Text Adventure Chapter 93 Log

>Right now, there’s only one thing on your mind.
>You fold up the map and shift your legs up on the bench.
>The feeling is heavenly, just kicking back and laying your head on Redheart’s side like a fluffy white pillow.
>”Ah- hmm, I’ll wake you up when the carriages come then, babe. Good night.”
>She rubs your head gently as she shifts herself to lay down, cuddling up with your head at her side.
“Night..”
>Before you know it, your eyes are shut and your breathing slows.
>The night drifts away into endless dreaming.
>...
>Well, it felt endless.
>You awaken and slowly open your crusty eyes, taking in your surroundings.
>Nearly a minute passes before you’re able to remember everything that happened yesterday.
>Once you gather your bearings, you realize Redheart’s shaking you awake, giving you a concerned look.
>”Anon, c’mon. Get up, the carriages are here!”
“Oh, yeah… What time is it?”
>Red smiles sympathetically at you as she slides out from under your head to stand up.
>”We’re still going, aren’t we?”
>You sit up and see that your party is experiencing similar emotions of grogginess from being woken up, but they’ve started walking after one of the many numbers of the carriages that’ve come to take everyone to where they need to go.
>Gable mans the door and looks at the two of you as Berry and Iron climb in.
>You suddenly remember that treasure map you found in your sleepless stupor last night, and a quick check confirms it’s real.
>Should you stop them and check out the mine, or go straight to Appleoosa?



>There’s got to be a way to do what you need to do and get that ring.
>It could be invaluable in the inevitable conflict against the shadow.
>You slowly get up and shake off your exhaustion and call down the party.
“HOLD ON!”
>You meet them halfway from the carriage and Berry is the first to speak.
>”What going on now? We’re supposed to be going to Appleoosa now, right?”
>You pull out the map you found and start unfolding it.
”Just check this out. Red and I found this last night, it looks like it's in reference to those rings, like the one you're wearing right now. It seems like the more we have, the more powerful they are.”
>You spread the map out and let her, Iron Will and Gable look at it closely with the latter taking a special interest.
>”...This is gryphon handwriting.”
>Redheart’s interest (and eyebrows) perk up and she closes in next to him to inspect the calligraphy more carefully.
>”Really? … It’s very ancient, so it must be from very far north.”
>The feathered lion smirks a bit at this.
>”You know your history, don’t you? And here I was thinking you were just a nurse with a penchant for badassery.”
>Red smiles back.
>”I might not be like Twilight when it comes to books, but I do read plenty.”
>Iron rolls his eyes at the spectacle.
>”You two should start up a little book club or something. What’s up with this, doc?”
“Well, I’ve been doing some research, and what I’ve found is pretty much confirmed by this map. The rings I’m talking about are specifically called the Nine Rings of Kinich-Ahau, and according to this little poem here, you get a lot of power for each ring you find, and since we’re probably going to need it if we face the shadow directly, it’s not a bad idea to search for it. The next one’s right here in the Ghastly Gorge, I’m guessing the mine. What I’m getting at is, how do you feel about a little treasure hunt, Berry?”
>Each member of the group looks around at each other, gauging their worth for it.
>Red’s the first to respond.
>”Don’t you think we should take care of the Hive first before going after anything? I know this could help us if it’s there, but we’re a bit tight on time, since their hive’s been attacked since… nearly a week ago?”
>She has a point.
>What do you say?



