Anon Quest REBOOTED: 1-1 Our Dying Ruler.

Anon Quest ADVANCED LARPER’S REBOOT: Mission #1-1; Our Dying Ruler.

 

>Friday game night in the library of Twilight Sparkle. You’ve decided to introduce the others to one of yours and your brother Red Anon’s favorite games: Hero’s Tale. As the only one who’s a veteran, you are now the D.M. The world they will live in is up to your craft along with their origins, history, and all future events they must endure. Basically, you’re god. It is time to live up to that title.

>The day frowns upon the Kingdom of Equestria. Rumor has it that a member of the Lunar rebellion infiltrated the Celestial Kingdom two days ago. There has been no definite answer but one thing is for certain, Princess Celestia has been poisoned, and in a few days she will die of organ failure. A cure does exist though; the Black Jasmine Lotus is a very rare plant that was deemed capable of curing any illness, it hides however in a field found deep in the engulfing White Tail Woods. There is a 20,000 bit reward to the soul stupid enough to traverse that death trap, but thankfully there is someone who can take on this task. He is the Red Anon, the finest Civilian Soldier in Equestria.

>Red Anon has gone through many quest in his lifetime; he’s died in almost half of them, but that’s beside the point. What matters is that this is another challenge for him to conquer, and now you’ve got the ponies playing, Anon gets to have a new party to ‘reunite’ with.

>Anon returns to Ponyville after a difficult trek through the Everfree forest. After his return he quickly learned from talk of the local bazaars what was happening, and immediately sought to gather his party. His first stop is to Sweet Apple Acres to unite with one of his toughest party members, Applejack the Combatant.

>As he approaches Sweet Apple Acres, Anon sees the sight of Applejack, shipping apples in a wheelbarrow. She’s covered in scratches, but seems to be in good condition. Applejack notices him and gives him a warm greeting.

>“Well, if it isn’t old Anonymous. How’d your quest go”, ask Applejack.

“Pretty good, made 600 bits”, says the Soldier, “Are you okay, you look king of beat up?”

>“I’ll be fine. Ah’m just tired of keeping them Apple Goblins from gobblin’ mah apples”, she says.

>Anon rolls his eyes at how stupid that was.

“Well, they’re going to be Macintosh’s problem for a while; we need to go to the White Tail Woods and get a lotus to save the Princess. Once you finish your work, meet me in the pub so we can all get together.”

>She gives an agreed nod and he heads off.

>Next stop is to Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy may not technically be doctor, but she is a very fine practitioner whose dedication has shined through many non-existent missions. She’d probably make a better beast master though.

>Anon gives her door a knock before entering.

“Fluttershy? Fluttershy, we have a quest to go to”, he announces to the air.

>There’s no response. Anon thinks for a moment that maybe she’s off in the woods with her monsters, but he’s surer that she’s probably hiding. Anon checks every room in her home, even going so far as to check her closets and under her bed, but she’s nowhere to be found. Anon has a solution to draw her out though.

>Anon purposefully falls to the ground and screams out, “Oh my goodness my ankle is sprained! Oh, the pain! THE PAAAAAAIN!”

>Immediately, Fluttershy flies out from under the floorboards and with her incantation, tries to heal his ankle. This is the fourth time she’s fallen for his ruse.

With a smile he says, “Hey Fluttershy. Thank goodness you showed up. I’m such a klutz around your house. Hey, would you like to help us save the Princess’ life?”

>Sure enough, she can’t avoid saying yes.

>Next stop is Rarity’s. Rarity is easily one of the best Domineers in Equestria and capable of spawning very effective minions out of the very gems that she uses as accessories. She hardly uses her minions for combat though; she mostly just abuses her powers for menial task. As Anon enters her Boutique, he sees Rarity judging her new clothing on three of her gem-born minions; a pair of topaz twins with matching yellow sundresses, and a ruby mare with a red and orange Gala dress. She sighs at the results of her ruby minion’s outfit.

>“The skirt is much to low”, she saws disappointingly.

Not wanting to ruin her focus, Anon gives a small “ahem” until she finally notices he’s there.

>She gives a slightly surprised “Oh”, followed by awkward laugh.

>“I didn’t see you there. You’re back much earlier than expected. Did you come for some new armor, darling”, she asks.

“Hello Rarity. My armor’s fine. I’m getting the gang together for a mission, so if you could head to the pub when you’re done, that’d be great”, says Anon.

>Rarity gives an unsatisfied groan and almost instinctively one of the Topaz twins begins massaging her back.

>“Do I have to,” she whinilly asks. “Every time we go on a mission, it leads to endless walking and facing some giant monster.”

>He assures her, “We’ll need all the help we can get. You have amazing minions on your side, and you’re not too bad with a whip. Besides, this mission isn’t some kind of task for a bounty; we’re going to get the black jasmine lotus and save Princess Celestia.”

>She gasps knowing all about the lotus and how difficult it is to obtain.

>“It’s practically a death march”, she tells him.

>Anon will not force Rarity to do something she doesn’t want to.

With that, he turns and walks out telling her, “You’re a vital team member”, before closing her door.

>Pinkie the Engineer is no trouble to find, the chimes of that music machine she mounted on her saddle draws him to her. She’s at Mjölna’s scrap stand, getting herself some metal.

