scurried up the wall.

“Right.” Moonlight nodded. “The rest of us will continue as we have. I’ll take point. We clear each room along the path until we make it to the submarine. If it’s what I think it is, there’ll be a lot of troops and explosives, so be ready.”

“Keep an eye out for more screens or consoles,” Thomas said. “Never know what might come in handy.”

Making it to the submarine dock was pretty routine by this point. The lurkers they faced were no stronger or smarter than those that came before. None would go so far as to say it was easy, but they’d sufficiently learned the enemies movements to predict what was coming next.

Luna spoke up over the communicator. “I’m looking down on the docking bay right now. There must be a hundred lurkers and more dark eco crates than I can count all over the place. Simple brawling will pose more of a hazard to ourselves than the enemy.”

“So we have to fight smarter,” Moonlight replied. “Is there anything that might give us an advantage?”

“I am not… Wait. I spy a console!” Luna whispered. “‘Tis behind a stack of crates, so the lurkers cannot see. However, it lies on the other side of the room. Sneaking past so many enemies seems nigh on impossible for any of you.”

“What about you?” Thomas asked. “Any chance you can get over there?”

There was a pause before Luna’s reply. “That may not be the problem. I see a vent that opens up very near to the console, but I have no way of knowing how it works or what it might do.”

“Do you see anything out the windows?” Thomas asked. “Are there any towers or odd protrusions?”

“Several, yes,” Luna confirmed. “You know what they are?”

“My money’s on the city’s automated defense system. The Precursor’s had enemies, so it makes sense that any city of theirs would also have some means of defending itself,” Thomas explained. “It fits the story’s narrative and follows the pattern for how these levels play out. All you have to do is activate that console and that sub is going down.”

“Affirmative,” she said stoically and scurried down the vent to the console. As a Princess, it was her solemn duty to offer aid in times of need.

Upon making sure the coast was clear and activating the console, Luna was pleasantly surprise to find that the puzzle Thomas predicted was a rather simple one. The screen depicted several lines of code in the Precursor script, with large, shapely chunks missing. Her first step was to sift through the available puzzle pieces to find those that actually fit into the designated slots within the allotted time, about three dozen in total. However, there were several duplicates of each shape and it was up to her to decipher which ones were appropriate.

In staring at the screen for so long, Luna had managed to translate the Precursor script into basic English and translated the code. The text spoke of the race’s history, of their triumphs in building worlds, and of their follies in many of their kind losing themselves to the darkness. She could relate, especially with the later vows to never again repeat their past mistakes. It seemed that Precursors had gone to great lengths to defend their remaining territories, building weapons that even their own people feared, but recognized as a necessity. It wasn’t until Luna realized that the text flowed with the rhythm and meter of a poem that she was able to decipher which code fragments would be most fitting. With the code completed, the screen lit up with a green glow.

Luna beamed in satisfaction at her accomplishment. She’d finished the puzzle on her first go, and she’d done so by relying on her wits, rather than reflexes or brute force. The console shifted to a view of just outside the city with a target icon in the middle of the screen. Fiddling with the controls, she turned the camera this way and that until the submarine came into view.

Lurkers grunted and cried out in alarm. Luna poked her head around the stack of crates to see that one of the towers had been moved. She recognized it as a giant gun, a fairly standard implement for humans to imagine in a city’s defense. The lurkers seemed to understand the implications as well, giving Luna an idea.

“Lurkers!” Luna’s voice boomed throughout the chamber, the eco hiding her location. “We are the Precursors, come to retake that which is rightfully ours.”

Meanwhile, in the other room, Luna’s voice could be heard and Thomas was attempting to stifle his laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Moonlight asked.

“I’ll tell ya later.”

“We are most displeased with thine desecration of our city,” Luna continued. All around her lurkers were falling to their knees and muttering in their harsh language. It didn’t take a genius to guess they were pleading for mercy. “Thou art wise to surrender. Grovel before your makers and renounce the servants of darkness who hath led thee astray. Give thyselves over to those who hath already chosen the path of righteousness and thou shalt know mercy. Thine mates and offspring will know salvation. Thine future will be bright.”

All around lurkers were abandoning their crude weapons and collapsed to full on groveling.

“However, to prove thy commitment to the new path, We must first assign you a task,” Luna declared. “Evacuate yonder submersible. Strip it of all eco, artifacts, and personnel, and then set it adrift. The vessel’s destruction will mark the first step of thine redemption. Afterwards, return the eco from whence it was taken and venture to the surface. Thou shalt be met by thine righteous brethren who will help thee to see the way.” Luna giggled to herself. It had been a long time since ponies had worshiped the alicorns as gods, treated as distant, unknowable deities. And while she was glad those days were over, this little tangent had given the miniaturized alicorn her own taste of nostalgic glee. Besides, having an excuse to return to her old manner of speech was fun.

The lurkers did as commanded, emptying the submarine of all people and valuables. Luna destroyed it, grinning with just a hint of madness at the destructive power she wielded, but it passed quickly. With a few final instructions, Luna scurried back up the vent and rejoined the others.

“Oh wow,” was Silver’s stunned reply. Her fingers had been swallowed by her lower lips and there was a small puddle of clear liquid around her feet.

“She started the moment you started speaking like that,” Surprise informed, her body shaking in excitement from watching the submarine explode. “Can’t really blame her though,” she added, indicating her erect nipples. “You sound hot when you take charge like that.”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to point,” Thomas teased.

Moonlight tried not to look too obvious as she blushed and covered her nipples. “Shut up.”

With that done, they regrouped with Honey and the expedition team and detached the chamber, floating back up to the surface.

“Wow,” Kiera’s voice cheered over the communicator. “You actually managed to bring the chamber up to the surface. Not only that, it looks like several systems in the city have suddenly been reactivated. Oh, and it looks like the chamber managed to bring up a power cell on it’s way here.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Thomas said as he was already heading to fetch it.

“Inform the mayor that lurkers will be passing through the village soon,” Luna informed. “Tell her to keep the people away to prevent any trouble. These lurkers are only moving to retrieve their fellows to show them the path of peace.”

“Great work,” Samos said. “You six never fail to impress me. Then again, it may be that I have extremely low expectations. Bwaha-ha-ha-ha!” And the communicator deactivated.

“What a nice man,” Surprise mused, beaming and showing off her pearly whites. “I think I’ll make him watch when I sit on his daughter’s face.”

The others laughed, knowing the threat was sincere.

I’m surprised by how much I was able to fit in this one. Actually having the characters go out and do things has been a refreshing change of pace for me, but the real fun remains the interactions. Thomas is still not terribly comfortable with playing with the NPCs as the others, but he’s still having fun. I feel I could have definitely done more with Tess and Solana, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. It was also fun giving each mare their chance to contribute, especially Luna who performs a few of Daxter’s mini games in the later sequels and the bit of friendly talk with Silver. I definitely want to bring things back to more of a character focus for the future.

The return of the expedition team to the village was a warm and cheerful event. There were shouts of gratitude, indefinite invitations to dinner, and more than a few declarations of undying love.

However, it was this very warmth and praise that made Thomas uneasy. In his own opinion he’d never been a video game addict, but only barely so. There was an undeniable appeal to the idea of staying in a place like this, of abandoning reality and living out life in a fantasy world. Here there were no problems he couldn’t solve, everybody liked him and worshiped the ground he walked on, and he was free to do whatever he liked with little to no consequence. He muse that this idea probably would have held more strength if he hadn’t technically already done so by leaving earth to live in Equestria.

Thankfully, the man was broken from his reverie by the arrival of Kiera, who had to push her way through the crowd to meet her friends.

“Hey guys. There’s something I think you’ll want to see.” She gave no obvious reaction to the nudity on display.

“What is it, cutie?” Surprise asked with a perpetual smile.

“Come on. I set them up over by the swamp.” Kiera waved and the others followed.

Surprise and Silver moved the fastest, and so claimed the right to flank Kiera, literally as they walked hip-to-hip with the young woman. Luna, sharing a subtle nod with Moonlight, hopped over to Honey’s shoulder and left the hornless unicorn to walk beside Thomas.

“Feeling alright?”

Thomas nodded. “Yeah. And you?”

“Better now.” The woman beamed and planted a soft kiss on Thomas’ cheek. She also grabbed his hand as they walked together along the pontoon bridge. “Also, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Yeah. Same with me,” Thomas agreed.

“I was thinking that the two of us don’t really go out enough, that it’d be nice to just take a stroll through the city now and then.”

Thomas grinned and pressed his shoulder to Moonlight’s arm. “You’ve been talking with Luna, haven’t you?”

Moonlight grinned like the cat who swallowed the canary. “I’m pretty sure we all have,” she admitted. “Besides, it’s a good idea.”

“Totally. Besides, it’s not like you’ve got any kind of bias, having a job that literally obligates you to follow your boyfriend around and stare at his butt all night.”

Moonlight snorted back a laugh. “I’ll have you know most mares dream of having a job like that.” She playfully hip checked her mate, only for him to respond in kind. And so they continued on their short trek to the new level, the entrance to Boggy Swamp.

“So what’s this ‘them’ you wanted to show us?” Surprise asked.

Kiera wiggled her way free of the women’s grasp and took several steps forward before turning around. Sticking both pinkies in the sides of her mouth, she let out a shrill whistle that cause all the mares to flinch back. Afterwards, a faint buzzing sound could be heard as several black objects descended down to the group.

“My scout flies!” Kiera said with a wave of her hand, presenting the big headed, bug eyed automatons. “The blue sage had a real knack for machines. In going over his notes, I got the idea to make some special mods to the flies you guys already brought back.” With a snap of the girl’s fingers, a pair of tesla coils shot out of the scout fly’s sides. “These modified beauties give off a nasty electric shock that should stun most enemies you encounter. I programmed them with a learning IFF to help tell the difference between good guys and bad guys. They already know lurkers in blue capes are friendlies, along with ponies and humans, but everything else is free game,” she finished with a somewhat sadistic smirk.

Surprise’s ears gave a brief, subtle twitch as she took in the machine’s form. While she wasn’t exactly familiar with this technology, there was something about it’s features that the conniving women thought would be very useful in the future.

“Surprise,” Luna barked.

“Yeah?” she replied, looking innocent.

“About what you said, regarding making Samos watch.”

Surprise winced hesitantly, fearful she’d somehow crossed a line. “Y-yeah?”

Luna turned to the white mare and gave her a firm look. “I claim first rights to the genius weapon smith. You will have to wait your turn.”

“No fair! I claimed dibs first.”

“Correction. You implied an intention for her face,” Luna reminded smugly. “The rest of her is, as you little ponies say, free game.”

Kiera blinked as she looked between the snickering mares. “You know, it’s rude to talk about a person like they’re not standing five feet in front of you.”

“She’s right. We are being inconsiderate,” Thomas said, stepping forwards.

Kiera beamed her appreciation. “Thanks, Thomas. That’s really-”

“Obviously we need to treat her like a Princess,” Thomas continued, cutting Kiera off. “Go at her from every possible angle; licking, nibbling, and whatever else we have to do until she can barely think straight.”

Kiera’s cheeks were in full flush now.

“Ah object,” Honey spoke up. “It’s the li’l lady’s first time. Best ta start off all gentle-like, then go in fer the heavy stuff.”

“Friends, please. There is a compromise to be had,” Silver cut in, trying to be the voice of reason. “We can gently nibble her into bliss, and then ask her how hard she wants it later.”

This proposal was met with agreements all around.

“At least that option kinda gives me a choice,” Kiera murmured, underestimating her own volume as a dozen concerned eyes fell upon her. She blushed and looked away.

Thomas stepped forward, his concern evident. “Kiera. If you don’t want this…”

“I do!” Kiera insisted. “But I… A girl dreams about her first time,” she confessed. “I just want it to be special, ya know?”

“I think we can accept that,” Moonlight consoled as she came up to Kiera’s side. Opening her arms wide, the mare nodded downwards at her bare chest and waited for the woman to come to her. She did, and was engulfed by the mare’s embrace.

“Group hug!” Surprise declared, charging forward. The rest followed at a more leisurely pace and they all shared in one another’s warmth.

**********

With parting words and kisses, the players made their way into the swamp. The modified scout flies hovered just overhead, ready to descend on a moment’s notice. The swamp itself smelled of, well, a swamp, or maybe an outhouse would have been a more fit analogy. The muck gave a sickening squelch each time someone stepped in it and Thomas in particular did not like the way it seeped into his open shoes. He remembered the swamp being one of the increasingly dangerous areas and suggested they stick together.

“Don’t worry,” Kiera spoke up, using a scout fly rather than the communicator. “My flies also have a navigation system. They’ll map the swamp as you go along to make sure you don’t get lost.”

“I know it might seem dangerous,” Samos added, “but you kids had better split up to cover more ground. Kiera and I have been going over some of the blue sage’s maps and he believes there are some particularly powerful artifacts hidden in that swamp. You can’t let the lurkers get ahold of them.”

The group agreed and split down the three paths presented. Thomas and Moonlight, naturally, took the far left. Since she was already on her shoulder, Luna went with Honey down the middle. Surprise and Silver took the far right path, with the latter fuming that she still didn’t get to carry Luna on their adventure.

“I just don’t get it,” Moonlight said. She and Thomas were contorting their bodies to maneuver around the giant thorny vines.

“Get what?”

“Why anyone would think mud wrestling is, ugh, sexy.” Moonlight almost gagged when she set her foot in an especially dense and sticky glob of… something she’d rather not think about.

“Same. Never saw the appeal in getting dirty, even when I was little.”

“Oh. Were you one of those neat freaks?”

“Not necessarily,” Thomas denied casually. “I wasn’t much for bathing, either, but I just never had the urge to play in mud.”

Moonlight snorted. “I’m glad you matured since then.” She offered her hand and helped him ascend a large rock. “Masculine musk is one of life’s great treasures, but no mate of mine is going to go without bathing if he can help it.”

The pair shared a smile and continued exploring.

Moonlight was ecstatic to get ahold of the yellow eco, firing blasts out of her forehead at the seemingly endless waves of rodents of unusual size that plagued the swamp. Thomas was equally ecstatic to try something similar, but decided to hold off. If it failed, he’d look stupid. If it worked, he’d be seriously OP. So they carried on through the swamp, chatting away about whatever crossed their minds.

“I certainly hope you have other games in mind after this one,” Moonlight said. They’d just used yellow eco to blast a rat’s nest into oblivion. “The others won’t stop bugging you otherwise.”

“Just the others?” Thomas asked and Moonlight gave him a coy smile. “I’ve actually been thinking on that, but I’m not too sure there’s much else.”

Moonlight frowned. “How so? Surely there must be more.”

“Well, just going off the games I’ve played, there isn’t really that much to go on to begin with. Gears of War might be fun to play with a controller, but I don’t think anyone’s gonna want to stab an ugly grub monster with their chainsaw gun, spraying themselves with their pulpy insides as they’re cut in half.”

Moonlight grimaced, trying not to imagine what was just described. “I agree that that might be going a little too far, but surely there must be more games you’ve played, something less than churning guts, but with a more mature appeal.” She cocked her head and gave him a smile. “Don’t underestimate us.”

Thomas had to think on that. Mares were generally the aggressive ones in Equestria, so maybe he shouldn’t just assume they’d be squeamish about a little violence just because they were female. After all, they’d certainly been enjoying pummeling lurkers so far. He felt a little guilty about making such an assumption in the first place, but decided to keep it to himself.

“Flying around in space ships might be fun, once we figure out the controls,” Thomas suggested. “And if the dreams adapt to make all the games multi-player, I guess I shouldn’t root out anything until we’ve at least tried it.” Admittedly, the library of games he’d owned had always been rather small compared to other gamers. Most were single player. Something like Star Fox was probably a safe bet, but Yoshi’s Island held too many uncomfortable implications for whoever was the player character. Time wasn’t an issue, so anything Elder Scrolls or Civilization might be fun, especially the former for having a familiar setting to the new players. Then again, that very setting would be starkly altered to fit the views and expectations of the players, so that would be extra fun. And if the others proved they could handle guns, then that would certainly open a lot more doors.

Moonlight nodded, grinning her approval. “You know, it used to be a common practice, especially among the pegasi, for the mares to perform feats of daring to prove themselves worthy of protecting their stallions.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing, taking the lead to show off how awesome you are?”

Moonlight just kept smiling as they walked, trying not to let her disgust in their environment spoil the mood. “Is it working?”

Thomas gave an exacerbated sigh and hip checked his mate. “As if I needed any reminding.”

**********

“So what’re ya thinkin’ when we get this swamp over ‘n’ done with?” Honey asked, having just swung her way over a nasty patch of muck. “Do we take it in turns, ‘r what?”

Luna gave a contented sigh, nestled as she was between Honey’s exceptionally comfortable bosoms. She was certain Thomas wouldn’t mind if she told him that the former earth mare provided more comfortable sitting arrangements than he did. “I rather liked Silver’s idea of gentle nibbling to start things off. From the looks of it, she and Surprise are the most excited to be with Kiera. With that in mind, perhaps Surprise could serve herself as Kiera’s bedding while Silver acts as blanket.”

Honey giggled. “‘N’ you sitting on ‘er face, right?”

“Perhaps. It depends on how insistent Surprise is,” Luna allowed. “Then again, it may be interesting to let the girl take the lead. Her character was originally intended as love interest for Thomas, so perhaps she’d prefer to start with him.”

“Ah thought we were all the Jak, ‘r whatever?”

“Have I mentioned how much I adore that accent of yours?” Luna asked, gently gliding her fingers along Honey’s long ear, making the tall woman stumble.

“Ah knew it,” Honey said, rolling her eyes with a playful shrug. “It’s always the accent. No one ever likes me fer mah fit flanks ‘r swollen teats.”

“Or your kindness,” Luna continued. “You act almost reflexively to aid those in need.”

Honey averted her eyes. “Don’t go gettin’ mushy on me, now.”

“Oh. So you do not want me to say how impeccable your work ethic is? How about, after you work up a good sweat, the light always manages to catch the gleam off your body just right, making me feel like the luckiest Princess in the world to have won such a stunning trophy. Might I say that?”

Honey chuckled, shaking her breasts and the creature using them as her mobile throne. “Yer lucky yer cute.” She brushed a lock of her golden mane away from her face and craned her neck down to kiss Luna’s forehead.

“Hmm. So this is what it feels like to be Thomas,” Luna thought out loud. “I suppose I can see the appeal.”

**********

“Oh stop you’re pouting.”

Silver turned away, trying not to look at the odd woman who kept jumping into her field of vision from odd and odder angles.

“Come on!” Surprise insisted, somehow hanging down from overhead.

Silver turned again.

“You keep frowning, your face’ll freeze that way.”

Again Silver turned away. Only this time she wasn’t looking where she was going. She lost her footing and very nearly fell face forward into the muck.

“Whoa there!” Surprise gasped, catching Silver by the hand just in the nick of time. “Watch that step. It’s a doozy.”

Silver exhaled in relief as Surprise set her upright on her feet. “Thank you, Surprise.”

“Hey. What are friends for if they can’t lift you out of the dumps?”

Silver smiled, brushing a few stray strands of her mane out of her eyes. “I doubt that was meant to be taken quite so literally.” She would have said more, but dared not do anything that might jeopardize the white woman’s lovely smile. So she offered one of her own instead.

“See. Doesn’t it feel so much better to smile?” Surprise threw an arm around Silver’s shoulder and pulled her close.

Wiggling against Surprise’s grip, Silver pulled herself up as far as she could reach and planted a kiss beneath the taller woman’s chin. “I can always count on you to help me when I’m feeling blue.”

“Good thing your fur isn’t actually blue. I know I’ve got a lot of energy, but I’m not sure I could dedicate that much time just to one mare, especially since we’re both obligated to Luna. Unless maybe I swapped out your shampoo for hair dye. But then I’d have to keep buying dye and sneaking it in when you weren’t looking. Do you usually bathe in your own bathroom, or is it like everyone says with you living in Luna’s room and you use your actual room to store your creepy posters?”

“Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!” Silver sputtered like a dying motor. “Someone said my posters were creepy.”

Surprise grinned from ear to ear, but her eyes darted rapidly from side to side. “Nooooo,” she said through clenched teeth. “Where’d you get an idea like that?”

Climbing up the white woman’s pudge, Silver fixed herself on eye level with the pegasus who knew she’d said too much. “My posters are not creepy,” she said finitely. “They’re collector’s items, one of a kind portraits, first additions, and most were even autographed by Luna herself.”

“Well, yeah…” Surprise trailed off for a second. “But don’t you kinda sleep with Luna, anyway?”

“It’s the principal of the thing!” Silver snapped. “Many of those depict the Princess before her fall. I… I’ve been collecting them ever since I was small.”

“Really?” Surprise asked, suddenly donning a more thoughtful expression. “Now that you mention it, I guess a lot of them did look pretty vintage. Which would you say is your favorite?”

Silver blinked. She hadn’t prepared for this kind of reaction. “Well, I would say the one directly across from my bed.” She slid slowly off of Surprise’s body, down to a wooden floor. “I had it framed since it was one of the last portraits made before her fall. It shows her standing majestically on her balcony, waving her hand over the night’s sky as if conducting a symphony. She’s wearing this gorgeous blue and violet dress and her smile…”

“Yeah?” Surprise asked, encouraging Silver to go on, eager to continue talking about something that brought a smile to her little friend’s lips.

“It’s distant, sad even,” Silver continued. “There’s a look in her eye, like she wished to be anywhere, doing anything except posing for a picture. But she stood resolute, knowing that that sort of thing was just part of her obligations as a Princess. Or maybe…”

“Uh huh?” Surprise urged, leaning down to better hear.

“Or maybe it was a look of defeat.” Silver sniffled and rubbed at her eyes, obviously because the stink of the swamp was getting to her. “I’d always imagined she’d begrudgingly agreed to pose for that portrait in the hopes that, somehow, it might rekindle her connection to the ponies she worked so hard to protect, but in the back of her mind she already knew it was a futile gesture.”

“That’s so sad.”

Silver flatly pressed her lips together, expecting Surprise to make a joke or pull some random contraption or sweet out of her mane to make her smile. Instead, the former pegasus bent down and nuzzled the pale woman’s cheek. The hug that followed wasn’t a full, bone cracking show of force that was typical of the white woman’s excitable moods, but a gentle, caring embrace. It was the kind that said the one offering the embrace was here, ready to listen and accept whatever the one being embraced had to offer. Moved beyond words, and damn this swamp for getting to her, Silver returned the embrace.

**********

Luna and Honey had grown sour as their journey continued. The beasts of the bog were bad enough, but far worse were the dark eco creatures, which proved for more numerous than any other areas. With how much dark eco was left lying out in the open, even if it was crated, it was hardly a surprise that the swamp creatures would find ways to breach the casing. The pair worked diligently to find and eradicate the grotesques, putting them out of their misery. But then, the mare and ottsel beheld the worst, most terrifying abomination yet.

“Howdy friends,” the drunken, slovenly dressed red head greeted. “Enjoyin’ mah swamp? Ah own these here parts, everythin’ that doesn’t sink into the mud, that is.” He threw his head back and tossed his jug of moonshine around, seeming quite tickled by his own joke.

“Hey Enus,” a shrill, raspy feminine voice called from the ridiculously small cabin behind the drunken swamp man. “Are those guests? Invite them to dinner.”

“Dang it, Agnus! Ain’t nobody want none o’ yer swamp slop, ‘specially fancy lookin’ city folks like these.”

Honey and Luna looked down at their own nude forms before meeting each other’s eyes.

“Perhaps he’s saying we look well groomed?” Luna offered.

Honey gave no verbal reply. She simply clenched her fists and scowled at the living, breathing, gaseous, and reprehensible embodiment of the earth pony stereotype.

“You shut up!” Agnus shouted back. “Ah might be pregnant with yer kid, again, but don’t you go disrespecting yer ma like that.”

“Whelp. Ah’m gone,” Honey announced as she walked on past the swamp dwellers. She had not signed up to deal with this.

“What? Why?” Luna asked. “Is it not obvious that they have a quest to offer?”

“Don’t care,” Honey said flatly. “Those… those hicks embody every bad stereotype about us honest, hard workin’ country folk that’ve been flung at me ‘n’ mah family since Ah was little. Ain’t no way Ah’m dignifyin’ anythin’ comin’ out o’ that out house of a cabin! Inbred trash like that is best thrown away.”

Luna pursed her lips and looked back at the cabin where the swamp dwellers were now engaged in a heated argument of drunken slurs. It was true that, back in her day, issues of inbreeding were far more common, mostly among the unicorn nobility. When discovered, it was treated with brutal harshness. Times had changed and the problem wasn’t nearly as widespread, but the taboo of inbreeding remained just as virulent, especially amongst the earth ponies who were unfairly saddled with the stereotype.

“I understand your offense at such a display. I admit, it makes my fur itch just to be near such people.”

“So ya agree. We leave the trash ta fester ‘n’ move on, right?” Honey’s words were angered and insistent. “What would hicks like them be doing with something so ancient, beautiful, and semi sacred as power cells, anyway?”

“They makes fer quick cleanin’ when the slop gives ya the runs,” Agnus answered, still inside the cabin.

“Raaaaaah!” the virulent, beastly roar boomed across the swamp. Although the muck absorbed most of the sound, preventing it from venturing too far, local critters were still sent scurrying for safety, barely noticing the earth shaking crash that followed.

**********

“Hey guys!” Thomas greeted as he ran up to join the others. “How’s it going?”

“It’s been great!” Surprise cheered. “We got to ride the flutflut bird I saved back on the beach.”

“We?” Thomas asked. “I don’t remember that thing being big enough for two riders?”

“She,” Silver corrected. “The bird was female, and I guess that must have been another change. I can assure you she was easily large enough to carry the two of us,” she explained with a happy sigh. “It was good to feel the winds of flight again, even if the little dear still needs practice.”

“Say, have any of you guys seen a swamp guy around here?”

“Can’t say we have,” Honey announced, beaming in accomplishment while Luna was unable to stop chuckling for more than a few seconds at a time.

“That’s weird.” Thomas folded his arms over his chest. “I found this place that kinda looked like where his hut was in the game, but there was just this big rock and smashed wood all around it.”

“A lot of rats swarming around there, too,” Moonlight added. “Too many and not enough yellow eco for us to take them, so we had to loop around to meet you guys.”

“Really? Well that’s weird,” Honey offered. “Was he supposed ta have any power cells?”

“One. He’d give it after you helped him find his pet, but I guess it doesn’t matter,” Thomas said with a shrug. “I don’t think we were going for a 100% completion, anyway.”

“Oh! We could ask Kiera,” Surprise chirped. “Her flies can tell her if there are any power cells we missed before we leave.”

“That… could work,” Luna agreed between chortles.

“Something the matter?” Silver hurried over to Honey’s side for a better look at her Princess. “You look a bit drained. Did something happen?” She noted the way Honey averted her eyes at the question.

“Oh nothing.” Luna waved dismissively, trying to subdue her mirthful snorts. “Honey simply reminded me of how earth ponies deal with problems, simply yet efficiently.”

Honey joined the ottsel in snickering, succeeding in making the both of them look guilty, though none knew of exactly what.

“Anyway,” Moonlight cut in, “I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about that?” She pointed up at the large lurker balloon floating high overhead.

“Yeah. I’ve been wondering about that too,” Surprise agreed. “There’s a bunch of tethers holding it down, but I haven’t been able to find what they’re attached to.”

“In the game there were a bunch of boulders you’d have to smash,” Thomas added. “You got a power cell with each one you destroyed and eventually you set the balloon adrift, but I haven’t spotted any.”

“What’s it doin’ here, anyway?” Honey asked, grateful for the change of conversation.

“Hey guys,” Kiera greeted from a scout fly. “My flies just finished their sweep of the swamp and I think I know what the lurkers are up to out here.”

“It appears that they’ve been excavating an especially large Precursor artifact,” Samos spoke up. “It appears to be some sort of arm, but could just as easily be some sort of doomsday weapon. You kids have to stop them before they’re able to get ahold of it.”

“My scout flies will guide you. Looks like there’s some pretty gnarly paths through the swamp that don’t appear on the villagers’ maps.”

“They probably had better things to do than trudge through a swamp,” Silver grumbled, lifting her gunk-drenched foot to show her point.

The group followed the flies through the dense underbrush, becoming more well acquainted with the ecosystem’s many insects and leeches than any of them had ever had the desire for. Demands for showers were repeated often, along with vows to finally resume wearing clothes once they’d left this Faust-forsaken swamp behind. The many thorn vines they had to trek through also did a number on Thomas’ shirt, eventually leaving nothing but a barely held together pile of rags that he had to discard, telling Kiera to contact a woman named Cho about finding a replacement. They emerged into a clearing, only to be met by the walls of a barricade looming high overhead.

“This might be trouble,” Kiera commented. “It looks like the lurkers had some sort of village here, but they built it up into a giant fortress. The excavation site is right in the middle, so it looks like you guys’ve got your work cut out for you.”

Her words were met with tired, annoyed groans from the players. After all the crap they’d gone through, literally, their sense of adventure had been sucked thoroughly dry. The women made it clear they wanted nothing more than to go back to Rock Village and take nice, long, hot baths, probably several times over just to make sure they’d thoroughly scrubbed their bodies clean. Motivated by a desire to end the suffering of his friends, Thomas spied a yellow eco vent, and was reminded of his prior idea.

“Hey Thomas. What’cha doin’? Surprise asked, straining to maintain her peppy squeak.

Standing just outside the vent, Thomas stared deeply into the yellow flames, putting some serious thought into what he had planned. “Something, possibly, really stupid,” he answered honestly.

“Compared to what?” Silver asked grumpily as she picked twigs out from her mane.

Holding out his fist, Thomas tensed and studied the way his veins popped along his arm. “We’re eco warriors, those few with the rare, innate talent to channel all forms of eco.”

“Think carefully before you act,” Luna cautioned. While she didn’t know what exactly he had planned, she could tell it must be something big.

“Promise you won’t laugh.” Thomas stepped forward into the yellow eco vent, letting the fiery energy flow all around and through him.

Moonlight didn’t like the way he was speaking. It put her in mind of the hero who made a last, daring sacrifice to save the day so that their friends might live. Luna mentally reminded her and the others that this was still just a game, but the mood seemed no less serious.

Thomas looked around, making sure he and the others were the only one’s present. It was hard for him to raise his voice in public, so he did his best to tune out the rest of the world as he crouched into position. With any luck, the modified game would grant his wish, the childhood wish of every kid who’d grown up with anime.

“Ka!” Thomas shouted, holding his hands off to the side and pressing his wrists together. “Meh!” He felt the eco flowing around him, surging through his muscles and gathering in his palms. “Ha!”

The women’s eyes grew collectively wide as they beheld the glow within the glow. The free flowing eco from the vent had died down. No. It was being focused, concentrated into the shimmering sphere that was growing in Thomas’ hands.

“Meh!” Thomas took aim, angling his body up at the balloon.

The women, still recovering from their mental exhaustion, sensed what was coming and took several self-preserving steps back.

“Haaaa!” Thomas roared as he shot his hands forward. The sphere had coalesced into a near solid beam of light that shot forward faster than the eye could see. It shot up, high into the air and collided with the balloon, emerging from the other side less than a second later. The balloon exploded with a thunderous boom, the force of the beam pushing the remnants out a ways further into the wilderness. Players, lurkers, and even the people of the village watched in silent awe as the once mighty airship, now aflame, fell off into the distance, far from any settlements.

Thomas collapsed backwards, falling on his bare butt in the mud as he panted heavily. The muck was icky, clinging to places it had no business to clean. Pins and needles prickled the length of his entire body. It was as though his very being had fallen asleep, but, paradoxically, at the same time he felt energized. How could he not after firing a god damned Ki blast into an enemy airship? The entire swamp had gone silent, with even the rats too afraid to squeak. Unsettled by this absence of sound, Thomas looked to his friends for their reactions.

“Awesome!” Honey cheered, being the first to scramble over to Thomas through the muck.

“How did you do that?” Silver was staggering her way over, expression frozen in shock. “That was-”

“Expert tier war magic,” Moonlight cut in, moving a bit faster to check on Thomas. “H-how?”

“That was so amazing!” Surprise cheered. Having apparently made a full recovery, the white woman was now running around the man, splashing up globs of grime with her excited movements. “You were like ‘kaaaaa!’ And I was like ‘whoooa.’ And then Silver was all like ‘ooooh.’ And then you were like ‘haaaa!’” She assumed the pose and launched the imaginary beam from her hands. “And then it was all chuu, pakow, vashoom! And then I was like, ‘huh, so that’s what a combat boner looks like.’”

Embarrassed at the woman’s frantic gesturing, Thomas attempted to cross his legs, but the clinging muck made the effort to difficult. “Y-yeah,” he agreed tiredly. “I guess that was pretty great, huh?”

Being the only one to remain silent, Luna hopped from player to player, crossing the divide until she sat eye-to-eye with Thomas upon Silver’s shoulder. She stared at him, eyes wide but face free of expression. She blinked once, twice, and a third time.

Thomas waited in anxious silence, wondering if the little Princess was going to give him some sort of lecture for having done something terribly stupid.

“Thomas,” she fumed. “If that had been real, I would be giving you the biggest telling off of your short life for committing such a terribly stupid and reckless act,” she castigated with a hint at the wrath she was holding back.

Thomas flinched back, suddenly feeling very small, much smaller than the ottsel. There was no arguing with her point. He couldn’t even bring himself to disagree.

“Taking in so much destructive energy all at once, condensing it into an unknown state within your own body, and then firing at the enemy without any idea what could have happened? You’ve broken virtually every single rule in the book when it comes to magic training.”

“She’s right,” Moonlight added, but dared say no more. She was willing to defer to Luna’s experience on the matter, accepting that her Thomas, her mate, needed the lecture from someone. It didn’t even matter that she felt a wetness between her thighs for reasons other than the ickyness of the swamp.

“However, given that this environment is not real, and that you channeled no real actual magic that might pose any true risk-”

Thomas looked up, his eyes hopeful at the drop in Luna’s ire.

“-I am left with one response.” Luna licked her lips, set her tiny paws to either side of Thomas’ cheeks, and planted a big, wet one right on his lips. “That was hawt!”

**********

Samos’ continuation of Thomas’ chastisement was drowned out by Kiera’s cheers at the group’s accomplishment. The giant, mechanical arm had sunk into the muck, beyond the reach of anyone any time soon. After seeing Thomas’ attack, the giant blue lurker had hopped right out of his little lava pit and beat a hasty retreat down the mountain pass. As a result, the remaining lurkers in the area had been completely absorbed by the blue capes, securing Rock Village and all of its people. Checking over Kiera’s data, it was clear that they’d collected absolutely every power cell there was to find in the areas bordering the village.

In light of their accomplishment, and remembering the deal made with Samos, there was only one thing, one single, solitary thing presenting itself in the minds of the assembled women, man, and ottsel.

Bath time!

While I’d been hoping for a bit more expansion to the world, like I did with the lost city, it seemed the swamp just didn’t have the same sort of potential. But hey, at least Honey killed a guy who annoyed her, so that’s an accomplishment, right? And that ending with the balloon snuck up on me about as much as it did all of you. Been holding onto that idea for about a year now.

Given that Rock Village was built so close to a lava pit, it really shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone that they’d have a few hot springs lying around. In fact, the original settlers who’d founded the village had done so precisely because of its ideal location near the eco abundant lost city and the hot springs. Alas, after the giant lurker’s bombardment, most of the springs were still in need of considerable repair. Thankfully, there was still one in perfect operational status.

Thomas, the ottsel, and the ladies were given free access to this spring, on the condition they first scrubbed thoroughly in the public bath set adjacent to the spring, which they were all too happy to do.

“Hot spring. Hot spring. Hot spring,” Surprise sang to herself as she ran her fingers through Moonlight’s mane, making sure to scrub just hard enough to remove all undesirable substances without causing any harm. “We’re going to the hot spring.”

Sitting on a stool, Luna purred in delight as Silver tenderly scrubbed along the ottsel’s coarse fur. “Be sure to get everywhere.”

“That was the plan,” Silver admitted eagerly. Now that she’d finally been allowed to once more touch her tiny Princess, she planned to make the most of every second of it. Luna’s body had changed significantly since their return from Misty Island. Her fur was dreadfully coarse in places, matted in others, and overall showed off just how long it’d been since she’d had a proper grooming; terribly unbecoming of a Princess. As such, it was the former bat’s endless joy to caress, massage, and stroke her favorite alicorn until she once more returned to the vision of cuddly loveliness Silver had been pining for all this time.

“Care ta get mah back, little guy?” Honey turned around and pointed a thumb over her shoulder.

“Sure.” Even with the slightly shortened woman sitting down, Thomas had to stand to his full height to reach all of her back. Grabbing one of the special towels the spa workers had offered at the front desk, he lathered up a good amount of suds and began the task. He then looked down and laughed to himself. “Not even bothering with a stool?”

“Not like they got any that can fit me,” Honey answered plainly. Her skin pulled taut as Thomas worked the towel against her back as a soft whinny escaped her lips. “D’rn things’d probably snap the moment Ah tried sittin’ on ‘em. Ah’ve been through a lot, today, ‘n’ splinters in mah butt just ain’t somethin’ Ah’m willin’ ta deal with right now.”

“It’s so weird that that’s a real concern for you guys,” Thomas laughed.

“A travesty of an oversight we cannot let stand.” Despite her harsh words, Silver continued smiling contentedly as she began her scrubbing of Luna’s adorable, little paws. “We should tell the mayor to fix this upon our next visit.”

“Normally I would say a good deed is its own reward,” Luna added. “However, after the many trying labors we have endured, ‘tis the least we are owed.”

Thomas smiled contentedly as he ran the towel along Honey’s muscled back. He’d spent plenty of time familiarizing himself with this back already, and the same went for all the mares in Luna’s harem. Even with the human changes, the core features still remained. There was an undeniable raw muscle stretching all across Honey’s back and tight butt, sculpted from years of hard labor on a farm. It was a strength she frequently enjoyed putting to the test, all in the name of helping and protecting those she cared for.

Moonlight’s back was also well muscled, but more leanly built. She had trained in the military to get in and out of places fast, allowing her to be more flexible as the situation demanded. While her butt was a bit on the small side compared to other females Thomas had seen, it was still well sculpted by his standards, a work of art most human women would have to diet brutally to achieve. More than that, there was also an inexplicable warmness that outshone the others whenever Thomas pressed himself against his favorite unicorn.

Surprise’s back was by far the softest. One would never suspect she’d also gone through training as a guard. In fact, if you had somehow missed her wings, you could be forgiven for mistaking her for an earth pony as far as weight and height went. She was not obese by any means. In fact, her body had miraculously channeled all that extra padding from her appreciation for sweets into all the right areas, granting her the proportionally largest and roundest T&A, which jiggled splendidly whenever she laughed. Truly, it was thanks to her snuggly pudge that she was the only one whose back served as equally comfortable bedding as her front.

Silver was the smallest and leanest of them all, which made sense given that she was the only mare who wasn’t forced to look down on Thomas when they stood together. Her life had been one of privilege, exercising just enough to maintain the ideal figure of a young bat mare, thin and ready to fly. Despite this, she still had the right amount of padding where it counted, especially in her pert bottom, which had a fair amount of squeeze to it.

Lastly was Luna, the first mare’s back he’d ever seen, really seen. She was strong, but not too overly muscled. Her figure was lean, but would give way to a jiggling, rippling mass in all the right places. She was massive, looking up to none but her sister and easily dwarfing the likes of Thomas. In contrast to her currently diminutive state, Luna at her full height was easily able to sit on the human, completely eclipsing his form with her tremendous thighs and buttocks if she so desired, which she sometimes did. Luna was a paragon of beauty, like her sister, but with a slightly more pert bottom that didn’t turn left when the rest of her went right. Yet despite all this power at her manicured finger tips, Thomas had somehow made a connection with her. This lowly, unimpressive human had managed to do the unthinkable. He’d sat down, listened to her, gave her a shoulder to cry on, and slept on her humongous chest pillows because she liked the way his smooth skin felt against her; a treasured moment he’d shared with the rest of the ponies who diligently worked to keep the tremendous moon Princess’ tremendous libido in check.

Smiling at the fond memories, Thomas looked around the public bath. Specifically, it was the wash area of the women’s bath. No one had put up much complaint when he had waltzed on in with the others like they owned the place; which they probably could do if they put in the effort. The players were surrounded on all sides by female NPCs, all of whom were maintaining a cautious distance and warry eyes on the group.

Thomas figured this was understandable. Despite the exposure therapy of the players walking around the village naked for the past few hours, the fact that they’d been exploiting the NPCs’ lower intelligence for all manner of perverted games would naturally put them on high alert. Additionally, there was the simple fact that Thomas’ very presence in the women’s room was breaking a taboo they just weren’t equipped to deal with right now, especially in light of all the good he and the others had done for the village. They probably assumed, and rightly so, that any efforts to approach the group to make small talk or, worse yet, politely ask Thomas to go to the men’s bath, would result in them being sucked into the players’ sexy games once more.

Thomas considered this a moment. He was humanizing the NPCs, attributing moderately realistic concerns and reactions to outside stimuli, but that wasn’t right. They were still NPCs, characters in a story that existed only in his dream. They were figments of imagination, ‘programmed’ by himself and the others to act a certain way, but devoid of thoughts and feelings of their own. It was a sobering thought, making Thomas wonder if this was how narcissists viewed the world.

He shook his head, not wanting to let some grim thoughts spoil the game he was playing with his friends. So long as they were here, those real people who gave him real happiness, he knew he’d be able to push past the ever-present dark thoughts and just focus on how great the here and now were.

“Ah think we’re about clean now,” Honey announced.

“Yay, hot spring!” Surprise sprung up in cheer, causing her voluptuous assets to bounce and jiggle.

The rest of the players followed as the anxious former pegasus led the way, Luna allowing herself to be cradled in Silver’s arms like a newborn.

The hots springs were more or less as Thomas imagined. Large rocks lined the outskirts of the murky waters with a few scattered sparsely around the pool’s interior. At its deepest, the waters were a little less than five feet high. This allowed the taller women to sit comfortably on their knees in most areas, allowing the water to come halfway up their breasts. It was reminiscent of hot spring scenes in most anime, although nothing was really obscured. There was even a lovely view overlooking Rock Village from their spot high on the cliff.

Surprise was the first to enter, jumping in with a cannon ball that only lightly splashed the others. “Come on in!” she urged. “Water’s great.”

The rest of the players entered at a more leisurely pace, testing out the waters and finding spots that best suited them. Thomas and Moonlight sat down along the edge, appreciating the feel of the heated stones against their backs and bottoms as they sat hip-to-hip. Honey waded out into the deeper end of the pool and sat beside Surprise against one of the large, decorative boulders. Fatigue setting in, Honey rested her head on the white women’s shoulder, which she reciprocated by resting her chin on her green friend’s head. At her present size, Luna was easily able lie on her back and effortlessly float along the pool’s surface while Silver idly swam nearby.

All in all, it really wasn’t all that different from how things usually went when they bathed in Luna’s giant private bath back in the castle, but the contrast of their recent foray into the swamp definitely made this a more relaxing experience.

“Think anyone else’ll show up?” Surprise lethargically asked. It was evident by her tone that she was also too relaxed to be all that concerned about anything at the moment. “I was kinda disappointed no one came up to talk to us in the bath.”

“I was thinking the same,” Moonlight agreed, sighing her relaxation. “After all we’ve done for them, you’d think more would be flocking to thank us like they’ve been doing before.”

Thomas chuckled. “That’s probably why they were keeping their distance.”

