My Little Pony Fan Fiction ❯ My Little D&D ❯ Session 1, Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

“Low Level Acres?” Twilight read the sign out loud. The hand painted words were hung above a simple wooden archway that served as the only obvious entrance through the expansive fence line. The fencing, which might be more favorable considered a wall for its height and sturdiness, stretch off in either direction, vanishing into a woodland on one side and some rolling hills in the other. It was impossible to judge just how big an area might be contained within.

So far her investigation into the unknown town the Archmage’s spell had transported her to had been stymied by the simple and infuriating fact that no one seemed to be awake yet! Granted the sun had yet to even rise its own height over the horizon, but still, how late did the residents plan to sleep in? She’d been struck with the thought that surely any farmers in the area could be counted on to be up early and working, only so far her circuit of the town hadn’t revealed anything resembling a farm within sight. Indeed, the only thing near the town had been the impressive looking fence she was now standing before.

Stepping through the archway, Twilight found herself on a plain dirt path that wound through a landscape of high grass, brambly bushes, and thick topped trees. A shallow stream cut across the path a few dozen yards in, bridged by a simple arch of stone. A wooden post was sunk into the ground by the bridge, but whatever had topped it had been torn away, leaving a jagged, splintered end.

As she crossed the stream, Twilight caught a flash of reflected light out of the corner of her eye, near the trunk of a tree a few yards off from the path. Curious, she stepped into the high grass, crossing carefully over the uneven ground until she was beneath the stretching limbs of the tree, where she found a small handful of gold coins just laying out in the open.

“That’s weird,” she said to herself, bending over to pick up the coins. “I wonder how these could have fallen here.”

A bush next to her gave a sudden shudder, and with a whistling shriek a scale covered creature leapt out at her. It was childlike in stature, but with fierce, reptilian features. It was clothed in mismatched bits of leather and hide, and clutched a short but sharp spear in one clawed fist, a wooden buckler in the other.

Twilight didn’t have to think about what to do, which was fortunate because she didn’t have time to think. On pure instinct, she reacted in a fashion befitting any spell caster who has been suddenly and unexpectedly confronted by physical danger. She dropped the coins and ran like hell.

The humanoid lizard thing gave another whistling call and bounded on after its fleeing prey, moving swiftly despite its short legs. It was aided in the chase by the twin facts that Twilight’s robes were not the optimal clothing for running through heavy grass and brush, and that like far too many mages, running was just not something she did a lot of, being more inclined to lounging about libraries and laboratories than engaging in strenuous exercise.

Still, a good stiff shot of adrenaline chased down with a healthy dose of fear can give wings to even the laziest feet, for a bit anyway, and in the beginning Twilight managed to pull ahead of her shorter legged pursuer. What ground she did gain however was quickly lost as she shoved through a row of hedges and ran right into something big, soft but unyielding, and furry. She rebounded from the big furry something, staggered a few steps, but managed to keep her footing.

Then the creature let out a ground shaking roar that made her legs do a commendable impression of a gelatinous cube. The creature was the general size and shape of a grizzly bear, but instead of a muzzle its face sported a wickedly curved beak. It reared up on its hind legs, and scything claws half a foot long raked the air in fury. It turned beady, hateful eyes upon her.

Twilight lost a few seconds of time at that point as her mind ran gibbering into some back corner of her head and curled into a quivering lump. Fortunately her body didn’t need any input to know what to do…run even faster!


Applejack stepped outside and felt the pleasant warmth of the rising sun wash over her. It was a beautiful, clear skied morning, just slightly chilly but with the promise of warming up nicely. It was a perfect day to get some practice in.

Stretching her arms over her head, her back arching with a small series of pops, Applejack strode over to the sturdy shack standing just aside the Apple family home. Unlocking a trio of padlocks with a key hanging by a chain around her neck, she pulled the doors open to reveal shelves upon shelves of swords, shields, hammers, maces, bows, crossbows, daggers, spears, halberds, and even more exotic weapons.    

Fetching down a sturdy wooden shield and a one handed mace with a well-worn leather handle, Applejack had just shut and relocked the weapons shed when a cry echoed out of the woods that surrounded the Apple home. She was used to the various roars and bellows and other such sounds the creatures of the woods made, but this was something new; part fear, part desperation, part utter frustration. A moment later, and Applejack could make out what sounded like something, something big, or perhaps several somethings, crashing through the underbrush. Settling the shield securely and taking a tight grip on the mace, she stepped cautiously towards the wood line, imposing herself between the house and whatever was coming.   

What erupted from the woods was not exactly what Applejack had been expecting. The something turned out to be a slender young woman, a bit pale skinned from lack of sunlight, clothed in deep violet robes that matched her long, straight hair. The stranger was running full out, though her motions were labored and awkward. Along with the heavy sheen of sweat glazing her face, it was clear she was nearing the limits of her endurance.