>As Pinkie noticing Anon walking over, she drops what she’s doing and prances over meeting him half way.

>“Anon! I haven’t seen you since you left to fight those bandits. If I knew you were coming, I’d have worn my dispenser so I’d have a cupcake ready”, she joyfully says with a smile that radiantly contrasts with her filthy grimy face.

“Good morning Pinkie. I hope it’s not a hassle, but we’re getting the band back together for the lotus quest” says Anon.

>“A quest? Oh boy! I’ll grab my stuff”, says Pinkie.

Anon tells her, “Great. Be sure to get your fireworks launcher. No bubbles this time.”

>After hopping around for a bit exclaiming how exited she is, she grabs her bag of scrap, and dashes off to Sugarcube Corner.

>Speaking of dashing how could Anon possibly do a quest without his most loyal companion Rainbow Dash?

>Overhearing Pinkie’s galloping, Dash flies over asking, “What’s going on, is there a mission?”

>Anon tells her, “We’re going to go get the antidote for the Princess.”

>”Aw sweet, I am SO ready”, she excitedly exclaims giving a hoof pump. Without another word, she flies off straight to the pub.

>Rainbow Dash (because you said so) has helped Anon through thick and thin. Based on the games that real life Dash has been in you knows that she’s incredibly cocky to a fault. In fact she’s so cocky that she chose the hunter because the class grants her a 2x attack rate allowing her to “kick twice as much butt in half the time”. As the D.M. of this world you’re going to enjoy making this Dash’s life a living hell.

>Last is the teams mage; Twilight Sparkle. As Celestia’s lapdog, Twilight was first to learn of Celestia’s illness. Celestia however told her in advance “Don’t leave without Anon”, so she’s been stuck waiting impatiently the past couple of days for his arrival. Anon makes his way to the library and gives it a good knock. Unbeknownst to him though, Twilight’s been monitoring the town periodically with her binoculars; she knew he arrived a long time ago.

>“It’s open”, says Twilight from the other side.

>Anon opens the door revealing Twilight who’s already filling a satchel with a ton of books. She’s equipped her hooded robe, and is pretty much ready.

“I’m guessing you already know about the Princess”, says Anon.

>“It’s about time you got here, you’re lucky I’ve waited this long Anon”, says Twilight who’s not mad at Anon, but more the Princess for not letting her go without him.

Anon weakly tells her, “S-sorry. If it makes you feel better, I have the party set up.”

>“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

>Twilight almost sprints her way through the door before being stopped by Spike who calls out to her.

>“Wait!” says the baby dragon. He rushes from upstairs, almost falling down a step before making it to them. Upon arriving he asks, “Can I come along?”

>Anon’s often recruited others spontaneously, but he knows Spike doesn’t have the chops for adventuring.

“This is a dangerous mission Spike. Twilight and I are trained for these kinds of things, and we don’t want to see you get hurt”, says Anon in a very sincere tone.

>Spike immediately drops to his knees and grovels like a professional. “Please, oh please, oh please let me go. Last time Twilight left, she didn’t come back for six days.”

>“What could you even do”, asks Twilight.

>Spike thinks for a bit before telling them, “I could save your adventure.”

“What”, asks Anon.

>“I could make notes about where we go, and the fights that you guys get into. Everything that happens will be saved in my writings.

“I dunno”, says Anon.

>Spike sweetens the deal. “And uh…a-and I can update the Princess on our progress using what I write.”

>Anon and Twilight glare at each other unsure what to do. On the one hand, they’ll have someone who can actively stay in touch with the princess; on the other hand it’s Spike the ‘I’m too incompetent to play Jenga’ Dragon. Eventually, they shrug in agreement.

Anon tells him, “I guess you can join my party, but under no circumstances are you allowed to fight. Are we clear?”

>Spike gives him a nod, and with everything settled Twilight bolts out of the door. The other two quickly try to catch up with her, but she’s pretty darn fast when she wants to be.

>As Twilight, Anon, and Spike arrive, the others; even Rarity to your surprise, are at a table enjoying the sweet sweet nectar of Berry’s punch. Rainbow and AJ have their armor and padding, Fluttershy has her virgin white dress and jacket, Pinkie has her blue shirt and protective brown vest, and Rarity has her black summoner’s dress. The five of them raise their mugs to the three of them come to the table.

Anon tells Rarity, “I’m glad you’re here”, and she gives him a weak smile with a small nod. Someone’s afraid of dying.

>Berry from the counter asks, “So, are you guys gonna do what I think you’re gonna do?”

“You bet”, says Anonymous. “How about another round for the girls before we set off?”

>Twilight taps the counter stopping Berry. She tells her, “Sorry, but we don’t have time for drinks. Everypony get your items set, we’re leaving right now.”

>There’s a sigh from Rarity, and incoherent mumbling from Fluttershy, but what are they supposed to say? “Let’s procrastinate from saving our dying princess so we can watch Pinkie chug a keg?” Of course not. After finishing their drinks, they grab their weaponry; Rarity magically brings her whip to her holder, Applejack puts on her iron horseshoes on, Pinkie puts on her turret (which at this point is just a two foot peppermint cylinder), and Anon of course has his great sword.

>Looks like it’s time for their adventure to truly begin. You decide to start it off the right way with an immediate storm. The lighting alone causes Fluttershy to hop to the ceiling of the pub. This will be fun.