“How so?” Luna asked, having not moved a muscle since entering the spring.

“If I were them, I’d be worried about you guys deciding to use me to sit on in place of a stool.”

“Probably.”

“Now that you mention it…”

“Hehe. Yeah.”

“Wish Ah’d thought o’ that.”

“A body would certainly have been more comfortable.”

Thomas chuckled, shaking his head good naturedly at the expected admissions. “Well, I’m just glad everyone’s having fun, even if it is at the expense of NPCs.”

“Don’t poop the party,” Surprise warned, only to give another contented sigh as she leaned back against the boulder. “Not when there’s still so much left to do. Also, we’re in a pool, and that’s just gross.”

The sound of wet footsteps against the stone floor caused all ears to instantly perk up. Everyone turned around to looking at the newcomer, but the steam was too heavy.

“Guess this isn’t a private party, after all,” Thomas commented idly.

The footsteps stopped. The silhouette of the small figure turned around, looking hesitant about entering the den of perverted monsters.

“Don’t be shy. The water’s great,” Surprise encouraged, giving the water a little splash. “We don’t bite.”

“Not unless ya ask,” Honey added playfully.

“Knew you’d say that,” Surprise said and nosed her green friend’s cheek.

Still obscured by the steam, the figure took a few hesitant steps closer and gave the players a wave. “Uh, hey guys.”

“Kiera?” the players asked in united surprise.

“Th-that’s me.” The young woman finally stepped out to where the others could see, a towel wrapped around her body. Her hand clasped tightly along the top, as if fearful the thin veneer protecting her modesty might be stolen from her at any moment; a valid concern given the present crowd.

Luna swam over to the edge of the pool and flopped her front half out upon the rocks. “I take it Samos gave his approval?”

Kiera giggled nervouscitedly. “Pretty much. He went back to Sandover like he said, told me to call when you guys ‘got your stinking, hormonal heads out of the gutter and got back to saving the world,’” she said in a gruff and crotchety imitation of her father.

“Hehe. Nice one.”

“Thanks.” Kiera paused, looking down from the edge of the pool. “So, uh, how’s the water?”

“Water’s great!” Surprise repeated, sounding just as chipper as the first time. “You should try it.”

“After all the work you have done to aid us, you deserve to relax just as much as us,” Luna encouraged. She’d had experience with virgins before. “We promise a memorable experience.”

“Yeah. Okay,” Kiera relented and carefully stepped in. Brushing her hair out of her face, she found a seat beside Thomas, much to the man’s own surprise after the caution of the women NPCs. For a while, no one said anything. Kiera just sat there, looking down at her twiddling fingers under the water.

Empathizing with the young woman, having been in a similar spot in the past, Thomas decided it was his duty as senior concubine to speak first. “You’re very pretty.”

Kiera’s whole body tensed, her cheeks flushing as her ears stood straight up. Her nervous shaking was causing ripples all around her. “You, uh, think so?”

Grinning, Thomas pressed his shoulder to hers, making her flinch, but not pull back. “I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.”

Moonlight beamed in approval, happy to see her stallion being so forward. Equestrian society put the onus of initiating first contact on mares, which was why it was universally appreciated when the stallion bucked the norm and made the first move. A part of her viewed this as practice for when her herd inevitably grew, and so compelled her to maintain the momentum. “You’ve got lovely legs. It’s a shame you don’t show them off more often.”

“I like your smile,” bubbled Surprise. “You’re always prettiest when you smile.”

Kiera straightened up a little as the compliments built her confidence. “Everyone looks nicer when they smile.”

“‘Cept not everyone’s got hands like yours.” Honey stood carefully, not wanting to make any sudden movement that might frighten the poor thing off, and made the slow approach to Kiera’s side. She sat down beside the girl and pulled her hands out of her lap. “These’re the hands of a hard worker,” she appraised, holding the young woman’s hands out of the water as she inspected them. “Lot’s o’ cuts ‘n’ burns. A few bruises here ‘n’ there.”

Kiera pursed her lips and tried to pull her hands away.

“They ain’t big city pretty,” Honey continued. “They’re even better.”

Kiera looked up, eyes sparkling hopefully at what she was hearing.

“These’re the hands of a gal who knows the value of a hard day’s work, who ain’t afraid ta get down and dirty when she needs to.” Honey held Kiera’s hands up to her cheek and rubbed them tenderly.

“A mechanical genius and prodigy of her time,” Silver added. “Without you, none of us would even be here. Be proud of that.”

Emboldened, Thomas set his hand on the girl’s knee and gave a soft squeeze. She squeaked, but didn’t pull away.

“You guys are too good to me,” Kiera laughed. “What’d I ever do to deserve friends like you?”

Things relaxed after that. Rather than jumping straight into sexy time, the group instead chose to just hang out for a bit and enjoy the moment doing friend stuff.

“And so I followed this kid, Trance, into his clubhouse,” Surprise continued. “It was a bit of a tight squeeze, his friends had to push on my butt to get me inside,” she giggled, “but then he and his gang made me swear by the sacred order of the crocodogs to forever keep their organization’s secrets.”

“What secrets could a bunch of ten year olds have?” Silver asked.

“If I told, then they wouldn’t be secrets, would they?”

“She’s got you there,” Kiera giggled. She was now leaning against Thomas, head resting on his shoulder while she listened to the stories of their exploits.

“That’s right. All I can say is that it had nothing to do with nudey magazines,” Surprise said with a stiff upper lip, hoping that would add credibility to her words. “Anyway, they set me on a quest to, uh, retrieve the order’s sacred treasures from around the village – that makes sense – and then they gave me a power cell as a reward.”

“Did they have ta push on yer butt each time ya came ‘n’ went?” Honey asked.

“Basically. Think I need to lay off the sweets?” Surprise stood out of the water, turning her body sideways to show off her mighty backside to the others.

“No way!” Kiera insisted. “Your butt’s your best feature.”

“Aww. That’s so sweet,” Surprise cooed.

“I remember when I had flanks like those,” Luna bemoaned. She was now sitting in Silver’s lap as the short woman sat atop one of the boulders so that only her hooves were in the water.

“So do I,” Silver agreed, equally sorrowful for Luna’s loss. “Honestly, there was no place I would rather rest my head than upon your grand, silken, luscious full moon.” She absentmindedly licked her lips at the memory, earning an appreciative nuzzle from the little ottsel.

“What about her breasts?” Moonlight asked.

Silver hummed thoughtfully. “A close second,” she admitted.

“Don’t worry, Luna. I’m sure we’ll be able to change you back,” Kiera encourage.

Although Luna smiled appreciatively at the young woman’s thoughtfulness, her mood soured somewhat when she looked over to Thomas. The man had pursed his lips and was lightly shaking his head where Kiera couldn’t see.

“At least you’ve had a nice body,” Kiera continued. “Frankly, I’ve always been jealous of just how sexy all you guys turned out.”

“Even me?”

Lifting her head, Kiera sat up straight and glowered at Thomas while he beamed his amusement. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“He is lucky, isn’t he,” Moonlight agreed. Wrapping an arm around the shoulder Kiera had been leaning on; she pulled him in a tight hug, squeezing his shoulder as she pressed the side of her bare breast into his cheek.

“You ain’t got nothin’ ta be jealous of.” Honey wrapped a massive hand around Kiera’s belly and lifted her up, making the girl squeak as she was set down in the green woman’s lap. “Yer purty jus’ the way ya are, ‘n’ Ah’ll slap the stupid out o’ anyone who says otherwise.”

Kiera giggled at her friend’s show of affection and strength. Eventually she was unable to resist the call of the giant green boobs and allowed herself to snuggle up. “You mean it?”

“Sure as shootin’ Ah do!”

“Well then…” Pulling back, Kiera took several deep breaths, bracing herself for her feat of courage. Slowly she relaxed her grip on the top of the towel, letting it fall a short ways and teasing at what lay beneath. She giggled nervously as they eyes of the others crawled over her body. Retightening her grip, she gave the towel a single, fluid yank and tossed it off into the air, where a gust of wind caught it and carried it to parts unknown. “… what do you think?”

Kiera’s body was in the prime of youth. Her breasts, while smaller than even Silver’s, were pleasantly perky and gave a light bounce with every sudden movement. Her figure narrowed down her slim waist, only to open back up to a firm and toned buttocks, giving her a lovely hour glass shape. Despite all the steam, her green hair had somehow managed to hold its shape, adding to her cuteness as her chest rose and fell with each labored breath. Her sex, however, was still obscured beneath the water.

“Aww. You baked cupcakes just for us?” Surprise asked as she ogled Kiera’s chest. “You shouldn’t have.”

“Ah’m more interested ‘n the buns,” Honey purred as she let her hand glide down along Kiera’s back, stopping just before she reached her tail bone. “They feel light ‘n’ fluffy, but how do they taste?” She hungrily smacked her lips together.

Kiera looked around, smiling nervously at the predatory eyes looking her up. “So, uh, are we really going to do this here?”

“If you want,” Thomas said, trying to sound supportive as he took Kiera’s hand. After all, making the new girl feel comfortable before the inevitable orgy was, more or less, his job as senior concubine of Luna’s harem. “Or we could make a quick run to a hotel or something. Whatever you’d prefer.”

Kiera nodded her appreciation at Thomas. Then she leaned back, humming as she felt Honey’s hard nipple stab between her shoulder blades as the rest of her breast compressed, spreading out to cover more of the girl’s back. “H-here’s fine,” she squeaked. “B-but first,” she spoke up, halting the women before they could jump her. “There’s, a, something I wanna try first.” Her anxious gaze fell upon Thomas, giving him a pretty good idea of where this was going.

Surprise pulled out several mare-sized matts and laid them out along the floor. Where she got them was anyone’s guess, but there were no complaints as the players exited the hot spring and rested their tired, pert rumps down. In the center of this semi-ceremonial circle sat Kiera, knees folded respectably beneath her. A visible shiver ran down her back, likely a result of feeling all the eyes upon her bare form.

Across from her was Thomas, sitting with his legs apart while his cock stood at full attention. He wasn’t sure exactly when he’d gotten an erection. Being around such handsey nude mares had made him quite numb to most playful touching, resulting in his arousal springing up only when appropriate.

“So I just… grab it?” Kiera asked, holding her hand out and grabbing around the phantom shaft.

“Gently,” Moonlight instructed. Scooching up behind Kiera and pushing her breasts into the smaller woman’s back, she urged her new friend forward, whispering in her ear all the things that Thomas liked. “That’s when you’ll want to use your tongue. Think of it like a deep, full mouth kiss.”

Kiera nodded, eyes fixated on the twitching member as she neared. Swallowing her anxiousness, she leaned forward and carefully took the shaft in one hand. “It’s warm,” she said to herself. “Really warm.”

“And the smell?” Silver asked, her fingers now teasing along Luna’s tiny slit and coaxing moaning squeaks from her tiny pet. “How does it smell?”

Kiera drew closer and took a long inhale through her nose. “Musky? Peppery? I don’t really know,” she tittered, “but it’s making me feel all tingly.” She swallowed. “My mouth’s watering.”

“Then maybe you should,” Thomas paused, “taste it.”

Kiera nodded, extended her tongue, and touched it to the base of the shaft. She slowly licked up the length of Thomas’ cock, watching his face for cues on what she should do next. “Like this?”

“Yeah,” Thomas exhaled with a nod. Kiera’s tongue was very hot and felt exceptional. “Keep it up.”

“But keep it in your mouth this time,” added Moonlight. “Suck on it like candy. He likes it when girls do that.”

Again Kiera nodded. She licked up and down the length again, coating it in her saliva. Then she came to a stop at the head. She stared at it a moment, leaned down until her lips were touching the warm tip, like a kiss. She opened her mouth and dropped her head down, letting the shaft sink inside as she did.

Thomas sucked in a breath, fighting against the urge to buck his hips. “Oh yeah. A little deeper, and try rolling your tongue around it.”

Kiera’s tongue work was sloppy and inexperienced. She tried different combinations of licking and sucking, measuring the sounds Thomas made to see if she was doing a good job. All things considered, she was actually doing rather well, avoiding many beginner mistakes like using teeth. Moonlight gently grabbed the back of the sage daughter’s head to coax her to go further, taking more of Thomas’ stallion meat each time. Eventually she felt the cock head brush the back of her throat, but muscled onwards until she was kissing the base.

“Oh shit!” Thomas gasped. “B-been a while since anyone’s had to deep throat me.”

Luna’s ears perked as an idea began to take form. She grinned.

“I… I’m close,” Thomas warned. He grabbed Kiera’s head, taking control from Moonlight as he thrusted his hips upward. Kiera gave a slight squeak of surprise, but quickly fell into the rhythm Thomas had set. “Here it comes! Nngh!” He slammed Kiera’s head all the way down on his cock, the head sticking past her uvula as he pumped the first ropes of semen directly down her throat.

Kiera gave a moan of delight as she swallowed, smiling around the pulsating member between her lips. She could feel the thick globules of cum flowing down her esophagus, filling her chest with warmth.

Thomas finished quickly and released his grip on Kiera before falling back on the matt. Kiera slid her mouth off of the appendage with a pop, licking her lips of all residual cum. She swooned.

“Oh wow!” she cooed, cupping her hands beneath her jaw as she practically glowed in delight. “That tastes so gooood!” She licked her lips one last time. “So this is what sex is like?”

The players looked between each other and giggled at the virgin’s naiveté.

“What?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Honey teased as she crawled forward, swaying her hips as her massive mammaries swung below her. “There’s a lot more ya’ll’ve yet ta try.” Gently she pushed Kiera down on her back. The girl allowed herself to be maneuvered, trusting in her larger friend’s expertise. She was pushed all the way on her back and her legs were parted, leaving her completely exposed.

“This is so embarrassing,” Kiera squeaked, her hands covering her sex.

Honey giggled and fluttered her eyes, loving the look of nervous trust Kiera had. “Ya’ll ain’t never been touched down there, have ya?”

Kiera gave her head several rapid shakes. She was clearly fighting the urge to close her legs.

“Well don’t worry, none. Big sis Honey’s gonna kiss it ‘n’ make it aaaall better.” She leaned down between Kiera’s legs and started licking at the girl’s fingers. Kiera moaned, shifting her hands as the tongue gently pried her fingers away. She paused to look at her work. Kiera’s sex was a tiny thing. The lips of her slit were a bright pink with a neatly trimmed green bush directly above. Her little nub poked its head out in a mare-like wink, showing that her pink insides were slick with natural lubrication. Honey could not help but lick her lips.

“Wh-what are you gonna do?” Kiera asked despite knowing the answer.

“Ah’m gonna do as Ma always told me an’ eat mah greens.” Honey made a show of opening her lips wide, pausing to build anticipation, and then dug in.

Kiera threw her head back, mouth open in a silent scream as her back arched. Honey’s tongue was digging deep, deeper than any human fingers could hope to reach. Kiera whimpered whenever the slick organ pulled out, her body longing for that feeling of fullness, only for said organ to start playing with her clit and asshole. Her body writhed beneath Honey’s careful ministrations, but the country girl had grabbed hold of her lover’s legs to keep her still.

“Ya’ll taste real good,” Honey said with a smack of her lips. “Kinda like cheese cake.” She laughed when she saw Kiera’s face turn almost as pink as her insides. “But this is jus’ the appetizer. Ah wanna taste the real thing!”

Kiera was about to ask what she meant, but Honey just dove back in, her expert tongue penetrating deeper than ever. She threw her head back, just in time to come face to face with Surprise’s beaming upside-down smile.

“Hey cutie!”

“Heeey,” Kiera moaned back, uncertain of how to feel about Surprise’s predatory purple eyes.

Without further ado, Surprise adjusted herself so that she was now facing Kiera head on. Setting her hands to either side of the smaller girl’s head, she dropped her face down until she was smothering Kiera’s lips with her own. Her tongue darted out, requesting entrance from Kiera’s lips. Access was granted as the two organs began to dance and couple in one another’s mouths. Surprise lowered herself further until her titanic titties had completely enveloped Kiera’s smaller sweater puppies, further stimulating them both. Both let out deep, throaty moans as Honey’s own tongue drove Kiera to intensify the kiss.

Kiera gave a muffled cry into Surprise’s mouth when Honey pushed her over the edge. Her body tensed as she sprayed her love juices into her lover’s mouth. Her mind had gone blank from ecstasy and she fell limply to the matt. Both players pulled off the smaller woman, giving her a moment to breathe as they took in her face, so flushed and scrunched from her first orgasm.

Honey’s cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk’s as she sloshed Kiera’s girl cum around in her mouth. She swallowed and let her tongue fall out with a satisfied sigh. “Aah! Now that’s the good stuff.”

“Hey! You didn’t share!” Surprise snapped as she clambered over Kiera, grabbed Honey by the shoulder, and pulled her fellow mini-amazon into a more aggressive kiss as she worked to extract every trace of flavor from her friend’s alien mouth.

As this went on, Kiera slowly blinked herself out of her post coital stupor. Her vision was largely eclipsed by Surprise’s tremendous bottom. The white rump shook and swayed as its owner swooned into the kiss, her nether lips winking and her anus giving a slight quiver from her growing arousal. Slowly Kiera became aware of additional slurping sounds and, with great force of will, managed to tear her eyes away from the alluring sight to see their source.

Silver was face down and ass up as Moonlight mounted her in the traditional way. She didn’t know where the orange women had gotten the strap on, but she made no complaints as the phallus, modeled after a human penis, was thrust deep into her sex.

“You like that, don’t you, bitch,” Moonlight growled as she rode Silver. Given that this was a human dream, her human dirty talk felt much more natural. The smaller woman was moving her hips back to meet with Moonlight’s thrusts, enabling her to penetrate deeper. She panted, just a little winded, as she squeezed her hands around the silver girl’s pert rump, really digging her fingers into the soft, furless butt flesh.

“Yes. I-I love it when you buck me from behind,” groaned Silver. One hand clenched around the material of the matt, attempting to get a grip. The other hand was busy inserting a finger in and out of her mouth in time with Moonlight’s humps. She really needed a real dick right now, but the sight directly in front of her was an acceptably arousing substitute.

Luna moaned with such vocal delight as she gagged herself on Thomas’ cock. The size of her much larger pony mouth compared to Thomas’ relative human smallness had always meant that deep throating was simply not a luxury any of them could enjoy without magical augmentation. For Luna, it had been ages since she could gag herself on a real penis, a real living, pulsing fountain of life that could stretch her throat out just how she liked. And now that she had shrunk, she was finally able to satisfy her craving.

The mare-turned-ottsel was in full control as she slid her mouth up and down Thomas’ proportionally massive shaft. She had gagged a little at first, but her expertly trained throat quickly adjusted to her favorite human’s girth. She swooned and slurped, running her tongue all across the salty smoothness of his taut skin as her little paws played with his balls.

“Y-you’re really good at that,” Thomas said through clenched teeth. He eyed the ottsel’s swaying rump and flagged tail as she stood on his stomach. Her body was too short for him to reach her nethers with his mouth, preventing them from doing a proper sixty nine. However, that didn’t stop the man from returning his lover’s favor by other means.

“How’s this?” he asked as he stuck two fingers into Luna’s snatch, all the way to the bottom knuckle. She moaned all the louder, her throat sending vibrations all across his cock and sending a shiver of pleasure up his spine. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’” he laughed before bringing up his other hand, parting her cheeks a little, and prodded at her tiny anus with his thumb.

Luna’s growl was an animalistic challenge. Thomas’ fingers were bringing her close, but something inside told her she had to make him finish first. She increased the pace of her bobs, no longer taking the time to enjoy the way her throat stretched as she worked. She was increasing her tempo, but that only encourage Thomas to do the same in retaliation. The fire in her belly was burning, stoking her to go faster, so she did. Faster and faster she worked, sliding the man’s cock deep into her throat and esophagus as she fiddled with his balls. She could feel the head of his kick just a few short inches away from her stomach. Had she magic, she would have likely applied a bit of pressure to his prostate. However, that proved to be unnecessary.

“Here it comes!”

Luna gave a muffled gasp as she felt Thomas’ rod swell with his load. It caused her esophagus to stretch just a few, blissful millimeters more, before the tip erupted. She moaned as she felt the warm, viscous liquid spray along her esophagus, filling her chest with heat as his load was deposited in her stomach. That heat was what drove Luna over the edge as her back end stiffened, coating Thomas’ hands and a bit of his chest in her hot, sticky cum. She fell down onto his belly, her little body momentarily spent as she felt his large cock soften and shrink out of her gullet.

“Mmh,” Thomas hummed until Luna found the strength to turn and look behind her. His fingers were still coated in her clear love juice and he was dangling them mere inches from his lips. He smiled at the way Luna’s eyes bulged. Glad for the reaction, he licked his fingers clean, no differently than if he were eating cake mix. Even after all this time together, it still drove Luna crazy to think of a male using his mouth like that with a female.

“Sweet Precursors, that’s hot!” It took Kiera a few seconds before she realized that something so lewd had come from her mouth. The two pairs off to the side looked up from what they were doing and gave her pleased smiles, making the sage daughter blush once more.

“Welcome back to the world of the living,” Surprise greeted as she pulled away from Honey and sat down. Her knees were parted to either side of Kiera’s shoulders and her sex was mere millimeters from the girl’s hair. “You look parched. You should really stay hydrated while exercising.”

Kiera licked her lips and gave a light cough. Now that she mentioned it… “You, uh, have some liquids?”

Surprise couldn’t answer. She was too busy trying to contain her giggle snorts.

“Now ya done did it,” drawled Honey.

Kiera was unable to ask what the green woman meant before the white woman picked her massive rump up and scooted forward a few inches. Kiera could practically feel the coolness of the shadow cast upon her as the gargantuan ass hovered mere inches from her face, her eyes drawn to the irresistible sights of Surprise’s sex and pucker. The former pegasi’s sex was emitting an almost burning heat. The sage daughter opened her mouth in silent awe at the shining, jiggling backside, exactly what Surprise had hoped for.

“Yee haw!” Surprise exclaimed as she quickly spun around and dropped her rump down right onto Kiera’s face. Her massive cheeks squished all around the smaller woman’s head, completely enveloping it in her plush butt flesh. However, having done so many times before, Surprise expertly maneuvered her grand backside so that Kiera could still breathe, even if it was air heavily infused with the musk of her ass.

Kiera’s hands reflexively rose up and found purchase on the massive mare’s rump. She dug her fingers in deep, molding the succulent butt flesh between her digits rather than trying to push her off. She inhaled deeply, relishing the scent of the woman’s sugary backside.

“You like that, little girl?” asked Surprise. She was rotating her hips around Kiera’s head, careful not to hurt the little dear as she grinded her sex against her face. “You like it when I use you like a toy? Oh!” Surprise’s ears twitched and she looked across at Honey’s curious expression and grinned. “She just started licking even harder.”

“Sounds like she’s havin’ fun,” observed Honey.

“Well, her face is anyway,” Surprise corrected as she continued rotating her hips. “But just look at the rest of her.” She waved a hand down over Kiera’s bare, unattended form. “She looks so… neglected.”

Before Surprise had even finished the words, the other players had all begun their slow march to the young woman’s prone form. They took up positions around her, met each other’s eyes, and what followed could best be described as a feeding frenzy. Honey and Thomas each lunged for Kiera’s breasts, opting to share her nipples as they suckled and squeezed, all while tending to their own sexes. Moonlight and Silver took the girl’s bottom half, the former lifting her up by the hips. This enabled Moonlight to finally get her own taste of the girl’s freshly climaxed pussy while Silver made sure to not let her asshole go unattended.

Given that this wasn’t technically part of the main game, Luna felt no qualms as she tapped into the dreamscape to grant herself full access to the sensory input of her fellow players. Her body shuddered as she took it all in. She could feel Kiera’s amateur tongue on her sex, licking and slurping as deep as her little organ would go. She squeezed her hands at the phantom sensation of the young woman’s breasts. Her tongue was swept away by the heavenly mixed flavors of nipples, ass, and pussy.

Luna briefly lost her balance and staggered a bit, but knew this wouldn’t be enough. She needed to actually participate. Given how every inch of Kiera’s head and torso were hidden behind the forms of her beloved concubines, Luna decided to make do with the young woman’s foot instead.

Kiera’s foot was different from Thomas, more dainty and less coarse from walking barefoot all night. Her toes smelled of salty sweat and old boot, but the Princess was not to be deterred as she scurried up the sole and positioned the girl’s big toe at the entrance of her ottsel sex. It slid in easily, Thomas’ prior finger work having left her good and stretched down there, but it wasn’t enough.

Luna was not what one would call a size queen. Given her immense size compared to other ponies, she accepted this as a blessing, as it would mean satisfaction would always come at a great burden. However, she still had a deep, primal urge to be filled. She moaned and grunted, sinking herself inch after grueling inch down. First Kiera’s second toe was consumed, and then her third. Luna sank lower, her sex stretching to proportions she hadn’t experienced in more than a thousand years. Down and down she went, Kiera’s toes curled and flexed against her vaginal walls as a visible bulge was formed across her belly. Truly, feet were amazing things.

Kiera had already orgasmed twice since the sevensome began, spraying her juices into the hungry mouths of the women at her groin area. Her inexperienced body stood no chance against the multipronged assault. Another orgasm was already on the way and her captors showed no signs of letting up. She did her best to reciprocate, digging her tongue as deep into Surprise’s pussy until, quite by accident, she flicked the woman’s clit.

“Sweet Faust almighty!” she blared, clenching her butt cheeks around Kiera’s head. “Oh, merciful Luna!”

“Yes?”

“Sh-she’s drinking it,” groaned Surprise as she flexed her butt, feeling the imprint of Kiera’s face. “I feel it. She’s drinking all she can. I think she likes it.”

“Uh oh,” Thomas said after unlatching from the nipple. “Watch out guys. I’m pretty sure Kiera’s in for a sugar rush or something.”

Moonlight pulled off of Kiera’s nether lips with a pop, a single strand of saliva connecting the two sets of lips. With her best deadpan, she informed them all, “And that’s a jinx.”

For a moment there was only quiet as the players slowly processed what was said. Some doubted, thinking that Moonlight and Thomas were being melodramatic. Then they remembered how their perceptions drove the world around them, and gave quiet squeaks.

Kiera’s body began to shake. It was like her entire being was experiencing a quake of some sort. The others pulled back, cautiously so as not to set anything, or any one, off. Luna had the trickiest time of it, but she managed, even as her body ached in absence of the fullness she had been enjoying. That is, except for Surprise, whose butt was still being held in place by the tremoring girl, sending ripples through her lush, womanly ass.

“Uh, guys?” Surprise asked, sounding nervous. “What’s happening?”

In addition to the tremors, Kiera’s body was now giving off a faint glow of green.

Unable to help himself, Thomas blurted out the first thing to pop in his head. “I think she’s going super saiyan.”

Kiera sat up with a strength that propelled Surprise forward like a catapult, right into Moonlight. Her eyes were half glazed, but also focused somehow. Her nostrils flared and her head immediately snapped to face Thomas. There was only one thing on her mind, only one single desire that drove her existence. “I need dick!”

Kiera tackled Thomas to the matted floor, knocking him down and winding him before he could even blink. She pinned his wrists with her hands as she straddled him, making sure he couldn’t move. Thomas looked into those glazed, manic eyes and breathed deeply. He’d seen this look before, in the eyes of his mares after he’d pushed them too far. Kiera’s mind, he knew, had been overcome with an animalistic desire to breed, to envelope his man parts with her woman parts and comply with the most primal of animal urges: to continue life by fucking until you couldn’t walk the next day.

Once more, unable to restrain himself, Thomas blurted the first words to pop in his head. “God, that’s sexy.” After all his time of living in Equestria, of being surrounded by such lovely, luscious, amazonian mares, how could he think otherwise? And then he realized, by his own appreciation for this kind of intercourse, he had essentially doomed himself to this fate from the start.

Kiera grinned, accepting his consent as she looked down at the erection pinned against his belly. Her eyes sparkled with want, with need. She lifted herself up and used a hand to angle the treat, ready to swallow it with her other lips. Despite her seemingly manic state, the girl was still mindful enough to ease her way down. Her nether lips parted with a wet *shlick*, causing her to moan as she sank down lower. Inch after inch of the man’s dick disappeared into her hungry snatch, filling her up in a way she knew no tongue, finger, or toy could ever hope to match. After what felt like hours, she’d hilted him inside of her.

“So… hot!” she gasped and clenched.

“Just relax,” Thomas advised as he set his hands on Kiera’s hips, his fingers finding purchase where her cutie marks would be if she were a mare. “Relax your muscles so you can get used to it.”

Kiera nodded and swallowed. She breathed deeply, rocking her pelvis a little to feel the cock buried deep inside her. She was also grateful for Thomas’ patience, glad to be lucky enough to have her first time with someone so understanding. “Oh Precursors! I can’t believe I’ve gone so long without a real dick.”

“I know the feeling,” Moonlight purred as she came up behind Kiera and pulled the girl’s face into an affectionate nuzzle. She pressed her body tightly to Kiera’s back, adding a little more weight to the man they were both straddling. “He was my first, too.”

Kiera said nothing as she turned her head to meet Moonlight’s gaze. They locked lips quickly as Moonlight motioned the others to join back in.

Silver practically scrambled across the floor to reach her target, finding that Thomas’ face made for a delightfully comfortable cushion as her ass molded around his features. Her tongue fell from her lips as she began rocking back and forth. Still satisfied from her earlier tonging, Surprise crawled up behind the women straddling Thomas. She pushed Moonlight’s butt up, giving her access to Kiera’s impaled sex. She smacked her lips before taking a long lick up the drenched base of Thomas’s dick, over Kiera’s nether lips, and up along her anus. Honey sat her country grown rump down over Thomas’s belly, facing Kiera and Moonlight. She leaned forward, dwarfing the smaller woman’s breasts with her own and joined in the kiss, making it a three way. And Luna, after once more synching herself to the sensations of the others, scurried up behind Silver. She briefly locked eyes with Thomas, giving him a playful wink before parting the silver woman’s ass and burying her face between those pert cheeks.

Kiera writhed, giving muffled squeaks into the mouths of Moonlight and Honey. The return of the multi-pronged stimulation drove her mind hazy, aware of little else but the assault of pleasure and the sounds of sex. The powerful players to the front and back of her had full control of her body, guiding her up and down Thomas’ manhood like she was nothing but a cock sleeve. Surprise’s tongue had stopped rimming her and was now penetrating deeply. In a brief moment of clarity, Kiera’s heart soared at the realization that she was being double penetrated, and she loved it. Then the useless thought melted away to make room for more pleasure.

Thomas couldn’t move. The combined weight of so many women atop him was too much. He couldn’t even thrust. At least the matt was soft and conformed smoothly to his pinned form. Regardless, the double assault from Kiera’s tight, hot pussy and Surprise’s tongue was a welcomed relief. The former pegasus had also started fondling his balls while she worked, adding to Thomas’s stimulation. He’d have liked to do something more with his hands, but they were currently pinned by Honey, who was grinding along his stomach. Since he couldn’t move, he focused all of his concentration on his tongue as he eagerly lapped at Silver’s winking cunt.

“Aw yeah. That’s the good stuff,” cooed Honey. She loved the feeling of dominating the smaller woman, of smothering her with her large breasts and using her powerful grip to manipulate her thin, frail body. Kiera had had the good manners to return the favor by fingering the green woman’s snatch. Honey tried to give her advice on where to find her clit, but the words caught in her throat as Silver sank several fingers up her apple anus at once. Honey groaned as she was pried open from behind, being stretched in preparation for a good fisting.

The hand that was holding up Moonlight’s butt was also sticking its thumb and middle finger into her openings. Surprise swirled her fingers around, maneuvering her digits with the expertise of a surgeon. Her other hand found a home between her legs, giving herself the same treatment as her tongue worked diligently to go where, as far as she could tell, no tongue had ever gone before.

Luna felt herself getting close. She felt them all getting close. But as she fingered herself and prodded into Silver’s asshole, she couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. And then it hit her. She was the only one enjoying this orgy to the fullest extent. Recalling the words of her fellow players when they had been so moved to help Kiera, the inspiration for this moment they were now enjoying, it made Luna’s heart sink. In her lust addled state, she questioned how selfish could one mare be to hoard all of these sensations to herself. In the spirit of generosity that had given this moment life, Luna, wise and noble Princess of the Night, expanded her mind link to the others.

The tidal wave of sensations flooded all of their minds at once, feeding back in on itself and multiplying exponentially. Their eyes went white and rolled to the backs of their skulls. It was too much stimulation for an untrained non-alicorn to take at once. As one, their bodies stiffened. Their heads flung back, mouths open wide, and all unleashed guttural groans of ecstasy as they reached a simultaneous climax.

**********

Roughly an hour later, the players and Kiera were in the midst of resting up after their exertion. The spa workers had come in to check on their guests, only to find them all laid out in a sweaty, smelly pile of post-coital bliss. Said workers immediately moved their heroes to another room to cool off, bringing along fresh towels and sponges to clean them off. While the treatment was welcome, thanks to the mechanics of the game, it was ultimately unnecessary as the players all felt their energy returning to them with alarming briskness. Even Kiera, feeling revitalized, departed from the spa to return to the blue sage’s lab to check her notes one last time.

“We are so doing that again,” vowed Surprise.

The others vocalized their agreement.

“I’m especially impressed by you two,” Silver said to the tallest women. “The both of you have most certainly come a long since your first night.”

“Well, maybe Ah have. But her?” Honey gestured a thumb at Surprise. “Purty sure she’s always been a beast ‘n the sack.”

“It’s true,” Surprise confessed apologetically, her ears and shoulders slumped in a submissive posture. “I’m an insatiable sex beast known across the land for driving everyone I meet into joyous bli-OW!” She rubbed her arm and gave a hurt look at Honey. It quickly melted into a knowing grin as she averted her eyes. “Yeah. I wouldn’t believe me either.”

“Normally I’d say that a spanking was in order,” Thomas began, watching as Surprise flinched and Silver’s ears perked. “But I think we’re all tuckered out from that stuff.” He chuckled. “Frankly, getting back to punching monsters almost seems relaxing after all that.”

“Usually it’s the reverse,” added Moonlight. “You feel the need to buck after a good fight. I’m more mentally exhausted than anything else.”

The others nodded their agreement.

Luna gave a derisive snort. “Light weights.”

“Sex addicts don’t get to comment,” Thomas deadpanned.

Luna blinked. “You presume to-”

“Shh!”

Luna jerked back as if struck. “Did you just-”

“Shh!”

“Now hold on a-”

“Shushy!” Surprise giggled. “This is fun.”

Luna, rolling her eyes at the immaturity on display, decided that someone needed to be the adult in all of this. “Speaking of fun, did I not hear you say something about making master Samos watch while you,” she giggled, “sat upon his daughter’s face?” she asked, giving Surprise a wry, knowing grin.

“Yeah. You probably heard me say that,” she agreed, but said no more.

“Well, are ya still gonna try?” asked Honey. Surprise wasn’t known for making empty threats.

“Nah. I figure that’d be overkill.”

“I don’t follow,” admitted Silver. “Did you have a change of heart?”

Surprise giggled. “Nope. When Surprise makes a promise, Surprise keeps that promise.”

“But I thought Samos was back at his lab in Sandover,” said Moonlight. “Did he come back without telling us?”

“If so, I fail to see how you could have convinced him to come up to the hot spring and watch,” observed Silver. “Especially not without any of us noticing.”

“E’nope,” Surprise said in her best imitation of Honey. “Far as I can tell, he’s probably still there.”

Thomas looked around the room at the baffled expressions on his friends and lovers. “Alright. I’ll bite. How did you get him to-”

Surprise cut him off with a clap. The curtains separating the players’ current room from the hot spring was pushed aside by a small, fly-shaped drone with a bunch of dodads sticking out, a speaker for communication, and… camera lenses where the eyes should be!?

“Asked Kiera and she said the scout flies were modified to transmit audio and visual signals.” Surprise grinned from ear to ear as she idly examined the back of her hand. “Whipped this baby out when no one was looking, right around the time Kiera dropped her towel.”

The others gawked, too stunned to say anything at their friend’s brazen audacity to film a sex act without informing any of them first, and all for the express reason of showing it to a girl’s father in an act of petty revenge. It was frightening, but certain members of their little party would be lying if they said they weren’t a little… inspired.

**********

Meanwhile, at Samos’ hut…

The old man let out a deep, guttural groan as he fiercely applied a wash cloth to his eyes. The cloth was drenched in this world’s equivalent of bleach. “Damn it, eyes! Why. Won’t. You. Die!?”

**********

Surprise inhaled deeply and let out a contented sigh. “I love technology.”

To be quite honest, this was the hardest chapter to write. It was also the last one I wrote before deciding the rest was ready to publish. Things just weren’t clicking for the longest time. I guess it was that it had been a while since I wrote a proper sex scene and was a little out of practice. That changed after I started writing a whole new story, one with lots and lots of sex, and finally felt the spark necessary to finish this.

Let’s face it; if Star Trek style holo-decks ever became available for general use by the public, this is exactly the sort of thing people would use it for. Sex, historically, has always been the hottest selling commodity and as technology evolves, so will people’s perversions. Sure, there will still be the standard stuff of reliving historical moments, playing through modern and old games, or simple education, but if we had access to stuff even have as intuitive as what I’ve written, let’s just say the prostitution industry is going to take a major hit.

Without Klaww to fight and local lurkers having abandoned hostile efforts, it was hard not to feel rather lax about continuing the adventure. All of the female players were once more dressed as they made the casual walk across the undamaged Precursor bridge to the entrance to the Mountain Pass.

“You guys are doing great,” Kiera said over her modified scout fly. “It looks like the lurkers have pretty much abandoned their plan to blow up the pass. Mayor Celine says you have Rock Village’s eternal gratitude for all you’ve done.”

“Just don’t go getting to cocky,” grouched Samos over the same fly. “I don’t want you idiots getting even bigger heads and falling into a chasm or something.”

“Don’t worry Samos,” Moonlight assured. “We won’t stop until the mission is complete.”

“Yeah. You can count on us,” Surprise added.

“Now that you’ve gotten that out of your system, I should certainly hope so,” the old sage grumbled.

“You still mad ‘cause we sent you the picture?” Surprise asked, giving a very convincing impression of a vapid blonde who had no idea what power she wielded.

Kiera cleared her throat, sounding nervous. “Anyway, daddy’s right. None of my other scout flies beyond the pass have been freed. From what I can tell, all the hostile lurkers have regrouped around the area bordering Gol and Maia’s Citadel, so don’t expect this’ll be a cake walk.”

“I still can’t believe those two are behind this,” Samos protested.

“The evidence is right in front of you, daddy,” Kiera insisted. “Who else could be calling the shots?”

“One way or another, we’ll find the answers,” Thomas vowed.

“Thanks,” Kiera chirped. “I knew I could count on you.” And the scout fly went silent.

“So what else are we in store for?” Luna asked from Silver’s shoulder.

“Rock Village was pretty much the height of civilization in the original game,” Thomas explained as they neared the transpad. “It’s also pretty much the edge of civilization ‘til we get to the Citadel, where all the sages are being held captive.”

“Aww poo,” pouted Surprise. “No more people to play with?”

“We control the game, remember,” informed Silver. “If we wish it hard enough, the dream will accommodate.”

“Oh yeah!” Surprise giggled. “That sounds fun. Ooh! I wonder who we’ll get to meet next. I hope they’re fun.”

“I’m hoping for a bit more world building,” Moonlight added. “Perhaps we can find out more about these Precursors everyone is going on about.”

“Or, ya know, we could just ask the guy who’s played the game before?” Honey suggested.

“I could,” Thomas agreed, “but personally I’m with Moonlight. I wanna see what my subconscious thinks would make for cool world building.”

Hopping onto the zoomer, Thomas was pleasantly surprised to feel Moonlight climb on behind him. She put on a brave face, but the way she was tightly clinging around him showed off her apprehension at riding the strange machine. “Don’t worry,” he assured. “This is your first time, so I’ll be gentle.”

Incensed by the innuendo, the woman pulled back and applied a vicious, twisting pinch to the man’s behind, eliciting a yelp that echoed across the pass.

“Luna. Moonlight’s being mean to me,” he whined, rubbing his sore backside.

“Moonlight. No pinching the human while he’s driving,” lectured the ottsel. “That sort of fun comes later.”

“Yes Luna,” Moonlight beamed, cooing like the bratty ‘favorite’ daughter who always got their way.

“Mares.” With a roll of his eyes, Thomas revved the engine and took off down the pass. Remembering her fear, Moonlight clung around the man’s middle with all her might. Had this not been a dream, he’d have been concerned about the risk of shattered ribs. But since this was a dream, he decided to be cruel and fly through blue eco vents for that extra burst of speed. He pulled bodily into each and every turn. He teetered along the edge of cliffs. He cranked the engine to full speed and climbed the tallest hills before jumping off and catching the most air possible.

Without the explosive obstacles, Thomas tore at breakneck speed into the cave entrance, past the many glowing red gems. However, he gradually eased off the gas as he started looking around. The gems were pretty, filling the cave with just the right amount of natural lighting. He looked over his shoulder, ready to see Moonlight taking in the same sight as him, only to find her pressing her face into his back, eyes closed. Seeing his fillyfriend in such distress, he let go of the gas completely and let the zoomer crawl to a stop.

“Is it over?” she asked.

“Take a look for yourself.”

“I swear, if this is just a trick to make me look over a cliff you’re about to jump-”

“It’s not,” he urged. “Trust me. It’s nothing bad.”

Not daring to loosen her grip just yet, Moonlight adjusted her head to crack one eye open. That crack turned into a blink as she started to relax. Blinking again, she pulled herself up against Thomas’ firm, cozy back and looked around.

“See? What I tell ya?” he bragged.

“It’s… lovely,” she awed.

Thomas smiled at his lady’s reaction. Personally he found the sight only kind of pretty, but nothing that would warrant the awe Moonlight expressed. It made him a little sad knowing that his autism was likely to blame, robbing him of the same pleasures as those around him. However, when Moonlight tightened her grip again, a gentle embrace rather than clinging for dear life, he decided he didn’t need to see the world like she did to be happy. He just needed to see her seeing the world.

“Thank you,” cooed Moonlight as she nuzzled the back of his neck.

“Eh. It’s what I do.”

**********

After taking the rest of their trip at a more moderate pace, the pair pulled into the transpad and hopped off. The trip through the rocky tunnel to the Volcanic Crater was short and held in silence, man and woman walking with hands held tight. The moment of peace was short lived as the pair of lovers was assaulted by the same dry heat as the Fire Canyon. Continuing on, they entered the crater, only to find their necks craning back at the sight.

Like Rock Village, the mountainous walls were covered in the evidence of human presence. Orangey brown pipes stretched up from the molten base of the crater and crisscrossed in a haphazard grid all along the rock face. Rails carried carts from place to place with the aid of automatic switching systems. Huts were shambled together with uneven sheets of metal and connected by, of all things, wooden bridges and scaffolding. Naturally, smack dab in the middle of it all sat the largest and most thoughtfully constructed hut of them all, no doubt where the red sage called home.

Though not as heavily populated as Rock Village, there were still a few dozen people walking around. Most were dressed in heavy looking metal suits with tubes of red poking out of random places. No two suits were exactly alike, suggesting each one was custom made. The people wearing the suits were a large, burly lot who seemed too preoccupied with pushing carts and fixing pipes to notice the newcomers.

“Hey you!” griped an angry woman with bright red hair tied in a ponytail. Hers was the only suit that was actually symmetrical with the tubing running from her back, over her shoulders, and under her breasts. “Yeah you. Who the hell are you guys?”