The cause for her flight became apparent a second later, as an enraged owlbear leapt into view, running with ponderous speed. Behind it came a pair of shaggy grey wolves, dark eyes alight with hungry malice. Behind those, a trio of screeching, whistling kobolds scampered along, banging spears against shields. Finally, bringing up the rear, was a giant spider, large as a pony, long legs skittering through the grass.

Applejack just stared for a moment, lost in the somewhat surreal sense of the moment. Then the stranger stumbled over her own exhausted legs, and went sprawling face first into the grass. The owlbear closed in, roaring loud enough to vibrate a person’s bones, and reared up, flexing its wickedly clawed paws.

“Wooooboy…” Applejack said, and darted forward, long legs pumping furiously as she charged. The owlbear’s claws came down with a whistling of wind, but instead of soft, easily skewered flesh they slammed into hard, unyielding wood.

Applejack tilted the shield as the blow came down, and the owlbear’s claws slid off to the outside, leaving the creature completely open as she brought her mace around, and caught the beast right in the side of the head. Its bellowing roar transformed into a hollow sounding squawk, and the owlbear keeled on over, landing heavily on the ground.

Skipping around the large, inert form, Applejack smacked the first wolf aside with the backswing of the blow. The second came in, too close and fast to set up a strike. Instead she twisted her hips, set her shoulder, and thrust the edge of her shield right into the creature’s snarling mouth. It let out a gagging yelp and fell back, tripping over its own legs in a complete daze.

Before she could follow up though the kobolds were upon her, spears jabbing, forcing her back. The little reptilian beasties split up, circling to surround her, but Applejack wasn’t about to let them have it that easy. She lunged at the rightmost kobold, but then stopped short as the creature hopped away. She swiftly reversed direction, and brought her mace down on the hastily raised shield of the kobold that had fallen for the feint. The heavy blow landed squarely, and neither the little shield nor the little monster’s arm was up to absorbing such an impact, and both shattered. Her mace kept right on going and drove the creature’s own limb and shield into its face, slamming it to the ground.

The third kobold tried to skewer her in the side, but Applejack swatted the thrust away with her shield. She spun and kicked out, driving the heel of her boot right into the creature’s chest and lifting it from its feet. It landed hard a few feet back, spear and shield bouncing away.

Then a fierce fire shot up Applejack’s leg, and she nearly collapsed as the limb threatened to buckle. The first kobold had recovered from its dodge, and had gotten its spear in under her shield and into the muscle of her thigh. It twisted and jerked the weapon free, pulling back for another thrust…and then lost half of its teeth as Applejack lunged, putting her shoulder and full weight behind her shield as the solid wooden surface impacted the creature’s snout.

Then the giant spider reached the fray. It slammed into her, bowling her over, and sending her mace tumbling from her grip. She tried to roll, but long, hairy legs caged her in, and Applejack looked up to see twin needle like pinchers, long as daggers and glistening with venom, unfurl from under the monster’s head.

Applejack swung her shield around as the spider struck, dropping its whole body into the attack. The impact drove the shield down hard into her chest, knocking the wind out her lungs, but the sturdy wood kept the fangs from her flesh. Her legs worked, trying to scoot her out from under the spider, but it shifted nimbly, keeping her pinned, and struck again. It took both arms, but Applejack managed to absorb the blow this time, though the impact was still jarring.

With a frustrated hiss, the spider seized the shield with several legs, yanking and wrenching at it, trying to pry it free. It was all Applejack could do to hold on, and she was lifted and slammed back against the ground over and over in the space of a few seconds by the struggle, leaving her feeling dazed and bruised. She felt her grip weakening and tried to hold on, but there was just no strength left in her and no time to catch her breath. With a triumphant shriek, the spider ripped the shield free and hurled it aside.

“Celestia’s Fist!” a voice cried out, the words echoing as if from a great distance, and an electric blue blur rushed into Applejack’s vision. An ethereal hand, fingers as thick as her legs and clenched into a tight fist, slammed into the spider with the force of a fully loaded runaway cart. In an instant, the creature was gone from view, leaving Applejack staring up at the clear blue sky in amazement.

Sitting upright, she found the spider had been hurled more than a dozen long paces by the impact. The ground was torn up over half that distance where the creature had rolled and skidded through the grass before coming to rest in an unmoving heap of tangled legs.

Turning to look over her shoulder, Applejack found the stranger kneeling on the ground, one shaky arm extended, with a slender length of wood clutched in a white knuckled grip. She was still breathing hard from running, and looked as amazed as Applejack felt.

“Well strip me naked and call me a meat-shield,” Applejack muttered.

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