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.