Moonlight took a defensive step forward, warning this new female about approaching her stallion with the wrong attitude. The new woman looked the hornless unicorn over, seemingly understanding the protective gesture, but kept her scowl.

“Hey there,” Thomas greeted, trying to be as friendly as possible. “My name’s Thomas and this is my-” he paused to think it over, “-girlfriend Moonlight.”

“Shant,” she informed curtly, skeptically looking Moonlight over. “Never seen your lot around here before. Where are you from and what are you doing here, anyway?”

“We’re adventurers, students of the green sage Samos from Sandover,” Moonlight informed frankly.

Shant blinked in recognition. “That old fart’s still kicking?”

“And crotchety as ever,” Thomas added in the hopes of lightening the mood. He grinned at the pleased smile he’d earned. “You know him?”

“Only saw the guy’s green mug once.” Snorting deeply, Shant hocked a lugi over the edge of the bridge. There was a satisfying sizzle when it made contact with the fire below. “He and pa were talking about old man stuff. I don’t really remember. Then he hopped in the teleporter and pa shut it down behind him. Never saw him or any other sage since.”

“Pa? You wouldn’t happen to be the red sage’s daughter, would you?” asked Thomas.

Smirking, Shant held out her hand as the red tubing started to glow. Her fingers pulsed and radiated with fiery energy as she flexed a glowing fist. She then slammed that fist into her open palm, releasing a thunderous crack that shook the bridge beneath her feet. “I might be. What’s it to you?” she asked, her tone once more aggressive and wary.

“We just came from Rock Village where the blue sage was supposed to be, but he went missing,” Moonlight answered. “Did the same happen here?”

Hocking another lugi, Shant turned around and motioned for the pair to follow. “You said you were adventurers. You on some kind of quest to save the sages?”

“It certainly looks that way,” Thomas affirmed. “Our friends and us spent the last few days helping out Rock Village, mostly dealing with their lurker problem.”

Shant snorted a laugh. “You? No offense, little man, but you seem awfully scrawny to go out fighting lurkers.”

“There’s four more of us,” Thomas explained, paying no mind to the slight. “Five if you count our engineer.”

“Well, I suppose a few extra hands on deck wouldn’t hurt,” Shant allowed. Leading the way inside, they found the red sage’s hut looked even more trashed than the blue’s. Pipes were cracked, leaking steam at irregular intervals, and papers were scattered all over the place. Glowing red machines lined the walls and a spiral staircase led to the upper floors. Without waiting to be told, Shant slammed her foot down hard on the teleporter.

Not a second later, Samos fell through the gate backwards, landing upside down on his head. Kiera and the girls followed soon after, with Honey and Silver instantly moving to help Samos upright.

“I’m always wondering if I’m losing body parts in those things!” griped Samos, levitating himself upright. “Holy yakows! The red sage’s lab looks worse than the blue’s.”

“Damn, old man. You haven’t changed a bit since I last saw you.”

Turning, Samos adjusted his spectacles for a better look at the red headed woman. “Shant?”

“Shant?” Kiera asked, stepping around the others to meet her red haired counterpart. “I haven’t seen you in years.”

“Kiera?” Shant pulled back in shock as she took the young woman in. “Damn, girl. When’d you get so cute?”

“Focus, people!” Samos slammed his staff down, sending ringing vibrations through the whole hut. “Shant. Tell us what happened.”

“Oh. Right.” Shant cleared her throat, though she was clearly sneaking glances at the female players. “Pa went missing a couple weeks ago. I’d gone out to work the morning shift with my brothers just like normal. Trant went back around lunch to check with Pa about some machine he was working on. That’s when we found this.” She waved her hand, indicating the mess. “The whole crater’s been searching ever since, but all we’ve found are a bunch of lurkers creeping around the Spider Caves and up in the Snowy Mountains.”

“So the attack happened in broad daylight, and no one saw who was responsible?” Silver asked, picking up and skimming through some notes.

Shant shook her head. “Not a soul stepped in or out of the hut before Tant came back. All we’ve been able to find are traces of dark eco. It might’ve been lurkers,” she offered hopefully.

“Well it definitely looks like there’s been a struggle here,” Kiera commented, scanning the floor.

“Wahahahaha!” cackled a raspy, echoey voice. All looked up to see a figure with dark blue-gray skin floating up near the ceiling. He wore a single red gauntlet, a dark blue overcoat with a red interior, which for some reason had three large silver balls hanging down below. “I’d hardly call it a struggle,” wheezed the old man. “Would you, dear sister?”

“Certainly not,” said the woman indignantly as she floated down beside her brother. Her skin was as dark as her brother’s, except for the sides of her face which were painted black. She wore revealing orange and brown armor that showed off her midriff and much of her cleavage, leaving her hands covered in bright red gloves. “The red sage gave up with so little effort. No fun at all.”

“You!” Shant pulled out a large wrench that had been attached to her side, wielding it like a sword as she pointed at the evil siblings. “Who are you and what’d you do with my pa?”

Samos adjusted his spectacles and gasped in shock. “Gol! Is that you? You finally went off the deep end, aye,” he seethed angrily. “And Maia. I told you the dark eco would affect you both.” He groaned as he slid a hand down over his face and grumbled, “Nobody listens to old Samos.”

“Answer the question!” snapped Surprise, stepping up to stand alongside Shant. “What did you do with Shant’s pa?”

“And the blue sage,” Silver added.

Gol callously shook his head, entirely unfazed by the aggressive posturing of those in the hut. “Don’t worry about your colorful friends, you old fool! They’re perfectly safe in our Citidel, our special guests.”

“They have graciously agreed to help us on a little… project,” Maia continued.

Everyone was so focused on the villains’ self-aggrandizement that none spied the way the sage daughters had ducked down and slunk off to the side.

Gol picked up where his sister left off. “You were wrong, Samos. Dark eco can be controlled. We’ve learned its secrets. And now we can-”

“STOP!” Luna’s voice boomed, shaking the entire crater with its force and even causing the villains to flinch back. “You,” she sneered in disgust.

“Oh my,” gasped Maia as she bent forward for a better look, but still mindful to keep a safe distance. “So much eco in such a little body… What manner of creature is that?”

“That’s Luna,” answered Thomas. “She came out that way after falling into a pool of dark eco.”

“Fascinating,” Gol added. “To think that-”

“Enough!” snapped Luna again, cutting off the pair’s scientific inquiry. “How dare you believe such ludicrous tripe. Darkness, by its very nature, is all consuming. While you study it, while you poke and prod and applaud yourself at some flimsy discovery, it is studying you as well. It whispers to you, learns the secrets you keep locked away, even from yourself, and it plays upon your weaknesses,” she fumed, glowering at the villains in contemptuous pity. “To even approach the darkness without the due recognition of it as a thinking, scheming, and manipulative force is nothing short of fool hardy!”

“Listen to her!” Silver urged. “The things she’s seen…” she hesitated, unsure of how much to share.

“She’s right. You can’t control dark eco by itself,” Samos agreed. “Not even the Precursors-”

“Be silent, old fool!” Gol demanded, both he and his sister staring in awe at Luna. “You… What are you?”

Hopping down from Silver’s shoulder, Luna stood straight and proud in the middle of the room. “I am Luna, she who once acted as recklessly as you in delving into the darkness. Except unlike you, I actually understood what the darkness was capable of,” she admitted. “Yet I foolishly gave into it, despite the countless warnings of my mentor.” She looked down at her little paws, flexing them. “‘Tis not too late for you to learn from my mistakes,” she begged. “Cease listening to the dark whispers while there is still time!”

Gol and Maia shared a quiet, meaningful look for a long moment. They both seemed genuinely moved by Luna’s plea and were, hopefully, second guessing their plans. Finally their silent conversation came to an end as they turned back towards the group.

“We will take your words under… consideration,” Maia allowed. “However, this changes nothing. Our work must continue and the silos will be opened!”

Samos stepped back, looking horrified at this declaration.

“Thought so,” Kiera spoke up. All turned to find her and Shant standing on the stairwell, wielding some sort of metal contraption with blue and red tubes, and working together to point the heavy device it at the villains. Everyone watching wore an expression of confusion, except for Thomas who hoped he was mistaken about what this unfamiliar device was supposed to be, and Surprise who was bouncing in giddy anticipation. With a malicious smirk plastered across her face, Kiera lined the pair up in her sights.

“Bye-bye,” Shant cooed and together they pulled the trigger.

ZZZZZZP!

“Agh! My balls!” Gol’s shrill scream caused the female players to clutch at their sensitive ears and flinch back as he reached pitifully for the bells that had been sheared from their ropes. “My beautiful jingly balls.”

“Forget your stupid balls,” Maia snapped as she held her burning, half melted boot up to her face. “Look at what they did to the end of my shoes!”

Gol scowled incredulously at his sister. How dare she be so indifferent to his plight? “The end of a shoe is hardly important.”

“Well this one was!” Maia snapped back. “I think it had my toes in it.” Holding up her foot, she quickly counted her digits.

“There’s too much recoil,” Kira called urgently.

“No time to correct,” Shant answered. “Just hurry and reload.”

“Yeah. I think we’re done here,” Gol announced flatly.

“Agreed,” Maia affirmed and the pair vanished in a puff of dark smoke, leaving a cooling streak of melted metal behind them where the weapon had fired.

**********

After scaring off their adversaries, hopefully while also giving them something to think about, the players were met by another ruckus as the villagers rushed in to see what had happened, tools brandished like weapons in anticipation of a fight. Shant assuaged all fears, assuring them that these were her new friends and that they’d just sent the ones responsible for her father’s kidnapping running with their tails between their legs. With the introduction of Samos and the telling of how the sage daughters had quickly cobbled together a laser gun, the group was given a properly warm welcome to Volcanic Crater with vows all around that the villagers would do whatever they could to help get their sage back.

“You’ve got to hurry,” Samos urged. “If they open the silos, the dark eco will twist and destroy everything it touches.”

“As is its nature,” Luna agreed stoically.

“The fastest way there is through the Lava Tube at the bottom of the crater,” informed Kiera. “A few more power cells should get you across the lave safely.”

“I’ll help. Ain’t no way I’m letting a bunch of strangers save my Pa without me,” declared Shant.

And with a few departing words from Samos, the party was, once more, off.

The group’s first step was to learn more about the Volcanic Crater. Essentially a mining town from its inception, the people of the crater traded steam energy and eco with neighboring villages. Unlike Rock Village, where the sage was a private but respected hermit, the sage of the Crater took a more proactive role in managing their mining operation, essentially being the unquestioned leader in all but title. In the red sage’s absence, the role of leadership had fallen on Shant and her brothers, Trant and Mant, a pair of strong, strapping young lads who were just a couple inches shorter than Honey, much to the mare’s liking.

As before, the group split up to see what quests they could find in the main village before branching out into the neighboring areas. In contrast to the blistering heat of the crater, the insides of the huts had been granted the holy blessing of air conditioning, allowing the people to discard their temperature control suits and don more scanty, comfortable attire. These villagers had requests not all that dissimilar from the last batch: missing parts, orbs for cells, clear out the lurkers here and there, reestablish contact with the Snow Tribe in the Snowy Mountains, and so on.

Now on his own, without Luna literally looming over his shoulder, Thomas mostly milled about and watched the people come and go. He’d never been much for people watching, either on Earth or in Equestria, but there was something about this place that commanded his attention. Knocking this time, he entered homes and spoke with the people of the crater. Their stories were never very deep, but he still heard them all out. It was also amusing to catch them in various stages of undress and watch their reactions.

Mostly it was embarrassed stuttering, acting as though they were the ones somehow at fault in their own homes until Thomas assured them otherwise. Afterwards he’d sit at their tables, eat the offered treats, and made no effort to hide the way he was ogling the women’s bodies. The NPCs were certainly flustered, but never voiced any desire for him to stop. They didn’t because he didn’t want them to. There was just something so delightful about ogling half-dressed people and making them uncomfortable with his own lack of modesty.

Eventually the man found his way back to the red sage’s hut where those of sagely lineage were keeping themselves busy. Samos was skimming through books, Kiera was picking up the notes left scattered on the floor, and Shant was busy repairing a machine off in the corner. Seeing the two women standing so close, and then sharing a brief glance, it got Thomas thinking.

“What I don’t get is why the other sages turned off their teleporter gates to begin with?”

Shant shrugged as she tinkered away at the machine, using her large wrench to tighten up the pipes. “Raw eco doesn’t go through the teleporter, meaning we gotta trade over the land routes. Other than that, ain’t much reason to go poking our noses in other people’s business. At least that’s how Pa told it.”

“What about you and Kiera?” He motioned between the young women. “You’d think the wise and respected elders of the land would want to make sure their successors hung out and got along. That just seems like common sense for keeping long term peace.”

“As if I haven’t been saying the same for years,” griped Samos. “Gah! No one ever listens.”

“Well, we’re together now,” Shant noted. “And by the looks of things, Trant and Mant are probably getting… acquainted with that green gal as we speak,” she said with a snicker.

“Don’t remind me,” Samos grumbled, massaging his temples. “Why is it that the world’s best hopes for salvation are more horny than jackalopes in mating season?”

“Are jackalopes very horny? I don’t know the context here,” Thomas admitted, his deadpan met with chuckles from the girls.

“I’d like to know that, too,” Shant agreed. “Exactly how horny are you people?” she asked with a wry smirk.

Unable to restrain herself, Kiera dove straight into telling the story of her friends’ perversion. She told of how they would always flaunt their stuff back at Sandover, streaking and grinding to their heart’s delight while the old people sputtered. It got worse, she explained, when they got to Rock Village and started groping and fondling everyone who looked even moderately attractive. Kiera told this story with a cheerful mirth, not unlike what would be used in describing a friend’s drunken exploits, free of any accusation or disapproval one might expect. This was especially off-putting given the history Kiera shared with the group. Shant must have been thinking the same.

“So you really weren’t jealous or nothing?”

“Well, maybe a little,” Kiera admitted, “but I didn’t begrudge them for it.”

“I don’t know. If friends of mine snubbed me like that, I don’t think I’d be able to let them go, not with their tender parts intact. Say, could ya give me a hand over here?”

Thomas reflexively crossed his legs at the woman’s words. Although he had to admit she had a point. He watched Kiera move to help her fellow young sage in training, curious of her answer.

“It’s really not as bad as you’re thinking,” she assured. “They’ve just got a higher libido than most. It’s part of who they are, and while it sometimes bugs me a little, I know I wouldn’t change them for the world. When they hit puberty and started playing their secret games, they knew I wasn’t ready to deal with that at the time. They knew, but they respected my wishes anyway while still keeping our friendship strong. Really, I’m lucky to have them in my life.”

Thomas felt moved by Kiera’s admission, likening her experience with his own in learning how to share Luna for not dissimilar reasons. He felt closer to the girl. And when he remembered that she was just a fictional character, he found it didn’t bother him as much as before. Maybe finally doing the deed had bridged some sort of gap, or maybe he was starting to accept that feeling a connection to a fictional character, even one of his own making, was nothing to be ashamed about. After all, centuries old stories wouldn’t be told and retold if audiences hadn’t made a connection with their characters.

And so we arrive at Volcanic Crater. I’d figured it was odd that Samos would be the only sage to procreate, so decided to give the red sage some kids of his own. As for why the kids never hung out, like any good aristocrat would ensure, I decided to go with the other sages being too wrapped up in their own little worlds to concern themselves with things like that.

Also, I decided to throw in a joke from some of my favorite comedians.

Having completed everything they could within the crater, the players regrouped at the lift to the Snowy Mountains. It was a tight fit, but they all managed to squeeze in.

“Such a creative people,” Silver offered dryly as the lift carried them up. “Snowy Mountain. Spider Caves. So clever with their names.”

“There’s been somethin’ itchin’ at mah head fer a while now,” Honey informed. “If all this is goin’ on in our heads, couldn’t we put it in a memory crystal or somethin’?”

Luna hummed thoughtfully. “That should not be too much trouble. What did you have in mind, exactly?”

“Well, if we’re havin’ all this fun playin’ around in this world, maybe other ponies’d like the same? Maybe we could give a copy ta that Fantastic Fantasies place?”

“That’s actually a clever idea,” Moonlight congratulated.

“Well ya don’t have ta act so surprised about it,” huffed Honey.

“Yeah. Don’t act all surprised,” Surprise added. “If you do that, how am I supposed to keep up with the competition? Hehe.”

“Frankly I’m surprised you don’t make that joke more often,” added Thomas.

“You can’t be surprised. You don’t have the flanks for the job.”

“When you put it like that, I don’t think you have much to worry about,” Thomas offered. “Not too many ponies out there who can match you for curves.”

Luna cleared her throat.

“Well maybe the alicorns, but I don’t think it’s fair to count them.”

“Anyway, about what Honey was saying,” Moonlight spoke up. “I also like the idea. Fantastic Fantasies wouldn’t be able to make the scenes as expansive or have the same response to the player’s wishes, but I like the idea of putting the story out there and seeing what the public comes up with.”

“Fanfiction’s a mixed bag,” Thomas informed. “Like all ideas, most of them are crap, with only a select few as dull or sparkling gems. Personally, I’d like to see what else people come up with as far as expanding the lore of the world.”

“‘Tis certainly an idea worth considering. However, I believe we have arrived,” Luna informed as the lift came to a grinding halt.

Disembarking, the group were immediately set upon by hordes of snow lurkers, blue of fur with white animal pelts tied around their backs. They proved much tougher than their magenta cousins, fighting to the last with no signs of surrender. Thankfully, the modified scout flies managed to keep the bulk of the beasts at bay while the party fought them off a few at a time.

The cold was bitter and biting, seeping through the group’s thin garments and stabbing into their flesh. Surprise and Silver weren’t too bad, originally being winged creatures meant their bodies were naturally accustomed to cold temperatures at higher altitudes, but the others weren’t nearly as well off. Thankfully, having anticipated this plight, Honey pulled out the thick winter coats Trant and Mant had bought for her. She giggled when Silver asked what she did to earn such a reward, but no one was actually curious, already having a pretty good idea of what went down. Everyone hurriedly dressed before doing anything else.

Lurkers up this high were a tough sort to contend with. The snow lurkers had near endless numbers, the common magenta variety seemed hardier, and even the small hopping lurkers could pose a threat in big numbers, resulting in a great many more injuries than the party was used to. As such, all were immensely grateful for the abundance of green eco stored away in boxes and red eco vents generously scattered across the frosty crevices.

Thomas silently attributed this to the more competitive of the mares wishing for more of a challenge. Luna in particular was enjoying channeling the red eco as it put enough force behind her punches to allow her to stand on equal footing with the others. Many fights required more careful planning, usually kiting the enemy hordes into a narrow passage where their hulking forms would work to their disadvantage.

“Any inkling where the people of these mountains might be hiding?” Silver asked as the group trudged through knee-high snow. “I should think making contact would make this journey significantly easier.”

“Well, there was a lurker fort somewhere around the top,” Thomas replied. “Maybe it’s owned by humans this time? There’s also some ice tunnels that lead to a big yellow eco switch that’ll act like the one in the jungle temple, turning on vents around the world.”

“Would it not stand to reason that there would be such switches for all forms of eco?” Luna asked. “Unless eco is a nonrenewable resource, why turn them off at all?”

“The last game in the franchise addressed that, something about a special device that generates the eco being out of whack or something, but the game was too wonky and I never finished.”

“A shame,” Luna replied wistfully, “but there is nothing for it, now. All we can do is just enjoy the game for what it is.” The others agreed.

After a while, the group stopped to rest by one of the red eco vents, using the elemental energy as a makeshift fire. They weren’t physically tired, but at the same time the idea held its appeal for all.

Moonlight reached out and dipped her fingers into the red flames, experimenting with how much of her arm would be effected by only slight touches. “This eco is truly a fascinating substance. A shame there isn’t more detail on it.”

**********

“Chirpy!” squeed Surprise as she ran up to the flutflut standing atop the transpad and began her assault of affection. “I’m so happy to see you again. Did you miss me?”

“Brrrr,” Chirpy cooed in affirmation.

“Damn! She’s big,” Thomas remarked. He estimated the baby flutflut from the original game was about 6 feet tall. This one was pushing 10 as she cooed and leaned into Surprise’s scratchy scratches.

Honey joined in feeling the softness of the bird’s feathers, but frowned as she regarded the transpad. “If they can jus’ wink big ol’ birdies from swamps ta mountains, how come we didn’t jus’ come here from the start?”

It was a valid question that Thomas hadn’t considered.

“It’s the teleporter gates,” Kiera answered over the scout fly. “They act as hubs in the network. So long as they’re off, the transpads are basically useless.”

“Thank you, Captain Exposition,” said Thomas.

“You’re welcome, soldier. Now get back to work!” the good captain barked, causing Moonlight and Surprise to reflexively snap to attention. Everyone, even Chirpy, chuckled at this response.

This time it was Honey and Luna’s turn to ride Chirpy. Surprise planted her backside down on the button, activating the platforms for them to cross. Honey hooped and hollered, riding the bird like she’d been doing so her entire life; which was odd given that ponies didn’t really have beasts of burden. Once she’d reached the other side, she sent Chirpy back to the transpad, allowing the flutflut to return to the others so they could all have a turn.

Thomas noted the absence of the switch that brought down the fortress’ front gate, but wasn’t bothered. So far the game had left quite a lot out from the original, but managed to balance it out with more than enough to keep him and the other players occupied.

The party took another hover platform up, finding themselves staring down a squad of lurkers being led by a portly fellow with red skin and wearing full workman gear. The party and squad stared at each other for a moment, the latter especially surprised to see foes just pop up from a platform that wasn’t there before. While the party tensed, ready for battle, the portly lurker took a long, considerate look at his squad.

He gave a roar and motioned for his squad to flee back the way they came. One of the magenta lurkers gave a protesting grunt, but the commander just slapped him across the face and pointed again, shouting more aggressively. Reluctantly at first, the lurkers of the squad beat a retreat while their commander held up his shield, ready to cover his team’s retreat.

Moved by this selfless display, the notion of attacking was simply out of the question. As such, careful to keep facing the red lurker at all times, the party endeavored to sidestep around the noble commander, going down the path opposite of where the squad had retreated.

The lurker commander peaked over his shield, grunting in confusion as he watched the party depart. He barked once, tilting his head.

“Go be with your people,” Luna urged, her voice thick with grace and authority. “Your kind has suffered too much already. It would not do to lose such honorable leaders like yourself.”

“Urgh?” the lurker asked.

“Seek out those whom the dark ones call traitors,” she continued. “Listen to what they’ve accomplished. Consider the prospect of peace.” And with that, the party was far enough away that they felt safe in turning their backs on yet another honorable lurker.

Lurker attacks became scarcer after that encounter. Blue and magenta lurkers had become few and far between, though the small hoppers were just as numerous and aggressive as ever.

“I take it that’s the fortress?” Moonlight asked rhetorically, pointing at the tall wooden walls. What were once full grown trees had been latched together with thick ropes and the ends sharpened to menacing points. Lit torches lined the inside of the wall with a great deal more smoke rising from within. Figures could be seen walking between the sharpened points, but their race could not be made out from this distance.

“Human or lurker?” Luna asked, addressing Thomas.

“At this point it could go either way, but I’m betting they’re the mountain tribe we’re looking for. Probably not a very nice bunch if the fortress is anything to go by.”

“Definitely doesn’t look too inviting,” Surprise agreed.

“Human or lurker, how do we approach without spooking anyone?” Moonlight asked, sticking close to Thomas as she surveyed the area.

“Kiera,” Silver called to the scout fly.

“What’s up?”

“Did Shant happen to mention anything about how her people would approach the snow people? A pass phrase, perhaps?”

“Oh yeah,” Shant’s voice came over the fly. “Forgot to tell you guys that. The Snow Tribe has this special password they like. Lurkers can’t talk, so these guys figure anyone who doesn’t know the phrase doesn’t have any business with them, anyway.”

“I thought so,” Silver said smugly. “What’s the phrase?”

Shant snorted a laugh. “My nipples are frozen.”

The party blinked once, twice, and a third time as they processed what was said. Surprise could barely contain her own laughter, Silver face palmed, Moonlight and Luna rolled their eyes, and Honey gave no overt reaction, seeming to have the easiest time accepting this revelation.

“Hello!” someone called from atop the fortress wall. “Someone out there? Pretty sure I heard something about nipples freezing.”

“That’s us,” Honey called back. “My nipples are freezing.”

Again Surprise giggle snorted.

“You from the Crater?” the same man asked. “How’s the red sage doing?”

“Still missing,” Moonlight added. “We’re actually from Sandover. Shant sent us up here to check on you and see how you’re holding up.”

“Fort’s standing, so that’s something,” the man replied. He held up a torch and shook it to make sure he was seen. His most distinguishing feature was the large bone tied atop his head, much like Samos’ log. “I’m Cole, by the way. Come around to the front and we’ll open the gate for ya.”

“Much appreciated,” Luna thanked and the party was off.

The sun had just finished setting by the time the gates opened, plunging the temperature down several degrees. By contrast, the heat from within the fortress was like a sauna in comparison and the party about tripped over themselves as they scrambled inside. They were greeted by large, stocky men and women wrapped bodily in thick white furs. The inside of the Snow Tribe’s fortress had a few buildings lining the interior, with a large stone tower in the center, and a couple farm patches off in the back. They gleefully welcomed the players into their home, forcefully herding the lot of them to the nearest fires to warm up.

“You’re certainly a strange bunch,” said the man the party recognized as Cole. “What are you anyway?”

“Ponies,” Silver replied, enjoying the heat from the fire. “We’re on a quest to save the sages and stop the ones leading the lurker army.”

“Lurkers,” a woman spat the name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. “They’ve always been a pain, but lately they’ve been making even more of a nuisance of themselves than usual.”

“Not so much to the south anymore,” said Moonlight. “Believe it or not, we’ve managed to convince a great many lurkers to choose cooperation over conflict.”

“You’re right.” The woman snorted a good quart of flem and hocked it into a nearby spittoon. “I don’t believe it.”

Moonlight scowled at the woman, not appreciating her flagrant dismissal of her and her friends’ peacemaking efforts.

“Believe the only way they could’ve made it this far was through wit or brute force,” Cole asserted, shooting the woman a warning look. “If you lot can do that, maybe there’s a way you can help us, too. Off in the woods,” he gestured, “there’s a hidden cave with a Precursor artifact that controls yellow eco. Lurkers turned it off and we’ve been running low on power to keep our homes warm. Lurker patrols have been too tough for our scouts to bypass and we can’t lead a full assault without risking them taking the fort in our absence. If you young’ns could turn the artifact back on, we’d be eternally grateful. Heck, I’d even be willing to trade ya every power cell we’ve got in storage. Stupid things don’t work with our machines anyway,” he added with a grumble.

“You can count on us, good sir,” Luna vowed.

Once the party had filled their bellies with the village’s hot broth, they promptly departed for the cave. Patrols weren’t nearly as heavy as Cole had made them out to be, likely thanks to the efforts of the brave adventurers.

“It’s great to help,” chirped Surprise as she led the way into the cave.

“Ah’m a little surpr-” Honey stammered, shooting a stunned look at the white woman. “It’s, uh, unexpected,” she nodded, smiling at her word choice, “that those guys didn’t have more missions fer us.”

Surprise tittered at her green friend’s evasive stumble.

“Stuff must be wrapping up. I think we’re about at the three quarter mark,” Thomas said. “How many power cells do we have, anyway?”

“Kiera?” Silver asked.

“About a hundred and fifty,” she replied, sounding distracted. “That’s the bare minimum for my modified heat shield, but you should-gah!”

“Kiera!” Silver called urgently. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s, uh, nothing,” she replied, sounding out of breath. “It’s just I was in the middle of this, uh, project, and someone doesn’t know how to follow directions,” she admitted angrily as a second female voice could be heard giggling.

The players exchanged looks, which quickly evolved into smirks as the females’ ears began to twitch.

“Just, uh, maybe some more power cells,” Kiera panted out. “Just a few more should do the –OH!–trick.”

“You sound stressed,” Thomas teased. “Want us to stop by Spider Caves for the cells, or maybe go straight to the hut?”

“Cave. Cave!” cried Kiera. “Go into the-woah! Not my cave!”

“Sorry,” apologized a familiar red head who didn’t sound the least bit sorry.

“Sheesh. Anyway, Shant says to be careful. There’s some kind of creature that moved into the caves some time back. The villagers don’t go in there anymore because it’s too-yowzah! Nnngh, oh right there,” she purred.

“You freaks perverted my daughter!” shouted a very irate Samos. “Just wait ‘til I get my hands on you!”

The players all shared in a laugh as the fly went silent, resuming their mission of making timed jumps over precariously frozen ledges.

“I’m so proud of her,” chirped Surprise. “She’s really come out of her shell.”

“All thanks to the pervert squad,” Thomas remarked idly.

“It’s actually not that surpr-” Silver stammered, “unexpected when you think about it, what with her being a green sage in the making.”

“How so?” Honey asked, pulling Silver and Thomas up an especially tall ledge.

“Well, if green eco represents life, it stands to reason that a green sage would have a natural compulsion to spread life to their fullest ability.” Silver paused to perform a double jump and spinning kick to give that extra boost to counter the momentum of an ice patch. “Now that her body has sampled the most natural way of doing so…” she trailed off.

“In short, we have awakened a sleeping lioness,” remarked Luna with a playful grin.

“So why don’t Kiera have more siblings?” Honey asked. “From the sound of it, she’s basically an earth pony, so why didn’t her daddy give her a whole heepin’ helpin’ o’ siblin’s? Fer that matter, why ain’t Sandover overrun with green skinned folk? Even the sparsest earth pony towns don’t stay that way for long.”

“That is a fair point,” agreed Luna.

Thomas would have interjected, pointing out that this was all purely speculative and that saying green sages were actually like earth ponies was probably some sort of fallacy. However, remembering how the dream pulled from the views and beliefs of the dreamers, he quietly conceded that the mere suggestion of possibility automatically made it so.

“Kiera’s mother was absent from the flashbacks,” Luna continued. “So it seems safe to assume that she must have died early and that Samos never took another mate. Even allowing for that, it stretches plausibility to suggest that Samos’ parents went through the exact same tragedy, rendering him an only child.”

“I can answer that, but only if the scout flies aren’t listening,” said Thomas, finding it amusing that the bulk of their focus was on talking and not the hazardous terrain.

“Done,” Luna said flatly. “Now please, share.”

Thomas chuckled. “Simply put, Samos isn’t native to Sandover. Kiera was born there, but Jak and Samos came from somewhere else.”

“Well that would certainly explain it,” Silver agreed. “In that case, is there some distant land abounding with green sages?”

“Not as far as I know, but that’s not all of it.” Thomas smiled at how the ladies were completely ignoring the yellow eco artifact shimmering just a few meters away. “Samos and Jak aren’t just from another place, but from another time.” His grin broadened as he took in the looks of awe from his audience. “Yup. Sequel game is all about them going to the future and Jak fulfilling his destiny, but that’s all I’m gonna spoil.”

His declaration made, Thomas urged the others to hurry along and finish their quest. The yellow eco vents were activated and the players returned to find the Snow Tribe blasting away at a poorly organized lurker assault. Naturally, the brave adventurers did not hesitate to jump into the fray, using more gentle attacks to encourage the lurkers to retreat. In just under five minutes, the fort was saved.

“Halleluiah!” Cole proclaimed. “You young’ns did it! Those lurkers won’t be coming back for quite a while. For that, I’d like to award the lot of you with our five power cells.”

I feel like I’m starting to wind down with this story. Just not feeling the same excitement as before. Regardless, this still turned out alright. I’m finding that having these characters talking about the world and its lore more fun to write than having them do the quests. Hopefully you guys are enjoying these conversations as much as I am.

Also, sorry if things seem a little jumpy in the middle. I’d hoped inspiration would find me on what exactly eco was, but it never did.

It was a simple matter for the players to make the trip down to the Crater on the lift. Along the way they removed their thick, wintery coats so they didn’t arrive half cooked and redressed in their normal adventurer’s attire. From there they hopped on one of the automated mine carts and rode it to the entrance of Spider Caves. They’d considered dropping in on Kiera, but decided such an interruption might lead them to the business end of her and Shant’s eco gun.

“Before we go any further, I’d just like to point out that I’m not the biggest fan of spiders,” Silver informed stiffly.

“Same,” added Honey. “Anythin’ with that many legs just doesn’t seem nat’ral.”

“That said,” Silver continued, holding Luna close for comfort, “I’m curious of what exactly we can expect from a place with the word ‘Spider’ in the name.”

Before answering, Thomas shared a look with Luna, silently asking for her take. The mare-turned-ottsel nodded her understanding before closing her eyes and making the changes.

Silver and Honey were not aracnophobic, per se, but the fear did run deep, stemming from foalhood experiences. Luna was no psychologist, for the school of thought did not fully blossom in Equestria until after her fall. However, she did have real world experience in dealing with fears of all sorts. Within her carefully sculpted dreams, the trick was to empower the dreamer, to give them that extra little nudge to face their fears on their own. Even if the dream was forgotten, as dreams so often were, the sense of courage would remain embedded within the now awoken dreamer. In this case, the best way for Silver and Honey to face their fears would be to beat the ever loving tar out of ‘em.

“Originally there were actually just a few spider spawn places,” Thomas explained. He and the others had exited the cart and were making the slow descent down the tunnel. Large crystals in the walls glowed a pale blue light and even the mushrooms had a faint bioluminescence to them, keeping the dark at bay. “They hung down from threats and shot blasts at you, occasionally spawning dog sized babies.” He watched as the silver and green women tensed at his explanation, both putting on brave faces as their breaths grew heavy. Thomas hoped Luna was successful in whatever she’d elected to do, but decided it would be a disservice to not give them a heads up on the cave’s other threats. “There’s also big centipedes and some mining lurkers, but the big threat is just how much dark eco is all over the place. It’s like the whole cave’s been flooded.”

Moonlight frowned. “If there’s so much, why haven’t Maia and Gol extracted it already?”

“That’s a valid point,” agreed Silver, breathing heavily and choosing to focus on the discussion to distract herself. “If I wanted to study dark eco, I’d petition the red sage to allow me access to the caves, acquiring as much as I could peacefully before beginning hostilities.”

“Leave it ta the Prench ta plan somethin’ sneaky like that,” remarked Honey.

Silver grinned maliciously. “I’d like to remind the busty country girl that her shirt is rather thin and I’m at the perfect height to reach her nipples.” She accented her threat with a click of her teeth.

Honey took a large step back and fearfully covered her tender baby feeders. The women glared at one another for a short while before breaking out in grins.

Soon the players emerged into a large, open chamber. Torches were added to the natural light of the mushrooms and crystals, fully illuminating the chamber and all that crawled within. The ground in the center of the chamber had been completely flooded with dark eco, leaving only a smattering of islands here and there to hop across. The walls were lined in scaffolding and stone pillars acting as support beams looked half eaten by the giant centipedes that scurried along their surface. Giant spiders looked up from their webs, but most could not be bothered to ignore the rather sizable silken cocoons they were eating, likely lurkers. Several winged beetles hopped from rock to rock, occasionally ensnaring themselves in a spider web and demonstrating that there was a genuine ecosystem within the caves that went beyond just predators.

“There’s a vent over there.” Moonlight pointed across the chamber at the small tower of shimmering yellow. “I suggest we neutralize as many enemies as we can from there before exploring further.”

“Good call,” chirped Surprise, and they made the necessary jumps to their destination.

“Oh no. Not you!” Honey chided as she yanked Thomas back before he could step into the vent.

“Hey. Why not?”

“The blimp,” Honey deadpanned.

“… oh.”

“Ah ain’t lettin’ ya risk a cave in with another of those ‘kame-ha’ things. Ya’ll can stand over ‘ere with me while Moonlight shoots the buggers,” she said matter-of-factly, fixing her hand on the man’s shoulder in a way that said he wasn’t going anywhere.

Surprise walked up alongside Moonlight. Apparently all it took to channel an infinite amount of long range death was to keep one foot in the vent at all times. The women shared a nod and proceeded to unleash yellow hell upon the hapless creepy crawlers who gave the cave its namesake.

The remaining players were not idle, however, for a number of vile arachnids were making a slow approach from where Surprise and Moonlight could not easily aim. Although large, their forms were devoid of many of the features that made spiders so skin-crawlingly repulsive.

Luna watched carefully as Honey and Silver absorbed the expression of their foes, more surprised than afraid at the arachnids’ more cartoonish appearances. These were the sort of monsters most ideal to practice on, but that extra push was still needed. Turning to Thomas, Luna smiled and gestured with her head at the approaching enemy.

“Hey guys. I’ll take the five on the right,” he announced, assuming a fighting stance. “Honey, you take the five on the left. Silver, you can stay here and look pretty.”

“Now that hardly seems fair,” Silver said as she moved up beside Thomas, her protective instincts activated. “Why can I not fight and look pretty?”

“Best do as he says,” advised Honey as she came up to Thomas’ other side. “Wouldn’t wanna dirty them manicured hands on varmint clearin’. That’s a real mare’s job.”

“Real?” Silver snorted, incensed. “I’ll show you who’s real when I slay more than you.”

“Yer free ta try, skinny buns,” mocked the larger woman, shaking her own assets for good measure.

Thomas flinched, his time in Equestria having taught him that one could not expect to insult a mare’s backside without some measure of repercussions.

“Oh! It. Is. ON!”

Thomas smiled as he elected to hang back as the women charged forward, feeling no guilt at letting them work out their emotions with a little physical therapy. “You’re idea?” he whispered as Luna climbed up his side and took perch on his shoulder.

“More or less,” she conceded. She watched the two women let out guttural roars as they unleashed their merciless fury upon their hapless enemies, all while the scout flies remained noticeably absent from the fray, feeling just a smidgen of pride in herself for her craft.

“Hey. Wanna try something fun?” Surprise asked. She and Moonlight were still working from the vent.

“Sure. What did you have in mind?”

Beaming with murderous glee, Surprise grabbed the smaller woman and told her to keep her body straight. Angling Moonlight’s head at a distant spider, the white woman grabbed the unicorn’s tail, which wasn’t there a minute ago, and cranked it like a lever. The resulting blast from where Moonlight’s horn was meant to be was almost twice the size of the regular fist blasts, incinerating the spider, it’s web, and its egg sacks in a single glorious burst.

“It works!” cheered the chipper woman as she took aim and fired again, and again, and again. “Get-some, get-some, get-some!” she challenged as bugs of all sorts went scurrying for their lives. “Mwahahahaha!”

“Oh dear,” gasped Silver. She and Honey had finished with their own victims, only to pause at the new onslaught being unleashed. “That doesn’t look good.”

“No kidding,” snapped Thomas worriedly. “Now she’s the one who might start a cave in.”

“Not that,” Silver corrected. “That.” She pointed at Moonlight’s face, which was currently scrunched up in discomfort. “I don’t think this much destructive eco is agreeing with her.”

“‘Tis not the eco,” Luna stated. At the confused expressions of the others, she pointed back at Moonlight. “Notice the way Surprise is pulling on her tail.”

“Oh!” was the uniform response from Silver and Honey.

“Tail?” Thomas wondered out loud. His eyes darted from what Surprise was using as a trigger to Moonlight’s face, back to the trigger, and then again to Moonlight’s face. The unicorn’s expression was a familiar one, which he finally recognized as something other than simple discomfort. “Oh!”

“Don’t run! Don’t run! I wanna be your friend!” taunted Surprise as the last of the bugs disappeared into the many crevices of the caverns. When the walls were finally free of all movement, the untapped arsonist panting with manic glee finally lowered her ‘weapon’ as yellow flames continued to shimmer around them. “Aww. They ran away,” she whined like a child before setting Moonlight upright outside of the vent.

“You okay?” Thomas asked the orange woman, running up to make sure she was well.

Moonlight wobbled a bit, clenching her thighs together as a mulling moan escaped her lips. She held onto Thomas for balance, nodded, but knew she was not yet in a fit state to use words. Her nostrils flared as she turned back to look at Surprise, the white woman performing some rudimentary stretches while showing no overt signs of what Moonlight was certain had been a brief lapse into pure, raw madness.

No more words were said on the matter as the players cleared the chamber of all valuables and moved on to the next one, giving Moonlight plenty of time to calm down.

“Well that certainly looks ominous,” Silver remarked at the large, dark eco crystal on a ledge across a pool of the stuff.

“Looks explodey,” added Surprise. “Is it explodey?”

“Nail on the head,” Thomas answered, pointing at the Precursor platforms hovering across the pool of liquid death. “We just have to hop across these, touch the crystal, and it’ll-what are you doing?”

“Me?” Honey asked idly as she picked up a boulder the size of her own head, testing its weight. “Jus’ checkin’ somethin’.” With no further explanation, the green woman assumed a pitcher’s stance, took aim, and chucked the boulder as hard as she could at the crystal. It went off in a rumble that shook the cavern, leaving only a black mist that soon settled into the surrounding stone.

“Yay! Explodey!”

Honey smirked and tossed her mane back, hoping she looked cool. Thomas led the muted applause congratulating his friend for her accomplishment.

They ventured on a ways further, Honey making use of the many idle stones to take out enemies from a far until they arrived at a new chamber. At the center of the scaffolding was a massive metal construct, half buried within the stone. An army of lurkers armed with drills and picks chipped away at the stone from every angle and height. The construct, the women realized, bore a striking resemblance to the Oracles they’d come across on their travels.

“Is that supposed to be a Precursor?” Silver asked.

“It’s how the Precursors choose to present themselves, but the real guys look a lot different,” Thomas answered. “Very unimpressive.”

“What is the purpose of excavating this statue?” Luna asked.

“It’s a robot, not a statue,” Thomas corrected. “It’s actually the linchpin for the entire plan. They’re gonna haul the thing out of here, probably in pieces, and then put it back together with a bunch more artifacts and tech to make it work. That’s how they’ll open the silos.”

“With a giant robot?” Surprise asked.

“With a giant robot,” affirmed Thomas.

The white woman grinned from ear to ear and applauded eagerly. “Classic!”

“Then why don’t we end this now?” Moonlight asked. “If the enemy desires this machine for evil, why not cause a cave in and seal this place shut?”

“A sound strategy,” Luna began, folding her arms, “but I think not.”

“Luna?”

“If the robot is so important to the enemy’s plan, then its loss would drive them to go into hiding, fleeing with their remaining army to parts we cannot reach. Such has been my experience with mad wizards. ‘Tis better to fight them now, finishing them and denying them the chance to come back with a more nefarious plan.”

Moonlight’s ears drooped and she pursed her lips in a pout.

“However, do not mistake my dismissal as a declaration of idleness,” Luna continued, smirking. “We shall let the enemy choose their field of battle, but it shall be fought on our terms,” she purred. “Kiera!”

“Yeah?”

“I have a request. Do you think it possible to sabotage this robot in such a way as it would not be easily recognized by the enemy before they use it?”

“Hold on.” One of the scout flies flew up to the top of the robot and began circling around the head. “Give me a minute.”

“Do not feel down,” Luna said to Moonlight, hopping to her shoulder. “‘Twas a fine plan to seal up the weapon before it can be used. However, as I am beginning to learn, sealing threats away is rarely a permanent solution.”

Moonlight smiled and gave a halfhearted chuckle, nuzzling the ottsel. She considered pointing out that she wasn’t actually feeling bad about her idea being shot down, but that would mean losing precious nose-to-nose time with Luna, which she decided would be the true tragedy she could never live down.

