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.