>You think for a moment, scratching your chin in deep pondering wonder.
“Hm... how about this? Gable, you and Berry check out the mine; maybe you two will be able to find some other gryphon artifacts while you're in there. We'll scout ahead and see what info we can gather at Appleloosa about the Hive. Might make some preparations in the form of more potions and such, too.”
>After presenting that on the table, Gable’s eyes light up.
>”I can see a lot of shine, then. I’m in.”
>Berry shrugs after a moment, a bit weirded out by the gryphon’s enthusiasm.
>”Sure, I can go for it. Would love to see how much fire I can belch out at once, right?”
>The two of them chuckle as you hand over a few things.
[You give Gable your Pickaxe.]
[You give Gable your Nine-Rings Map.]
[You give Berry 200 bits.]
“There’s the map, the pickaxe in case you find any good ores, and a bit of cash for a carriage back to Appleoosa when you’re done. You guys sure you’re okay with this?”
>Berry and Gable nod, and before leaving Iron takes the former’s hoof in his hands.
>”You’ll be careful, right Ber?”
>Berry gives him an annoyed look.
>”What did I say about the special treatment?”
>Iron stands back up and coughs nonchalantly, wearing a dopey smile.
>”Right, yep. See you two on the flip side! Kick some flank if you find any zombies or something.”
>With that, Berry and Gable wave to the party and you wave back.
>”See ya guys, find out where we can buy the good shit, I’m gettin’ tired of rum!”
>”Don’t hurt yourselves in the wild west, we’ll be back soon.”
“Heh, see you guys soon. And be careful in there! It should be just a simple pick-up, but keep your eyes peeled for anything dangerous. Or shiny.”
>And so they leave, following the map’s directions to the mine.
>Redheart and Iron walk you to the carriage in your groggy state and help you inside.
[Cannot use Doctor’s Kit on multiple party members without splitting!]
>The feeling of sitting on an exquisite, cushioned seat makes you nearly fall asleep on the spot.
>Your friends have already been taken care of though, so it doesn’t really matter.
>All of a sudden, the latch to the driver’s seat opens and a rugged stallion pokes his muzzle through.
>”Where to?”
>Red’s on the case.
>”We’d like to make a quick stop at Ponyville, then go to Appleoosa from there. Is that okay?”
>He nods, but you see the slightest of scowls on his face before closing the latch again.
>You don’t blame him, that’s quite a ways to go.
>But you’re beyond caring at this point, as you’re far too tired to think straight.
>You drift off very quickly once Red now uses you as a pillow and cuddles on your side, and Iron takes the entire other seat, enjoying the space.
>The carriage begins moving, and you begin dreaming.
>...

[ACTION DERIVATIVE TO THIRD MEMBER OF PARTY]
[REDIRECTING MIND . . .]

>...
>You are Berry Punch.
>Got woken up in the middle of a nice dream with fountains of wine and rum, being served plates of cheese by five-legged stallions.
>You know what that means.
>Of course, the ride coming to get you guys just -had- to be in the middle of the night.
>Now you’re on this treasure hunt that you could’ve easily said no to and just had some well-deserved sleep.
>...Aww, let’s be real, you would’ve went to get that set regardless.
>You’re actually fucking psyched to get another ring, this is going to be awesome.
>’Xcept being with Gable here.
>You like the guy, especially after the windigo incident.
>You just feel like it’ll get a bit weird being alone with him.
>Either way, he’s here now and at least you know you’ll be safe in that dank mine.
>At this point, you and him are traveling down a downsloping dirt path down right into the gorge, and it’s pitch black out here.
>Good thing you have this first ring, it’s a good light source.
>You can see the mine across the distance, but there’s a rushing river blocking the path to the other side.
>You were only able to see that because your ring’s literally the only light source for an entire mile, and it’s glinting off of the movement of the waves.
>What would you like to do?