While waiting for Kiera’s assessment of the robot, the players split up and began thinning the ranks of the miners. It was a most curious question why the lurkers had arranged for so many sizable gaps in the planks, or all the poles sticking out of the walls that served no other purpose than providing the players a chance to practice gymnastics, but no answers were to be found. The remaining scout flies aided in weakening the lurkers and picking up orbs and cells to save the party the trouble. Once the chamber had been cleared, the scout fly that had gone to examine the robot made its return.

“My scans show several areas where structural integrity has been compromised,” Kiera informed excitedly. “Pretty sure I could make the repairs with enough materials, so it’s a safe bet Gol and Maia are covered there. However, I’m thinking I could squeeze a few scout flies into the main structure and keep them hidden until the time is right.”

“Taking it down from the inside!” cheered Moonlight, sounding equally excited. “Brilliant!”

“Aww. So the giant robot battle’s really off?” whined Surprise.

“That’s what it sounds like,” confirmed Thomas.

Pouting, Surprise stuck her hands into her pockets and callously vented her frustrations upon a poor rock who never did anything worse than stub a few toes. “Phoey!”

“Keep in mind,” Kiera continued, “that this means you won’t have any more scout fly help until I can make the necessary upgrades. You sure you want me to do this?”

“Thomas?” Luna asked.

He thought about it a moment, but eventually nodded. “Yeah. Better to invest in giant robot death than stun the underlings. Think we could still keep one scout fly, though?”

“Afraid not,” Kiera replied. “Precursors built things to last. Even with damage as extensive as it is, the right amount of welding will make this bad boy good as new. It’ll take every modded scout fly I’ve got to do the job. All or nothing, guys. What’ll it be?”

It didn’t take Thomas long to decide. “All! Let’s tear this sucker down.”

“You got it!” And with that, the small swarm of scout flies abandoned their posts around the party and began circling the robot. The one in the lead made a small incision near the robot’s eye, allowing the blue optic to be removed and for the other flies to enter, closing the door behind them. “At least you’ve still got the communicators,” she added as the devices made their return.

The final chamber, much to the chagrin of the players, was devoid of bioluminescent fungus or torches, leaving everything in pitch black darkness.

“It looks to me like the spiders were not very accommodating of the lurkers traipsing about their territory,” Silver noted as her eyes roamed across the seemingly impenetrable darkness, observing the remains of the arachnid’s slaughter from the safety of the light.

“How can you-” began Moonlight, only to slap her forehead as she recalled. “Oh right. Bat pony. “You want to take point?”

“Do I want to be the first to step in spider leavings, alerting the repulsive creatures to target me as an intruder? No,” Silver answered flatly, her vigor from the earlier clash having significantly diminished. “Will I, for the good of the mission?” She paused, weighing her decision. “Just this once, but only if Luna comes with me.”

Smiling kindly, Luna hopped to Silver’s shoulder and gave the little woman an affectionate nuzzle, calming her instantly. Emboldened, the pair made slow but steady progress through the chamber. The scaffolding was sturdy enough, with lifts left running on automation in absence of operators. There were only a few spider webs along the wood and rope, suggesting the spider attack hadn’t been that long ago.

Silver looked at the cocooned bodies and was thankful she didn’t see any of them move. A few times she had to stop to hyperventilate, but Luna was always there to sooth her with gentle caresses and a sweet song whenever the fear started to take hold.

Similarly, Honey was carrying Thomas bridal style so that he could do the same for her. He told her the story of Johnny Appleseed, a scrawny, unassuming human who ventured out into the wilds without what others considered proper protection, relying entirely on neighborly goodness as he granted the land the gift of apple trees. Besides being a welcome distraction, Honey found she loved the story for its own merits. The simple, neighborly kindness of Johnny just seemed to embody everything she’d been taught about what made the Apple clan so respected and renowned. She knew, as soon as she woke up, she’d be passing this story along to her herd, urging them to get the word out to the entire clan. She could not afford to overlook advertising this good.

This left Moonlight and Surprise to act as defense against oncoming crawlers. They were aided by luminescent bits of crystal broken off by Honey and tied around their bodies and limbs to make sure they didn’t take a wrong step.

“I’m getting a creepy-crawly feeling in my tail,” Surprise informed.

“Good. Glad I’m not imagining things,” Moonlight replied, sparing a glance at Surprise’s lack of tail. Rather, it was the whole of her bottom that was shaking in a most peculiar way.

“What’s going on?” Silver asked.

“Not enough spiders,” Moonlight stated. “We’ve tripped enough alarms that they know we’re here, but they’re not coming out in force. They’re holding back for some reason.”

“Shoot. Is that what Ah’m feelin’?” complained Honey. “Ah was hopin’ that was jus’ gas.”

“I sense it, too. A dweller of the dark has set her sights upon us,” Luna ominously declared.

“Boss battle,” Thomas grumbled under his breath.

“I don’t see anything,” stated Silver, looking around nervously. “A-are you sure?” she asked in the futile hope this was all just a prank.

“Your tribe has always been blessed with night vision, young one. However, there is some darkness so deep that even your kind do not dare even observe.” As Luna spoke, her eyes remained fixed upon a singular point off in the distance.

Eight red eyes beamed in the darkness, seen only by the wizened vision of the alicorn. The ancient beings glared at one another, Luna recognizing the accursed monster as one irreparably twisted by the powers of darkness. All of the lesser spiders the players had slaughtered were her children, and the abomination was infuriated. Worse, the terrible creature did not act on blind rage, suggesting patience. Spiders were naturally patient predators, willing to wait indefinitely until their prey fell into the trap.

Further, it occurred to the woman that she was responsible for this creature’s birth. Not just her, but everyone. The fear of the aracnophobic women had been pushed to the forefront of their thoughts, forging the monster’s concept even as they fought her children. They were smart ones, figuring out exactly what Luna had done for them in creating obstacles they could overcome, but in so doing had subconsciously desired for even greater obstacles. Such desires were no doubt amplified by Moonlight and Surprise, the latter taking an especially intense pleasure in spider explosions. Thomas, also, had likely been thinking that it had been too long since they encountered a proper enemy boss, and her own experiences with such creatures had played the final straw in its creation.

Yet despite knowing all this, that she was in part responsible for creating such an abomination, Luna could not help but smirk at her foe. She’d faced off against nightmares with teeth the size of this bug’s legs and come out on top. Even diminished as she was, Luna felt pity for the poor sin against nature, for soon it would meet the fate its kind deserved. More importantly, although her beloveds were afraid at the moment, and it hurt to know she was the cause, Luna did not let the guilt consume her thoughts; as she had very nearly done before Thomas’ intervention. He had given her the strength to face her personal demons, a strength she would now pass on to the others.

This was a monster they had made together. As such, it was their collective responsibility to unmake it.

The players marched on, hopping from platform to platform like usual, all while Luna surveyed their surroundings for the inevitable trap. “The spiders linger where the darkness is at its thickest. They spin finely thin webs, but I cannot discern to what end.”

“Don’t-wanna-be-here. Don’t-wanna-be-here. Don’t-wanna-be-here,” Honey muttered, not appreciating Luna’s play-by-play. Thomas was doing his best to ease her nerves, but it was no longer working. Silver wasn’t much better off.

Frowning at her distressed friends, Surprise took a good, long look at the crystals adorning herself and Moonlight. She stared, licking her lips in thought, before she suddenly held one of the crystals directly over her head and declared, “Ding!”

“Idea?” asked Moonlight.

“E’yup,” drawled Surprise.

“A good one?”

The slightly chubby woman shrugged and admitted, “Maybe.” Surprise’s idea, as it turned out, was to untie one of the larger crystals adorning her body and, with all of her strength, smash the thing into pieces with her fist, spraying the fragments out in a wide array of glittery, collateral damage. The gratifying sounds of wet squelches and cries from spiders filled the chamber as a considerable spread of glowing crystals was left embedded in the wall.

“There. Now it’s not so dark,” Surprise informed matter-of-factly.

“Surprise…” gasped Moonlight. “You’re brilliant!”

“So I’ve been told,” she admitted as she idly examined her hand. There was a bit of bruising where her knuckles had impacted the crystal, but the looks of relief on her friends’ faces were well worth it.

The pair of defenders repeated the action and littered the walls with crystal fragments, leaving just enough for themselves. The collective glow of the many fragments somehow managed to build off of itself in pushing the dark away, leaving much of the cave pleasantly illuminated. All was going well, until Moonlight sent the last burst of fragments flying. A guttural shriek caused the entire cave network to shake as the embedded shards started to move.

“… Oops.”

“Luna’s tits, that’s a big bugger!” Honey exclaimed, backing up from the edge of the scaffolding.

“Indeed,” Luna stoically agreed, never blinking as her eyes followed the monster’s movements along the cave floor. “We need weapons of some sort.”

“There!” Thomas pointed up from Honey’s arms. “Stalagmites. Or is it stalactites?”

“It’s big bug smashin’ rocks!” Honey answered succinctly and set Thomas down beside her. “Gi’me somethin’ ta chuck!” she demanded, looking around her immediate vicinity.

“Oh. Ohohohoh! I got something,” Surprise said and fished out, of all things, an anvil from her mane. “Will this work?”

Honey took the sculpted metal, tested its weight a second, and then grinned. “Yeah. This oughtta do it.”

“Aim for that one there,” Silver urged, pointing up. “The one shaped like a griffon’s beak.”

“You sure, sugar?”

“She’s right. The monster has been moving in a pattern,” Luna affirmed. “The griffon rock is the largest in its path.”

“If you say so.” Resigned to whatever may come, Honey heaped the anvil into ideal chucking position and waited for the signal while the others watched the scurrying affront to nature.

Thomas stood there a moment, feeling useless as the others all moved into position. Surprise and Moonlight were chucking rocks at any smaller spiders that came their way while Luna and Silver stood as look outs. His eyes darted to and fro, searching for something that might ease the little niggling at the back of his mind. The proposed strategy seemed sound, but at the same time came across as too easy. His inner gamer screamed at him that there must be some other element, some mechanic worked into the system. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it.

“Hey. There’s a crystal fragment that keeps flashing. See. It’s about where the griffon’s eye is.” He pointed urgently.

“Ah see it!”

“Aim for that. I bet it’s the weak point.”

“If’n ya’ll say so,” Honey agreed, sounding a little less sure than before.

“Wait for it,” cautioned Silver as she stared intently at the heinous mass that likely made up an entomologist’s nightmares. “Wait for it.”

“Ah’m waitin’,” Honey grunted. The anvil was heavy and her strength was giving out.

“Wait for it,” Silver said again, drawing out the last syllable. “Aaand… Now!”

With all of her might, Honey threw the anvil up at the griffon-shaped stalactite. There was a whoosh as it flew through the air, and then a thud when it hit the stone. At first nothing happened. Butt holes collectively clenched in fear that the strategy had failed. The smaller spiders gave a shrill scream, as if they understood the players’ plight and were mocking their failure. To add insult to injury, the giant spider came to a stop directly below the stalactite, turned, and gave a sadistic grin to its intended prey.

Then there was a crackle. Everyone and everything stopped to listen. They looked this way and that as the eco of the cavern made the sound hard to pinpoint. Then there was a second crackle, and a third. All looked up. Even in the dark, a very distinct line was forming along the stalactite, right where the anvil remained imbedded. The crack grew and grew, shaking dust and tiny pebbles from the larger stone. There was an audible gulp from down below, drawing Luna’s attention to the fact that the spider was using one hairy leg to draw a cross over itself.

With the chipping of one last insignificant pebble, the great stone fell, crashing to the ground with a thunderous thud and a sickening splat. A small splash of green guts spread over the cavern floor, coating many spiders in the liquid remains of their queen. Gazing at her formerly heinous majesty, the once fearless swarm sounded the call for retreat and scampered into the deepest darkest crevices, never to return.

When all went quiet, once the ground and walls stopped crawling, there was a loud gasp as the players unleashed the breaths they’d been holding.

“That. Was. Awesome!” cheered Surprise, bouncing in delight. “The spider was like ‘grrrr.’ And then I was like ‘oh no!’ And then Honey was all-”

“W-we did it,” Honey stated, sounding like she didn’t entirely believe her own words as Surprise continued her rambling. “We did it, right?”

In answer, a power cell shot up from the giant spider’s corpse and landed neatly at the green woman’s feet.

“I’d say so,” answered Moonlight cautiously.

The entirety of Spider Caves erupted in a cry of joy as the players celebrated their victory over the dreaded menace.

And that was Spider Caves. I sort of surprised myself by writing in the boss battle, but this one needed a couple rewrites to make the fear experienced by the mares less intense. The feeling I went for was one of triumph, where everyone is really getting into the spirit of the game and thus get an opportunity to shine.

The journey back through Spider Caves was accented by much congratulations and back patting, the players still riding the high of their victory.

“I still don’t understand how you knew to aim for the griffon’s eye,” Silver admitted, her face almost frozen in pure glee.

“It was a glowey thing,” Thomas explained proudly. “Always go for the glowey things in games.”

“Obviously,” Surprise cut in.

Thomas continued. “But that wouldn’t have mattered much without those pecs.” He gestured at Honey’s arms.

The green woman was in the middle of flexing for Moonlight’s adoration. “What? These things?” asked Honey, assuming a more elaborate pose. “Ain’t nothin’ but the product of a lifetime o’ good, honest workin’.”

Moonlight, though grinning, did not seem satisfied with this answer. “You have to share your secrets. There’s got to be some trick, some technique to sculpting a body this-”

“-hot?” Honey suggested, giving her bicep a kiss.

“-amazing!”

“The secret, my dear, is proper breeding,” Silver explained poshly. “The Apple Clan is the product of generations of careful breeding, focusing the innate magic of earth ponies into its purest form before passing it on to the next generation. After so many generations of care and dedication, specimens as exquisite as Honey were inevitable.”

“Yeah right,” Honey said, waving her hand dismissively. “Yer jus’ saying that ‘cause ya’ll were bred fer keen eyes, wit, ‘n’ buckable flanks.”

“I hope no one expects me to refute that,” Silver beamed, puffing out her chest in pride. “Although I’m still impressed by Surprise’s resourcefulness, both with the anvil and back at the vent. I’ve never heard of a third party amplifying a unicorn’s power like that.”

Moonlight blushed, remembering the way it felt to have Surprise take such control over her, guiding the destructive eco energy through her body, all while having her tail yanked in a way she wasn’t used to, at least not outside of the bedroom.

“Don’t know,” admitted Surprise with a shrug. “I guess I was inspired by that eco blaster thingy Kiera and Shant made and I thought ‘Hey. Maybe I can do the same with Moonlight.’ And I gave it a shot and BAM, it worked!”

“It most certainly did,” panted Moonlight with a dopey grin.

“Well I, for one, am proud of all of you,” declared Luna. “Especially you two.” She nodded at Silver and Honey. “Your drive to protect the ones you care for, mixed with a little bullheadedness, enabled you to confront your fears.”

“So, does this mean spiders won’t creep me out no more?” asked Honey hopefully.

“Oh, they most certainly will,” Luna flatly stated. “Spiders are naturally creepy and it is perfectly rational to fear them at that size. Only now, your fear won’t hamper you to the same extent as before.” She then added under her breath, “Although you may react with blind, violent anger the next time an arachnid crosses your path.”

“What?” Silver asked.

“What?” Luna quickly answered, looking just as bewildered as the small girl.

**********

The players returned to a cheering crowd as the entire population of the Crater gathered to acknowledge their victory. Trant and Mant rushed up to meet Honey, only to find their heads locked in either arm as the woman beamed in triumph at her catch. Other villagers ran up to laud the players for the specific quests they’d achieved, all resulting in making the Crater a much happier and safer place. Even Cole and a few other representatives from the Snow Tribe had showed up, minus much of their protective furs, to share their eternal gratitude. Yet despite all the crowding and chaos, the gathered masses still found the good sense to part as Kiera, Samos, and Shant made their way to the heroes of the hour.

“Not bad kids,” offered Samos through a narrowed glare. “Despite your ceaseless banter, easily distracted horse brains,” he said for reasons that even confused himself when Thomas chuckled quietly, “and immense perversion that not even the wise Precursors could have predicted,” he ranted, gritting his teeth, “you’ve somehow managed to keep saving the day. Either you’re countless character flaws don’t hamper you as much as I’ve been lead to believe-”

The old sage was met by the seething, murderous glares of his pupils.

“-or literally anyone else could have done the same if they could only be bothered to get off their fat asses!” he fumed, paying no mind to how the entire village was now giving him the stink eye.

“Anyway,” Kiera cut in, “you guys did great!” she cheered before giving each player a kiss on the lips.

“But that’s not all,” Shant added. “Tell ‘em the good news, sweetie.”

“Sweetie?” Honey parroted as she and the others gave Kiera knowing grins.

“Oh right. Remember that blaster me and Shant made? Well, while you’ve been gone, we’ve been doing a little… tinkering.”

“And you’d better clean it up,” groused Samos, earning chuckles from those in earshot.

“Anyway, we’ve fixed the design so it doesn’t have the same kick it used to.”

“The aiming’s more steady and the eco consumption is a lot more efficient,” Shant added.

“It’s still takes two to operate-”

“-but with the Crater’s forges all working at peak production-”

“We should be able to mass produce plenty more in a matter of hours!” Kiera finished excitedly, her and Shant bouncing in glee at their accomplishment.

“That’s amazing. I’m so proud of you guys,” cheered Surprise.

“That sounds wonderful as far as protecting the Crater,” agreed Moonlight. “But what does that mean for us as far as our assault on the Citadel?”

“That’s the beauty of it,” Shant answered. “Eco don’t go through the portals, but the blasters do. Once the gate’s opened, we just have to bring the weapons through, tap into whatever eco those gray rats have lying about, and we’ll be set for a full on siege!”

“The yellow sage has a tribe very near the Citadel,” Samos added. “If Gol and Maia started there, and if what I remember about that tribe is accurate, then it’s safe to assume the attack’s already begun.”

“So we just need to make contact with this yellow tribe and we’ll have another ally?” Moonlight asked, to which Samos nodded. “Excellent.”

“But what about you?” Luna asked. “If they are targeting sages, it stands to reason that you are next on their list.”

“Pfft. I’ve been scrapping with rambunctious little twerps since I was Luna’s size.” Samos gestured. “Those whipper snappers are free to try,” he challenged, thumping his chest for good measure and earning a roaring cheer of approval from the crowd.

“You should head back to Rock Village,” Silver cut in.

“What? Why?”

“They won’t expect it,” reasoned Silver. “Gol and Maia won’t expect you to retreat. It’ll catch them off balance while we make the final push. We could also use the help of Rock Village’s warriors and Shaggy, if he’s around. On top of all that, if they decide to try anything, you’ll have greater access to your powers in the presence of so much green.”

Samos blinked and stroked his beard in thought. “There is a green eco vent I could use to…”

“Great idea,” whispered Thomas.

“Thanks.”

“Fine,” Samos conceded. “I’ll make a tactical retreat for the moment. You lot just hurry through the Lava Tubes. We’ll join you as soon as you’re ready.”

**********

With the plan set and agreed upon, Thomas, Luna, and Moonlight made for the zoomer at the Lava Tube. The remaining women all volunteered to stay back and guard Samos.

“I feel good about this plan,” Moonlight said as she removed her blouse and stored it away; such was the heat.

“Don’t feel too good,” warned Thomas. “Things always go wrong the moment the heroes start getting cocky.”

“‘Tis more than a mere trope,” cautioned Luna. “In my many experiences in battle, I have found that fate is always, always listening, ever waiting for those fool enough to provoke her wrath.”

Moonlight swallowed whatever positive words she’d had and quietly mounted the zoomer behind Thomas. With Luna upon his shoulder, the man revved the engine and took off. The Lava Tube was essentially how he remembered it with paths of half-melted rock branching and bridging in numerous directions, presenting many options for the rider to choose from. Thomas selected the path with the most Precursor items and scout flies, not wanting to do a second run.

“We are definitely playing more games after this one,” he announced over the roar of the machine.

“I was thinking we could try a book next,” yelled Moonlight as she held on for dear life. “Maybe a nice, quiet romance to balance things out?”

“If we’re throwing out suggestions,” Surprise spoke over the communicator, “then I want to try Robbing Hood. Prince John and Hiss were so funny.”

“The cartoon?” Thomas asked as he revved up for an especially long jump, making Moonlight and Luna squeal.

“Ah’d be open ta some exotic locales,” Honey suggested. “Anyone up for Anugypt?”

“What about a compromise?” asked Silver. “A game set somewhere exotic with equal parts romance and adventure.”

“And a wisecracking raccoon sidekick!” insisted Surprise. “Oh. And his best friend should be a tree. That would be so adorable.”

“Luna. You’ve been awful quiet,” noted Honey. “Got any preferences?”

The little ottsel hummed thoughtfully as Thomas swerved this way and that to hit every orb and cooling balloon in his path. “I am rather enjoying the simplicity of this game. Evil is evil and good is good, free of the complexities that often make real life so aggravating,” she admitted. “If I were to choose, it would be something where I can do the most good while enduring the least amount of guilt. Such is the innate appeal of escapism, after all.”

“Okay,” Thomas began. He’d just caught the last scout fly and was coming up on a dark eco processing machine. “That last one kind of threw me for a loop, but I think I’ve got something that should make everyone happy. Romance, adventure, exotic locations, and plenty of chances to do good by most people.”

“And the talking raccoon?”

“We’ll see,” Thomas allowed.

“Yippee!”

And in no time at all, the Lava Tube came to an end. Luna was the first to dismount, hurrying over to the teleporter gate. Upon its activation, the first to exit was a rather short man on stilts and covered in mismatched bronze armor similar to that of the warriors of Rock Village.

“Samos?”

“You bet your buttons its me,” he declared, trying to strike a daring pose, only for his helmet to fall shut with a clang over his face. A series of swears were mumbled out as the old man stepped aside, making way for the next group.

First the players hopped through, then the sage children, and finally a couple dozen warriors from each of the three previous villages. Thankfully this entrance to the Citadel had more than enough space as the warriors readied their weapons.

“This is perfect!” chirped Kiera. “Silver’s plan worked just as expected.”

“Them scoundrels showed up looking to take the sage and all our eco,” Trant explained with a devilish smirk. “Came with a pretty nice army too.”

“Well, we couldn’t call ourselves good neighbors if we sent ‘em on their way with nothing,” Mant added with a menacing grin as he held up his blaster. “So we offered up all the eco we could spare, right up their asses.”

“Once I armored up, I spent the last hour meditating in the eco vent, charging myself for the battle to come,” Samos boasted. “Now I feel thirty years younger, ready to assault the fortress and topple the power-mad dictator, just like in my youth.”

“You never told me that story, daddy,” Kiera pointed out, causing Samos to sweat for reasons other than the heat.

An explosion thundered off in the distance, sending tremors through the ground.

“What was that?” demanded Moonlight, ready for an attack.

“Must be the yellow sage’s tribe,” reasoned Samos. “Good. If the Citadel’s already being attacked from elsewhere, they won’t be as prepared for a second front.”

“Third front,” corrected Silver. “Shaggy set his blue capes to attack from the primary lurker entrances.”

Thomas didn’t bother asking how lurkers near Rock Village had already made it this far so quickly. The climax was upon them and now was not the time to point out plot holes.

“It sounds to me like we’re wasting time talking when we should be blowing stuff up!” Shant groused impatiently. “Let’s find that eco so we can get to blasting!”

From there the group split up. Thomas and the players went down the main access corridor into the Citadel while Samos led the warriors through a secondary entrance, one with lots of circuitry and access to spare eco. The main chamber of the Citadel was enormous, large enough to even hold the Precursor Temple from the Forbidden Jungle within its expanse. At the center of it all was a gigantic, high tech shield surrounding the robot from the caves. It was covered head to toe in mismatched chunks of metal, looking rather shoddy, as though it was a rushed job. Even the many floating platforms and access ramps looked like they’d been thrown together in a hurry.

Surprised harrumphed in disappointment. “Ya know, when someone says ‘evil bad guy Citadel’, I was thinking more Canterlot Castle decorated by emos, and less… king and queen of the trash bin.”

“Now sugar. Don’t be rude,” Honey admonished. “We’re guests here. It just ain’t proper ta bad mouth yer host’s home, ‘specially if’n ya show up unannounced.”

Another explosion caused the Citadel to shake, making the players huddle up to keep from falling.

“I’m pretty sure they knew we were coming,” deadpanned Moonlight.

“Hey piss heads!” shouted a rather irate and scratchy voice. “Up here, ya dingbats.”

The party looked up and spied a small cage dangling from the distant ceiling. Inside was an aged woman with yellow skin and overalls that only barely covered her ample chest.

“You the yellow sage?” Thomas asked the woman, silently wondering to himself why he was still surprised by anything anymore.

“Well I as sure as spit ain’t old bluey. He’s been talking our ears off with all his fancy math and theorems for days now. I swear, if Gol and Mai don’t shut him up soon, I’ll shoot him myself!”

“Damn it, woman,” whined the high pitched voice of a man in another distant cage. “You know my name’s not ‘bluey’. Besides, I’ve been trying to explain why all of this is a bad idea, how unleashing this robot and opening the silos will spell untold havoc upon the world.”

“Well why didn’t you just say that to begin with?” shouted the yellow sage.

“Seriously,” added the deep, yet soothing baritone of a third cage. “I was starting to think Kala was right, that you were trying to provoke Gol and Maia into killing you before your power could be harnessed.”

“Well pardon me for thinking the great sages of the world could handle a few multi syllable words,” whined the blue sage.

“Just wait ‘til I out get out of this cage, bluey. I’ll show you a multi syllable word!” cried the yellow sage.

“Oh. Yet another brilliant zinger from lady boom stick,” sighed the red sage.

“Yeah, so, we’re just going to start with saving you guys,” Thomas shouted up. “Okay?” The three sages just continued to bicker and trade insults while the players picked a path.

“Well, at least now we know why the other gates were all turned off,” offered Silver. “It was likely seen as the only way to avert a war.”

Thomas chuckled. “Yeah. I can see that working.”

With so few lurkers lurking about, the greatest hazard the party faced was the ground beneath their feet. Floating platforms above the bottomless pits would appear one moment and fall the next, all at the whims of color coated patterns engraved into said platforms. It was all a veritable maze that took every ounce of focus to navigate.

“Forget what I said about the possibility of peace,” snapped Silver after the most recent close call. Her hand was over her heart as she breathed heavily. “No one who would design their own home like this could be anything but a sadistic monster!”

“I think I know the answer,” Kiera said over the communicator. “I barely understand half the words daddy’s using, but basically there’s this overly complex network of eco flowing through the paths that, for reasons I fear ever understanding, makes this the most efficient and logical set up imaginable.”

The players continued on as they were for some time, occasionally seeing a flash off in the distance, which they attributed to one of the other incursion forces encountering a bit of resistance. Thomas was certain that there weren’t this many paths to choose from in the original game, meaning the Citadel had been upgraded into a full on labyrinth.

“Freeze! Don’t move.”

The party did as instructed, spying the one who’d threatened them just across the path of floating platforms. He was a young kid, probably no older than twelve, with a lean body, tattered puke green clothes, and yellow hair. He looked quite sure of himself, aiming his little sling shot at them.

“Who are you? You don’t look like regular lurkers.”

“Have no fear, young one,” assured Luna with a grace befitting her station. “We are friends of Samos, the green sage, here with our other comrades to free the-”

“Shut up!” snapped the boy.

Luna’s left eye twitched at being so rudely interrupted.

“Weasels aren’t supposed ta talk. What kind of critter are you?”

“Well, if you’ll allow me to explain, I-”

“I said shut up!” he snapped again, pulling taut on his weapon. “You and your sexy, weird skin friends can just zip it ‘til I figure out what’s going on.”

“Okay. I’ve had enough of this,” sighed Moonlight in exasperation. Stepping onto one of the platforms just so, she snapped it up directly in front of her, grabbed it, and tossed it like a disk at the boy.

The boy fired his weapon, unleashing a yellow, marble sized projectile at the platform. The resulting explosion caused the platform to shatter and unleashed a cloud of yellow smoke. Coughing, the boy was too distracted to see that the other platforms were now falling in a pattern reminiscent of someone hopping across. Once he’d gotten his breathing back under control, he looked up just in time to see Moonlight mere inches away in mid lunge. She tackled him to the ground with a spin, relieving him of his weapons as they slid across the metal floor, Moonlight taking the brunt of the friction as she held tightly around him. He was still just a kid after all.

“Got him,” she called. “You guys had best hurry up. He’s a wiggly one.”

“Shut up, orange lady,” cried the. “And get your stupid boobies out of my face!”

Moonlight just beamed in amusement as the boy struggled just to keep his mouth above water, so to speak. She was impressed by his vigor, not unlike a certain other small human.

By the time the players had gathered around their recent prisoner, wondering what to do with him, the commotion he’d caused had drawn the attention of someone else with yellow hair. It was a young woman about Kiera’s age.

“Damn it, Jin! I was gone five minutes. FIVE MINUTES!”

“Not my fault, sis,” Jin cried. “Stupid sexy weird skin ladies distracted me with their-”

“Shush,” hissed the elder sibling. Unlike her brother, this woman actually wore armor over most of her body. She had dagger sheaths all along her legs and arms; most of them empty, and carried a sling shot and marble bag matching her brother’s. She studied the players, looking more curious than agitated that they’d attacked her younger brother. “You guys wouldn’t happen to be the green sage’s apprentices, would you?”

Moonlight stepped forward, grateful to meet someone reasonable. She left Jin in the care of Honey as he struggled all the harder, possibly for reasons other than escape. “That we are. And I assume you’re the yellow sage’s daughter.”

“What gave it away?” she asked with a smirk, blowing an errant strand of yellow hair from her face. “Name’s Jan, second daughter of the yellow sage of Boom Valley. Nice to meet ya,” she greeted, offering out her hand.

Moonlight smiled and reciprocated. The shake was firm without being rough, leaving both women satisfied.

“Don’t make friends with the enemy!” whined Jin.

“Feel free to gag him and tie him up somewhere,” Jan suggested, not even looking at her brother as the other women chuckled. “That’s Jin. You’d never guess he’s the eldest son.”

“Samos suggested that the yellow sage’s tribe would already be attacking,” remembered Luna, eyeing up Jan’s weapons. “You seem like quite the capable warrior. Even your brother, had he better situational awareness, could have held us at bay for some time.”

Jin’s eyes widened and ears perked at the compliment. He then quickly turned his head to hide his blush.

Jan shrugged. “Yeah. With a name like Boom Valley, it’s kinda hard not to fall into the stereotype of a boom-head.” No elaboration was needed as she tapped at her marble bag. “Ma got took a couple weeks ago and we’ve been blasting away at this place ever since. How’d you guys get in?”

“The Lava Tube,” Thomas replied. “Samos is the only sage still walking free. We saw the others in suspended cages in the central chamber.”

“Ma cursin’ up a storm?” Jan asked.

The players collectively nodded.

“Good,” she laughed. “Means they ain’t broken her yet. Big sis Joan and dad are leading the main attack on the ground floor. Sent me and Jin up to scout ahead. What about you guys?”

“We’ve got warriors from Rock Village, the Crater, and Snowy Mountains, all armed with eco blasters,” Moonlight explained. “We even have some allied lurkers stirring up troubles in the ranks.”

“They’re the ones in the blue capes,” added Surprise.

“Lurkers?” asked Jan, looking skeptical. “Well, whatever. So long as they keep their distance, there shouldn’t be any trouble. Jin.”

“Yeah?” asked the still captive boy.

“Run down and tell Joan the news about our new friends. Wouldn’t want any friendly fire spoilin’ the mood, would we?”

Upon his release, Jin gave his sister a reluctant nod and ran back down the way she had come, but not before Moonlight lent him her communicator so their forces could better coordinate.

“I guess I’ll stick with you guys ‘til the others show up. Maybe you can fill me in on what else might be going on?”

**********

The six players moved as quickly as they dared through the hazards of the Citadel, all while Jan gave the backstory of Boom Valley. The land was full to the brim with yellow eco, the ground tough, the food tasteless, and the people more so. With little to farm, the Boomers primarily subsisted off of hunting large and monstrous game with their weapon of choice, concentrated yellow eco balls pressed dangerously tight that exploded on impact. It all reminded Thomas of the popular image of Vikings.

Jan was the second oldest of five children; Joan, herself, Jack, Jin, and Josephine. The eldest four and their father were leading the charge to retake their chief while the youngest, little Josephine, was left in charge of those who remained to guard the village. They’d been launching boomer balls at the main gate for weeks with siege weapons, but the lurker hordes were just too numerous. It was only recently that enemy lines had pulled back enough that the gates could be broken through.

“And that was you guys? You’re a lot tougher than you look,” chuckled Jan, only to look up at Honey. “Except you. I really hope you’re exactly as tough as you look.”

Honey chuckled at the smaller woman’s sudden anxiety and gave her arm a friendly flex. “Ah guess we’ll jus’ have ta wait ‘n’ see.”

At long last, the party arrived at the main access to the red sage’s cell and broke the dynamo that charged his bars, releasing him.

“So you’ve finally come to rescue me,” he said smoothly, sounding much more laid back than earlier. “You know how long I’ve been in here? What took you so-”

“Ma!” shouted Jan. “Ma. Is that you?”

“Well bend me over and slap my titties,” cheered the yellow sage. “Jan. It’s about damn time, girl. What kept ya?”

“Oh,” groaned the red sage, ignoring the mother and daughter as they caught up. “So my rescuer is one of her brood. How… wonderful.”

“To be fair, I was the one who opened your cage,” offered Silver. “We are also in the company of your own children, elsewhere in the Citadel.”

The red sage’s mood lifted after hearing that. “Excellent. The lot of you are real heroes,” he complimented jovially. “However, you've got to stop Gol and Maia before they can use their robot. I'll use my Eco Power to start breaking down the barrier.” He turned and, after channeling red energy for a moment, he slashed his hands and unleashed a series of blade-like blasts upon the distant shield.

With the red sage free, the party pressed on, but not before leaving Silver’s communicator with the old man so he could catch up with his kids and assure them he was alright. The next chosen path was just as hazardous as before, requiring careful timing on everyone’s part. Jan, for whatever reason, lacked the same athletic proficiency as the players, making her somewhat of a handicap in many areas, shaming the young warrior as Honey carried her through most of the obstacles.

Thankfully, these feelings were short lived as they came upon the yellow sage and promptly freed her. Mother and daughter embraced immediately, the former almost tackling the latter right out of the cage.

“Who would have thought I’d ever live to see the day when I’d need to be rescued by a boy, his muskrat, and a bunch o’ weird skinned ladies.”

Luna narrowed her eyes dangerously at the elderly woman.

"Ah'm gonna give Gol and Maia a little payback for this embarrassment!" she proclaimed as Jan retrieved a large musket-like weapon with a portable generator that had been stored just a short distance from the cage. Slipping the generator onto her back, the yellow sage took aim at the shield and began unloading her arsenal of a dozen shots at once that looped and spiraled before hitting their target.

“I’ll stay and help ma. I ain’t much good with all this jumping,” admitted Jan. “You guys take these. I can handle myself just fine,” she added, offering her bag of boomer balls and her slingshot.

“Good luck to both of you,” offered Moonlight and the party was off once more, leaving Honey’s communicator behind.

“These are some really colorful characters,” noted Surprise as they hopped along through the new path. “And it sounds like they’re getting along.” She indicated her own communicator as they listened in on the chatter.

Samos had assumed leadership in the attack. Despite the Boomers’ initial resistance, the strategies the old man offered proved indispensable. The sage children were also chatting it up, Kiera regaling all of them with the adventures of the players, while they also shared a few personal stories that could only really be understood by the progeny of a sage. At the sound of their children getting along, the yellow and red sages took fewer and fewer snipes at one another, not wanting to cause any undo harm to the budding friendships.

“Wonderful,” beamed Luna. “Truly divine that the tribes, after years of isolation, are finally making peace with one another.”

“It’s just a shame that it took a war of this scale to make it happen,” bemoaned Silver.

“That’s just how it goes,” offered Thomas with a shrug. “Folks get set in their ways for so long that it takes a major shock to shake things up.”

“Verily. I foresee a future of prosperity and cooperation for these people when this trial is passed,” predicted Luna.

“Ah’m guessin’, by that look on yer face, it ain’t all sunshine ‘n’ rainbows,” noted Honey as she looked at Thomas.

He pursed his lips in reluctance, thinking of events implied but never seen in Jak 2. “Let’s just say that spoilers suck.”

At long last the players arrived at where the blue sage was being held and freed him. He was a tall, skinny man wearing a strange, metal helmet with many doodads poking out. He also carried a staff that looked as needlessly technical as the rest of the machines back at his hut.

“Good work, fellows!” he cheered. “Old Samos was right about you.”

“In what way?” Silver asked. “I was under the impression you had not talked with one another for at least a decade.”

“And how come you’re the only sage who doesn’t have kids?” Surprise added.

“‘Cause he’s about as straight as them weird wires poking out o’ his head!” called the yellow sage from across the chamber.

The blue sage huffed as the players took a look at the wires poking from his helmet. They were indeed very loopy and zigzagged in places.

“I guess that fits,” agreed Thomas.

"Great piles of Precursor metal!” the blue sage exclaimed, hurriedly trying to change the subject. “That insidious mechanical creation must not be allowed to wreak its terrible havoc!"

“At least we finally agree on something groused Samos over the communicator, earning muted chuckles from the players.

"I will try to actuate the shield door by eliciting a conduit of energy between myself and the vast portal below!"

“English, ya d’rn fool,” snapped the yellow sage.

The blue sage rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna make zappy zap at the baddy bad until it goes beddy bye,” he condescended. “Happy?”

“And that’s why he’s single,” chimed the snickering red sage over the communicator.

Letting out a shrill cry of fury, the blue sage pointed his staff at the shimmering shield and released a steady yet powerful stream of blue energy. Compared to what the last two sages had done, the blue sage’s attack was terribly disappointing.

Making their way down to the center of the main chamber, the players ascended the last stretch of moving platforms to the height of the shield containing the robot.

“A thought occurs,” announced Silver after having made the latest jump across the spinning levers. Do we actually have to take down the shield? Why not simply leave the robot be and go for Gol and Maia-”

“No!” snapped Surprise, slamming her hand over Silver’s mouth. “I was promised a giant robot battle, so I’m getting a giant robot battle. Understand?”

“‘Tis best to neutralize the machine anyway,” added Luna. “Such a weapon would most certainly prove too tempting for future evil doers.”

“Actually,” interjected Thomas, “it might prove hand in holding those future evil doers at bay.”

“Spoilers?” asked Moonlight.

“Hey, I like these characters, even the ones we sorta made up ourselves. If we could neutralize the robot without destroying it, it’d probably make everyone’s lives a lot better with what’s to come.”

Beaming, Moonlight pulled Thomas into a fierce hug and nuzzled her cheek roughly against his. “I’m so lucky to have such a caring stallion.”

“Good on ya, sugar,” added Honey with a firm smack to the back. “Couldn’t o’ said it better mahself.”

When at last the players came to the place Samos would have been held captive, they looked down to see they were no longer alone. The full might of their allies were assembled, scaling the scaffolding to join the players at the top. With the shield on its last legs, the sages were now working in turns to create solid eco constructs to help the army advance.

“You’re too late, fools,” hissed Gol as he and his sister hovered before the players. “Once I-er,” he hesitated at the look Maia gave him, “once we possess limitless dark eco, we will have the key to creation itself!”

Maia nodded her approval.

“This is madness,” shouted Samos. “Releasing that much dark eco will destroy everything we know. Just look at what it’s done to you two!”

“It has given us a beauty beyond anything you could ever understand,” huffed Maia defensively.

“Enjoy your front row seats to the recreation of the world!” proclaimed Gol as he and his sister moved through the last gleaming vestiges of the shield, causing it to shatter with an electric crackle, as they flew into the robot’s eye. With a steady thrum that caused the entire Citadel to shake, the great machine began its ascent up the center passage.

“Thomas!” exclaimed Samos. “You and the others take the elevator up and delay that robot as long as you can! We need just a little more time before the army is in position.” And with that, the green sage returned to the assembled forces.

“Hold it off?” Surprise snorted her amusement. “You’d think he’d know us better by now.”

The others nodded their agreement.

**********

Once they’d reached the top, the players disembarked from the elevator and found the robot already at work on the distant silo, blasting a steady beam of blue eco from its right eye down to pry open the main doors. Nearby was a large clutch of chests filled with blue and green eco, all set near a hover pad with a blue lightning bolt, just waiting to be activated.

“So what’s the plan?” Silver asked as she looked down from the obscenely tall tower and absolutely not feeling nervous with her lack of wings. “Because just running in and smashing does not seem like the wisest course.”

“Ah’m a decent shot with these babies,” said honey as she tested the elastic cord. “But Ah don’t think these boom balls’ll do much damage.”

The unicorn let out a sigh, focusing her attention on their surroundings. “I’d feel much better if we had more room to move around. This limited space puts us at a severe disadvantage to the robot’s arsenal.” She exhaled nervously and chewed on her thumb. “If only we could divide its attention.”

“Maia seemed rather insecure when Samos brought up her appearance,” noted Silver.

“The both of them responded to my warning back in the Crater,” reminded Luna. “I could try again, but I fear they will not listen so long as their weapon grants them a feeling of invincibility.”

“What’s with the fancy door?” asked Surprise, pointing at the large metal door off towards the edge of the Citadel tower. It was large, engraved in numerous runes and, if one listened, gave off a peculiar hum.

“Time portal,” Thomas explained hurriedly. “It’s how the next game begins, but it only activates once we have… all…”

“All what?” Moonlight asked.

Ignoring her, Thomas pulled out his pack, opened it, and quickly counted all the power cells they’d gathered. “200,” he muttered. “That should do it.”

“Do what?” Honey asked.

Thomas turned to his fellow players and quickly explained his plan. Honey, Moonlight, and Surprise were to go behind the elevator and wait until ordered to come out. Silver was instructed to take the elevator down and get the allied forces to hurry up, just in case this plan failed. This left Thomas and Luna, the smallest and most seemingly harmless members to enact stage one of their plan.

“Hey Maia!” Thomas called from the edge of the tower, unwittingly activating his communicator with his volume. “Just so you know, I always thought you were kinda hot!”

**********

Meanwhile, back in the Citadel, the sage children were all running up the eco construct stairs, leading the way as the army followed close behind. Kiera, incredulous at what she’d heard, blinked repeatedly. “The hell did he just say?” Her tone left the other sage children too fearful to offer any sort of consolation.

**********

Maia, no doubt wondering the same thing, deactivated the blue beam and turned the robot to face the assembled pair. “What did you say?”

Thomas grimaced, bracing himself for his next words. Being autistic, raising his voice was hard enough at the best of times, let along out in the open and in the presence of people who openly hated him. “You’ve got dark skin and really big boobs. It reminds me of my first love.”

Luna smiled, both in appreciation for his choice of words and impressed at overcoming his personal hurdle. However, she quickly shook those thoughts aside, remembering her role in the plan now that the enemy’s attention had been garnered. She hopped up onto Thomas’ shoulder, making herself more easily seen.

“You,” Gol hissed. “The creature born of dark eco. Why do you pursue us?”

“Because I must,” Luna said, her words regal and her posture unflinching as the robot hovered directly before her. “Because I cannot allow you to make my mistakes.”

“You speak with such certainty, with wisdom beyond your age,” Maia analyzed.

“You’d be surprise,” Thomas murmured, motioning with his hands behind his back for the others to be ready.