>When the two of you get to the bank of the river, you realize something.
>All that walking, and neither of you have said a word.
>Gonna be awkward when you do now.
>Approaching the rushing sounds of the unrelenting force, you see that there’s no way you’re getting through here by swimming.
>Probably wouldn’t be too pleasant drowning in the middle of the night hundreds of miles away from home.
>That thing is deep, too. The side you’re on goes way past your head starting at least three feet in.
“Hey uuh… Don’t think we could ford this, could we?”
>Gable chuckles softly.
>”I bet you’re wishing you were a pegasus right now, huh?”
“I like my thunder thighs, thanks. Locks my prey in real nice, if you get what I’m saying. Anyways, I’m gonna give us a little light, y'wanna tell me if your eagle-eyes see a bridge nearby? ...Or you could just carry me?”
>Gable sighs sarcastically.
>”Oh, I’m not sure if I could carry thunder thighs, but I’ll give it a shot.”
>You both share a bit of a laugh as Gable starts to hover with his impressive wingspan, and you get a nice little view before he lands over your back.
>...It’s nice.
>His claws clutch around your sides a lot more sensually than you thought possible for a ragtag fighter, and he slowly starts to take off, your hooves leaving the ground before you can blink.
>His speed accelerates dramatically as he starts to glide across the river with you in tow.
“H-hey, don’t you dare drop me, okay?”
>”OH SHIT!”
“AAAAAAAAGH!”
>You see your life flash before your eyes as you cover them with shaky limbs…
>...Only to hear the asshole tearing up his sides.
>”Oohh.. That was funny. We should hang out more often.”
“Oh yeah, as if you’d just LOVE to be… ...That was a horrible pun.”
>”Payback for the windigo.”
>As he finishes this statement, he sets you down softly on the other side of the river, grounding himself next to you.
>”Wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Whatever.”
>You take a good sip of your rum to get a bit of a buzz going on after that shit.
>He starts to walk forward towards the cave opening to the mine that’s embedded in the side of the gorge.
>What would you like to do?



>Inspect feelings for Will and Anon
[What feelings? You just want their dicks. Okay, maybe you’d follow Anon to the ends of Equestria for the guy he is and for saving you, and maybe Iron’s a bit closer to you than the others, but that’s it. Not too hard. Well, you want them hard, but it’s not hard to understand, you just want those to be-- er, nevermind.]

>Looking at Gable, you realize just how much of a sta- … handsome guy he is.
>You’d just totally fuck his rule 63 self, and Femanon too. Wait…
>Either way, onto the more important business right now, it’s time to find the legendary artifact that’s going to make you such a flaming faggot fire female fighter.
“Let’s start this search, and make sure you speak up if you see something shiny, got it?”
>”Don’t have to tell me twice.”
>The two of you walk side by side up the hill, and arrive at the mouth of the cave.
>The light of your ring illuminates an old, decrepit wooden sign at the side, and you squint as you read.

[“He who enter this mine be warned; turn back, or forever be lost within the labrynth.”]

>That doesn’t sound very inviting.
>But, you didn’t come all this way for nothing, did you?
“I’m not gonna go back just because some dumbass miners got spooked by some rocks, are you?”
>You trot forward without a second thought, and Gable goes right after you.
>”Just be on guard.”
>Your sight barely stretches past your own hoof even with the ring light, so it’s probably best to be careful.
>Inside are many different tunnels spanning in different directions, all with an abandoned railroad track splitting up to meet them all.
>To be completely honest, you’re a bit spooked.
>As you go through the centermost tunnel, you look at Gable to see how he’s doing.
>Like the champ he is, there’s no emotion.
>That’s all stoic warrior, right there.
>You take another swig of rum and decide to break the silence, speaking a bit more quietly because of the expanding echoes.
“So uh… Whaddya think about Anon?”
>”Huh?”
“You know, your impression.”
>Gable raises an eyebrow.
>”Are you trying to find out if he’s interested?”
“Wha- No! Of course not, c’mon… Wait, is he?”
>”No clue.”
“Shit, well. You know what I mean, what do you think of him?”
>He sighs with a much more genuine tone, and speaks.
>”He’s a lot more jaded than most in this world. At the same time, he’s optimistic as all hell, and it makes me angry just thinking about how those two qualities can exist inside one living person. Then I sort of forget about it and realize he’s a good friend, which is hard to find when you’re someone like me. So, he’s good. That answer your question?”
“I guess.”
>”What about you? What do you think of him?”
>You blow some raspberries as you think, the echo making a funny effect that gets you a little giggly.
“I don’t know… Saved my life, and that’s good enough for me.”
>”When was this?”
“Back when we first met, the shadow decided to take a little trip over Ponyville, and it wrecked the entire town. I was in a bar at the time, and the entire counter went over me. Got cut up real bad, should’ve bled to death… Then there’s this guy, standing on two legs with fingers, pulling me out and taking me to safety. That was before he knew shit about first aid and magic and all that.”
>”Wow. Didn’t know he was such a stand-up idiot. Could’ve gotten himself killed doing that.”
“Well, if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here. So wherever he goes, I go until this whole thing’s over with.”
>With that, there’s nothing more that needs to be said.
>After a while, you and Gable come to a divergence in the mail tunnel.
>The left path seems to go down very quickly, and is the only path where the cart road turns.
>The center path goes straight ahead, but something seems extra dark about it, like it expands.
>The right path has a ladder going up to some sort of trap door.
>What would you like to do?