“You boast to be experts, so do not dare claim ignorance of the horrors the darkness has wrought. I have seen it. I have ventured across the world and witnessed the way the darkness has twisted local flora and fauna into abominations. Do you honestly believe the world would benefit if such monstrosities were to become widespread?”

“Do not presume to lecture us, small one,” Gol sneered. “Precautions have been taken to-”

“Precautions?” laughed Luna bitterly. “I see no precautions. You are using a giant mechanical beast to blast open a door; a door locked by those your people refer to as gods I might add. What precautions have you set in place that compensate for the deliberate disregard of your elders’ wisdom?”

There was a pause as the robot simply hovered in silence. And then Maia spoke up. “What about you? Based on our readings, you’ve been altered to channel eco more efficiently than any other creature on the planet, all thanks to dark eco!”

“And what of the countless thousands of lurkers who fell in?” Luna asked. “I have spoken to their kin. Nine in ten are lucky and simply die. Others emerge as mad monsters who blindly attack even their own mates. I am an anomaly,” she held out her arms in presentation, “not to be replicated so recklessly.”

Another pause followed. As the robot hovered, Thomas quietly gestured to Luna at how its left elbow was sparking just above the large cannon. In turn, Luna indicated smoke rising from the right knee.

The flies were doing their job.

“Hey! What’s going on?” shouted Gol as the robot made several violent jerks. “The controls aren’t responding.”

“Sabotage!” screamed Maia. “Those twerps tricked us.”

“Now!”

At Thomas’ word, the cavalry came rushing forward from behind the elevator. Honey shot boomer ball after boomer ball as she ran, aiming for the robot’s right eye. In mere moments it shattered as the robot’s jerking twitches almost resembled a sense of pain. Undeterred, Honey and Surprise exchanged a nod as the green woman grabbed the white woman by the wrist and ankle, whirled her around until enough force had been stored, and then launched her at the robot’s smoking eye.

“Die, robot! Die!” It was a battle cry as good as any other as the wingless pegasus got to work on the damaged areas. She plunged her hands deep into exposed areas and yanked out large wads of circuitry and even the occasional power cell. All were discarded to the ground below as Surprise moved with manic, gleeful speed to the next area to repeat the process.

“Now what?” Moonlight asked as Honey continued to empty her collection of boomer balls at the robot’s legs. The left one had already fallen off at the knee.

“Now this!” Thomas turned and ran back towards the door. He arrived just in time for the elevator to open and allied forces spilled out, starting with the sages and their children, who all took their places around the tower and readied their weapons.

“What was that you were saying about big boobs?” Kiera asked in warning, arms folded under her chest to give her own breasts that extra pep.

“Not the time!” he shouted as he ran past her and skidded to a stop before the inert time portal, and opened his pack. The great door sucked out his collection of power cells like a vacuum, assembling them in a spiral pattern along the door’s surface. The collective glow of the cells was so brilliant and bright that, for a moment, everyone had forgotten that they were supposed to be fighting. Instead, they all looked upon the door as a crack appeared in the middle, the two halves pulling themselves apart.

“What… is it?” Gol asked, entranced.

Thomas turned around and gave the assembled audience a firm look. “The future,” he answered plainly.

**********

Several hours later, the united forces of, well… the planet? They really needed some sort of name. Anyway, they’d all gathered at the base of the Citadel and awaited the word of the sages for what was to be done next. It was decided that Gol and Maia were to pay reparations to the aggrieved parties by handing over all of their technology and offering instruction for its use. The yellow sage’s calls for a harsher punishment had quieted after Luna administered a vicious dressing down of the pair, followed by Silver’s even more brutal spanking that even caused those at the back of the crowd to flinch with each smack. Whatever their mistakes, Gol and Maia were still sages, Samos argued, and it was for the good of the world that they demonstrate a united front.

The blue and red sages were given joint custody of the robot, since they had the proper technical knowhow to make the necessary repairs. The yellow sage was given control the Citadel. The Citadel’s farming equipment, which Gol and Maia had been using to nourish their army, was to be divided evenly among all factions, including the Snow Tribe and Shaggy’s lurkers. The teleporter gates were to be moved to more open areas within the various villages and left open to encourage free and easy travel. This was especially happy news for the sage children, all having prior talks with their parents about how much they treasured their new friends and didn’t want to be parted.

Samos was granted custody of the contents of the Precursor door. The reason offered was that Sandover was so remote that, if anything bad happened, there wouldn’t be too many casualties. However, as they gave this excuse, the players and sage children couldn’t help but notice at how grim their leaders looked, like there was something more they wanted to say.

At the end of it all, Thomas, Luna, Moonlight Shield, Silver Bell, Apple Honey, and Surprise were lined up on a high platform for all to see. The ceremony was short, but the cheers of thanks were loud, boisterous, and occasionally a bit lewd.

When it was over, and everyone was saying their final goodbyes, Kiera made her way over to the players, looking nonplussed. “Big boobs, huh?”

“I had to say something that would get her attention,” Thomas defended, shrugging sheepishly under the woman’s withering glare. He looked to his friends for assistance, but they seemed a little too busy giggling at his expense. Some friends they were.

“You know, I’ve been talking with daddy, and he says I’m still growing. Even Kala said just being a sage automatically gives me a leg up in a lot of… areas.” She turned her hips and gave her backside a roll.

Sighing in relief, Thomas approached his first gamer crush and pulled her into a hug, causing her voice to hitch. “Don’t talk like that,” he whispered. “I’m not that shallow and you’re more than just a pretty face.”

Kiera gave a slight whimper as she cautiously returned Thomas’ hug. “You mean it?”

“You’re my friend, Kiera. And Thomas is someone who looks after his friends.” He looked over his shoulder at the other ladies and motioned for them to join.

They all shared in the group hug as the world slipped silently and peacefully into blackness, the dream deciding that this was a fitting place to end the game.

And that was my take on a MLP and Jak crossover. I absolutely loved adding all these new characters and fleshing out the world, even towards the end. I knew I wanted to make the yellow sage a woman from the start and making her people warriors just seemed so fitting since she was the only sage to actually carry a weapon.

At the end of it all, Gol, Maia, and their robot survive, an alliance is brokered between the many villages to help combat future threats, and the stage is set for the next game. Whether or not I actually cover that one is still up in the air, but this will not be the last time I play around with Thomas and friends in dream-based virtual reality.

It was just so immensely fun expanding things like this. In this modern age of modding, and the age of virtual reality just over the horizon, part of my inspiration for this story was the question of how someone might mod this old classic if it came out today.

“You sure about this? I mean, that ending was pretty solid,” Thomas pointed out.

He and the others had been walking casually through the corridors of the Citadel for some time, taking the scenic route to the teleporter gate. This granted them the opportunity to watch the progress being made as many of Gol and Maia’s machines were being dismantled by the joint efforts of the allied human and lurker tribes. Many were eager to greet and cheer the conquering heroes whenever they walked by, but the sages were always quick to tell them to get back to work.

“Yeah. We should totally go back and give Sandover a major makeover,” Surprise giddily urged.

Silver nodded. “Agreed. That settlement isn’t even worth calling an outpost, let alone a village. It is simply irrational that a sage who commands life energy wouldn’t attract a greater following by his presence alone. Besides, excluding us, what few villagers there were did not seem fit to create a new generation.”

Thomas nodded. “Fair enough. When you think of it like that, the mostly old men and one older woman makes Sandover look more like a retirement village.”

“Be nice ta spruce the place up a pinch. Maybe put that green eco ta work ‘n’ see what all they can grow,” added Honey.

“A larger village would certainly have its appeal, but I would like for something more… personal,” Luna said. “We were speaking earlier about how logical it would be for a green sage to be fertile…” she trailed off.

“Yes! Yes! Kiera’s mom and siblings!” Surprise chirped. “I bet they’re all super cute!”

“I can just imagine,” Moonlight said whimsically, staring off at nothing in particular. “If nothing else, it might be interesting to set up this more expansive world early, so we can add even more the next time we play.”

“That could definitely be fun,” Thomas agreed. Already the image was beginning to form in his mind of what a larger Sandover might look like, followed by the thought that the others must be imagining their own versions of the modified village. And given how this world was tied to each of their expectations and desires… “It’s already done, isn’t it?” he asked matter-of-factly, facing Luna.

She nodded just as the gate came into view. “I believe so.”

“Then let’s get ta sight seein’!” proclaimed Honey as she led the charge.

**********

Hopping through the gate, the players found the top floor of Samos’ hut was much the same as they had left it. The equipment looked the same, the bookshelves looked untouched, and even that one plant with the mouth and teeth looked as placid as ever. The only difference immediate difference observed was that the floor seemed a bit tidier. All in all, it was quite disappointing.

“Kiera. Is that you?” called a matronly voice from down below.

For a moment, all froze, uncertain of who this was or how to react.

Then Luna took the lead. “Nay. She still works with Samos and the others on the Citadel.”

“That you Luna?” the woman called again, her tone giving no indication of alarm. Clearly she was up to date on recent events, at least to some extent. “You should know I just put little Torn and Turn down for a nap, so you don’t have to worry about anyone pulling your tail. Everyone else is out in the village.”

“Well that’s something,” Thomas commented quietly.

Luna, meanwhile, was protectively curling her tail around her waist.

Exiting the top of the hut, the players all assembled at the railing and took in the sight of the much improved Sandover. The sea of maroon shingled rooves stretched out over a much more vast area than before. The cliff side that the village had been built upon had been widened considerably, and now had a line of pulleys trailing up the side of the furthest cliff to even more buildings at the top.

Thomas especially was in awe, estimating this new village to have about thirty buildings, and that was just from what he could see, although it was still probably smaller than Rock Village. Looking down, he spied a much sturdier looking bridge connecting the outcropping of Samos’ hut to the rest of the village. At the rough center of the village was the large windmill taking in the blue eco beam, but surrounding it were numerous powerlines running from house to house. This feature combined with the many smoke stacks put Thomas in mind of a quasi steampunk setting where technological advancement was virtually all over the place. A few other buildings towered over the others, but they did not reveal their purposes so easily. Alas, the curve of the landscape made it a bit harder to see beyond the immediate area.

Honey leaned forward over the railing. “This is a might taller than Ah remember. Looks like evererythin’s gotten an upgrade.”

“I’m going to say hi to the baby,” declared Surprise as she walked around the side of the hut to the stairs leading down. The others followed at a more leisurely pace. With the game’s adventure over, there was really nothing more to do except explore and relax.

“We should pay our respects to the dame of the house,” Silver informed. “I’m curious to hear what she has to say about our recent exploits.”

“Bet-chya she’ll be askin’ if’n we plan on finally gettin’ serious with Kiera,” Honey commented idly.

As Moonlight followed along, she was unable to look away from the expanded settlement for longer than a few seconds. “I’m anxious to see what else the village has to offer now. Maybe they have some bonus quests.”

“Oh, Ah hope so,” Honey said, perking up. “Bet-chya its somethin’ farm related.”

“I just kinda want to see everything,” Thomas said, feeling butterflies in his stomach. “It’s like playing the new game for the first time all over.”

The party went silent when they arrived at the next floor down. Rather than Kiera’s workshop, this floor looked more like an extension of Samos’ lab. There were more books, weirder plants, and even more wooden machines spitting out steam. There was also a second room in the back with a queen sized mattress, presumably belonging to Samos and his wife. Overall, it wasn’t all that special compared to some of the other things they’d seen. That was the reason the players didn’t spend much time looking around; and not because they were afraid of that one purple plant that kept beckoning them over with thorny vines while smiling with several rows of razor sharp teeth.

The next floor down was even larger than the last and looked like an open air living area, complete with leisure furniture and a few toys that hadn’t been picked up yet. Off in the back were children’s rooms, which the players took the time to explore. The one on the far left looked to be a fairly ordinary kid’s room, at least compared to what they’d seen so far. There were twin beds with the room divided between toy swords and training dummies on one side and a small chemistry set on the other. The middle room also had two beds. The kids who slept here were probably younger, on account of just how many toys there were scattered about. The left side was also littered with crumpled up pieces of paper, which turned out to be some very crude attempts at poetry. And lastly, the far right room held the nursery.

Being the first to enter, Thomas’ eyes immediately found the crib and his blood went cold. Hearing the first gasping inhales, Thomas’ spider sense kicked in and he immediately ducked to the side. He’d acted just in time as the others stampeded past him towards the crib, surrounding it. Upon their arrival, the female players immediately began quietly cooing over twins within. Once he felt it was safe enough, Thomas followed after for a look of his own. The twins were both asleep, dressed respectively in pink and blue. The boy’s green hair looked to be messy and fuller while the girl seemed to be struggling to grow her slightly darker hair out. Once the women had their fill of gushing over the babies, they headed down to the next floor.

Along the way they spotted odd folds of fabric attached to the edges of theopen walls. Upon closer inspection, they resembled Silver’s wings with a series of large sticks connected to gears on the sides of the hut, and a membrane of fabric folded up between the sticks. Upon spying a switch, Surprise turned it and the mechanism activated. The folds of fabric were stretched tight as the sticks extended along railings in the ceiling and floor. In just a few seconds they’d completely spread across the formerly open wall and darkened the room.

“It’s some sort of retractable wall,” Moonlight analyzed. “The weather around here must normally be quite pleasant, so they decided to let it in most of the time. When it isn’t, they just need to activate the wall to protect themselves from the elements.”

“Ah’ll bet Kiera made this thing.”

“It also says something about just how safe things were before Gol and Maia,” Silver added while pressing her hand experimentally against the fabric. “The material is strong, but a good knife would cut through it quite easily. Clearly this was not built with defense in mind.”

The party lingered a moment to play with the switch and watching the fabric wall fold and unfold before eventually resuming their trip down.

“It’s about time you kids got back. I was beginning to worry I’d have to put most of this away for leftovers.” The large room was divided between equal parts of open air dining room and kitchen. In the latter stood a tall woman with chocolate brown hair, a soft tan, and a curvy, matronly figure. She wore a light blue dress and apron as she worked away at the stove, humming a quiet tune to herself. Her name, as everyone was telepathically informed, was Kara.

“Good to be back, Lady Kara,” Luna said, breaking the silence.

“Lady?” Kara asked with a soft laugh. “I’m no one’s ‘lady’. Just a proud mother and wife trying to do her part to keep the chaos at bay.” She turned around, drying off her hands with a towel, and smiled kindly at the players. “Well you lot look like you’ve been dragged through hell and a handbasket.”

“Technically it was a swamp,” Moonlight corrected, “but we bathed after that.”

“So I hear,” Kara replied, narrowing her eyes on the others. “Kiera doing alright?”

“She’s in her element,” Thomas answered. “Got machines to take apart for days to come.”

“Good. And my stud of a husband?”

Stud? Thomas thought incredulously. Must be true love.

“Like you, he’s smacking heads around until the juveniles learn to play nice,” Luna informed from Moonlight’s shoulder.

Kara laughed and set the towel down on the counter. “He finally getting through to those old codgers, I take it?”

“End of the world has a way of bringing folks together,” Thomas said.

“Wait! Something’s wrong here!” Surprise declared, much to the shock of the others. They all braced themselves, ready for combat as they waited for her to elaborate. Kara, meanwhile, just watched with a patient smile, like she’d dealt with this before. Then Surprise smacked her forehead. “Duh. We haven’t hugged yet.” With her intentions made, the white woman charged forward into Kara’s open arms. The two embraced strongly and made playful, friendly growls at one another.

“I was wondering when you’d remember,” Kara said playfully.

When Surprise had gotten her fill of huggles, the others took their turns. Honey engaged in the same bear hug as Surprise, Silver and Luna offered more cordial bows and handshakes, and Thomas and Moonlight partook of softer hugs.

“It’s good to see you all doing so well,” Kara appraised. “You should all head down to the village. I can think of a few certain youngsters who’ve been just itching to hear what you’ve been up to.”

“How are the young’n’s doin’? Honey asked.

Good thinking, Thomas thought and smiled up at her. Great excuse for exposition.

“Well,” Kara began, looking off at the village. “Kale’s probably been the most anxious to see you. He’s all but taken over the defenders, running drills and putting them to their paces in case of another attack. Kacey’s been off overseeing the eco collectors to make sure everything’s running smoothly. Kale’s tried to stop her, saying it’s still not safe out there, but you know Kacey,” she said with a laugh. While the party didn’t know Kacey, they were starting to get an idea. “Kaat and Kai have been running around, making mischief, and overall trying to give their big brother an aneurism.” She laughed again. “You can probably find them playing off playing on the beach.”

“Thank you, Kara. I believe we shall do just that,” Luna said with another cordial bow.

“Oh, and if it’s not too much trouble, could you bring the twins back here?” Kara asked as the party began to depart. “It’s almost supper and I’d like as much of the family to attend as possible.”

“No worries, Ms. We’ll have ‘em back before ya know it,” promised Honey, and the party was off.

Walking past a similar unfolding wall as upstairs, the party stopped to examine one last building that was on their little outcropping. Although the hut was similar in aesthetic to the rest of the village, the primary materials were metal instead of wood and clay. Inside there was a half-constructed zoomer with numerous parts littering the floor. The walls were lined with various tools, sketches for machine designs, and plenty of wires and tubing connecting to machines similar to those of the blue sage’s lab. A ladder led up to a small loft up top with a single mattress and more sketches strewn about, no doubt the result of late night inspiration. It went without saying who lived here.

Onwards to the village proper, the players did as had become the norm and assumed themselves invited as they entered people’s homes. Unsurprisingly, they were warmly welcomed each time. The first few houses were of similar designs to the originals, but the people within were all new and followed a similar family structure that they’d observed so far: one husband, between one and three wives, and a few children. None had anything especially interesting to say and mostly just recommended the party get on with meeting the Sage’s children. Once they’d gotten their fill of this new norm, the players proceeded to a building that actually looked important.

The structure ahead was the largest building in the main village, second only to the windmill tower. It was rather fierce looking with metal spikes sticking out along the rims of the doors and windows. The walls were also covered in heavy metal and there were even two guards standing at the door; defenders, presumably.

“Oh, it’s you!” exclaimed one of the guards. He was a scrawny looking fellow with light armor and holding a spear straight at attention. “Glad you’re back.”

“Does this mean the threat’s over?” asked the second guard, a young woman. She only wore a few plates of armor here and there, but that was probably because the armor the man was wearing looked like it’d slide right off her lithe frame.

This question puzzled the players. “Kara seemed to already know,” Moonlight noted suspiciously.

“Oh thank the Precursors,” gasped the first guard. “Maybe you can tell Kale to, you know, calm down a bit? He’s kinda been a little tyrant ever since you guys left.”

“So we’ve heard,” acknowledged Silver. “Might we speak to him?”

“By all means,” the second guard affirmed as she and the first gestured for the players to go inside.

It was a fairly standard guard house, all things considered. There were racks filled with weapons and shields, cots tightly packed in the back, and a large map table at the center of the room. Looming over that table was a young man, probably no older than 16, with short green hair and a lean build. He was also dressed in light armor, but carried a short sword sheathed on his hip.

“And we need to redirect our forces from the beach to the jungle,” the young man said. He was giving orders to much larger armored men, the youngest of whom looked to be at least twice his age. “The bombs have all been safely disabled, but there are still reports of dark eco mutants in the jungle. We need to find whatever crates are still there and haul them off for storage until we figure out how to dispose of them.”

“What about Misty Island,” one of the older men suggested. “That’s what we used to do.”

“Can’t,” the young commander said with a sigh. “Father said we’re trying to make peace with the lurkers. Dumping a bunch of dark eco on their heads might provoke an attack, which we really aren’t able to handle right now.”

“Because you’ve got us spread too thin,” a second older man said curtly. “We’re Sandover’s defenders. That means our place is in Sandover!”

“We’ve been over this,” the young man said in exasperation. “Staying only in one place was careless. It afforded the enemy the opportunity to set up footholds in the nearby regions. That’s why we were unprepared for the first attack.”

“He’s good,” Moonlight whispered.

The young man’s ear twitched and he turned to see the newcomers. “You guys!” he gasped elatedly and ran up to the players. He stopped a few steps short and offered a salute, which they returned, as his beaming gaze darted between each of them. “It’s great to see you back.”

“Good to be back, Kale,” Surprise inferred. “How’ve things been?”

Kale sighed. “It’s been a chore getting these old farts off their asses to finally do something.”

“Watch it, boy,” one of the elderly men warned. “You’d best speak kindly to your elders, or-”

“-you’ll what?” Kale snapped back, making the elder man flinch. “If it wasn’t for me and my family, Sandover would have already fallen. If it weren’t for these six,” he gestured at the players, “braving the wilds to fight the enemy on their own turf, everyone everywhere would be drowning in dark eco while you guys wanted to just stay in the village and hope everything worked out. Now shut your ass up before I come over there and knock you one-for again.” He shook his fist threateningly and the elderly man flinched back.

“You should not be so harsh on them,” Luna counseled. “It is not their fault they are soldiers of peace. Grappling with the demands of actual combat is simply beyond them. They are still your elders and hold much repute with the village, after all. You would be better served persuading them with reason rather than bludgeoning with force.”

Kale nodded his understanding. “Yeah. I’ll try to keep that in mind.” He smiled up at Luna. “Thanks. You always know just what to say.”

Luna beamed atop Honey’s shoulder. “So I have been told.”

“Was there anything you guys needed?” Surprise asked. “Demolitions, sweeping for enemies, cakes? Please say cakes.”

“You should talk to the quarter master for that,” Kale said, gesturing with his head over at a man with an impressively long beard in the corner. “He’ll let you know if we have any missions we can spare. Meanwhile, I have to stay here and make sure our other troops stay on task.” With a nod farewell, he turned around and marched back to the table.

The players, wanting to lend a helping hand, did as Kale suggested and talked to the quarter master. He was a grizzled old fellow, covered in scars and weighed down by far too many packs. He offered out a varied selection of missions for them to carry out; including missing armor pieces, safe disposal of the dark eco, investigating sightings of lurkers that weren’t wearing capes, and a request to bring back any Precursor items that looked like they might be valuable.

Leaving the guardhouse, Silver took the lead and headed straight for the mayor’s windmill as the next logical place to pick up quests. The door was open, so they let themselves in.

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” bemoaned the mayor from behind his desk. The dimensions of the first floor had a similar layout as before, but the furniture was more in line with a typical office with waiting couches and a desk. Presumably the spiral stairwell going up led to his living area. As the mayor muttered and scribbled away at his stack of paperwork, a young man darted about the room organizing files and retrieving books at the mayor’s request.

“And old man Mc’Gucket says his yakows escaped again,” the assistant reminded.

“What!?” exclaimed the mayor. “I thought Samos’ kids fixed that before they left.”

“I thought so too,” the assistant confirmed. “They must have escaped again.”

“Has that idiot never thought about locking up the damn animals at night?”

“Oh.” The assistant paused and shuffled through his pockets and pulled out a small slip of paper. “He’s also saying he needs a new lock for his gate.”

“How the hell is that my problem?” asked the mayor, throwing up his hands in exasperation and sending a few papers flying. “If you want a lock, just go to the blacksmith and get one yourself. Hell, just tie up the damn gate with rope. Doesn’t he know we have bigger problems right now?”

“Evidently not, sir,” the assistant answered the rhetorical question.

“If it’s not one thing it’s another,” grumbled the mayor as he went back to reviewing papers. “Everyone wants a wall to protect against another invasion, but no one’s willing to volunteer their time to put the damn thing up. Do they expect me to build it myself?”

“Everyone’s just busy dealing with their own problems after the attack, sir,” reminded the assistant. “Besides repairs, lots of stuff went missing. We might have a thief in our midst.”

“Splendid,” growled the mayor. “In addition to all the enemies without, now we’ve got an enemy within to deal with.”

“We could help,” spoke Silver. Her words startled both the mayor and his assistant. Apparently neither of them had noticed their entry.

The mayor placed his hand over his heart while hyperventilating. “You… what?” he asked breathlessly.

“We could help,” Silver repeated. “We just got back from saving the world,” she said with a proud smirk. “It would be nice to relax with some more mundane problems.”

“Really?” The mayor beamed and wiped a handkerchief over his brow. “Well, that really would be splendid.” He exhaled and straightened up. “Listen, kids. I don’t really have anything to give you right now. All our power cells are in use at the moment. But if you could go around and do a few favors around Sandover, you’d free up a lot of time to start building this wall everyone’s wanting. And if you can catch this thief, well, I’d be in your debt for life.”

“Easy peezy,” declared Surprise with a salute. “No worries, Mr. Mayor. We’ll do all we can to help.”

“Darn tootin’,” echoed Honey. “It’s what we do.”

“Thanks kids,” said the mayor as he relaxed back into his chair. “Knowing you guys are on the job really takes the edge off, ya know.”

The party split up in teams of two to cover more ground. Thomas and Honey decided to head for Sentinel Beach to start things out. They followed a well-traveled dirt road that hugged the cliff side. The landscape of the extensive beach, grassland atop red stone cliffs, and sparse housing had changed little from the last time they were here.

The sand pits where the lurker serpents had been hiding were still present, but they were all empty. All of the old lurker-based enemies were absent, although the crabs were still scuttling about. They must have been native wildlife and not part of the invading army. The first new opponents were these brown dinosaur-looking things with large sails on their backs. They were about the size of lurkers and followed the same behavior pattern of patrolling around a small plot of land, minding their own business, and then attacking anything that got too close. However, these enemies were found exclusively on the beach.

Heading up the cliff, the players saw why there were so few enemies up on the cliffs when they found a defender backed up by a modified scout fly fending off a red beetle the size of a Doberman. Naturally, they helped by smashing the beetle to bits.

“Thanks guys,” offered the defender. A nearby dog voiced his approval as well. The fly retracted its weapons and buzzed impassively. “Those cliff crawlers things just don’t know when to quit.”

“Much obliged,” Honey returned. “Ya’ll heard anythin’ ‘bout Kacey?” She looked up along the beach where the eco collectors were supposed to be.

“Only that she refuses to budge,” the defender replied with a sigh. “Says that lurker activity disrupted the local wildlife, which is why there are so many more beasts than usual. We’re trying to push them back, but she doesn’t want to take the chance of any of them messing with her equipment.”

“Sounds like she takes after her big sister,” Thomas observed. He turned to Honey. “Although, I’m guessing it’s more than just eco collection.”

“No idea,” the defender replied and pointed up the beach. “The rest of us are holding defensive positions around the collectors. You’d be doing us a big favor if you cleared out some of the dens along the way.”

The pair nodded and set about the task. They moved from den to den, punching every beast they encountered until it either died or ran off. Some of the dens even had some of the missing armor pieces and a few bits of glowing, gravity defying Precursor tech. They collected everything of value.

“Ah like this,” Honey commented after they’d cleared out the last den. “It’s peaceful now, but it really gives ya the impression of how dangerous this place’d be if’n we’d made the changes from the start.”

“Agreed,” replied Thomas contentedly as he examined an artifact. It was a triangle with a hole cut in the middle and several spheres orbiting around the outside and through the opening. “Sounds like pretty standard power cell quests.” He hummed thoughtfully to himself.

“Somethin’ on yer mind?”

Thomas cracked a half grin. “Just thinking how cool these mods are. On Earth, that’s kind of become a major attraction for a lot of games. The companies put the code out for everyone to play with, new content is made for free, and players keep interested in the game a lot longer than they would have otherwise.”

Honey smiled softly as she regarded Thomas. She liked when he became impassioned about things. “Ah can’t say Ah’ve ever cared ‘bout video games ‘efore, but Ah like the idea o’ lettin’ folks make up their own stuff ta play how they like.”

“Not everyone is a great artist. Fewer are ever able to make a living off their work. However, fan content is kind of a saving grace for folks who want to make something, anything, and have it experienced and appreciated, even if only by a few.”

Honey walked up beside the man and patted his shoulder. They shared a look, not saying a word as they pressed close together. It was just a quiet moment of understanding as the two appreciated one another’s company while the ocean provided a calming ambience. Eventually the sound of distant yelling brought them back to reality and they continued their quest.

The pair moseyed on past the remaining defenders to where the eco collectors had been set up. Rather than simple balloons tied to the ground, the new mechanism involved funnels situated above each vent. The funnels guided the eco into pipes of leather and fabric, leading up to a central mechanism similar to that which the lurkers had been using to steal the blue eco from the Jungle Temple. This mechanism, rather than hoarding the eco, had several dispensers along one side to release the eco into large fabric containers. A large pipeline extended out from behind the machine and climbed up the side of the cliff to parts unknown.

“Kacey,” Thomas addressed the young woman at the machine’s controls.

“One second,” she growled distractedly as the machine gave a high pitched wheezing sound. Her attention was fixed squarely on the device’s various gauges while she fiddled with the controls. With a grunt of frustration, she lifted a large wrench from the ground and smacked the machine like it owed her money. The sound changed to a much steadier low churning. The sighs of relief from both Kacey and the nearby defenders said that this was the desired outcome.

“Hey guys,” Kacey greeted, finally turning around. Atop her corn row braided head were cartoonishly large and elaborate goggles. The goggles were set up with many alternate lenses off to the side, resembling the devices optometrists used to measure a patient’s eyesight to determine the best kind of glasses they needed. The result, in addition to obscuring most of her face, made her look especially dorky. She was dressed practically with red jean shorts and a red top that showed off her midriff. “I’m hoping your return means that things’ll start calming down around here.”

“You bet’ch’ya,” affirmed Honey with a fist pump. “What ch’ya’ll workin’ on here?” she asked, leaning to one side for a better view.

Kacey beamed proudly. “This,” she smacked her wrench to the metal, “is my modified eco collector. Now we no longer have to waste time and eco pulling the old balloons down and putting them back up. Everything goes straight to the machine’s central storage hub. We use these babies,” she pointed at a pile of cloth balls, “instead of lugging wooden crates around all over the place. Green eco is the least volatile of the bunch, so there’s no need for anyone to break their backs with heavy lifting. Much more efficient.” She adjusted her goggles with a self-satisfied grin before pointing back behind the machine. “And if ever the storage compartment gets too full, we release the surplus through the relief valve.”

“And where’s that go?” Honey asked, entranced by the machine.

Kacey chuckled. “You wouldn’t know it, but Sandover used to be like an oasis in the middle of nowhere before daddy came along. Nothing but barren rock for miles. The eco vents had been blocked off, you see. Daddy was the first to unblock them and really get life started in these parts, but there’s still work to be done.” Kacey turned her gaze up the cliff. “There’s this spot up there that daddy thinks would make a lovely little spring, but he’s getting too old to haul the eco up himself anymore. That’s why I set up the pipe to feed the surplus straight into the budding spring. Give nature a good old performance enhancer to help get the job done.”

Honey beamed her elation and whispered to Thomas. “It’s like concentrated earth pony magic taken right from the tap. Ah’ll bet the folks back home’d flip their lids if’n they saw a doohickey like this.”

Thomas smiled back, also glad to see Honey excited about something. However, the moment was short-lived when he heard Kacey clear her throat. She’d missed mention of Honey’s home –vague as it was – and was waiting for them to reply to her explanation.

“Sounds like ya’ll ‘re doin’ a bang up job jump startin’ the land,” Honey praised. She walked up to the younger sage daughter and gave her back a hardy slap.

“Hehe. Yes,” Kacey said, rubbing her now sore back. “Well, ahem. Since we can safely infer that the immediate danger is passed, can I also infer that Kale sent you here to bring me back home?”

“Well, Kara asked first,” Thomas corrected. “She wants everyone back home for dinner.” He took a step back to better examine the machine. “Sounds like you’ve got everything working out here. Don’t suppose there’s anything that might keep you here and potentially make your mom angry?”

Kacey whickered. “Not really. I mean, I guess there’s a bit more calibrating to do, but I should have that done by supper time.”

“Oh thank the Precursors,” gasped one of the defenders. “Does this mean we’ll finally get to go home, too? Kale won’t let us leave without you.”

“Ugh. Yes,” Kacey said, sounding like she was rolling her eyes behind her elaborate headwear. “We can start heading back around 4. You guys help me carry the eco and we can all make it in one trip.”

The defenders eagerly agreed. Some of the especially anxious ones began loading up the eco containers onto a wagon and hauling it back to the village. Kacey ignored them as she returned her focus back to her work, having nothing further to say.

This freed Thomas and Honey to explore the beach at a more leisurely pace. They kicked sand, chased seagulls, entered some of the homes along the cliffs, and observed an incoming flutflut; a beast of a bird the size of a small house. The pair picked up whatever Precursor items that caught their attention, but it quickly became clear that Sentinel Beach had little else to offer in the realm of quests.

“Hard ta believe this is all happenin’ in jus’ one night,” Honey offered, just wanting to break the silence.

“Agreed. Then again, time flies when you’re having fun.”

“‘N’ it’s been a hoot ‘n’ a half,” she agreed. She walked a bit closer and threw an arm around his shoulder, pulling him in until his face was half hidden by her breast. “Can’t wait ta see what else ya’ll have in store.”

***

Moonlight ventured on to the Forbidden Jungle with Luna perched on her shoulder. Along the way they passed old man Mc’Gucket’s farm. He was sleeping, again, and they quickly herded the yakows back into their pin before he even knew what happened, tying the gate up just for good measure. They also passed a guard post with three defenders cooped up inside.

“I sincerely hope you’re not the only ones standing between the village and a horde of eco mutants,” Luna commented contemptuously, making the defenders flinch back.

“No. I mean… kinda?” one replied uncertainly. “There’s three other guys who went out scouting, but they haven’t been back in a while. Those are some of our toughest warriors and Sandover can’t afford to lose them. But…”

“If they’ve been caught or worse,” another defender picked up, “then what good are we?”

“Civilian conscripts?” whispered Moonlight.

Luna nodded. “Likely their true role is to run back to the village and warn if any danger comes.”

“Don’t worry, fellas,” assured Moonlight. “We’ll go out and find your warriors. Who knows. Maybe we’ll even crush a few mutants before they can cause any trouble.”

“You guys serious?” the third defender asked. “I mean, I know it’s you guys, but…”

“No buts,” Luna proclaimed. “Except for those that need a good kicking.”

“Nice,” Moonlight whispered.

“Naturally,” Luna beamed.

Continuing on, the ladies were once more assaulted by a foe far more cruel and unrelenting than any lurker or dark eco mutant. The noon sun beat down upon them like a hammer. Heavy humidity trapped by the canopy made the jungle feel like a sauna. Neither woman said a word as they stripped down, leaving only gloves and foot guards for the inevitable punching and kicking.

Sure enough, the jungle was exactly as dangerous as they’d predicted, bringing a smile to both women’s faces. The dark eco mutants came in a variety of shapes, each more hideous than the last. The giant frogs with electric tongues were fairly slow witted, taking a full second after each hop before processing their environment and making their next move. Less simple were the lizards the size of cats. They were small, but they were obscenely quick as they darted between the trees and fired dark eco bolts whenever their targets stood still for too long. Thankfully, Luna was more than able to keep pace with them as she matched their hops into the canopy. This left Moonlight alone to fight what used to be a lurker. The creature was twice as large as its kin, green as sick, and wore a comically large spiked glove on its right fist. Fortunately, the mutant’s exclusive reliance on its right had left so many openings that Moonlight almost felt bad exploiting them as she closed in for a fatal uppercut.

The pair continued their venture through the jungle and it quickly became clear as to just how vast this level had grown in their absence. The paths were less blatant and the foliage much thicker. More than once the pair had gotten lost and Luna had to climb up to the canopy and use the reflector mirrors to navigate their way. The first two defenders were easy enough to find; out in the open and under attack by mutants. With the mutants vanquished, the defenders – after they’d finished gawking – doubled back to the guard post and the real adventurers went on their way. Every now and then the pair would find some knickknack or other that wasn’t a Precursor artifact, but still looked important enough to hold onto for later.

Apart from tactical communication in the heat of combat, few words were shared between the ottsel and former mare. They’d both volunteered for the jungle mission because both were in the mood for one last fight before the game ended. And as humid and horrible as the jungle was, the scenery and smells more than made up for it. Something about being this far out into nature was tapping into something primal in the both of them, compelling them to run, jump, and just be free; which they did. Moonlight likened it to the two tapping into their inner foal and finding more than enough entertainment in a simple game of run.

“Oh thank heavens. You’re here!” called the last defender, bringing both players to a skidding halt. She was a rather buff woman, probably in her late thirties, most of her armor had been scattered about, and she seemed to have gotten herself entangled in a bit of bondage. “These vines are too tight. I can’t get loose. Do you think you could…” Her words trailed off as her eyes trailed down Moonlight’s naked body.

The orange woman smiled as she posed for her audience. Even if she had a quest to fulfill, it still felt nice to be appreciated. “Alright. Keep your panties on.” Moonlight snickered at the phrase that leapt from her lips and quietly chided herself as a “hypocrite.”

“Uh… too late,” the defender replied, averting her gaze in embarrassment.

Moonlight just giggled at the woman’s plight.

“Hold fast,” Luna called from a branch just overhead. “I will try and untangle these vines from here.”

Moonlight’s eyes narrowed as her lips twisted into a sadistic grin. It was subtle, but she managed to catch a rather mischievous undertone in Luna’s words. She then took a closer look at the defender and exactly how the vines had entrapped her. Somehow, they had coiled themselves around her body in just the right way to accentuate her feminine features, making it hard to believe this had been accidental. Moonlight then licked her lips in anticipation of the fun she and Luna were about to enjoy.

***

Surprise and Silver, as the self-appointed most social among their little group, had stayed back in Sandover to deal with the more domestic ordeals. They started by visiting every single house in the village. Surprise would talk to the residents to see if they had anything of value to say, or just make conversation, and Silver would take inventory of all their things. Most of the missing possessions were found in bushes or hanging precariously over the edge of a cliff. They had simply been lost or otherwise misplaced. However, others had been under rocks or in crates. Some were even found in the homes of the owner’s neighbors.

“Hmm, suspicious,” Surprise hissed as she stroked her chin with a finger.

Silver imagined herself in a crime noire, dimming the light of the sun to make the scene look extra grim and foreboding. For herself she imagined one of those classic brown overcoats the detectives often wore, and she even threw in a bit of rain for good measure. With the setting established, she decided it was time to speak. “Agreed. If I had to guess, it looks like someone is trying to set up these people for crimes they didn’t commit. To what end, I wonder.”

“That depends on how long these thefts have been going on,” Surprise offered.

“How so?”

“Well, if it started before we left to save the day, that probably means a spy or some other nefarious bad guy in need of a good whoopin’. Buuut, if it happened after, that could be something else, right?”

Silver, after giving the matter a bit of thought, nodded. “Good instincts.”

Surprise beamed in pride from the compliment.

Although Silver had taken note of several flaws in Surprise’s theory, she let them all pass because of the simple fact that this was a game. It made the most sense for problems to happen while the player was in proximity to solve them. Then again, she had observed a small backtracking compulsion with things like activating the eco vents. Still, she got the impression that this was not meant to be a core gameplay mechanic and so decided to go with her gut feeling. Besides, now that Surprise had said it out loud, it was likely already true.

“So we should form a profile of persons most likely to cause trouble,” Silver concluded.

“Right.” Surprise’s nod caused her poofy curls to bounce. She then pulled up a notepad and pencil. “Okay, so who do we know?”

The two quickly dismissed the few named characters from the original Sandover. None of those old codgers had the temperament or the ability to pull off something this elaborate. The muse seemed more likely than the sculptor try anything. The mayor could have used agents to act on his behalf. On the other hand, he seemed too cowardly for such a risky plan, not to mention he lacked any logical motive.

“So that just leaves the new characters,” reasoned Surprise. “So, who have we seen that sticks out as the sort who might want to steal stuff and mess with people?”

“Better question,” Silver countered with a snap of her fingers. “Who have we not seen?” she turned a self-assured grin up at Surprise, ready for her friend to reach the same conclusion so that they might share a ‘eureka’ moment.

“Uh…” Surprise trailed off as she eyed the list. “I’m not sure we have enough paper for that.”

Silver’s expression fell as her face met her palm. I really should have seen that coming.

“Hey! Why don’t we ask those two over there?”

Silver lifted her face up to behold a pair of green-haired children. The boy and girl were fraternal twins, each dressed in simple clothes, but both carrying sacks of supplies that clanked and jingled as they walked. The snickering younglings came to a halt, frozen like deer in headlights as they locked eyes with the women.

“Hey Kaat,” chirped Surprise. “Hey Kai. You guys wanna help us find the ones who-hey! Where you going?” she called after the now fleeing twins.

“In hindsight, I should have seen this coming as well,” deadpanned Silver.

“Wat?”

“After them,” ordered the smaller woman. She and her larger compatriot quickly fell into pursuit of their quarry.

The twins were actually quite good. They quickly shimmied their way up some vines onto a roof, where they proceeded to demonstrate their masterful parkour as they jumped from roof top to roof top. The women, however, were better, and quickly closed in. Kai tried distracting their pursuers by throwing his sack of loot behind him. It worked in forcing Silver to slow down to catch the bag before its contents could be damaged in the fall, but Surprise was not so easily distracted… for once.

The twins tried to take a detour by sliding through a second story window. This caused them to pause when the saw the strange getup the (presumably) married trio were wearing. Surprise, upon arriving hot on their heels, was also stopped in her tracks at the sight of costumes resembling Gol, Maia, and a Maia with inverted colors. The second Maia had been strapped down to a table while Gol stood dumbstruck with a flogger in hand.

“Go home, children,” the man dressed as regular Maia requested politely. He was leaning at the second Maia’s feet with a feather held threateningly in hand, struggling to keep himself stoic and in control.

Kaat and Kai were the first to come to their senses and jump out the opposite window. Surprise eventually snapped to as well, waved a polite goodbye to the trio engaging in ‘healthy’ marital experimentation, and followed after.

“Just dump the loot,” Kai said to his sister. They’d left the village, scaling down the craggy cliffs to the beaches below. “You’re slowing us down.”

“Nuh uh! I’ve got the valuable stuff,” Kaat argued. “If they catch us with this, then we’ll really be in trouble.”

“How is that not trouble enough?” Kai gestured to the white steamroller barreling at them at a speed of roughly 88 mph.

“Okay fine!” Kaat relented and readied to toss her bag to the side. However, before she could manage, a silvery blur darted from the shadows of the rocks and tackled her to the sandy ground.

“Sis!” Kai’s moment of distraction was short lived, for the steamroller continued on her track until she collided with him. The steamroller’s subsequent confusion caused her to lose track of her footing, leading to the two rolling on the ground as momentum carried them a short ways along the beach, leaving quite the skid.

“Kai!” Kaat shouted, even as Silver pinned her to the ground like she was making an arrest. “You alright?”

“Ugh. Yeah,” Kai groaned. “Good thing I landed on something-” *Pomf* “-soft?” He felt around his immediate vicinity and found his torso almost completely engulfed in feminine softness. While he was still a few years off from being able to fully appreciate such a predicament, his cheeks did tint pink. “Uhhh…”

“Gotch’ya!” cheered Surprise, throwing her arms around the boy and pulling him deeper into her pillowy prison. “Whoa boy! You guys gave us a workout,” she said as she pulled herself up.

“Agreed,” Silver panted, not being as gentle with her captive. “So you’re the ones who have been stealing.”

“Nuh uh!” Kaat countered eloquently. “It wasn’t us.”

Silver reached for bag she’d brought and pulled it open, revealing quite the collection of miscellaneous items. “So where did this come from?” Her tone dared the children to argue their case.

“We, uh, found it!” Kai asserted. “Yeah. We’d, uh, found it and were bringing it back to the village.” He beamed, clearly pleased with his masterful deception.

“Uh huh,” Silver replied, sounding less than convinced. “So how did you know which bag had the valuables?”