>”So… The map doesn’t say where to go. You’re the treasure hunter here, so pick a way.”
>You look at each of the three paths, completely clueless.
“Are you under the impression I’m like, Daring Do or something? ..Fuck… Uh… T-the right path. Yeah.”
>Gable rubs his nose a bit to cover his inevitable chuckling, and he walks towards the ladder.
>”Good choice, I see a lot of thought went into that.”
“Get bent.”
>You follow behind him and he flies up the ladder without so much as touching it, checking the trap door for any traps.
>When you get to the bottom of it, you draw your spear and stick it into the ground next to it to mark your path.
>Probably won’t need it, right?
>Suddenly, there’s a powerful SMACK right above you, and dust flies everywhere.
>You try to yell at him for breaking a door when you’re right under the crossfire, but you’re too busy coughing.
>”Sorry, should’ve warned you. It’s open now though.”
>He flies through the opening, letting you catch up.
>After you get the dust out of your eyes, you begrudgingly swing your rum to your back and start climbing, your hooves wobbly from the lack of dexterity when it comes to being tipsy.
>Finally, you reach the top and climb up into the next room, brushing yourself off and walking forward.
>You bump into something feathery about three steps in.
“Hey, what’re you standing around… for…”
>You look up and see what Gable’s staring at.
>There’s an entire cavern up here.
>It’s filled with treasures of countless ages, piled in some areas and organized in others, lit by the many blue-flame magical orbs acting as lights across the entire space that’s nearly a football field large.
>Every single crevice filled with silver, gold, even enchanted jewelry, Celesteel and Luminum…
>At the very back, there sits an old decomposed throne, and on it lay a sword made of Trotium.
>”...It’s… How…?”
>You’re completely lost for words.
>This might be the greatest discovery of the modern age.
>And you are going to be FUCKING. RICH.
>What would you like to do?



”I'm going to be really pissed off when I wake up in a couple seconds and find out this is all just an alcohol-fueled dream. This is too good to be true... be careful if you go after that sword, it feels fishy. … Gable?”
>You look around for your hybrid friend, only to see him already hovering over the throne, examining it closely.
>That didn’t take long for him.
“HAY!”
>”WHAT?!”
“DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING UNTIL WE’RE SURE WE CAN!”
>”DON’T LECTURE ME, BEERMARE!”
>You take a quick look around and make sure the exit’s there and there’s no weird magical traps.
>It seems to be fine, so you go to the nearest pile and check it out.
>Inspect Pile of Treasure
[Amongst the golden goblets and gemmed necklaces, you see that there’s a pattern to each of these pieces of treasure. Every single item in this cavern seems to have a linked chain pattern on their design, likely due to some sort of signature style of whoever made and kept this treasure before.]

>You’ve never seen the pattern before, so it could be a completely new find!
>But just to be sure…
[SEARCHING FOR EXITS . . .]
[The only exit is the broken trapdoor you came in.]

>Gable looks like he’s sweating bullets, using every bit of willpower not to touch anything as he flies back to you.
>”Okay, found nothing out of the ordinary. Can we start hoarding? Please?”
>Holy shit, he said please.
>Well, you don’t see anything wrong.
>What would you like to do?



>You might not see anything wrong, but your gut is still telling you otherwise.
>And your gut’s usually never wrong.
“See these markings? I think all this stuff’s linked with each other in some way, so there has to be some sort of trap. Keep looking around, and I promise we’ll take some if it’s safe, okay?”
>Gable rolls his eyes and reluctantly follows you as you walk over to the throne.
>Inspect Throne
[The Throne itself is rather fancy, filled with extra pampering details to make it look as ornate as possible. Too bad it’s very ancient, ready to fall apart at a moment’s notice. Upon close examination, you see the same pattern embroidered on it.

>Inspect Trotium Sword
[It’s definitely one of the sharpest swords you’ve ever seen. It’s a hoofguarded katana with an unknown language scribed into the broad side of the blade, complete with silver wrappings around the hilt. It too bears the chain pattern as the rest of the treasure does.]

>After looking for any abnormalities, you still can’t find anything.
>There must be no traps.
>But just to be completely safe, even if you yourself are getting a bit tired of it, you have to be sure.
[SEARCHING FOR RING . . .]
[You don’t find anything resembling the ring of Kinich-Ahau.]

>Well, that was fruitless.
>Gable’s getting rather impatient, and you’re all out of excuses.
>What would you like to do?



>You already checked for any traps in the room, and you found nothing.
>You already checked for any extra markings in the room, and you found nothing.
>But you do have one more hunch.
>A brisk walk takes you over to the exit, and you put one of the stray cavernous rocks right on the edge and let it hang, effectively blocking the path in case something tries to close.
>Then you turn back to Gable.
“Hey featherboy, can you read what’s on the sword?”
>He shakes his head with impatience.
>”No, it’s an ancient language. Red might’ve known, but I’m uneducated, remember?”
>That’s true, and now you feel like a bit of a jerk for asking him that, but anything to help in this situation.
>Your gut is warring with your mind right now, and you have no idea what to do.
>”Are you seriously still thinking about this?”
“Yes, because I have a brain to think! … I’m just not comfortable. Here, let me try something you big baby, I got an idea.”
>You pull out one of the rags you got from the Tundra cabin and wrap it around your hoof, walking up to one of the piles of treasure near the trapdoor.
“Watch, let’s see what happens when we drop one of these out of here, okay?”
>Gable crosses his arms and watches you unenthusiastically.
>You stick a tongue out at him before turning your attention to a good looking goblet near the top, and you reach for it.
>As soon as your hoof touches it, there’s a slight flash and there’s suddenly two goblets.
“...Wait, wha-”
>The cloned goblet falls from its original perch and hits one of the necklaces in the middle of the pile, and it doubles.
>Suddenly, every single item in the pile doubles and it nearly knocks you off your hooves from the force.
>One of the doubled treasures rolls off to one of the shelves, and then the entire section of that treasure doubles itself, starting a chain reaction that begins to come across the entire room.
>”...Oh shit.”
>The instant Gable’s curse rings out of his mouth, the original doubled pile falls towards the ground, and every hit to a different piece of treasure triples, and it starts waving around through the cavern, already filling it nearly four times as much as it was.
>You try to step back away from it, but you kick a silver bar in the process and it doubles underneath your hooves.
>The doubled one hits the first bar and your leg and they both triple, quadruple, quintuple further and further until you’re riding on a stream of metal about to smash you into the ceiling!
“AAAGH, NOOOO OH FUCK!”
>The immense pile carries you to your death…
>Until Gable swoops from above and scoops you out of the pile with his talons.
>The entire cavern is alive with the sounds of scraping and dinging metal across other cacaphonic melodies that begin to turn the entire place into a literal goldmine.
>Gable tries to fly back, but a rogue cloned trotium sword flies out into the air and nearly slices his wing off, and the offput balance by your weight sends you both crashing into the ground in the center of the room.
>You both immediately get up and stand back to back as treasure crowds around you.
>Then all is still.
>Things finally settle to where nothing is duplicating anymore, with just a small space with you two in the center and real mountains of magically-enchanted treasure blocking every possible path from the ground.
>There’s a lot of swords too, so there won’t be any coming back if you screw up again.
>You’re trapped.
>”....Okay, I’m sorry about being a dickwad earlier…”
“Yeah. Uh… How do we get out?”
>What would you like to do?