“Well obviously we checked inside,” Kaat said as if it should have been obvious. “How else would we know that these were the stolen items that needed to be returned? See, we had been playing on the beach-”

“Like mom said we could!” Kai interjected.

“Right. We’d been playing on the beach when-”

“Why’d you run?” Surprise asked conversationally, her tone free of accusation.

“… wat?”

“Agreed,” added Silver. “If you were doing the responsible thing by returning what you had merely found, then why did you run?”

Kaat rolled her eyes. “Well obviously it was because we knew you’d jump to conclusions and assume we were guilty just because we happened to have the stuff.”

“Typical,” Kai scoffed. “Everyone always assumes we’re the bad guys. Missing pie? Blame us. Someone unsorted Kacey’s charts? Blame us. Kale is late for a meeting because he misplaced his armor? Blame us. Kiera’s underwear gets strung up from the flag pole? Blame us. It’s so unfair.”

Surprise and Silver shared a look, with the former struggling not to giggle.

“Wow. Those sound like some funny pranks,” offered Surprise before surrendering to the snickers. “You two must be super smart to pull all that off.”

“You bet we are!” Kaat beamed. A silence fell, save for the washing of the waves and a chirping cricket. “… wait.”

Given that Kai’s arms were presently confined, he was unable to facepalm. Instead, he settled for the next best thing and smacked his head into Surprise’s bosom.

“Seems you are not that smart, after all,” Silver gloated. “Pranks and youthful hijinx are one thing, but this was going too far.”

“No it wasn’t,” Kai argued. “Everyone’s been so busy worrying about the lurkers, we thought giving them something else to think about would help make things more normal.”

“That’s a nice thought, but that just added to their worries,” Surprise countered. “You got everyone fearing that there was a spy in the village. Worse, if people found their possessions in their neighbor’s homes, it could have led to something even more serious if they decided to take their anxieties out on each other.”

The twins blinked at this revelation. “We… did?” At the confirmation from their elders, the siblings hung their heads in shame.

“No!” Silver asserted, trying to avoid meeting Surprise’s puppy-dog eyes. “Definitely not.”

“Pleaaase!”

“They broke the rules. They should face the consequences.”

“But they didn’t mean any harm. They were just not being too smart about helping. It was a mistake.”

“It was a learning experience. And I believe they’ll learn this life lesson much better after a solid spanking.”

The twins flinched.

Surprise scoffed. “Well you would know.”

Silver scowled back.

“Oh come ooon. They didn’t mean any harm, and they’re clearly sorry.” Surprise gestured down to the pleading faces of the twins. At the very least, they’d learned enough to keep their mouths shut to avoid saying anything stupid.

After a long moment, Silver gave a defeated sigh and released Kaat. “You wanted us to play tag while we were investigating,” she instructed firmly. Both children listened attentively, their delinquent instincts recognizing instantly when a scheme was being shared. “We followed you to the beach, where you tripped over the missing items. They’d been left strewn about, possibly after being collected by an animal with a fondness for shiny things.” The twins beamed, loving this plan. “We,” Silver gestured at herself, “had some spare bags from previous quests, so we stayed behind to keep searching for clues and sent you back with the items. A simple and straightforward story,” she assessed before leaning close and lowering her voice to a threatening level. “Don’t forget.”

The twins nodded fervently. Once Kai had been released, the youngsters gathered up the items and quickly scaled the cliffs to the village above.

“Softy,” Surprise teased.

“Says you,” the smaller woman replied as she watched the children disappear up the cliff. She tensed when a soft pair of lips planted a warm, wet peck on her cheek.

Surprise giggled, crouching down to be at eye level with Silver. “I like soft things.”

Silver struggled to keep herself from smiling and averted her gaze. “I gave into peer pressure,” she huffed, folding her arms. “You guilted me, and I gave in.”

“Aww. Would it help if I hugged you until you felt better?” Surprise cooed, leaning ever closer into Silver’s personal space and opening her arms wide in anticipation.

“Chh,” the smaller woman scoffed. “I think you already know the answer to gah!” Silver gasped as she was pulled into a fierce embrace. The effect of Surprise’s warm breasts was almost instant, erasing the façade of Silver’s discontent. She relaxed into her lover’s embrace, reciprocating as best she could by wrapping her arms around Surprise’s.

Surprise nuzzled Silver’s cheek from behind, making a sound that was almost a purr. “Were you just putting on a show so I’d hug you?” she teased.

Silver chuckled and returned the nuzzling. “I dare you to prove it.”

Surprise merely giggled and contented herself with the close contact.

***

The players returned to the village at roughly the same time, meeting up at the guardhouse with their quests complete. Moonlight had gotten herself dressed and reported that the Forbidden Jungle was safe(r) and that all of the defenders in the area had been successfully recovered, barring one that had asked for a little time of to recuperate. All stared at the orange woman and her ottsel, knowing or at least suspecting the kinds of shenanigans they’d gotten up to. Thomas and Honey were far less interesting, given that they had done nothing to feel guilty about. Sentinel Beach had been cleared and, as they were giving their report, Kacey and her defenders were already making their way back to the village. Surprise did not look the least bit suspicious as her eyes constantly shifted back and forth. Silver had insisted on giving the report and everyone just pretended not to notice how certain parts made the taller woman snicker.

“Glad to see everything is in order,” Kale thanked. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we have anything to reward you for your efforts. I mean, you guys aren’t planning on going on any other adventures anytime soon, right?”

Thomas wobbled his hand uncertainly.

“Hypothetically, what would we have gotten if we’d completed these quests earlier?” Moonlight asked on behalf of the others.

Kale tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I suppose we could spare some armor; something light yet durable. Smithy had been bragging about this new design he’d come up with, but now he’s working full time on designing the wall.”

“That’s fair,” Moonlight accepted. She was just too impatient to wait for next time to learn what would happen. Then again, it was probable that next time would be influenced by their latest experiences and become something completely different.

Kale sighed and pulled away from the table. “Well then, I guess I’m all out of excuses. Tell mom I’ll be home for dinner in just a bit.”

“I know she will be happy to hear it,” Luna offered and the players departed.

They took the long way back to Samos’ hut, exploring the expanded village at a more casual pace. They described their latest adventures in fuller detail to one another, properly confessing their sins this time and earning uproarious laughter and subdued snickers in the process. There was some discussion on what further changes could be made to the game, along with arguments that expanding things too much would ruin the current aesthetic. Thomas laughed, enjoying lording his knowledge over the others. However, discussions slowly declined as the party chose to just enjoy the way the light of the setting sun cast shadows across the humble village. It was a peaceful ordeal.

In following game logic, dinner did not start until after they had arrived. Samos and Kiera had arrived as well, much to Kara’s delight as she set up everyone’s plates. Kiera’s younger siblings fought for the right to tell of their own little adventures, all while competing with Surprise for no other reason than she wished to prove she could talk the loudest. The players switched to more pedestrian conversation topics, discussing the logistics of this new wall and how things were going to work now that the villages had made the commitment to start working together.

Kiera caused quite a stir when she’d insisted on moving to sit in Thomas’ lap, which was only compounded when Kara decided to prove that her husband’s lap made for the better seat. Naturally, this set off a rather heated debate over who had the most comfortable lap. Kiera was utterly embarrassed, but those too young to know any better were inevitably swept up in the zeal of it all, playing musical chairs with those who’d volunteered as contenders. Thomas, for the sake of his own sanity, resigned his lap so that the naïve youngsters would keep their distance.

And so it went until dinner came to an end. The NPCs left for bed while the players simultaneously received a signal that the game was ready to end. All that was worth doing had been done, and there was no real reason to continue. The players were a little sad to see the game end, but could not really argue. Besides, there was always next time.

Been working on this little epilogue ever since the proper story ended, but I’m glad I finally made the time for it. I just wanted to further explore this modded world before the events of the second game happen and destroy it all. Fanfiction is fun and following games like this has really helped to get my creative juices flowing, so expect more of this sort in the future.

That’s all for now and thank you for reading.

As with most games, Thomas, Moonlight, Luna, Silver, Honey, and Surprise had replayed Jak and Daxter numerous times. The presence of the dream’s intent-generated mods ensured that the game actively worked to keep itself entertaining. Often they’d switch on who would play the roles of Jak and Daxter respectfully, although the ladies generally preferred Thomas taking the lead. He suspected it was because a guy taking charge was seen as going against the Equestrian trope, but he didn’t mind. He was just happy to go on adventures with those he cared for.

Today, however, the only born-human was a little anxious. Today was the day they were finally going to play the sequel. Thomas wasn’t nervous for his own sake, despite the ladies once more insisting that he reprise his role as Jak. This was all a dream, one Luna had designed to never harm them, and he trusted her. Rather, Thomas was a little anxious about Luna’s reaction to some of the gameplay elements and themes of the game. Even after all this time, it still felt awkward to bring up Nightmare Moon.

It was a few hours before sun up, and Luna had long disrobed after the night’s affairs. The other mares in the harem were so excited that they could barely sleep, leading to the suggestion of using a sleeping potion. Thomas, after much internal debate, had found the nerve to pull Luna into the bathroom and away from prying ears.

“Yes?” she inquired patiently, looking down on the diminutive human.

Thomas exhaled. He’d yet to share his concerns with her all this time, procrastinating in the hopes that she and the others would be content with just the first game. Still, now that the time had come, he knew he could wait no longer. “I’ve been putting this off for a while, but it’s time I told you why I’ve been a little… reluctant to play Jak 2.”

“Ah. So you were avoiding this.”

Thomas pursed his lips. “You knew?”

Luna smiled and placed a comforting hand over his shoulder. “You are not as good at hiding your emotions as you might think.” She used a thumb to straighten his hair. “Especially regarding your concern for others.”

Thomas slumped his shoulders in defeat. Treat it like a Band-Aid and just get it over with, he told himself one last time. “Jak 2 has dark eco powers infused into him with a running theme of them slowly corrupting him while turning him into a literal monster,” he confessed. “This is further explored in Jak 3, but with the addition of light powers to balance it all out.”

Luna blinked, saying nothing for several, agonizingly long seconds. “And you were concerned this would upset me?”

Thomas nodded, feeling his guts twist as his eyes averted from Luna’s. He hated the idea of upsetting her. He knew of what she’d gone through, but in what felt like only the most superficial sense. His emotions had always seemed different from other people, and ponies were especially alien, making his ability to empathize all the more questionable. After all this time, he still didn’t know what was crossing the line and what might be taken as patronizingly walking on eggshells. Still, he’d confessed, so at least that weight had left his shoulders… only to be replaced by another?

Luna had knelt down to her knees and embraced Thomas, pulling him into her voluptuous chest. His head rested on her collarbone as he listened to her heartbeat and felt her hands upon his back. She wasn’t wearing any perfume, which meant his nose was treated to her natural smell. Her body was soft and comfortingly warm. It felt nice being this close, which he hoped meant he hadn’t pissed her off.

“I am grateful that you were so concerned for me, but you should have said something sooner.”

Thomas chuckled. “I’d thought myself into a loop,” he explained. “Do I tell and make you think I’m being overly cautious? Do I not tell and risk surprising you with something potentially traumatic? Is trying to avoid trauma just doing more harm in the long run?”

“You were having a Thomas moment.”

“I hate how that’s still a thing,” he deadpanned.

“I know,” Luna whispered, and goosed him for good measure. She pulled back enough to look him directly in the eye. “Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary. Although I will never forget what happened to me, I feel safe in saying that you, my sister, and all of our friends have helped me put those events in the past.”

At Luna’s convincing display of confidence, Thomas exhaled his immense relief. “That’s good to hear.”

Then, with Thomas still confined in her boobelicious embrace, Luna lit her horn and opened the door, revealing everyone leaning in close for prime eavesdropping.

“Don’t move,” Surprise whispered urgently. “Her vision is based on movement, maybe.”

Thomas regarded the lot of them with more confusion than disapproval.

Chuckling, Luna shook her head and offered out her hand. “Pay up.”

“Aww,” the mares of the harem all whined.

“I think I have a few bits in my armor,” Moonlight relented and left for where her armor had been set.

“And I left my wallet in my other loin cloth,” Surprise insisted, quickly straightening up and bouncing her boobs as a result.

“I don’t even want to know how that works,” Silver grumbled from atop Honey’s shoulders.

“Ah know, and you definitely don’t,” agreed Honey.

Confused, Thomas looked back up at the alicorn. “Explain?”

Luna grinned back. “Your reluctance to play this game was rather obvious, so we had a bet over the reason.” She straightened up and beamed in pride. “I had correctly guessed the increased prominence of dark eco and that you were afraid of my reaction.”

“I thought it was violence,” Moonlight said from across the room. “I may not like the idea of killing, but I think you’re overestimating just how sensitive we all are.”

“I thought it was because you were having too much fun playing the first game,” Surprise chirped. “Also, I heard that some game sequels can really suck, so maybe this one might, too.”

Thomas exhaled his exacerbation. These mares were just too much sometimes. “I’ve actually heard some people argue that last one-”

Surprise beamed with renewed hope.

“-but I still liked it.”

Surprise made a sound like a deflating balloon.

“I drew the short straw in thinking we were all just imagining things,” Silver admitted.

“And Ah did the smart thing ‘n’ abstained,” Honey bragged. “After Luna picked the obvious winner, it jus’ didn’t seem sensible ta go throwin’ away money.”

“And here you go,” Moonlight said, dropping a ten-bit coin into Luna’s hand.

The Princess clenched her fist around the coin and shot it up into the air. “Victory!”

“Only ten bits?” Thomas asked, unsure if he should feel disappointed about such a small bet.

“Winning is its own reward,” Luna explained succinctly before herding her quasi-herd back to the bed. Once she’d lowered the moon for the new day, they all had some serious sleeping to do.

***

When next they were conscious, the mares and man were all standing around the void as the world came into focus, shimmering to existence all around them. There was the same familiar village with the same familiar beach. The sea was a dark blue, and the noon sun was already warming their skin. They’d all assumed their human forms and clothes, which had gone unchanged since the first time. Luna had also volunteered to reprise her role as the group’s Daxter, shrinking down to her rodent state. Apparently, she’d come to appreciate the form, enjoying the challenge of no longer being able to conquer foes simply by falling on them. That said, she had given her ottsel form a ‘modest’ boob job, necessitating a sports bra.

With their game avatars set, the players all walked forward as narration played. The grass crunched as it came into existence beneath their feet. Thatched rooves shaded their path from the sun, and a bridge took shape directly before them. The NPCs of the game all waved in polite greetings as their heroes walked by. This, the dream told them, was the opening cutscene, and there was a particular place they were meant to go. Trusting in Luna’s magic, they set forth along this predetermined path until Samos’ hut came into view.

The old place had grown considerably since they’d first seen it. All of their desired mods had expanded the once simple structure to accommodate the sage’s extended family. This time, however, the mods seemed far fewer, with the most prominent change being the construction of the ramp and the placement of the giant Precursor Ring.

“I think this is actually one of the smaller huts we’ve seen,” Thomas commented with amusement. “I’m thinking he’s only got one wife in this version, right?”

“Boring!” Surprise declared. “I liked the one where Kiera had a twin.”

“She was a clone,” Moonlight reminded. “And I didn’t. That storyline was needlessly complicated and didn’t really contribute anything.”

“It contributed Kiera making out with herself, and I think that was more than enough,” Surprise argued haughtily.

Walking around the hut, the players approached the nearest end of the ramp where the machine that had been found with the door was being kept. It was a boxy vehicle with two rows of seating. In the back was a ring made of Precursor metal with tesla coils extending outward. Kiera was bent over with her ass wiggling from side to side while her upper half was inside one of the vehicle’s side compartments. No doubt she was performing some last-minute adjustments for whatever was being planned, but that made the view no less distracting.

“Looks like a stunt ramp,” observed Surprise.

Luna folded her little arms over her proportionally impressive chest. “Previous Precursor doors were merely regular doors with eco keys. Based on the setup”—she gestured at the ramp—“this must be an exceptionally powerful teleporter gate.”

“That’s the working theory,” Kiera replied as she backed herself out and closed the compartment door. She smiled gleefully and waved at the players. Her eyes lingered the longest on Thomas. “Glad to see you guys made it.”

“Eh. We had nowhere else ta be,” remarked Honey, stretching and pushing her chest out to look cool.

“Today’s the big day, Thomas,” Samos commented as he approached. The bird perched upon the log atop his head shuffled about. “I hope you are prepared”—he averted his eyes guiltily—“for whatever happens.”

“Red flag,” Silver whispered, and the others nodded.

“Ah hope this ain’t a twist where Samos was actually the real bad guy all along,” Honey said. “Ah hate when that happens.”

“I think I’ve figured out most of this machine,” Kiera began, not hearing what the players had said. “It interacts somehow with that large Precursor Ring. I just hope we didn’t break anything moving it here to the lab.” She slipped into the machine’s driver’s seat and made herself comfortable.

Seeing where this was going, the others ascended the scaffolding, and all took their seats in the vehicle. Thomas tried sitting beside Kiera, given that was where his character was meant to be, only for Surprise to jump in and steal the spot. However, before he could get too mad, she had already grabbed his wrist and yanked him into her lap. Kiera giggled at his manhandling while Thomas resigned himself to a fate of booby back pillows. At least he still technically kept his spot, even as Luna hopped onto his lap.

The main console resembled that of an airplane, with numerous knobs and blinking lights. Most of it was made of mundane parts. However, a few pieces that stood out were Precursor in origin, looking more like regal decorations than functioning components.

“Ooh,” Surprise cooed. “So many buttons.” She reached out with the intent of pressing an especially shiny piece of Precursor metal.

“Surprise!” Samos snapped. “Don’t touch anything!”

“Aww. But I wanna,” she whined, making the others giggle at her antics.

“Though the Precursors vanished long ago, the artifacts they left behind can still do great harm,” the old man lectured. “Case in point.” He pointed at Luna, only to pull back before she could bite him.

“But they could also do great good,” Kiera countered optimistically. “If you figure out how to use them.” Her enthusiasm deflated momentarily as she looked back at the hut. “It’s a shame that Mom and the others couldn’t be here for the big day.”

“Yes, well, maintaining good relations with the other villages is a full-time task,” Samos explained, not sounding evasive at all. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

The players all exchanged wary looks as the old man slipped into his seat in the vehicle’s back row.

“That said, I’ve had some experience with such things.” Samos then looked meaningfully at Thomas. “I know you can make it work.”

Thomas gave a sigh, accepting that he was in for the long haul with this one. He reached out and touched the giant red gem. The machine instantly sprang to life as the engine revved. One of the other Precursor artifacts in the console opened up, revealing floating parts that moved in some kind of orbit.

“Your fingers are as magic as ever,” Luna commented.

“Interesting,” Kiera awed, clearly enraptured with whatever this device was doing. “It appears to be reading out some preset coordinates.” She squealed giddily, barely able to contain her excitement at the imminent discovery of the unknown.

The back of the vehicle also sprang to life, spinning as tesla coils shot bolts of blue lightning at the Ring. More ominously, the sky had suddenly gone dark as the very ground shook beneath them. Each bolt caused the Ring to stir, with more and more pieces flying away from the main structure and into a new orbit. In seconds the outer section of the Ring started to spin, shattering the wooden fixtures that had held it. The Ring floated in place as its interior shined with a violet light that almost rippled like water.

“Well, that’s pretty,” Surprise commented.

“Finally,” a deep, gravelly voice announced. “The last Rift Gate has been opened.” At the conclusion of his words, a swarm of dog-sized bugs began flying out of the portal. Their bodies were a dark gray with spots of glowing yellow on their foreheads. They chirped and squawked as they flew out in every direction, heralding the arrival of their master.

“Less pretty!” Surprise squeaked in fright while wrapping her arms protectively around Thomas and Luna.

“Should we be sitting here?” Moonlight asked anxiously, reaching for the sword she’d left back in the waking world.

“So this is how it happened,” Samos blurted in absentminded awe.

“We are going to discuss this later,” Silver vowed.

The creature that emerged next was nothing short of an abomination. It was immense, filling out the portal almost completely. Its four eyes were an empty gold with numerous spikes arranged around its large head. One of its reptilian claws made a fist as it declared in its booming, belching voice, “You cannot hide from me, boy!”

“Wanna bet!” Thomas shouted without thinking.

“Do something, Thomas!” Kiera begged.

“Quick! Start pushing buttons!” Surprise said in a panic. Unfortunately, nothing she did had any effect, save for attracting the abomination’s attention.

“See you later, bug face,” Thomas declared as he pressed the same artifact from before.

All aboard were pushed back by the g-forces as the vehicle rocketed forward. The abomination roared in frustration as it attempted to swipe at them with its smaller forearms. It missed, and the vehicle entered the portal in a flash of light. It was hard to keep track of things after that. The vehicle spun out of control while a rainbow tunnel flashed all around them. The players attempted to hold onto one another, but that quickly proved impossible once the vehicle had been torn apart by the turbulence. Then everything went white and quiet.

When Thomas next awoke, he was lying in a small crater in the middle of a metal street. His body was weak, and it was difficult to keep his balance. “Can’t even fight?” he asked himself wearily. When his eyes adjusted to the new light, he found himself somewhere in a city. Gone was the rustic charm of Sandover. In its place were distant towers of metal and ugly boxy buildings. Even the air was so bad that it made the man briefly fear he might get cancer just from staying outside too long.

A crowd of people had formed around the crater. The people were curious, but still kept their distance. Their clothes consisted of the same six or seven designs, no doubt the result of mass production. Like the buildings, Thomas realized, this place seemed to favor function over fashion. The obvious exception being the oversized palace in the center of the city. Seriously. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to build a place so big that it needed additional skyscrapers just to hold it in place? And given that this city had been at war for who knows how long, each of those towers were serious liabilities just waiting to be exploited.

Taking a break from raving over architecture, Thomas quickly spun around to see where the others might be. They were nowhere to be found, and moving so quickly had made him dizzy. The crowd also seemed frightened by his sudden movement. Thomas tried to ask for help, but his voice had failed him. Dammit!

A commotion came from the crowd as they began to part. In their place emerged an entourage of soldiers armed with rifles and wearing full-body crimson armor. Even their long ears were covered in plates. Leading them was a man with dark tattoos around his eyes and a face that would only become more punchable if it ever smiled. One gesture from him and the crowd lowered their heads in fear and dispersed.

“There he is,” one of the guards called. “Don’t move. You’re under arrest.”

Thomas merely scowled with all of the defiance he could muster. He knew well who this man was and what was coming next. These were things demanded by the game, and he had no way of changing that.

The leader stopped a couple feet away and looked Thomas over. “Hmm. You’re shorter than I expected.”

Thomas, accepting that he had nothing to lose, decided to reply in the most civil and polite way that Erol deserved, and spat in his face. Erol, with equal civility, knocked Thomas out with the butt of his gun.

***

When Thomas next woke up, he was strapped down to some kind of operating chair. He could vaguely make out the voices of two very angry men nearby, but their words were hazy. Someone grabbed his hair, but his eyelids remained too heavy for him to see. Still, he had a reasonable idea of who these people were.

Not a moment too soon, the two men had departed, and Luna and Honey moved in. The ottsel scurried off a floating platform as it landed nearby, leaving Honey to carry the travel bag. Luna rushed up to Thomas, fretting as she examined him. “Thomas. Thomas!” she shouted. “Faust, dammit, what did they do to you?”

Thomas tried to sit up, to answer, but words failed him.

“Easy there, Sugar,” assured Honey as she scratched her Princess behind the ear.

Luna calmed. “You don’t appear to be hurt, no more than what I will do to them,” she said darkly. “Thomas, I need you to listen to me.” She cupped his cheeks in her tiny paws. “There was a massive skip. It’s been two years of dream time and…” She trailed off, looking over Thomas anew.

“Is it jus’ me, or did he buff out a li’l bit?” Honey asked.

“He has most certainly grown,” Luna purred sensually. “I can only assume you spent most of your incarceration lifting weights and toning your—as the youngsters say—hot bod.” She giggled as she ran her fingers along his toned frame. “Fascinating. Is this a projection of what you wish to be, or perhaps a reflection of how one or more of us might see you?”

“Probably not me,” denied Honey. “Ah like ‘em big, but Ah think this little guy’s cuter small.”

“You will hear no argument from me,” Luna replied. “But I think we’ve lost track of what matters. In this case, the imprisonment,” she reminded. “Listen to me, Thomas. I lost track of you and the others when the machine was destroyed. Honey landed with me, and we were able to avoid capture, but I fear the others may have met the same fate as you.” She paused, but Thomas remained unresponsive.

“He ain’t actually hurt, is he?” Honey asked.

“I don’t think so,” Luna said, sounding uncertain. “The game is dictating that he is not yet ready to move. If I am reading this correctly, we need to… trigger his response somehow.”

“Here’s a thought,” Honey said as she came in close and whispered in Thomas’ ear. “Hey there, sugar,” she greeted casually. “Now Ah know ya’ll are sittin’ there all nice ‘n’ comfy like, but there’s somethin’ Ah figured you should know.” She looked around the empty cell block. “See, Ah have it on good authority that the fella who runs things around here likes ta swing by and”—she leaned even closer and lowered her volume—“give all the prisoners a good spankin’.”

“I’M GONNA KILL PRAXIS!” Thomas roared, even as he laughed on the inside.

The woman and ottsel jumped back in alarm.

Luna leveled a flat stare at Honey.

“Well, it worked, didn’t it,” she countered.

“Never mind.” Luna scuttled over to one of the wrist restraints. “Right now, we need to find a way to disable these locks. Hmm. They appear to be rather strong. Much stronger than they would need, even.”

“How so?” asked Honey as she came in for her own inspection.

“Based on the thickness of the metal, these restraints would be able to hold you, even in your pony form.”

Neither of the ladies managed to notice Thomas’ rapidly accelerating pulse or quickened heartbeat.

“… damn,” Honey replied, clearly impressed.

“Damn, indeed. Let me see. If my understanding of terminology is correct, I do believe these restraints were designed to handle a… a superhuman.”

On cue, Thomas sprang up, tearing the restraints right off the chair. Simultaneously, his skin and hair had turned a sickly pale white. Long dark claws grew from his fingers while his body sparked with purple lightning. He’d even gained about a few inches in height. His eyes, though. His eyes had turned black as pitch with tiny beads of violet in place of pupils.

The other players jumped back, understandably alarmed by this transformation. Honey held up her fists in battle readiness. She could tell that this thing that looked like Thomas was itching for a fight, and she had no plans of going down easy. Luna, by contrast, kept herself composed and nearly serene.

“Uh, Luna?” Honey asked as the ottsel took slow, careful steps to the living tesla coil. “What’re you doin’?”

“Thomas,” Luna called, keeping her voice steady and clear. “It’s me, Luna. Can you hear me?”

Dark Thomas stumbled off the chair, groaning and growling as he struggled for balance. He was still a little dizzy, and his body felt weird. Were his proportions off? He looked at Luna in confusion before trailing up to Honey. At seeing the bigger woman’s battle readiness, he then looked at himself, at his clawed, sparking hands, and recoiled in dread. His pulse skyrocketed as he became overcome with alarm. However, before he could be completely carried away by the panic of his transformation, he heard Luna’s voice.

Luna had begun softly singing a melody. ‘This is Halloween’ from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Her rhythm was gentle, treating the words as a lullaby. She needed something that she knew would reach his psyche as something meaningful, and this seemed to be doing the job. When she was certain she had his attention, she sang even louder, motioning with her hand for Thomas to join her. Even Honey, thanks to the dream, was able to instantly learn the song and join in. Seconds later, Thomas had calmed enough to revert to normal, collapsing into Honey’s arms.

“Whoa there, sugar,” Honey hushed as she gently lowered him down. “This ain’t exactly the place ta be gettin’ all frantic like.” She gestured to the seemingly bottomless pit that surrounded their little platform.

“This was what you feared, wasn’t it?”

Finally regaining his strength, Thomas looked up at Luna and nodded.

“The darkness has imbued you with considerable power,” she replied sternly. “Though you did not choose this, were this reality, I fear you would have to be locked up for your own good.”

Honey’s expression could only be described as WTF. “Is that really appropriate right now?”

Thomas was still too dazed to react.

“You’d have to be caged,” Luna continued, ignoring Honey. “Or at least be given a leash and collar.” That caused the others to perk up in interest. “And, given my past experience with such things, it would likely fall to me to hold that leash.”

Thomas chuckled and shook his head while Luna remained masterfully stoic. Honey’s expression went unchanged.

“Same question, but a whole different context,” the tall woman added.

“What? ‘Tis not my fault the powers of darkness imbue their hosts with such… alluring forms.”

“Oh, for Faust’s sake!”

“‘Tis true. I have it on good authority that, in venues where not even the light of my stars can reach, there resides a most uncouth ilk who find my dress as Nightmare Moon to be most”—she licked her lips—“enticing.”

“Ah swear!” Honey shouted. “One more word, and Ah’ll sit on you!”

Luna assumed a crane stance. “You may try, but I must warn you. I have access to Thomas’ irredeemably perverse mind, and I am currently formulating a hamster joke.”

No longer able to restrain himself, Thomas finally found his strength and burst out laughing. He didn’t even mind that Honey dropped him on the metal floor. The growing pain in his sides was too much to ignore.

“That’s it. Ferget all o’ ya’ll,” Honey declared as she stomped across the bridge to the main area. “Ah’m gonna go save the others by mahself. Ya’ll can jump in the bottomless pit fer all Ah care.”

Eventually, Thomas and Luna were able to get control of themselves. When they did, the ottsel had climbed into the man’s lap and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck.

“Thanks,” he whispered and hugged her back. “I needed that.”

“Of course you did,” Luna replied poshly. “Now, you can work on repaying me over the course of our new adventure.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Fair enough.”

And so begins Jak 2. Nothing of particular interest happened during the Daxter spinoff, so I decided to skip. The opening with the discussion about dark powers was the first major hurdle, and I felt like both Thomas and I learned a lot from it. I really have been walking on eggshells when it comes to Luna’s past, and that’s just not healthy or interesting. The past hurts, but we’re meant to move on from it. Being me, I somehow came to the conclusion that the best way to go about this would be to show evil as sexy, so to speak.

For the longest time, the biggest reason for not doing the Jak sequels was the admission that I just couldn’t think of ways to fill the game’s plot holes that weren’t just ripped off of Sons of Damos /story/289333/sons-of-damas This remains to be the best/only Jak fanfic I’ve read. As such, I have decided to simply get Tatsurou’s permission to use some of his ideas and just do everything else in my power to keep this story my own.

(1) Although I don’t recall it ever being mentioned in Sons of Damos proper, I did discuss Tatsurou’s head canon with him. He said that the metal heads only really wanted the Precursor Stone and so focused exclusively on Haven. The cities featured in Jak X stayed out of the war, without even offering aid to Haven, for fear of provoking the metal heads. I agree that this is the most sensible explanation. However, this will be one of those cases where I distinguish my story from Tatsurou’s by elaborating where neither he nor the games did.

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“How should I start?” Thomas asked his diminutive lover as they stood upon the dreary platform in the dungeon.

“With these.” Luna hopped over to the bag Honey had dropped and opened it. “These are clothes we managed to find on our way here. Hopefully, they fit.”

Thomas reached into the bag and pulled out the first garment he touched. He stretched out and revealed a lacey black thong before him. Now, it was his turn to look at Luna with a WTF expression.

The ottsel rolled her eyes. “If you could not tell from the size, that one was clearly meant for Surprise.”

“Ah.” Thomas took another look at the thing, confirming it was indeed too big for him. “My excuse is that I was recently injected with dark energy and that my mind has been left fuzzy as a result,” he deadpanned.

Grinning, Luna shook her head good-naturedly and pulled out his real clothes, as well as a new communicator. “Just hurry and change. We need to find the others.”

“Oh, right. They’re here too,” Thomas recalled while complying. Seeing that he’d gained Honey’s attention as well, he decided to take his time disrobing, swaying his body around in whatever way got the biggest reaction from the ladies. “You said you were all split up?”

“Indeed,” Luna replied, watching his movements like a cat with a laser. “I dare say that these loathsome Krimzon guards knew exactly where we would land before we did so.”

“Possible,” Thomas agreed as he bent over, dropped his pants, and shook his bare rump for his ladies to enjoy. “Erol said I was shorter than he’d expected.” Using the chair for support, he looked over his shoulder to watch his ladies’ expression as he parted his legs and rotated his butt around. “So, clearly, they were expecting something.”

“Somethin’. Yeah,” Honey said distractedly before shaking the dumb off. “Like Luna said, we’ve been dealin’ with a time… a time… thingy.” She licked her lips.

“A time skip,” Luna corrected, never tearing her eyes from the show. “Much like in a story when a period of nothing important happens, the author skips ahead to a more relevant scene. Strangely, this particular skip seems to have affected all of us differently.”

“H-how so?” Thomas asked, momentarily distracted. His body resembled that of a professional athlete, with muscle distributed evenly across his frame. Disappointingly, his penis didn’t seem to have changed at all. Probably have Moonlight to blame for that, he mused. But no matter. He tried bending down to touch his toes.

“F-for you,”—Luna stuttered—“it may seem as if only minutes have passed since our separation. For us”—she gestured at Honey—“those two years have passed over the course of four hours.”

“Princess had ta work as an exterminator,” Honey chuckled. “Ah was a barmaid. Made decent money ‘n’ kept an ear ta the ground lookin’ fer ya’ll.”

Thomas grinned and lifted his shirt. Now fully naked, he pretended he wasn’t being ogled like a piece of eye candy while performing various warmup exercises, bending his body in every which way he could think of. “I’d played the Daxter spinoff game, but I didn’t really care for it. Didn’t expect it to sneak its way in there… or here… whatever.”

“I found it rather enjoyable,” Luna admitted. “It was most interesting to play the part of a lowly exterminator, saving the city from a menace foolishly disregarded as a nuisance. ‘Tis a shame I lost my gear on the way here, but I can go over the details in full once we’ve reunited with the others.”

Feeling as though he’d drawn out his teasing long enough, Thomas decided he was overdue to get dressed. His new outfit was similar to his old one, with the same color scheme of a blue shirt with tan trousers. He had proper boots instead of open-toed foot wraps, and his shirt had sleeves this time. The metal plates for his arms and shoulders were still present, along with the metal ring tied with leather straps over his chest. Once dressed, he hopped from foot to foot and threw a few punches, tested the feel of his new wardrobe, and acclimated in seconds. “So, where to?”

The three players started by exploring the cellblock with Luna perched on Thomas’ shoulder. The walls were an eerie, grayish green, with a strange green gas being pumped in from vents along the walls. Given that the gas had been spewing since the Baron was present, it seemed safe to assume that it wasn’t dangerous. Two stories of cell doors lined the walls, with even more down in the pit surrounding the operating table. Overlooking the pit was the platform Thomas had been held on, complete with the operating chair and a large, menacing machine positioned directly overhead. Why anyone would think it was a good idea to place such sensitive equipment in the middle of a cellblock was anyone’s guess. They checked each of the cells, hoping that even if they didn’t find their friends, they could at least get a prison riot going. Alas, all cells in this block were empty.

“Can I just bring attention back to the bottomless pit?” Thomas asked as he leaned over the side. “You know, besides the lack of railing.”

“What bug’s crawled up yer butt this time?” Honey asked casually.

“There are cell doors down there,” Thomas began. “And given that we can’t see the bottom, it implies that this prison may have been designed to hold a population that might even rival that of the city. Now, at first, that implies that whoever built this place is a tyrant who anticipated he’d have to lock up a lot of political dissidents and the like. However, given that this guy has been in power for less than a decade, and his policy is mostly shoot first and take prisoners second, this prison must have been built well before him.”

“A reasonable conclusion,” Luna assessed. “But to what end?”

“Exactly! What’s the point of a prison that can hold a thousand people when I don’t think there are even ten thousand in this city?”

“He’s got a point,” Honey agreed. “Ah mean, this place ain’t that small, but compared ta what we got back home, callin’ it a proper city does seem like a bit ‘f a stretch.”

“Sorry. Just needed to get that out of my system,” Thomas admitted. “That and all other bottomless pits we’re going to find in this building alone. We can go now.”

Once the cellblock had been used up for all forms of exploration—and the one orb that had been left lying in the corner, despite how much more valuable these things were supposed to be—they moved on through an opening in the upper wall. From there, it was the standard fare of jumping between platforms that had no rational business being where they were in order to escape this supposedly fortified prison. The alarms did eventually go off, but it took several minutes before they saw their first guard.

“Ah really hope we’re in the low-security section,” Honey whined as she snuck up behind the guard and put him in a sleeper hold. “Security this lax is jus’ beggin’ folks ta break out.” She stood and clapped her hands clean. “What’chya lookin’ at?”

“That guard,” Thomas said as an idea started to form. “Doesn’t his armor look my size?”

The woman and ottsel grinned sadistically, liking where this was going.

Thomas had to disrobe in order to fit into the guard’s armor, but it wasn’t too bad. It even came with a snazzy new rifle, a communicator to hear where all the guards were heading, and a pass that let them move through most secure areas, barring the occasional guards in need of subduing.

“Well, hello, little lady,” Honey greeted the guard that Thomas had just shocked with his rifle. “Looks like yer in quite the pickle, huh.”

“G-get away from me, you amazon freak!” the guardswoman stammered. With her helmet off, the others could see that she had rather coarse skin, dark tattoos on her face, green eyes, and dirty blonde air, but overall, she was still pretty. She tried to back away from the towering amazon, only for Luna to block her way.

“Boo!”

“Ah! Talking ottsel! Keep it away!”

“Ya know, if we had some shaving cream, we could make her look rabid,” Thomas offered.

“What do you even want from me?” the guard cried.

“I agree. We should be using the direct approach,” Luna said, grinning as the guard woman flinched. “You see, my dear, your people took some friends of mine about two years ago, around the time when those ‘comets,’”—she said with air quotes—“fell into the city. Now, if you were to tell me where they are, then I won’t have to-”

“Cellblock C-38!” the guardswoman blurted.

Luna blinked, not expecting to have gotten the answers so quickly. “How exactly did you—?”

“They’re, uh, kind of the talk of the barracks. Legendary femme fatales,” she laughed nervously. “They’re pretty, but I hear any guard that enters their cells only has a one in ten chance of coming out alive.”

The players looked curiously between each other.

“Moonlight, maybe,” Thomas allowed. “But that kind of killing doesn’t seem like Surprise’s style.”

“Have they been awake for as long as us?” Luna wondered.

“Well, I might be exaggerating a little,” the guardswoman cut back in. “But I knew this girl who went into the little one’s cell. Got kicked in the groin so hard, she needed spinal surgery. Also, my name’s Shelly, by the way. Nice to meet you, fine, um, bad guys?”

“Ah can see that,” agreed Honey. “Care ta show us the way? These halls ain’t exactly easy to navigate.”

The guardswoman pursed her lips. “Do I have a choice?”

“And here we have yet another bottomless pit,” Thomas casually indicated as he leaned over the side. “Is there some weird zoning law you guys have to comply with?”

“Um, the pit isn’t actually, uh, bottomless,” the guardswoman corrected gently.

“Really? Care to prove that?” Thomas replied with a wicked smile.

The guardswoman finally caught the hint and led them to the correct cellblock. “There they are,” she indicated at the far wall while handing over her keycard. “Cells 13, 15, and 17, And no, that arrangement isn’t a coincidence.”

Thomas hurried forward with the keycard in hand. Between the guardswoman’s ‘legends’ and Luna’s talk about this time skip, he started getting really worried about what these three might have gone through. Forgetting to ask who was in which cell, he made for the nearest, swiped the key, and entered. “Hello.” He looked around, strangely finding the cell empty. “I’m here for—GUHR!”

All of the air left Thomas’ lungs when a body swung down from the ceiling and kneed him right in the gut. He’d been knocked back, his guard armor scraping as it slid across the metal floor, but the perpetrator was on him before he could even sit up. Before he knew it, the woman with orange-tinted skin had pulled him into a headlock. “M…M…” he struggled to say, but his airway had been constrained.

“Moonlight!” Luna cried in alarm.

The barely clothed woman snapped up and grinned at what she saw. “Luna! Honey! You’re alright.” In her elation, her hold only tightened. “I’m so relieved to see you.”

“Uh, sugar. Ya might want ta let the little guy go.”

Moonlight frowned and stared down at the Krimzon guard in her grasp, only able to see the back of his un-helmeted head. “Besides them holding me captive for no apparent reason, the last guard to enter my cell thought it might be fun to goose me,” she growled, only for her smile to turn sadistic. “Sent that bitch to the hospital. And since we’re apparently escaping, we should probably subdue every one of these jerks we come across. So why is this one any different?”

Luna buried her face in her palm, unable to watch this scene unfold any further. “Because he’s Thomas.”

Moonlight froze. “He… wat?”

“Little fella stole a guard uniform ta help us get around,” Honey elaborated. “Probably not too pleased ‘bout being choked fer his trouble.”

Moonlight immediately disengaged her hold. The guard fell a short ways, coughing and sputtering before she snatched him up again and spun him around. “Thomas!”

Thomas gasped again when the air was pushed out of his lungs a second time, only now by a fierce embrace. Fighting against the strength of the orange woman’s arms, he reached around and gave her back a gentle pat. “There, there.”

“I can’t believe I just did that,” Moonlight whimpered. “I’m a terrible mare!”

“Nah. It’s all good,” Thomas allowed. “I was surprised more than hurt, anyway.”

“But I attacked you!” Moonlight asserted.

“And I shocked her in the butt,” Thomas indicated the captive guardswoman, hoping to lighten the mood. He hated seeing any of his ladies hurt. “You didn’t know it was me.”

“That’s still not something a mare should ever do to her stallion!”

Thomas merely shrugged and stole a peck of the woman’s nose, making her momentarily go cross-eyed. He laughed. “I’m just glad you’re doing alright. I was worried about you.”

“Me?” Moonlight laughed incredulously. “I’ve been stuck here worrying about you for the last four hours.”

“But not alone,” Surprise called from another cell. “Hey, guys.”

“Anytime you would like to let us out would be most appreciated,” Silver added.

Figuring Moonlight still had some things to work out, Luna scurried over and used the keycard to unlock the remaining cells. Both women wore the same loose green shirts and trousers as Moonlight. The garments did little in the way of providing coverage or support, and looked like they might slip off if their wearers moved too much. “So you have all been conscious for the full four hours?”

“Full?” Silver asked.

Luna nodded. “It appears that a time skip has taken place, possibly due to the presence of an additional game Thomas failed to inform me about.”

All eyes fell on the man. “Hey. I’m the one who just got kicked in the gut here. Ease up.”

“Sounds like ya might’ve had it comin’,” Honey offered.

Luna and Honey then caught the rest of the gang up on what had happened on their end. After evading capture, they’d gone into hiding and found work as an exterminator and barmaid, respectively. They’d made a few allies along the way, fended off a number of covert enemy incursions, as well as learned the overall state of things in this region.

Haven City, as understood by its citizens, was one of the last dwellings still standing after the invasion of monsters known as metal heads, a wide assortment of heinous creatures that were equal parts metal and flesh. There were rumors of other settlements beyond the city’s walls, but the common consensus was that such places were the homes of cowards for dropping out of the war and leaving Haven to fend for itself (1). The city was ruled by Baron Praxis, who had staged a successful coup many years back and ruled with an iron fist ever since. In fact, it was the metal bugs—a lesser variant of metal head—that Luna had been working to exterminate all this time.

As they dressed in clothes similar to their old ones, Moonlight, Silver, and Surprise described their imprisonment. Unlike Thomas, they’d also been awake for the full four hours, occupying most of their time with escape attempts. Their reputation, it seemed, was a result of their escape attempts being inferred to have happened over the entire course of their imprisonment. Curiously, each of them had been taken off to the medical wing to receive injections, which had apparently been going on for the last two years, although the reasons were never given.

“The Baron’s been working on a super soldier program to help the war effort,” Thomas offered. “And now I’ve got transformation powers when I absorb enough dark eco.”

“Yes. I recall one Count Veger describing the high mortality rates of the dark warrior program,” Luna informed. “He was arguing the merits of using light eco instead, which I might have agreed with, had he not been so self-righteous about it. Clearly, his motives are less than noble.”

Thomas nodded and spied a red crate with the Krimzon guard logo on it. He smashed it, loosing globules of dark eco onto the ground. Those globules didn’t stay idle for long before being drawn towards Thomas and being absorbed into his flesh. “Seems the program wasn’t a total failure.”

“How is that possible?” the guardswoman asked in awe.

“Oh, right. Yer still here,” remembered Honey. She looked at Thomas. “We still need her for anythin’?”

Thomas shook his head, and the woman was promptly knocked out.

“Anyway, I have no idea what this injection stuff might be about,” Thomas finished.

“We can all channel eco,” Silver reminded. “It would make sense that, whatever experiments took place here, ours would be the most successful cases.” She blinked and smacked her forehead. “Which we could have asked her about.” She gestured at the unconscious guardswoman. “If nothing else, she had probably heard rumors.”

“Mah bad.”

“It’s probably better this way,” Surprise said. “Now it’ll be a surprise!” She threw up her arms in cheer.

Figuring they had little choice in the matter, the reunited party resumed their course through the prison. Thomas had discarded the guard uniform, but kept the helmet so as to keep track of any useful chatter. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any. The jailbreaks had left the prison in utter chaos, save for a few idiots who actually found the time to talk about seeing races amidst the alarms. Apparently, the guards were mostly new recruits handling what was supposed to be a simple assignment. The players, meanwhile, continued on with their platforming across improbably positioned platforms. Every hapless guard in their path was subdued with nonlethal force. Their rifles were also left behind, on account of being overall less effective than the players’ punches.

They chatted a little about some of the things they’d gotten up to. Luna and Honey went into further detail about some of the people they’d met, including a talking lurker. The former inmates compared stories about the things they’d done to their guards, all of whom seemed to utterly lack any self-control with the prisoners, and justly paying for it as the ladies took out their frustrations. When the topic eventually got around to Thomas’ transformation, Luna was most eager to describe how dangerous he looked, complete with a sensual purr and lick of her lips. That got the former prisoners looking at Thomas with newfound intrigue.

Eventually, the players found a rather large hole in the side of the building with a floor smooth enough for them to just slide out. They dropped down about two stories to the broken cobble road below, with minimaps appearing on each of the players’ new HUDs. While Honey and Luna were loosely familiar with the things, the former prisoners tried grabbing at the images in the corners of their eyes. Thomas explained the new feature’s function, rationalizing that it was a representation of their character’s natural environmental awareness. Based on the decrepit state of the nearby concrete buildings, this was most likely the poor part of town. Thankfully, they had come out in a dead-end alley with no pedestrians to witness their escape.

“These guys don’t look very happy,” Surprise commented upon seeing her first civilian. It was a woman with a lime green top and black hair that came down to her jawline.

“They’re being oppressed by a totalitarian regime with an imminent threat of invasion by monsters,” Thomas informed. “You wouldn’t be happy about that, either.”

The group continued on their walk, taking note of the electric billboards lining the upper levels of the buildings. Additionally, there were numerous vehicles flying overhead that the players all instantly identified as zoomers. Rather than a patchwork labor of love like the one Kiera had made, these were more standardized in reflection of their assembly line origins, coming in a preset variety of shapes and colors. Further, and perhaps sadder, the name ‘zoomer’ seemed to ill-fit the vehicles traveling barely faster than walking speed.

“Boo!” Surprise jeered at a random driver. “Zoomers are supposed to go zoom. What are you people even doing?”

“But if they were to fly too fast and crash, that would pose a hazard to the pedestrians below,” observed Luna.

“Then why are they not flying over their own roads and leaving this, ugh, poor excuse for a street to the pedestrians?” Silver asked as she kicked some errant debris across the uneven and cracked path.

“I don’t think this place was built with those in mind,” Moonlight observed.

“What do you mean?” Thomas asked.

“Well, city planning is a very complicated process. You have to take into account things like drainage, building spacing to handle fires, and, in this case, defense.” She studied a sleeker zoomer lazily listing along overhead. “It appears that someone built the city, and then added in zoomers as an afterthought.”

“Ah think ya might be onta somethin’,” offered Honey. “We’ve been explorin’ around a li’l bit ‘n’ there are some areas that do have separate roads.”

“Which would imply that the zoomers are a relatively recent addition that the city as a whole has yet to fully adjust to,” Moonlight theorized.

Before the players could go any further, an old man approached. He had long white hair that reached down below the belt line of his blue robes and carried a walking staff. “Hello, strangers,” he greeted in a quivering, elderly voice. “My name is Kor. May I help-”

“CUUUTE!” Surprise screamed with such a high pitch that canines for miles were set to howling. Her provocation for such a declaration was quickly made apparent when she barreled past Kor and scooped up the little boy hiding behind him. “He’s just so precious!”

The boy was dressed in blue overalls with brown hair beneath his cap and an odd insignia hanging around his neck. His head was as round as a baby’s, while his other features were not that dissimilar from Thomas’. Knowing what this meant, Thomas did not find this boy to be especially cute on his own. Although the way he was being hugged and smothered by Surprise was rather amusing, especially with how the woman’s breasts nearly engulfed the kid’s front. Thomas was about to tell his robust lover to ease up, but Moonlight had words of her own to share.

“Gimme!” And she swiped the boy from Surprise’s embrace, holding him close and nuzzling aggressively.

“Ah get a turn too, right?” inquired Honey.

“Age before beauty, mind you,” Luna politely asserted.

The boy, meanwhile, didn’t seem all that upset at the rather aggressive displays of affection. If anything, he seemed rather grateful to be at the center of attention. Hugs and nuzzles were returned accordingly, which only made the women squeal even more.

Kor reached out in a vain hope to try and extract the young boy from these affectionate kidnappers, but he thought twice when he got too close and beheld the murderous intent in their eyes.

“Sorry about them,” Thomas offered, now more amused than ever by the women’s reactions as they all crowded around the young lad. “They get like that sometimes,” he laughed, recalling the last time he’d been in the boy’s position. “Care to fill us in on a few things? We’re kind of new around here.”

“Well, my polite young friend,” Kor began gratefully. “You are a ‘guest’ of his ‘majesty,’ Baron Praxis, the ruler of ‘glorious’ Haven City.” He gestured around to the decrepit buildings.

“Guest?” Silver inquired contemptuously, managing to pull herself free from the gravity well of cuteness that had apparently ensnared the other former mares. “That is a rather funny way of putting how we were ‘invited’ to the Baron’s prison.”

Kor shook his head. “Inside a cell or inside a city, walls surround us both. We are all his prisoners.” At the sound of heavy footfalls from behind, Kor spun around and turned pale with fright. “Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I’d move on if I were you,” he said, backing away from the approaching Krimzon guards.

The lead guard addressed the players and civilians in the area. “By order of his eminence, the Grand Protector of Haven City, Baron Praxis,” he recited, not sounding the least bit convinced. “Everyone in this section is under arrest for suspicion of harboring underground fugitives. Surrender and die!” he said as if he were grinning behind his mouth cover.

“Yeah, about that,” Surprise began, somehow manifesting behind the guard without anyone noticing. Before he could utter a word of surprise, she had already sent him flying with a punch right to the face. “Even if you’d said ‘or,’ I’d still have hit you.”

Another two guards raised their weapons and readied to fire, only to receive a flying jump kick and a dump truck tackle from Moonlight and Honey, respectively.

From there, it was a free-for-all between the players and guards, with the latter receiving aerial reinforcements from a troop transport. Honey and Surprise used their size advantage to great effect with full-body tackles, while Moonlight stuck to more traditional martial arts. Silver hurried the boy back to Kor’s side before joining the fray with a spinning back-kick to the guard who’d tried to apprehend her. Even Luna, when she wasn’t weaving between everyone’s legs, found her tail whips surprisingly effective in distracting the guards long enough for one of the others to deliver the finishing blow. Thomas had managed only a few solid hits before it happened.

All of the dark eco he’d collected during the escape bubbled to the surface as his hair and skin once more turned sheet-white, and his body sparked. The transformation was exciting, filling Thomas with a sensation of boundless energy that just begged to be let out. He accommodated this urge with fierce strikes to the Krimzon guards. He could feel how each blow was stronger than normal, able to knock out most opponents with a single hit. With his claws, he swiped and tore chunks off of their armor. Feeling creative, he even grabbed two guards by the ankles and swung them around like flails against their fellows, which probably shouldn’t have been as much fun as it was.

It wasn’t long before the transport pilot decided to choose life and bugged out.

With the last guard neutralized, Thomas stumbled and felt his body stiffen. He lurched a bit, cupping his hands over his face as he felt his body spasm and revert back to normal. Transforming, it would seem, was far smoother than changing back. When he was able to move normally again, he found the other ladies staring at him in various states of awe and intrigue, but he was most concerned with what Moonlight thought. She bit down on her bottom lip while her gaze practically crawled over his form, much to Thomas’ relief, appreciation, and mild concern. Evidently, Dark Thomas was going to be a source of much entertainment for the future.

“Very impressive,” Kor offered, this time keeping one hand on the boy’s shoulder to prevent a second ‘kidnapping.’ “What you all just did was very brave. This child is very important,” he explained, tightening his grip while keeping a wary eye on the ladies.

“I can’t imagine why,” Moonlight replied while she and the others shot knowing looks at Thomas.

“Thanks for your help, but I must get this boy to safety,” Kor continued. “As for you, you may be interested to know there is an underground group waging war against Baron Praxis. Its leader, the Shadow, could use fighters like you.”

“That would certainly have been useful to know four hours ago,” Luna dryly remarked.

“Go to the slums. Find a dead-end alley near the city wall. Ask for Torn. He can help you.” Kor concluded his cryptic message before he and the boy disappeared into the crowd, leaving the players to process all that was ahead of them.

Our heroes have regrouped, escaped the prison, and have begun their adventure, proper. I’d say this is more of what people have come to expect from this story: mild to moderate action with a ton of banter. Not much more to say, other than the first level in the game is complete, and it feels good to get back into this world.

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“I sense time travel shenanigans,” Surprise chirped. “Are there time travel shenanigans? Because I’m pretty sure there are. Time travel shenanigans, that is.”

Thomas smiled. “Interesting theory. How did-”

“The boy was you.” Luna deadpanned. “He was an adorable, chibi little Thomas, and we let him get away.” She took out her frustration on a nearby, innocent rock. “Sloppy.”

Moonlight nodded. “Agreed. We won’t let our guard down next time.” She held her fist in solemn resolve. “In the meantime,”—she turned her predatory gaze on Thomas—“that was your transformation?”

Thomas chuckled and feigned disinterest. “I didn’t think it was so bad.”

“So bad?” Moonlight gasped in disbelief. “You can transform from super cute to drop-dead sexy!” she blurted loud enough that even the pedestrians were taking notice. “And those… teeth.” She shivered and pressed her thighs together. Her imagination threatened to run away with images of Dark Thomas, bearing his teeth and claws like the predators that had once chased her ancestors, hunting her down and making her his prey. She slapped herself before the images grew too elaborate. “Pardon me, everyone. I think I need to… to get my hormones in check.” She excused herself from the group and disappeared around a corner.

“She forgot ta mention the chibi,” Honey pointed out. “If Ah saw Jona ‘n’ Plow go through all that…” She trailed off, her body spasming as the mental images took their toll, and she, too, excused herself.

“Getting back to the original issue,” Silver spoke up. “Since that boy was so obviously you, and there is no point in even denying it-” Thomas guiltily looked away, grinning all the while. “-then it stands to reason that the Ring was some sort of time machine.”

“Which begs the question of when we are,” Luna added. “The world previously had a feel of people rebuilding amidst the ruins of what was lost, but these people”—she gestured to one of the eavesdroppers—“are clearly not Precursors.”

Despite his amusement, Thomas rolled his eyes. “Do I really have to spoil it?”

“No, don’t!” Surprise bellowed. “No spoilers!” She then reconsidered. “Unless you think it’ll lead to something fun?”

“Right now, I think we should just make our way to Torn and see about joining the rebellion against the evil empire.”

“Is this an empire?” Luna asked. “A single city does not an empire make.”

“Not even if it’s made of crystal?” Thomas asked cheekily.

Luna shook an accusing finger at him. “That is a discussion for another time,”—she warned—“but your point is made. Let us away to Torn.”

Moonlight and Honey rejoined the group, and the party resumed their journey, with Moonlight sticking especially close to Thomas. Entering the more open areas, the players witnessed several street vendors while pedestrians mindlessly moved from one destination to another, mostly with their heads down. Tents and dumpster fires lined the walls of lower traffic areas, confirming that this was indeed the poor sector of the city. Even buildings with boards over the doors had people simply walk under them as they went to and fro at their leisure. Condemned signs, it seemed, were treated more as suggestions than rules.

The overall layout was much as Thomas remembered, but more complex in the details. There were, for instance, a number of gaps between buildings that led to cramped back alleys and sewer entrances. Houses, as before, were open to their entry, although the people were far less welcoming. They were afraid, likely fearing the players to be government inspectors or worse. It was a far cry from the hero’s welcome from the last game. There wasn’t much to be seen inside, anyway. It was as though someone had condensed the very essence of decrepit and glum into a spray can and gone absolutely nuts over everything in their path.

All the while, Krimzon guards moved about in single patrols while a few of their military-grade zoomers flowed along with the rest of the overhead traffic. Besides billboards advertising the guard, the guards themselves were the only things in sight that looked even remotely clean. Once in a while, a civilian would go up to a guard and have a little chat. What was said went unheard for the most part, but it all seemed mostly cordial. Sometimes, money would be exchanged, but others saw the guard and civilian give one another a friendly pat on the shoulder. Corruption was clearly at work, but there was more to the Krimzon guard than faceless oppressors. The Baron’s looping propaganda messages included a bit about people joining the Krimzon guard so that their families could stay, making it clear that a good number of these people were just doing what they had to in order to get by.

After much milling about, the players finally decided to use their HUD maps and arrive at their destination, a spot in the slums that was somehow more unimpressive than everything around it. Three people were standing idly by when they saw the newcomers approach. The first to meet them was a blonde woman with a form-fitting green jacket, blue shorts, brown boots, and blue eyes that gave a look that could curdle milk. Beside her was a man with a blue business suit, brown trousers, neatly combed brown hair, and a finely trimmed beard. He smiled his bemusement at the players as if he expected them to do something stupid at any moment. Approaching from behind them was a man with brown hair, Krimzon guard tattoos over his face and ears, a curved dagger sheathed on his back, and armor that looked like a lighter version of what they’d seen from other guards, only missing all insignias. The former mares tried to position themselves between Thomas and these unfriendly types, but he stepped up as the other guy approached.

“We’re looking for a guy named Torn. Kor sent us,” Thomas said, holding his ground even as the leader of the trio stood tall over him, clearly trying to look intimidating.

“New faces make me nervous,” Torn informed in his gravelly voice.

“Even when they’re this cute?” Surprise asked, laying the charm on extra thick.

“Especially,” Torn snapped back. “If Kor sent you, I’m guessing you’re out to join the fight for the city.” He smirked, likely sizing these newbies up as unimpressive. “You know, picking the wrong side could be… unhealthy!”

“For anyone who gets in our way,” Moonlight bragged.

“I hope you would be willing to take us to see the shadow?” Silver asked, already anticipating a refusal. If she were running a resistance, she’d certainly never let a bunch of untested newcomers anywhere near the command structure.

Torn chuckled dismissively. “Not likely. If you want to join something, maybe you and your pet should-”

In the blink of an eye, Silver had pushed torn up against the wall with a hand at his throat. “Who were you calling ‘pet’ just now?”

Torn just laughed and gestured over to Silver’s shoulder, where a red dot floated around. More red dots appeared over each of the players, indicating that their sensitive parts were in the sights of several snipers. The man in the business suit laughed openly while the blonde woman smiled her appreciation. Torn gave a signal with his hand, and the dots disappeared. “Nice moves, but I’m not easily impressed,” he replied, sounding entirely unfazed.

“You want to test our mettle?” Moonlight cracked her knuckles. “Anytime, anywhere.”

“Good attitude,” Torn complimented. “Steal the Baron’s banner off the ruined tower and bring it back to me. Then maybe we’ll talk.”

The players departed the alley in a couple vehicles that just so happened to be left out in the open. There were no keys to speak of, but it further confirmed just how new these zoomers must be with how easy it was to start them and take them anywhere the stealer pleased. They drove to their destination, ignoring the arbitrary and unmarked driving lanes and even switching between hover heights to easily avoid traffic. If the guards noticed, they apparently didn’t mind.

A door in the wall unlocked like a safe and led outside the city. The area was full of crumbling ruins and half-drowned in mud. Amphibious mutants patrolled the few dry patches and lunged at the players whenever they got too close. The green fish-faced ones weren’t too much trouble, but the salamander-like red ones were twice as big and could punch from a distance with tongues almost as long as their bodies. When the players fought back, dark eco suffused from the creatures’ bodies and was drawn into Thomas’.

“More dark eco mutants,” Moonlight spat.

“An’ here Ah thought we was done with those,” added Honey, staring down at the body of a green, fish-faced creature with contempt. “So much fer Kale’s idea ‘f goin’ out ‘n’ dealin’ with the problem before it deals with us.”

“Things must have truly gone downhill since then,” observed Luna mournfully. “Before, the beasts bled green eco upon their deaths. Now they are so corrupted that they have learned to live off the darkness.”

“Thoughts on how to proceed?” Thomas asked.

Luna shook her head. “For the good of all, including themselves, all corrupted creatures will need to be euthanized. Until we gain the means to rehabilitate them, all we can do is end their suffering.”

The players complied, killing every mutant creature in their path. When they arrived at the tower, it was a straightforward matter to ascend it. The path was hazardous, though, crumbling beneath their feet in many places. It would likely prove impossible for the resistance to use this tower to train any future recruits. This fear proved prophetic, for upon reaching the top of the tower and snatching the banner, the tower collapsed. The group managed to bounce off a fabric awning before grinding down a rope to safety. Torn stood waiting for his new recruits, and he watched as the tower finished falling apart behind them.

“Yeah. I guess you guys are in,” he said, more impressed than he let on.

***

The group split up upon returning to the city, with Torn instructing them to meet back at the same alley. There, the man in the suit and leaning against a wall directed them towards a spot covered in graffiti. At the center of the artistic collage was the Krimzon guard insignia, colored green and with a hammer poised overhead. The man flipped a switch hidden behind him, and the graffiti wall pulled aside to reveal a door. The players were impressed, especially with the elaborate layout branching off into numerous rooms. Torn waited in the main room, where maps of all sorts covered the walls, and a large furnace provided heat.

Once inside, feeling the need to make up for her quiet last time, Honey spoke first. “Ya’ll planted that banner up there, didn’t ya?”

Torn shrugged. “Wasn’t that obvious? That’s just one of the ways we test anyone who wants to join the Underground. Although now, I guess we’re gonna need something new. But never mind that. Right now, we’ve got bigger priorities.”

“We are all ears,” Moonlight replied confidently.

“The Baron must have figured out we’re based somewhere in the slums, because he’s turned off all water to the area. He’s willing to sacrifice innocent lives just to destroy the Underground.”

“And willing to risk a full-scale revolt while he’s at it,” Luna added. “This is exactly the sort of despotism that would push the indecisive into action. When we succeed in turning the water back on, I suspect this incident will bring a number of new recruits to your doorstep.”

Torn chuckled, impressed with these people’s intuition. “Been a while since I’ve dealt with anyone so optimistic, but fine. Your target is a valve located outside the city at the plumbing station. There’s a drain pipe in the north wall that’ll take you where you need to go. If you survive, the slums will be indebted to you.”

“Then maybe we’ll start seeing some smiles around here,” hoped Surprise.

“And if not, maybe we’ll have a touching moment of silence in your honor,” Torn sarcastically offered.

“How do you know all this stuff, anyway?” Moonlight asked. “Unless those tattoos come standard with the uniform.”

Torn chuckled. “Yeah. I used to be with the Krimzon guard. That’s where I got to see the Baron’s evil up close. That is why I quit.”

“Okay, but how do you know about the valve for the mission?”

“A friend of mine on the inside keeps me updated on these things,” Torn replied evasively. His expression suggested he wasn’t in the mood to elaborate, so the players left.

The journey north took the players into a shanty town that had been haphazardly built over a lake inside the wall. Perhaps this lake had once been intended as the centerpiece of some sort of park, but now it was as brown as the feces no doubt being dumped into it on a daily basis. Ramshackle buildings were connected by bridges that looked like they’d been built by drunkards, seemingly trying to capture the spirit of Sandover’s more simplistic architecture, but without any of the charm.

Outside, the group caught the first sight of full-grown metal heads. They were red and reptilian, with plates of metal growing along their backs. The players would later identify this variety as manic heads. Glowing yellow gems adorned their foreheads, which popped out once the creatures died. Obviously, these gems were meant to be collected, which the players promptly did. Along the way across the rocky beach and over the metal piping mechanisms, they encountered more amphibious mutants and sparse scatterings of metal heads either alone or in small groups.

“This must not be a high-priority target for either side,” Moonlight assessed. “Metal heads seem far more beastlike than the lurkers. I’m guessing these are only minimal patrols set in response to the guards turning off the valve.”

“They must be beasts,” Silver agreed. “Otherwise, they would have turned off the valve themselves.”

“There must be some kind of intelligence commanding them, though,” insisted Moonlight. “You can’t very well wage a war against a foe that doesn’t have some understanding of tactics.”

If there was any sort of metal head command structure, the players saw no evidence of it. They did see the mutants and metal heads patrolling in close proximity without any signs of aggression, suggesting the mutants might somehow be under metal head control. Regardless, it was a fairly straightforward path to the valve. They turned it, the water started to flow, and they returned to the city.

On their way back, however, the players got an alert on their HUDs to a spot in the shanty town. It was by far the sturdiest building in the area, with walls made of stone and standing on legs that didn’t look like they’d cave in on the first big wind. Only the roof was patched together with loose sheets of metal, and that was probably just to provide a bit of camouflage. Inside was a large room of polished wood with rows of candles lining the walls. At the opposite end of the door was a Precursor Oracle. Then again, perhaps ‘shrine’ might have been a more fitting term, given that this was the only spot in the city so far that didn’t smell putrid.

“Greetings, great warriors,” the Oracle acknowledged. “I sense there is a dark rage burning inside one of you, and in time, it will destroy you with its madness.”

Luna hopped onto Thomas’ shoulder and wrapped her tail around his neck. He, in turn, reached up his hand and gave her paw a reassuring squeeze.

“Only the last power of the Precursors can save you,” the Oracle continued. “Destroy my enemies, those creatures you call the metal heads. Bring me twenty-five of their skull gems, and I will teach you how to control these powers.”

The players, unfortunately, were short of the required gems, and so departed. On their way back to the Underground, they received quiet nods of appreciation from the civilians. Apparently, word traveled fast, yet the guards seemed entirely blind to their presence as they returned to the Underground’s entrance.

“The slum’s water is back on,” Torn confirmed, almost cheering. “I’d love to see the heads roll when the Baron finds out!”

“If the guy gets his kicks off of taking people’s water, I wouldn’t mind doing more stuff to piss him off.” Surprise chipperly offered.

“On that much, we can agree,” Torn acknowledged and gestured down to the map table. “On that note, I want you to take care of an ammo dump we’ve I.D.’d in the fortress.”

“We get to ‘splosions?” Surprise asked giddily, almost shaking right out of her clothes as she quietly squealed.

Torn blinked. “Is she safe for a mission like this? We only need to blow up the ammo, not the whole damn building.”

The other players tried to offer words of encouragement, but they only came out as uncertain mutterings.

***

Getting into the fortress was a relatively simple matter. Past the door with the security turrets waiting on standby was a reception area, much like that of a standard police station. The players made quick work of the few guards in the room, only to notice the automated tank that activated just off to the side. In a panic, the players ran out the first door they saw while the tank plowed through the walls in pursuit. The path took them through halls lined with more oversized turrets that they had to evade before finally ascending to an area the tank couldn’t follow.

Moonlight laughed as she and the others paused to catch their breath. “I’m almost relieved to see our enemies have actual security.”

The next stage was relatively easy, with only moving platforms and more rookie guards for obstacles. Upon reaching the room with the ammo, the players found a security pass that would let them travel through city checkpoints. Of greater interest was below, where the players saw Krimzon guards delivering barrels full of eco to metal heads, apparently on the Baron’s orders. Before the players could fully process this, however, another automated tank activated behind them, which they used to destroy the ammo. They managed to jump out of a nearby window, with the explosion hot on their heels as they fell to the ground below.

“Everyone alright?” Thomas asked as the others groaned and picked themselves up.

“Fine,” Honey grunted. “Although Ah think Ah landed on somethin’ soft.” Feeling something move beneath her butt, the woman quickly sat upright and parted her legs when the thing poked its head out. Upon seeing the dark, fuzzy face of Luna, the green-skinned woman chuckled.

Luna, after fuming for a second in faux rage, reciprocated the mirth. “When you threatened to sit on me, I did not expect you to be so rough.”

“Sorry. Ah’ll be gentler next time,” Honey promised.

***

Back at the Underground HQ, Thomas gave his report. “We took care of the ammo, but saw something odd. Krimzon guard soldiers were giving barrels full of eco to a group of metal heads.”

That got Torn’s attention. “Really?”

“They didn’t look happy about it, either,” Surprise added. “The guards were super jumpy and looked ready to start shooting each time the metal heads made sudden movements. Can’t say I blame them, but still.”

“The Shadow will be very interested to hear that,” Torn admitted.

“Ya know, aside from the tank, these missions haven’t been all that challengin’,” Honey said. “How are we supposed ta meet the Shadow, assumin’ you ain’t actually him, if ya don’t give us the chance to prove ourselves?”

Torn laughed. “You kids want to prove yourselves?”

“We’re still kids?” Surprise whispered to Silver.

“One of our suppliers needs his payment delivered – a few bags of eco ore,” Torn continued. “Take the zoomers parked out back and drive them to the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon in South Town. Ask for Krew – he’ll be there. And don’t let the Baron’s patrols stop you. The ore doesn’t have much of a shelf life when it’s out in the open, and it’ll be useless if you take too long to get there.”

“Ooh. Timed mission,” Surprise cooed.

“By the way, when you get there, pump Krew for information. He’s wired into the city, and may know what the Baron is up to.”

The party left to find the man in the business suit loading up identical packages to three different zoomers, with one connected to a power cord. “Well, hello there,” he greeted exuberantly. “You must be the rookies everyone is talking about.”

“Probably,” Silver replied, folding her arms over her chest. “Who wants to know?”

“You may call me Shren,” he informed poshly. “And yes, I know I don’t look like a gruff and tumble sort of fellow, but that’s actually my skill. You see, the Underground needs more than just fighters. I work at a rather prominent bank, you see, and whenever I spy any of the nobles using their vast riches less than responsibly, I… correct the issue.”

“Impressive,” approved Luna, “but why are you out here loading cargo?”

Shren shrugged. “Why volunteer at a soup kitchen when you can just donate to charity? It just feels more satisfying this way, but I’ve prattled on long enough.” He gestured at the zoomer with the power cord. “This one holds the real package. The rest are merely decoys. You see, eco ore in this state needs to be held in precise conditions, which aren’t easily maintained in transit, hence your limited timeframe. I’d say you only have about fifteen minutes or so to reach your destination.”

“Plenty of time,” boasted Moonlight.

Thomas, Moonlight, and Silver served as pilots while Honey, Luna, and Surprise rode in the back. These zoomers were of the smaller variety, making them fast, but not ideal for holding more than one. As such, the passengers had to hold on for dear life once Shren unplugged the cord and the drivers set off.

Thomas took the lead, having traveled this route hundreds of times back when it was just an image on a screen. The real deal was a whole different experience, but he did fairly well in balancing speed and control as he maneuvered around vehicles and pedestrians. The security pass immediately proved its usefulness as they easily passed the checkpoint into the industrial sector. These buildings were much newer and better maintained than the slums, but covered in soot and grime as smoke stacks dotted the horizon. Things came to a head, however, when they came upon a blockade of Krimzon guards and their heavier vehicles. Seeing where this was going, all three drivers punched the gas and tore their way through the blockade.

Alarms went off across the city as turrets opened up along the streets. Civilians, thankfully, heeded these alarms and ran for safety, clearing the area. Thomas took the low road while telling the others to take the sky roads. The latter was less exposed to enemy fire, but it also fooled the guards into diverting more forces from ground level in the belief that the players were trying to keep the eco ore as far from danger as possible. This allowed all three teams to maneuver their respective courses with relative ease, keeping the guards confused until all pursuers had been shaken.

South Town was an immense port overlooking a walled-off portion of the sea. The sea air was far fresher than anything the players had experienced in Haven thus far. Even the metal of the buildings looked cleaner, and at the far end of the wall was a gate large enough to welcome ships. However, the players still had a package to deliver and decided to gawk later. Their destination was on the west side of the port, where dock workers immediately moved in with a power cord to Thomas’ zoomer. Once the delivery was confirmed, the players entered the saloon.

The Hip Hog was dimly lit, with smooth Jazz providing a relaxed ambiance. The walls were decorated with metal head trophies, pictures of scantily clad women, and a few portraits of a bulbous mass of flesh that was probably some artist’s idea of a joke – or maybe a cry for help. Near the door were a few arcade machines, while the center was largely taken up by a fighting ring, and the bar made up the back.

“Was this not where Misha used to work?” Luna wondered aloud.

“Who?” Surprise questioned.

“Mah ol’ boss while we were workin’ on bustin’ you guys out,” Honey answered. “An’ yeah. Said she was sellin’ the place last time we spoke. Looks like new management had more ‘f a budget. Sure hope the li’l lady’s doin’ alright.”

The players approached a man with dark skin, a red prosthetic eye, and covered in armor that looked like it had been torn off of metal head corpses, minus the grime. Upon seeing the players approach, he turned to face them with his rifle – also decorated with metal head armor – for all to see. However, this large man was overshadowed – literally – by the absurdly obese man floating in a hover chair directly overhead. His folds of fat overflowed his chair, and his green suit – much like any time Surprise wore a bra – looked ready to burst at any moment. His right eye was milky white, and his legs dangled limply beneath his girth, almost like they were vestigial.

“You must be Krew,” Luna said, stepping forward on behalf of the group. She was grateful that the dream did not allow actual nausea, less negotiations fall apart the moment someone launched an attack of projectile vomit. “You will be pleased to know that your shipment is doing just fine.”

“That’s good, ‘ey,” the fat man wheezed, “because a cargo of rare eco ore is worth more than ten of your lives.” His chair brought him down close to the players, too close, for it brought them in range of his smell. “Mmm, and of course, I’d be forced to collect… slowly.” He laughed at his poorly veiled threat as he floated around the players, examining them as they struggled not to gag. “The Underground will take anyone with a pulse these days. And what do we have here?”

When the fat man’s one good eye locked on Luna, the ottsel was swiftly snatched up and cradled protectively in Silver’s arms.

“The Shadow’s mascot of the month? Ooh, looks soft,” Krew awed. “Sig, this fur would go well with my silk suits, ‘ey?”

Thomas stepped up, holding his arms out to block the others from delivering what would surely have been a righteous beat-down. “Later,” he whispered, sympathizing with their urge. “He’ll get what’s coming to him. I promise.”

“Dibs,” Silver whispered in reply.

Thomas nodded his agreement and turned back to the dead man-er, Krew. “We delivered your eco, as promised. How about you return the favor and, say, tell us why the Baron is giving eco to metal heads?”

Krew scowled. “Questions like that could get a person killed, ‘ey! Sig,” he called to the armored man. “Pay these impudent little whelps a bonus.”

Sig approached slowly, each step hitting the floor heavily as he moved. The ladies braced for an attack, but the man merely offered out a weapon. The morph gun was a short-barreled rifle with a red ammo clip. Thomas took it gladly, but was mindful of the way the others eyed it up.

“If you want to see what this baby can do,” Krew continued, “I’ve stashed a few more down at the gun course. Show me some skill with that hardware, and I’ll hire you for a job or two, ‘ey.”

The players departed for the other end of the dock. All were eager for Thomas to whip out his new gun for them to ogle, but he insisted that it would be too dangerous while there were guards about. Silver clung onto Luna the entire trip to the course. Inside, the others found weapons of their own, save for Luna. While this was the first time any of the women had held guns, the dream filled them in on the basic mechanics so that they didn’t accidentally shoot themselves. Sig’s voice came in over the communicator, and he gave them a few pointers on how to handle these new scatter guns.

Entering the course proper, the players immediately formed a firing line as targets popped out of the walls and floor. Most of the targets were made to resemble metal heads, which gave points upon being destroyed. Targets made to resemble civilians deducted points. There were also a few targets made to resemble lurkers, which also gave points, much to the party’s distaste. Surprise became a little ‘overenthusiastic’ at times and needed to be reeled in, but otherwise, the course was completed with little hassle. Afterward, they backtracked to the Hip Hog, where Silver once more held protectively onto Luna.

Krew met them at the door. “Excellent shooting, lad and lasses! Ever thought about being wastelanders, mmm?”

“Afraid not,” Thomas answered plainly.

“Wastelanders find items for me outside the city walls, ‘ey,” Krew began, not noticing how Sig rolled his good eye. Any artifact or weapon comes through MY hands.” He gripped his unnaturally meaty fingers for emphasis. “Work for me, and I’ll throw some of the sweeter items your way, mmm?”

“Fight monsters. Get toys?” Surprise asked rhetorically. “Sounds like business as usual for us.”

“Sig will show you the ropes,” Krew said before departing back to the bar.

“So YOU wanna be wastelanders, huh, doughboys?” Sig asked with his deep, bass voice. “We’ll see what you’re made of when we get out in the thick. Krew wants some new trophies to put butts in chairs at the Hip Hog. So I’m gonna bag him five nasty metal heads some scouts spotted at the pumping station.”

“Only five?” Moonlight asked, pouting cutely. “And here I was hoping for a challenge.”

“I like that confidence,” Sig said with a smirk. “I need someone to watch my back while I bag these bad boys, so don’t leave me hanging,” he finished firmly.

Our heroes begin exploring the starter parts of the map and meet many of the game’s memorable characters. The Equestrians also get their first taste of firearms, which aren’t as scary as one might think, so long as you pay them their due respect.

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“I liked Sig’s gun,” Surprise commented as she watched the man leave ahead of them. She reached for her own gun, only to flinch as Honey slapped her hand away for what was probably the twentieth time since they left the Hip Hog. “Is it as splody as it is pretty?”

“I don’t know about splody,” Thomas replied. “But it does have some real oomph.”

Surprise cackled with a menace that left everyone uneasy.

“So, do orbs do anything in this game?” Moonlight asked, changing topics.

“They’re much rarer than before, so Honey and I traded a few of ours for credits,” Luna explained. “That would be the standard currency in the city.”

“In the game, you could go to the game menu and buy cheats,” Thomas answered. “At first, it’s just small things like giving Jak a big head or taking away his goatee.” He checked his chin to find it still smooth. “Enough orbs let you buy infinite ammo and invulnerability.”

“Boo,” Surprise jeered. “None of that!”

“Agreed,” Silver added. “There’s no fun if there’s no challenge.”

“Then how about small things, like weapon upgrades or armor?” Thomas suggested.

“Ah like that idea. But maybe we can also keep some ‘f the big-head silly stuff, too?”

“Yes! That!” confirmed Surprise.

The rest of the trip to the pumping station was completed in short order. They met up with Sig, and he led the way for the mission. Like most escort missions, the priority for the players was to fend off foes and keep Sig from taking too much damage. Thankfully, between the six of them and their five guns, they held a line that no enemies could easily cross, at least at first.

Sig led them down a different route through the pumping station from last time. This led them straight into the path of a new kind of metal head: bipedal saurians that stood more than ten feet tall at their full height and carried staffs that shot red lightning. Sig called them juice goons. These seemed smarter than previous metal heads, identifying the range of the scatter guns and trying to keep their distance while flanking. However, they were simply too slow, allowing the players to move in close before the beasts could react.

Sig’s targets were crab-like creatures called crab heads that were even bigger than Luna’s alicorn form. He sniped them from a distance with his weapon, known as the Peacemaker. The first went down easily enough, its body convulsing from the charged dark eco blasts that electrocuted it from the inside out. The others, however, weren’t so simple.

Metal heads started grouping up and moving in formation after that. Juice goons led the charge while manic heads and amphibians attempted to flank the party. The players were kept on their toes as wave after wave of enemy came their way, with the crab heads seeming to serve as willing bait for traps. It was fortunate that the Krimzon guard had left so many ammo crates around the area. Likely, they’d been in enough scrapes where reloading wasn’t so easy, and so left extra ammo outside in anticipation of future patrols.

One matter of curiosity was when Silver attempted to pick up some damaged ammo left by one of the juice goons. The cartridge cracked, and the concentrated red eco flowed into her body. There was no noticeable boost to strength as with previous attempts at channeling eco. Rather, like dark eco with Thomas, these minuscule portions of red eco were absorbed directly into Silver’s body.

“That’s new,” Thomas observed between shots. “Feel any different?”

“I… don’t think so,” Silver replied uncertainly. “What could this mean?”

“If you cherries are done flapping your yaps, I’ve got metal heads up my ass!” snapped Sig.

The players put their discussion on hold until the mission was completed. The last crab head was slain.

“BOOM! Home team five. Metal heads nothing!” Sig cheered. He even indulged Surprise in a high five. Afterward, he instructed the players to return to Krew while he stayed to retrieve the trophies.

***

“I absorbed it,” Silver stated, turning her hands around in front of her face. “And it doesn’t appear to be dissipating.”

“It must have been the injections!” concluded Moonlight. “Don’t you remember? You said that the serum you received was red.”

“And yours was blue,” Silver remembered.

“I got yellow!” Surprise cheered, possibly following the conversation.

“Then it sounds like the eco-warrior plan had some offshoots,” Thomas reasoned, laughing at the women’s reactions. “So it looks like we’re all going to be transforming before this is over.”

“Aw shoot,” swore Honey. “Now Ah’m all pissed off Ah wasn’t imprisoned, too.”

“I, meanwhile, have made peace with this form,” Luna cut in. “Have patience, dear Honey,” she soothed. “I have every confidence that the forces of evil will kidnap you, debase you, and subject your body to all manner of horrid experiments until you are granted powers like the others.” She finished with a smile sweet enough to melt teeth.

Honey blinked. “Well, anythin’ can sound bad when ya put it like that.”

“Be sure to watch your butt if you do get caught,” Surprise instructed while rubbing her backside. “Those guards can get super grabby.”

“Back on point,” Thomas began, deciding it was his responsibility to keep these ladies focused. “I’m pretty sure we collected enough skull gems for the Oracle. Let’s pay him a visit and see what happens.”

The others agreed, and they made for the shrine.

Upon entering, the others stood back as Thomas approached. The Oracle shot a steady stream of dark energy into his form, lifting him into the air and changing him into Dark Thomas. “You do well to rid the world of this metal scourge. As a reward, I grant you a dark power.”

Thomas grinned, staring down at his claws. “Feels… like I’ve finally got full control,” he marveled. He felt the ways his body had physically changed, as well as the surge of energy, but the latter was less prominent than earlier. Although there was still a sense of foreboding deep in his gut.

“What’s this?” the Oracle asked. “I sense something from the others. Seeds planted and waiting to sprout. Bring me more skull gems, and I will help your flowers to bloom.”

“You realize that sounded pervy, right?” Thomas asked.

“I, er…” the Oracle stammered. “Just bring me the skull gems!” And it went silent, making the others laugh.

“Sounds like everyone wants to give us stuff,” observed surprise as she idly examined her fingernails. “Can’t say I blame them, though. We’re great!”

“That, or they’ve taken an interest in our ‘flowers’,” Silver added contemptuously.

“Which are also great!”

***

On the return trip to the Hip Hog, the players were met with even more recognition from the civilians. Every fifth person smiled and nodded their head in gratitude. The Krimzon guards, however, remained oblivious. Whatever those eye covers were supposed to do, it didn’t seem worth the trouble if their primary targets could walk right up to them without being noticed.

Krew hovered over to the players. “You little pups are turning out to be quite useful, ‘ey? Mmm. I have another task for you. The sewers used to be a fabulous smuggling-”

“Not the sewers!” cried Silver. “It’s going to be the swamp all over again. I just know it!”

Krew blinked, not expecting that reaction. “Well, the point is that I need someone to go down and destroy every sentry gun in the sewers. And I’ll give you a sweet weapon upgrade if you succeed.”

Surprise stepped forward. “I’m with Silver on this one. There’s no way I’m going anywhere near yucky poop water-”

“Unless you make it worth our while,” Thomas cut in. “Why are the metal heads trading with the Baron’s forces?”

“Blasted self-righteous…!” Krew stopped himself before he truly lost his temper. “All I know is that the Baron cut a desperate deal with the Metal Head Leader. Mmm.” He turned around and floated up a ways. “Metal heads need eco, so the Baron supplies them with regular shipments. In exchange, the metal heads agreed to lessen their attacks on the city, just enough so that the people stay afraid and the Baron stays in power.”

“Praxis is sounding more and more like my ideal kind of enemy,” Luna growled with a toothy grin. “I can crush him without feeling any remorse.”

“Even so, this deal can’t go on indefinitely,” Moonlight observed. “Between the savage beast and the metal heads, neither party seems that trustworthy.”

“True enough,” Krew agreed. “The Baron is running short on eco, ‘ey? And the metal heads are short on patience. Baron Praxis NEEDS this war to keep in power. Otherwise, the city would put the true rule on the throne, wherever that little brat is.”

That set off a red flag as the women all straightened to attention and shared knowing looks. Thomas chose to ignore them and finish the deal. “We’ll clear the sewers for you. No problem. Just make sure you don’t forget that weapons upgrade you promised.”

“Bloodsuckers,” Krew hissed and hovered off.

“I’d say he could use a few, but I wouldn’t want to be cruel to the leeches,” Silver muttered as the players departed. She was stroking Luna’s back for mutual comfort.

“So, somewhere in this city, there’s a ‘brat’ that’s important,” Moonlight thought aloud. “I wonder who it could be.”

“Probably not someone we’ve met,” Surprise offered.

“Definitely not,” agreed Honey. “An’ he definitely ain’t a tiny, cuter version ‘f anyone we know. That’s fer sure.”

“Wow,” Thomas deadpanned. “You guys are just so… subtle.”

“More subtle than the game is being,” Moonlight replied. “So, are we going to eventually put little you back on the throne?”

Luna shook her head. “Unlikely. The boy is far too young. Even if he is the heir to the throne, the powers that be will likely dismiss him as the Underground’s puppet, presuming the resistance proves victorious.”

“I read about that,” Silver spoke up. “Taking down the ruler and leaving a weak heir only leads to infighting amongst the other nobles. It’s not a problem ponies have had to deal with in centuries, but I can easily see it playing out here.”

“Then we should be gathering more allies to bolster the resistance,” Moonlight suggested.

“But what will follow after Praxis is overthrown?” Luna asked.

Honey set a hand on Thomas’ shoulder. “Can’t we jus’ put big Thomas on the throne?”

“And tell the people what? That he is a time traveler?” Luna shook her head. “No. I fear something so abnormal would only weaken our position. Tyrant or no, the Baron is strong enough to hold the metal heads at bay, at least for the moment. Gathering other allies is all well and good, but we should also work on strengthening our own position. Assuming this Shadow is indeed trustworthy, presenting ourselves as formidable allies might be enough to keep the other nobles in line. This boy will be our puppet, granting the Underground and ourselves legitimacy to rule, to protect the city, and destroy its enemies.”

Thomas blinked at Luna. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

Luna regarded him stoically. “Why? What makes you say that?”

“Either he’s done the responsible thing and learned his new country’s history,” Surprise offered. “Or he’s not blind. It’s a coin flip either way.”

“For now, we should probably just keep the fact that we’re smarter than everyone to ourselves,” Moonlight decided. “We’ll get more done if our enemies underestimate us.”

***

The sewers, much to everyone’s relief, were much cleaner than they’d feared. Metal corridors were large and relatively dry, with few areas that actually required them to get wet. The occasional dripping from the ceiling did offer a few unwanted and unappreciated surprises, though. While Krew no doubt intended to resume his smuggling operations as soon as possible, the primary purpose of the sentry guns seemed to be controlling the metal head population. Every other room was overrun with a new variety of metal head called a grunt, which resembled a cross between a gorilla and a big cat. They were fast, agile, durable, and the only thing that seemed to be hindering their movement through the sewers was the sentry guns. It was a shame to destroy such useful machines, but at least the metal heads were also cleared out.

Upon exiting the sewer, Moonlight took Thomas forcefully by the hand and led him along with the other women walking in tight formation around him. Their expressions were determined and resolute.

“Where’s the nearest bathhouse?” Moonlight demanded of the nearest civilian.

The woman asked wore a red coat and was vaguely pear-shaped. “I, um…” She gagged and pulled away once the sewer stench hit her. She quickly gave directions to the nearest facility, and Moonlight returned the favor with an orb.

Thomas laughed to himself as the women marched onward while he let himself be herded along. “Because, of course, there’s a bathhouse.”

“Dern right there is!” agreed Honey.

Barging into the lobby, the players were a frightful sight for the facility’s staff and patrons. All who could backed up against the walls to give these fierce newcomers their space. Silver handled negotiations, showing the counter clerk their stash of orbs and offering a ‘fair’ amount for the staff’s silence. Upon seeing that these borderline unhinged patrons were also armed, the clerk was all too happy to comply.

Thomas couldn’t keep himself from laughing as the stampeding women hurried him through the changing room, stripping themselves and him when he proved too slow for their liking. They continued on into the bathing area and charged straight for the main pool. They dove in, frightening the other patrons into scattering. When, at last, the women calmed down and relaxed in the pool, Thomas continued to laugh.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he insisted.

“All are entitled to their opinions,” Luna replied serenely as she floated along the pool’s surface. “Even if they are objectively wrong.”

Thomas rolled his eyes.

“It could have definitely been worse,” Surprise added. “I’d just realized that I hadn’t technically had a bath in two years, so I felt we were due.”

“Ah’m with the li’l guy, but Ah’m jus’ havin’ too much fun throwin’ mah weight around,” Honey said with a giggle.

“Ahh!” a woman screamed. “There’s a rat in the-” *CLONK* And she was taken out by a boot to the head.

“Thank you, Silver,” Luna said contently.

“My pleasure,” replied Silver in an equal state of relaxation.

Thomas laughed good-naturedly and waded through the pool. The water was high enough that he could comfortably swim, but not so high that it was too much trouble to walk. With the others enjoying the warm water and peace of mind, he decided to look around. Despite being situated in the industrial sector, the area was remarkably clean. It resembled one of those standard bathhouses shown in anime with a respectably high ceiling. Away from the central pool, the facility offered a variety of services, such as separate bathing pools, submerged chairs with water jets, and even spots to shower. However, in taking all this in, there was something else that Thomas found somewhat noteworthy.

“Hey, Moonlight.”

“Mmh, yes,” she replied tiredly from one of the water jet stations.

“Are we in the women’s bath?”

“Probably,” Moonlight replied, not caring in the slightest.

Taking a second look, Thomas confirmed that there were only women and older girls in sight. No young girls, thankfully. That would have been weird. All were keeping their distance from the players, too afraid to even approach enough to make for the door. Understanding their apprehension, Thomas reasoned that the most respectful thing he could do would be to keep his distance.

“Misha?”

“Honey!”

Or whatever.

The tall woman hefted herself up and waded over the pool. Another blonde stood and moved to meet her halfway. The two naked women embraced heartily, much to the interest of their audience.

“How ya been, girl?” Honey asked with a chipper smile.

“Doin’ great,” Misha replied with an equally thick country accent. She gave Honey’s toned midriff a playful smack. “Still jealous ‘f that body ‘f yers.”

“Misha?”

“Luna!” Misha cheered and scooped the ottsel into a hug, all under the wary eye of Silver. “Yer lookin’ spry as ever. An’ Ah see ya’ve finally found them friends ‘f yers.”

“Sure did,” Honey confirmed, motioning for the others to join them. “Come on, ya’ll. Misha, these here are our friends, Moonlight.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Surprise.”

“Hey there. Wow. You’re super pretty.”

“Silver.”

“A pleasure.”

“An’ Thomas.”

“Yo.”

Misha chuckled. “Ya’ll always make a habit ‘f hangin’ out in the women’s bath, dumplin’?”

Momentarily forgetting where he was, Thomas shrunk down in the pool and covered himself, much to the other women’s amusement. “Not by choice. They brought me here!”

“Uh-huh.” Misha rolled her and folded her arms under her chest, propping up her bosom. “Ah’m sure they dragged ya in here kickin’ ‘n’ screamin’.”

“He was actually laughing his ass off, but that’s basically the same,” Surprise corrected.

“Anyway, how have you been?” Luna asked. “We have seen what became of your old place.”

Misha sighed. “Yeah. Ya’ll did me a solid in puttin’ the hurt ta all them bugs, but by then, the damage had been done ta mah reputation. Got a surprisin’ly good deal sellin’ the place, though. Now Ah work as one o’ the clerks fer this here bathhouse, the Naked Ankle.”

“That name has implications,” Thomas stated plainly.

Misha laughed. “Really? You sure ya ain’t jus’ got a dirty mind?”

Thomas pursed his lips. “I never said the implications were dirty.”

Misha laughed. “Touché. Anyway, the pay is good, an’ Ah get discounts on all mah baths. Better ‘an usin’ public water, Ah tell ya what.”

Things calmed down after that. Seeing one of their own get along so cordially with these strangers, some of the other women grew bold enough to approach, or at least get their daughters out of there. Conversations were struck up as the players introduced themselves and their mission to save the city. Most of the women were sympathetic to the cause of the Underground, or at least open to the idea that there were alternatives to Praxis and his tyranny.

Thomas was grateful for the return to his new normal of casual nudity. By contrast, the other players were more enthusiastic to return to the game’s normal of them having free reign to fondle to their hearts’ content. None were more eager than Surprise, laughing maniacally as she reenacted most ecchi anime bath scenes by honking every boob she could get her hands on. The NPC women, naturally, took it in stride by either squirming uncomfortably or laughing at the apparent ticklish sensation, but never offering much protest. The others were almost worse in how much calmer they were about the ordeal. Moonlight, for instance, had pulled the woman she was conversing with into her lap, nibbling at her neck while her hand went to town below the surface.

“Hi there. My name’s Sheela,” greeted a redhead with brown eyes and a slim figure. “Do you think I could join the Underground? I want to do my part to save the city.”

Thomas smiled at the woman, glad for the distraction even as he covered his erection. “That’s nice of you to say, but why not join the guard? Maybe you can try to change the system from the inside?”

“And wear those awful uniforms?” Sheela shook her head fervently. “Out of the question. I’m willing to sacrifice my life, but not my dignity.”

Thomas frowned. “Didn’t make the cut, did you?”

“… how’d you know that?”

Thomas shrugged. “Lucky guess. Also you’re the only one here who’s skinnier than Silver, so that was kind of a factor.”

Sheela fumed. “My mom was in the Krimzon guard, back when that meant something. She died in the last attempted incursion into the metal head nest. I want to do her legacy proud, but…” She held up her spindly arms. “Those jerks just laughed at me. Said my arms would fall off if I even tried holding the standard-issue rifle.”

Then Thomas remembered. “You know, I met a guy who said the Underground needs more than just fighters. He wasn’t that tough looking either, but still does what he can to help out.”

“Who is he?”

“You’ll understand if I’m not totally ready to trust you just yet,” Thomas began. “I won’t give his name, but I will say he works at a bank. Mention a guy named Kor and see what happens.”

Overjoyed, Sheela threw her arms around Thomas and kissed his cheek with the force of a kitten before swimming off.

“That was most kind of you,” Silver said as she swam up.

“We’ll probably see her later,” theorized Thomas. “Her and some of these others. I’ll bet they’ll all make appearances in the final battle.”

“I can certainly see that, but why not just tell her who to look for?” Silver asked.

Thomas shrugged. “Just because we’re smarter, that doesn’t mean everyone else is stupid. We have to at least pretend that we’re wary of spies.”

“What?” Silver laughed. “Do you think one of these women is actually a Krimzon guard and will try to arrest us?”

“You!” accused a woman at the bath’s entrance. Apparently, the Krimzon guard tattooed more than just their soldiers’ faces, because her body was covered from head to toe.

“Shelly?” Honey asked in disbelief.

Recognizing the guard from the prison, the other players all stood up and assumed fighting stances. Sensing tension, the other women all cleared the main pool as the standoff began.

“Oh boy, you guys are in big trouble,” Shelly threatened.

“I would reconsider if I were you, Shelly,” Silver warned. “There are six of us and only one of you.”

“Five and a half if you count the talking ottsel,” Shelly countered. “And what the hell is a guy doing in the women’s bath, anyway?”

“Uh, enjoying the view?” Thomas offered, earning quiet giggles from the other patrons.

“Shut up! Oh, you’re in for it now,” Shelly said, remembering her modesty. With one hand covered over her breasts and her thighs pressed tightly together, she pulled out what looked like a walky-talky. “Once I put in a call to command, you’re all gonna-”

“Where’d that come from?” Surprise asked.

“… wat?”

“The phone in your hand. Where’d you get that?”

“Well… I-”

“Hey, that’s right,” agreed Moonlight. “You’re buck naked and don’t even have a towel. Where the hell did that phone come from?”

Shelly pursed her lips, blushed, and looked away, earning groans of disgust from all present, save for Thomas and Surprise, who giggled at the absurdity of it all. “Hey, don’t go underestimating me. Ever since your escape, I’ve prepared myself for every conceivable scenario, and it’s finally paid off!” She shook her phone in triumph.

“Was it worth it?” Honey asked sympathetically.

Shelly’s proud confidence lingered a moment longer before sinking down into the depths of reality. “No. No, it was not. But it’s about to be!” she rebounded. “Once I push this button, legions of guards will swarm this position. Once that happens, even you won’t be able to-”

*KONK*

The impact of the door sent Shelly flying across the tiled floor.

“To whoever is making all that racket,” the desk clerk addressed the bath patrons as a whole, “I’d ask that you kindly be respectful of your fellow bathers. If even the men from next door are complaining, then you’re clearly ruining everyone’s rest and relaxation.” With her piece said, the desk clerk shut the door behind her, leaving Shelly face down, ass up, and probably with a concussion.

The players and other bathers were left stunned silent for a good long while. What had happened was just too much for any of them to fully process.

Thomas was the first to break the silence with an astute observation. “That may have been the best boss fight we’ve ever had.”

“I take full credit!” Surprise declared. “I got her started on the walky-talky, which kept her in place long enough for the door to take her out. My victory!”

“Can’t argue with that,” Honey acquiesced. “So let’s get back ta relaxin’, shall we.”

The rest of the bathers voiced their approval, and they did as such.

As ever, these characters are just so much fun to play with. I’m elaborating on the missions as best I can, but I think it’s safe to say that the conversations are my stronger suit. The genre-savvy have already figured out the importance of the kid, while Luna demonstrates the political mindfulness that has allowed her and Celestia to rule for as long as they have. I was hesitant about throwing in a bath scene too early, but this was short and fun, so I think it fits.

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Once they’d dried and gotten dressed, the players resumed their journey with a new lease on life. The bath had been more than relaxing, to the point where Silver was already making plans on returning. However, she was outvoted by the rest that they should try to restrain themselves, on the grounds that having such creature comforts took away from the spirit of the adventure. They’d absolutely be returning to the Naked Ankle, but not after every single mission.

Back at the Hip Hog, Krew was sniffing for something. “What is that horrible smell?”

Predictably, all of the female players began smelling themselves.

“But we just got out of the bath!” cried Silver. “How can we still reek of sewer filth!?”

“No,” Krew belched while his innards made even more grotesque noises. “I think it was my lunch, actually.”

“That’s… not better,” Moonlight stated.

“Nice work in the sewers, ‘ey. I guess you’re looking for that weapon upgrade, mmm? Well there’s a few blaster mods stuffed in some crates over at the gun course. Find them and they’re yours,” He laughed menacingly, but at what, no one could tell.

The blaster mods were right where Krew said they’d be. With them, their morph guns doubled in length, gained aiming lasers, and delivered precise ranged shots instead of wide area blasts. Once more Sig came in over the communicator to fill them in on their new weapons, which they promptly took through the course for practice. It took a bit of practice, but by the end of the course, they all felt confident in their ability to use both modes of their morph guns.

However, before they could continue, Surprise stopped by one of the ammo crates. Blasting it open, she moved one of the yellow cartridges separate from the rest and smashed it with the butt of her gun. As predicted, a small sliver of yellow eco oozed out before flying into her body.

“Anyone else scared that Surprise’s transformation is meant to tie into the power of blasting things?” Moonlight asked of no one in particular.

“I was trying not to, thank you very much,” Silver replied tersely.

Surprise just giggled like a maniac.

When the HUD showed that they had missions for both Krew and the Underground, the party decided not to split up. They were in no hurry, and the missions offered by either faction would likely be distinct enough that no one wanted to miss out. For the sake of convenience, they went back to Krew.

“I have a proposition for you, my young pups,” the obese man wheezed. “Racing is the biggest sport in the city! Has been ever since personal zoomers became widespread about five years ago. (1) Erol is the undisputed grand champion. He’s crazy, and dangerous on the track. Ha ha! My kind of guy.”

“The Baron’s second in command has time to waste with petty races?” Luna asked in disbelief.

“If it gives us an excuse to get close to him, I’m not complaining,” Moonlight added. “After what he did to us,” she punched her fist into her palm, “I’m itching for some payback.”

“Blinded by vengeance, ‘ey?” Krew continued. “I like that. Anyway, that’s where you lot come in. A client of mine is looking for a fast driver for her racing team.” He tossed an item over to the players, which Surprise caught. “Here’s a security pass to get you into the stadium sector.”

“There’s an entire sector just for the stadium?” Silver asked.

“Well, it’s more of the commercial district. The stadium is just the most prominent feature,” Krew elaborated. “Uh, and your contract,” he offered out a few forms, with just a few trifles for me.”

Luna took the contract and read it over. “We the racers hereby agree to give Krew all the proceeds to blah blah blah…” She skimmed the rest and grinned as she came towards the end. There was a nifty little clause that said that the client retained the right to void the contract following her analysis of their first race, after which she would be free to renegotiate with the racers. However, feeling just a little sadistic, Luna decided to withhold this information for later.

With that settled, all that was left was for the six of them to reach the stadium within twenty minutes. Thankfully, this time the guards weren’t looking for them, so it was a relatively easy task. They just had to avoid hitting any pedestrians or causing any traffic accidents.

Thomas remembered this course requiring only three minutes in the regular game, but the city had grown substantially since then. Their rout took them back through the industrial sector and slums. After that, they came out into the stadium sector. The layout of the sector seemed to be centered around a number of rivers. The architecture was more homely than the industrial sector and better structured than the slums. The stadium was pretty much what they’d expected with tall arches, decorative statues commemorating past racers, and a nifty red x that they all reached with time to spare.

After disembarking, they let themselves into the back entrance. The place was a large workshop with half-finished zoomers all over the place.

“Hello?” Thomas called out, reciting his lines. “Krew said someone was looking for a race driver?”

“I’m busy right now,” a woman replied from behind a curtain. “You must be Krew’s new errand boys. Look, I don’t mean to be rude – you did get here fast – but I’m not interested in any new drivers right now, and I’ve got work to do…”

“Anything we can do to help?” Thomas offered. “We’re good at helping.” If he looked carefully, he was able to spy the woman’s silhouette on the other side of the curtain. She had quite the figure on her.

“Does she sound familiar?” Moonlight whispered, her tone free of sarcasm.

“No!” the woman countered. “I’m, uh, working on a secret uh, uh… vehicle project.”

“I can see that,” Thomas teased.

“Listen, if you think you’ve got the guts to race in this town, you can try taking my prototype jet-boards out on the stadium course. Beat the stadium challenge, and maybe I’ll consider you for my team.”

Accepting the challenge, the players headed for the stadium course and tried out the jet-boards. Conveniently, there were actually six of them, and each was able to auto-adjust to their rider’s size so that Luna wasn’t left out. The course was set up much like a skate park with curved hills and more grind rails than would ever be necessary in the real world. The monitoring system that judged their score apparently hadn’t been calibrated for multiple challengers at once, meaning the players had collectively reached the gold rank well before the allotted time ran out.

“We beat the stadium challenge,” Thomas boasted upon returning to the garage.

“Great. People do get lucky,” the woman behind the curtain replied snarkly. “Listen, don’t you have someone to collect money from, or beat up, or something?”

“Guess she didn’t notice how we cheated the stadium course,” muttered Moonlight.

“You don’t like us much, do you?” Surprise asked sadly.

“You work for that slime ball Krew. What’s not to like?”

“Believe me when I say we have no love for that flying sack of lard,” hissed Silver. “No more than that monster, Praxis.”

“But you still work for him,” countered the woman behind the curtain.

“He’s helpin’ us gear up ta fight the Baron ‘n’ save the city,” Honey argued.

The woman behind the curtain paused. “That… accent,” she muttered ponderously.

That’s how she recognizes us? Thomas thought with a frown. However, he decided to hold off on the big reveal for now. Instead he hurried the conversation along to get the ‘mysterious’ woman to give them elevator access to one of the place’s support towers. All the players had to do was find a way to turn it on.

“I know I’ve heard that voice before,” Moonlight insisted on their way through the stadium sector. “Urgh! This is going to drive me nuts.”

“I think she sounded a little like Rainbow Dash,” Thomas offered. “Scratchy voice and all.”

“Unlikely,” Silver added. “I have never met Rainbow Dash, yet I’m also certain I’ve heard this woman before.”

Honey leveled the stink-eye on Thomas. “Ya’ll are jus’ yuckin’ it up not tellin’ us, ain’t ya?”

Thomas replied with a shrug and shit-eating grin. “Mmh. Cooould beee.”

“Don’t threaten to sit on him to make him talk,” Surprise urged. “For one, we already agreed no spoilers was funner. For two, he’d probably like it.”

“Well, I might,” Thomas conceded with a snicker. At Honey’s exhausted sigh, he decided to take in the scenery as they walked along. The stadium sector was the closest thing he’d seen to a human city since arriving in Equestria. It was nostalgic, but less so than he felt it should be. He’d only ever lived out in the country or the suburbs, with the city being little more than a place to visit.

“Psst!”

The players paused, swiveling their heads until they found the source of the noise.

“Psst! Over here.” The figure in the shadows of a dark alley waved them over. “I’ve got somethin’, for ya.”

“Well that’s not suspicious in the slightest,” Thomas stated plainly.

“If he knows who we are, then this is either a covert contact or an ambush,” Moonlight reasoned. “If he doesn’t, then this might be the laziest mugging in history.”

“Eh. I’m good with either,” Surprise said as she skipped merrily forward, forcing the others to follow.

“You look like the sort of people who get into trouble,” the shadowy figure observed, always keeping to the darkness so that only his eyes were seen.

“It’s only trouble for those who get in our way,” Moonlight replied, flexing her knuckles while Surprise brandished her weapon and terrifying smile.

The shadowy figure laughed nervously. “I like your gumption, kids. The name’s Slim Cognito.”

“Seriously?” Thomas demanded.

“And I just so happen to have a certain set of products tailored to – shall we say – trouble prone individuals. In-ter-es-ted?” Slim asked, stretching out every syllable.

“Perhaps,” Luna replied while holding up an orb. “What, pray tell, are you offering?”

“Is that a real-?” Slim stopped himself, but never tore his eyes from the orb. “How many of those do you got?”

“More than you, I would wager,” Luna replied smugly.

Slim cleared his throat and offered over a clipboard. “Yes, well… Take this. It’s a nice little catalogue of the appliances my perfectly legal company has to offer. Just pay no mind to the typos.”

The first item on the list was a washing machine, along with a picture of a perfectly ordinary looking device and a suspiciously steep price. It was described as being composed of metal head steel and fully covering the torso; sleeves sold separately. The second item was a blender. It was wrist mounted and boasted the ability to turn even the toughest meat into slush. Everything on the catalogue was like that.

After shilling a few orbs, the players all bought a few pieces of armor and some simple ammo expansions for their guns. While they had the orbs for some of the more expensive and imaginative items, they decided to hold off for now and see what was needed for later.

Back at the Underground, the players passed Shren as they entered the map room.

“One of the Baron’s mining operations is under attack by metal heads,” Torn began. “On top of the city’s eco shortage, the foreman is one of the Underground’s best informants. His name is Vin and he’s just valuable enough to save. Find the warp gate at the power station and use it to travel to the Strip Mine.”

“Sounds simple enough,” Thomas affirmed.

“Whatever deal the Baron made with the metal heads, the city’s eco is almost gone, and his time is running out. If we don’t get the kid back on the throne soon, there might not be a city left to defend!”

“Ah yes, the deposed prince,” Luna interjected knowingly. “I trust you already have a plan for protecting the child once he’s assumed his rightful place, yes?”

“That’s the Shadow’s business,” Torn dismissed and tossed the players their security passes. “It’s my job to make sure we get that far. Now hurry up!”

The power station was located in the middle of the industrial sector. Fortunately, the place with the very important sounding name actually had guards posted out front. These were only private security personelle, rather than Krimzon guards, so the players had no need to cause a commotion. They entered a reception area, pretending to be new hires trying to find their way around. The clerk checked each of their passes and gave them directions to where they – as new assistants to the chief engineer – needed to be.

The core chamber of the power station had an almost neon blue glow. All around the central platform were panels that glowed with energy while strange turbines sparked with blue lightning along the walls. A woman in a lab coat didn’t even look up as she tended to her work. The gate was on the far end.

“Why is there a teleporter gate into the heart of the city’s power grid?” Silver asked, barely believing her own words.

“Metal heads can’t teleport,” the scientist answered, still not looking up from her work. “Things might get a little hectic around here, but we aren’t that oblivious.” She hurried over to a different panel, allowing the others to see that she was a brunette with hair cut professionally short, blue eyes, pasty skin, and an overcoat that was not flattering in the slightest. “Hello there, by the way. My name is Pebela. I’m the assistant engineer to Chief Vin. Who might you be?”

Surprise held up her pass. “Well according to these, we’re Vin’s new assistants, probably here to replace you and steal your retirement benefits.”

“The hell!?” bellowed Pebela as she whirled around. “Who even authorized this? I know it can’t be Vin. They haven’t confirmed he’s dead, yet. And even if he were, which I refuse to believe,” she hissed, “then I would be promoted.”

“Probably no one, given that these I.D.s are fake,” giggled Surprise.

Pebela tensed, stepping back in fear. “F-fake.”

“Courtesy of the Underground,” Luna elaborated.

Pebela blinked. “The ottsel is talking. Why is the ottsel talking?”

“Because I have things to say,” Luna replied plainly. “And, for the record, you may address me as Luna.”

“Hold on a second,” Pebela insisted, holding out her hand as she struggled to organize her thoughts. “Are… are you the rebels that have been on the news?”

“Sure are,” chirped Surpise.

“Here?”

“Yappers.”

“In one of the most volatile and crucial places in the entire city!?”

“Sure looks that way, darlin’,” offered Honey.

“Fear not, lady engineer,” Luna began. “Our mission is not sabotage, but to rescue Vin from peril.”

“Rescue Vin?” Pebela asked skeptically. “Why would the Underground want to… Wait. Is Vin a traitor?”

“Given that the Baron only came to power through a coup, I would say those who stand against him might be better described as loyalists,” Silver offered eloquently.

“So… not that I can really do anything to stop you,” Pebela conceded, “but how do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Well our mission is ta save Vin,” Honey reminded. “If’n we do, then ya know we’re good on our word. Otherwise, we probably won’t come back at all.”

Pebela, unable to think of an argument, decided to let the players leave through the gate for an area deemed so hostile that the Krimzon guard had seen fit to abandon it.

On the other side was the aptly named Strip Mine. It was almost canyon-like with craggy rocks and large mounds of gray dirt. The area was surrounded by heavy equipment in various states of damage or disrepair. Save for the occasional shrub and metal head, the area was all but lifeless. Then again, with all of the dark eco pooling along the surface, that was probably understandable.

First among the enemies that decided to make nuisances of themselves were the metal head stingers. They were quick little crawlers that liked to swarm in numbers and attack with their oversized stingers. At least they each offered a skull gem when they died, allowing the players to collect much more rapidly than before. Making a return were the grunts, functioning as the primary foot soldiers. They were supported by aerial metal jackets, wasp-like creatures that could hover and fire blasts of dark eco from their tails.

For the most part, the players stuck to their firing line formation. Scatter guns took out enemies that got too close or were grouped together, which mostly consisted of the stingers. Blasters kept the grunts at a range and shot the jackets out of the sky. However, as the players advanced through the mine, the metal heads soon became wise to this strategy and kept their distance. Grunts started throwing rocks and bits of debris from high points while the jackets switched to hit and run tactics. This hampered the party’s progress for a while, but that changed when Luna broke from the pack and ran tauntingly close to the grunts. Whatever higher thinking they might have had was overridden by their baser instincts, driving them to abandon their strategy in pursuit of the seemingly easy prey.

Once the players had cleared the area, they made for the most damaged building, assuming it was the only one the metal heads hadn’t broken into yet. However, it took a depressingly short amount of time to see that the way into the building was a big red button beside the door. Surprise pressed it, the door opened, and a man started firing frantically.

“Ah! Stay back!”

The players ducked around the walls to either side of the door as the man continued shooting at anything that moved, or anything he thought moved.

“Are you Vin?” Moonlight asked.

“Stay back! There’s more where that came from!” he cried in a shrill voice.

“We’re here to rescue you,” Moonlight continued. “Torn sent us. You know, the guy with the stick up his ass.”

“Ah! I don’t believe you!”

Moonlight rolled her eyes. “If we were here to kill you, why would we be talking?”

At that, Vin finally calmed down. Even so, the players were still cautious as they poked their heads out to see one another. Vin looked even more pale than Pebela. His hair was as white as his shirt and goggles completely obscured his eyes.

“Oh, friendlies?” Vin asked before collapsing over a bit of makeshift cover, his adrenaline dissipated. He looked around at the players. “Huh. Ya know, I was kind of hoping for an army, but I guess a squad of tough commandos is a good second.”

“Hehe. Hear that guys?” tittered Surprise. “He thinks we look tough as we,” she snickered, “go commando.”

The others either joined in the snickering or rolled their eyes at the lazy joke. Vin looked oblivious.

“I doubt the Underground even has an army,” Silver said. “On the plus side, we are the best they have to offer, so that’s something to feel good about.”

Vin beamed.

“You know, if the Krimzon guard decided to run, I’m pretty sure it was because they were facing a much bigger army than what we went through,” Moonlight began. “Perhaps we should continue this back at the power station before the rest of them show up.”

Vin snapped to attention, leaping over his own cover to join the players, his weapon at the ready. It was a short escort back to the gate.

Upon hopping out the other end, Pebela rushed over in excitement, likely with the intent of glomping Vin, but tempered her enthusiasm when she remembered the others. “It’s, um, good to see you’re alright, Dr. Vin,” she greeted professionally.

“Good to be back,” Vin returned before rushing past her towards one of the control panels. “Hey, I want to thank you guys for saving my butt down at the Strip Mine.”

“… yes,” Pebela added under her breath, her gaze having fallen below Vin’s belt line.

“Those metal heads have been attacking our mining operations,” Vin continued anxiously. “I mean, they’d do that anyway. That’s kind of what they do. But it’s been a lot more persistent the last few months. The point is we’re running out of eco! And in case you’ve been hiding in a ditch all your lives, eco power is the only thing keeping the shield wall up. And if the shield drops, well… We can all kiss our butts,” he gave his rear a wiggle for emphasis, “goodbye.”

The others laughed when they noticed Pebela licking her lips. Thomas regarded his fellow players with a don’t-you-go-shipping expression, which only increased their mirth.

“So until the Shadow figures out what to do, you guys need to do all you can,” Vin pleaded desperately. “My readings show a drop in eco flow at drill platform six. Probably some metal head eggs suckin’ away the power. So, use the warp gate to-”

“Destroy every egg we find?” Surprise finished. “Also, if this is platform six, what about one through five?”

Vin laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, what’s left of platform three could fit in a bread box,” he explained grimly.

“And that was the lucky one,” Pebela added.

The briefing finished, the players set out.

***

The drill platform was an immense apparatus held atop immense towers. The architecture was reminiscent of Haven’s industrial sector with the whole thing being about the size of the fortress. The drill was equally massive and still grinding away at the rock beneath the platform. Metal head eggs were set up in clusters in plain sight all around the facility, but the shells were too tough to destroy with regular arms. To make up for this, the players made use of turrets positioned nearby. However, before the players could begin…

“Heeelp!”

“Someone needs help,” concluded Surprise as she surveyed the area. “Over there. Laser shots!”

“Looks like this facility isn’t fully lost yet,” affirmed Moonlight. “Maybe if the Baron weren’t awful, he could spare a few soldiers to protect these vital stations.”

The party split up, taking two separate paths through the facility. Surprise, Honey, and Luna trekked around the facility’s outer sections in search of civilians. The big gals made for obvious targets while Luna navigated the ventilation systems to either spring traps on the enemy or assure the soon-to-be-rescued that they were safe. Thomas, Silver, and Moonlight, stayed in the central area where the eggs were most visible. The ladies provided cover fire while Thomas manned the turret. Both teams fought off roto-blades, fast little buggers that spun like tops with razor sharp edges. Entering the first turret summoned forth straffers, slow moving jet propelled monsters with weapons fire on par with the Krimzon guard. They had numbers, but their poor maneuvering made them easy targets for the players.

In rescuing the civilians, the players learned of what had happened. The Krimzon guard had been stationed here, since this site was deemed more important than the Strip Mine. They were the ones who had set up the turrets, of which there used to be a lot more. The straffers had attacked with a significantly higher level of coordination than had previously been seen, overwhelming the guards. The platoon commander had ordered his men to hold the line as best they could until all civilians could be evacuated, with the intent of launching a counter attack to retake the facility later. Those civilians the players found had been trapped in areas that were overrun in the initial attack, abandoned only because they were presumed dead.

“Nice ta see soldier’s actually don’ their jobs ‘n’ bein’ honorable-like fer a change,” commented Honey.

“Verily,” Luna added, looking at the first group they’d saved. “You lot should stay here for now. We shall clear the platform of enemies, and then return once the path is safe.”

Deeper into the facility, the players encountered centurions. These tall bastards hid behind energy shields that deflected almost all small arms fire, but weren’t afraid to poke their heads out from time to time to fire from their arm cannons. They weren’t so good against flanking attacks, though.

Whenever they found the time, Silver and Surprise would crack open a few ammo clips to absorb the eco inside. Nothing had happened yet, but both described feelings of something building up. All were growing antsy to see what would happen.

Once all the metal heads were cleared, the party backtracked and gathered up all the civilians they’d found, sending them through the gate before following after. On the other side, Vin and Pebela thanked the players profusely, as did the civilians. Well wishes were shared all around, along with a few promises to spread the word about the good the Underground – and these six in particular – were doing.

***

Feeling the need to imbibe, the players decided to pay a visit to the Hip Hog to see what kind of spirits were on the menu. Luna hopped onto the counter and, feeling the itch for some spontaneity, decided to flirt with the barmaid. “Well, hello there, sugarplum,” she greeted sensually, causing the woman to giggle and blush. Taking the hint, Luna continued as the others took their seats, with Silver situated directly behind her. “You must be new here. Tell me, what do you have that is hot and… Wait. I’ve seen you before.”

The woman flinched and looked around nervously.

“Come ta think ‘f it, ya’ll do look mighty familiar,” agreed Honey.

Luna snapped her fingers. “Yes. I remember! You were with Torn at the Undergr-”

The blonde barmaid shushed Luna by placing a finger over her lips. “Yes, that’s right. My name is Tess,” she whispered, leaning in close to limit the number of eavesdroppers. In so doing, she exposed a lot more of her chest than she meant to, although she didn’t seem to mind as Luna and the others took in the view. “Torn sent me to spy on Krew. Play along, and I might be able to get my hands on a few of Krew’s secrets.”

“An admirable goal, but hardly an enviable one,” Luna replied, looking out the corner of her eye to where Krew was conversing with other bar patrons. “You seem capable, but feel free to ask for help whenever you need it.” Luna held Tess’ hand and stroked her fingers gently. “I’m sure we could make time for one as pretty as you.”

Tess struggled to contain her giggles at Luna’s overt cheesiness.

Feeling a bit curious, Thomas checked to see how Silver was doing. The short woman’s smile looked sincere, and she was blushing almost as much as Tess. It wasn’t hard to guess where her mind was. Although he knew he should have expected such a reaction, it never failed to warm the man’s heart each time he saw these examples of open Equestrian love.

When at last he’d noticed them, Krew hovered over and offered the players a job to collect some money around the city. Seeing how intently Tess was listening as Krew explained, Luna gave her a reassuring nod that they were on her side. The mission itself was the same mundane fare of collecting all the things within the allotted time limit. Upon completion, the players returned for a gun upgrade that increased the scatter gun’s rate of fire. They departed with Luna blowing a goodbye kiss to Tess.

“I hope you’re not entertaining any dirty thoughts in that fuzzy head of yours,” Silver warned playfully.

“Dirty? Perish the idea,” Luna dismissed. “As a Princess, I am incapable of any but the purest and most wholesome thoughts.”

“Example?” Thomas asked.

“Tess’ clothing seems rather tight, I think,” Luna pondered. “It makes one think, just how tight those shorts of hers truly are.”

“Pure and wholesome. Got it.” Thomas nodded along. “Well she did have a thing for Daxter in the original game.”

Luna clucked her tongue. “Would that not be considered bestiality by human standards?”

“Technically it’s closer to xenophillia, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.”

“Yeah. We can romance her anytime we want,” agreed Surprise. “More important is Vin and Pebela.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Please no shipping.”

“Make me!” Surprise challenged. “Anyway, she clearly wants him. My money is on her liking his big brain, but he doesn’t seem to realize.”

“Back on the farm, whenever there was a problem like this, we’d jus’ lock ‘em in the cellar ‘n’ tell them they could come out after they got honest wit’ each other,” Honey said, gracing the others with her country wisdom.

“We could always set them up on a secret date, follow them like creepy stalkers, and arrange everything to maximize the romance,” Moonlight offered with a straight face. “It worked for me.”

Surprise tapped her chin. “Hmm. Not sure we have that kind of time. Those two seem to spend all their time in the power station, and I think the city kind of needs them to stay there.”

Seeing no hope of combatting the madness that was shipping, Thomas felt he had no choice but to wrap it up by helping it along. “So we need something romantic that wouldn’t require going out: an introvert’s date.”

“Perhaps we can start with something small, such as a shared project.” Silver added. “I can see the two of them tinkering away, only to reach for the same tool at the same time. Their hands touch and…” She trailed off with a swoon.

“But they already spend all their time together,” Moonlight countered. “If that sort of thing could happen, it would have already.”

“I’m sure you gals will think of something,” Thomas assured, checking the map. “But for now, I think there’s another lovely lady that could use some ogling.”

***

Back at the Underground hideout, Torn looked especially grumpy as he paced around the map. “One of my old guard comrades was sent to the pumping station. There’s been no word from the patrol, and after what you guys ran into out there, I’m afraid she may need some help.”

“Did you say she?” Surprise asked, perking up.

“Don’t. Even. Think about it!” Torn groused.

“Too late,” Surprise whispered.

“This ‘friend’ of mine has helped the Underground many times before. Go back to the pumping station and take a look around,” Torn instructed. “Render assistance if needed.”

“Hehe. Ass-sistance,” Surprise giggled.

Torn buried his face in his hands. “Why are you my best agents?”

***

At the pumping station, the players encountered a lot more crab heads than before. They were tough, had a lot of fire power when they saw their enemies coming, and were usually backed up by other metal head species. Fortunately, each group restricted their patrols to limited areas, meaning that the players didn’t have to worry about enemy back up if a fight took too long. As back at the Strip Mine, Luna made use of herself as a decoy, breaking even the toughest metal head lines with just a flick of her tail.

“So Torn seemed rather… protective of this mysterious she,” observed Moonlight.

“I know it’s not fair to judge her before we’ve met her, but I’m not sure I like Torn being with someone who’s as rough as he is,” Surprise began. “I’ve always thought that the whole idea of opposites attracting was healthier, since they end up balancing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Having a couple where they’re both basically the same seems like a poor match.”

“We don’t know Torn’s feelings are that way,” Silver argued. “A man and woman can work together and build a relationship that doesn’t turn romantic. They could just be good friends, comrades in arms or maybe even bra-ha-ha-ha!” she sputtered, devolving into chortles. “I’m sorry. I tried to keep a straight face for as long as I could but…” She gave a honking laugh.

Honey was laughing almost as hard. “Yeah. Situation like this, it ain’t a matter o’ if they’ll start smoochin’, but when.”

The players continued with their banter as they traversed across the station and up the cliffs. After crushing every metal head in sight, they came upon a crashed vehicle. It was a hell cat cruiser, the same two-person heavy vehicle that would sometimes be seen patrolling Haven. However, once they got close enough, a woman with red hair hopped down from the trees above and wrapped an arm behind Thomas’ neck. She had similar facial tattoos as Torn, fierce green eyes, and ruby red lipstick. She wore a red top with a blue jacket showing off her Krimzon guard insignia. Holes were cut in her jeans to expose her thighs. The whole ensemble hugged her figure snugly, but Thomas was more preoccupied with the gun being jammed into his back.

“Who the hell are you people?” the woman growled in demand.

“I’m the one asking nicely for you to let my man go,” Moonlight hissed aggressively. She and the other ladies formed a tight circle around Thomas’ assailant, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “That can change at any time.”

“Easy there,” Thomas said, holding up his hands. “We’re not your enemies. Torn sent us to-”

“We’re actually time travelers,” Surprise chirped, only to get scolded by the others. “What? We are.”

The redheaded woman rolled her eyes. “Time travelers? I’ll admit I was expecting something more… believable.”

“How about how the guy you’re holding is actually the aged up version of the prince from this time,” Surprise added.

“Not helping!” snapped Moonlight.

The redhead, rather than looking annoyed, donned a more thoughtful expression and took a closer look at Thomas. “Can you prove it?”

That caught everyone off guard.

“How exactly would he prove it?” Silver asked. “And how would you be able to verify if he did?”

The woman’s lips pursed apprehensively. “That’s none of your concern. Just answer the damn question!”

“We might wanna put this on hold fer a tick,” Honey offered. “Looks like we got company.”

Sure enough, a battalion of metal heads was converging on their position. Crab heads and juice goons made up the front while stingers circled around to flank the party from behind. The metal heads had superiority in not only numbers, but fire power. The juice goons stuck close to the crab heads to fend off close range attacks. Far range attackers had to divide their attention between ducking in cover from the crab heads and watching their butts for stingers.

Seeing little recourse as the enemy monsters closed in around them, Thomas broke from the woman’s grip and decided he might as well do something stupid. He went dark. He closed the distance with the enemy hoard in the blink of an eye, almost as though his claws were drawn to their targets. Adopting the stingers’ strategy, he came around from behind before the metal heads had time to maneuver. Their attention divided, the other players and the redhead opened fire on the distracted monsters. Thomas figured the best way to end this fight was with a bang, and so leapt up into the air and punched down at the ground in the middle of the hoard, delivering a dark bomb that sent a shockwave of dark energy out in all directions.

Unfortunately, the metal heads weren’t done yet. They still had a whole other wave of reinforcements, backed up with grunts this time. To make matters worse, the dark bomb had taken more out of Thomas than he’d expected. He caught himself on his knees before tumbling forward, but otherwise, could barely move. He was vulnerable before the approaching hoard.

“No!” shouted Silver. Without thinking she lifted her hands high into the air and slammed her fists to the ground like an ape. Flashes of red shot out from the impact points as she propelled herself forward. She cannonballed directly into the nearest crab head, impacting with such force that the creature’s skull gem was left in place while its lifeless body plowed into those directly behind it. Silver assumed a defensive stance, positioning herself between Thomas and the metal heads.

“Bad. Ass,” Thomas blurted.

“You may not be my stallion, but you’re still my stallion,” Silver beamed proudly in what she was certain was one of the coolest moments of her life. “Also I appear to be glowing red.”

She was, in fact, glowing red.

“Oh-oh-oh-oh! Me too! Me too!” Surprise insisted. Before anyone had time to ask what she meant, the big white woman jumped up and delivered a kick to the ground in a fashion resembling that of the dark bomb. But rather than delivering a wide area blast, something yellow tunneled beneath the ground and straight towards the metal heads. It emerged beneath a crab head, shooting up a spear of yellow that turned the monster into a cabob. “Boo-ya!”

The metal heads were in utter disarray after that. Although Silver and Surprise were unable to use their powers any further, they’d already inflicted enough fear to keep the enemy from reforming their lines. From there, it was a simple mission to mop up the remains.

“That was… impressive,” the redhead allowed. “Name’s Ashelin, by the way.”

“Ashelin, informant to the Underground,” Luna addressed. “If nothing else, you can certainly handle yourself in a fight.”

Ashelin frowned down at the ottsel. “The way you talk… Why do I get the feeling I should be bowing to you?”

Luna grinned. “Because you have good instincts.”

Ashelin shook her head and climbed into her hell cat. “I’ve just been convinced time travel is real. That’s a big enough headache for anyone to deal with.”

“How were you convinced?” Thomas asked as he let Moonlight fuss over him.

“It’s said that only those from the House of Mar could channel eco like that,” Ashelin admitted. “Speaking of which, tell Torn Baron Praxis is planning something big. I think it has something to do with that symbol.” She gestured to an emblem of Precursor metal. “That’s the seal of the House of Mar. The founder of Haven City. We’re being sent out on ‘suicide missions’ to locate artifacts from the time of his rule. If curiosity’s worth dying for, you can ask the blind, old soothsayer in the bazaar. Just ask for Onin.” As the hell cat lifted into the air, Ashelin tossed the players a security pass for the bazaar sector. And she took off.

(1) The idea that zoomer technology is relatively new to Haven originally came from Tatsurou. As I described previously, the way zoomers are flying around the place doesn’t seem like the city was built with them in mind, meaning that they’ve yet to adjust. Naturally, if zoomers are new, it only stands to reason that their progenitor would be a certain someone familiar.

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