Anon Quest: 2.2 Death from Above

Mission #2.2 - Death from above.

>Now that Pinkie's back from her brownie run, you guys can get back with this quest.

>With the sun setting, Anon and his party  reach the 4/5 mark of their journey as they travel the plains that lead to Appleloosa. Unfortunately for them, they are stopped once again by a pair of two black parasitic toads.
>These beauties have tongues of thirty feet, and eat MP like it's candy. Not a big surprise though.  Mana points are pretty tasty; sort of cool with a bitter sweet thing going on.
>At the moment, Pinkie's trying to push Toad B off of her, and Rarity's wrapped in Toad A's giant blue tongue, having her magic sucked out of her.
>"Do something Anon! This is really making me question myself," screams Rarity.
>Red Anon leaps forward and drives his blade into the creature's forehead, effectively killing it.
>Dead, it's tongue loosens, and Rarity falls free covered in a mass of blue saliva that sticks to the black dress that goes with her class.
>Your toad's friend is then tackled off of Pinkie by Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie breaks it's jaw with a swing of her balalaika. Finally, it collapses ready for death, as Fluttershy slowly walks over.
>"My, you put up a really good fight," says Fluttershy affectionately. "You must make the other toads jealous, don't you?"
>The toad fearfully closes its eyes in anticipation of her killing him, but Fluttershy doesn't want him to be afraid.
>"Oh, please don't be scared little critter (it's twice her size), I'm just going to suck out your soul so I can steal your ability. It won't hurt a bit. Promise."
>It's eyes dart open at the "suck out your soul" part, and it begins a desperate combination of hoping and crawling to get away from her.
>Red Anon cut its left leg to the bone though, so it's only able to move at a snail's pace, and not like the colossal caramel snail that Fluttershy de-souled earlier, more like those tiny kind that ruin daisies or something.
>"Now, now, let's not pretend that you're getting away," she says in a calming, yet almost mocking tone.
>She begins to walk with the creature, practically humoring it's attempt at escape, until she finally places a hoof to its side and begins sucking out its soul. Her eyes glow a bright white as grey strands of soul begin leaving your toad's body. In round fifteen seconds worth of struggling, Toad B eventually ceases movement, and dies.
>Through 'unify', Fluttershy has successfully learned "Mana Devourance".
>Seeing her do that for the second time, Red Anon walks to her and asks,
How are you feeling?
>"I feel...empowered," she says.
>Anon can't help but feel a touch of concern.
>In the past, Fluttershy barely did anything for the trips. She was a tag along like Spike, and was only in it to see new creatures, and make sure her friends were safe. Now that she's effectively joined in combat, learning to unite with spirits and steal abilities, he can't help but feel that this might have some long term effect down the line.
>Fluttershy notices an offish look on Anon, and asks him, "Is everything alright?"
Yeah, my mind was just wondering a bit. Come on everypony, let's get back to the caravan.
>Fluttershy has now leveled up and just gained +15 HP.
>The party has also gained 50 bits (somehow) by winning for a total of 320 bits, and 30 experience points.
>Without another word, Anon heads back onto the caravan with the others, and Junebug continues driving the party forward.
>As Rarity wipes her face and dress down with a towel, she tells the party, "Remind me to never have my back turned on one of those EVER again."
>Pinkie giggles at Rarity's expense, and she gives her a really biter stare in response. The look on her face when that frog tongued her was pretty memorable though.
>She continues saying, "Now my dress is RUINED, and I don't even have enough mana to summon one of my babies."
Hang in there Rarity. We're only a few miles from Appleloosa, and then we'll heal up at an inn, find Applejack and this whole thing can be done with. It feels weird not having AJ around.
>Fluttershy sadly asks Anon, "Do you think she's okay?"
>Dash comfortingly wraps her hoof around Fluttershy and tells her, "Don't worry, Fluttershy. AJ's the second toughest pony around, next to me of course," she proudly says. "AJ's not going down anytime soon. In fact, I bet they've got their hooves full handling her right now."
>Fluttershy exhales in relief, and begins to relax a little.
>Spike begins writing in his book about everything that just happened. As he does, he tell them, "Great job as always. Celestia's going to be so impressed when she reads this."
>Twilight adds, "I hope so," as her cheeks blush slightly.
>As everyone gets comfortable, and things final settle down, a loud crash comes from on top of the caravan.
For the love of Celestia! What is it now?!
>Soon, the caravan stops and slowly begins to rise off of the earth.
>Rarity looks out of the window seeing them nine feet from the ground and screams out, "We're all going to diiie!"
Calm down! Twilight, get us off of this!
>Twilight's horn begins to shine brilliantly, and the party (plus Spike) is teleported out of the caravan to the ground below. Free and able to see the air above, they spot a giant, red pyrolisk lifting the caravan with its massive talons. They also notice Junebug who's hanging in the air, still stuck on the harness.
>"What the hay Twilight?! I'm still hanging here! Dear Celestia, get me down you feathered foal!!!" screams Junebug as she reaches twenty feet into the air.
>Rainbow yells out, "Calm down, I got ya!" and flies to the rescue.
>In a dash, Rainbow frees Junebug, and flies her down. As this happens, your beast drops the caravan, and the entire thing smashes into a million pieces.
There goes our distance bonus.
>With Junebug to the ground, Pinkie tells Rainbow, "Dashie, gimme some air!"
>Dash grabs Pinkie around her waist, and they shoot into the air together towards your creature. Dash then throws Pinkie over the pyrolisk's head, and with her hooves tightly clenched on her balalaika, she flips down and slams it into her skull. Dash then tackles her gut, and your bird begins to descend as Dash flies back to Pinkie to save her from free-falling.
>Impressive theatrics, but your creature's still got plenty of bite.
>To the party's surprise, the pyrolisk suddenly burst's into flames, takes back to the air, and from her wings, streams of fire begin to fall from the sky. This 50 point attack engulfs the entire plain in a "Rain of Inferno," attacking the whole party and setting the ground ablaze.
>Pinkie manages to dance her way around the flames, and Rarity scurries out of the way of a giant fireball,  but the others take damage, with Twilight getting an especially bad role and accordingly becoming engulfed.
>Meanwhile, Spike's chilling in the flames eating from a box of burnt popcorn.
>"Tsk, this is nothing compared to the dragon fire in the badlands. How you holding up Junebug?"
>He looks behind him to see Junebug desperately running away, unaware that her tail's on fire.
>"...Meh. She'll be fine," says Spike as he crams another handful of popcorn into his mouth.
>To save everyone that isn't a dragon from burning, Dash begins to circle the entire area, faster, and faster, until she eventually forms a small tornado of color. The fire is soon blown into non-existence, and Dash lands her hooves, leaving a grinded path into the dirt.
>In retaliation, Twilight uses her magic to cast "Rain of Poseidon."
>Her horn begins to glow a darkened blue and fires into the air forming a darkened cloud that stretches on for at least a mile. A downpour of rain immediately begins.
>Being a fire-based monster, the rain lowers your pyrolisk's attack and defense by ten for the next six turns, and she begins to lower to the ground in a struggle to stay airborne.
>Everyone's satisfied except Spike because his popcorn's ruined, and Rarity.
>"I can never go on a quest without my mane getting ruined," she says as her hairs begin to lose their curled form.
"Maybe next time we'll go to a desert," says Anon sarcastically.
>Anon charges forward, takes a great leap, and swings his great sword at your creature, but the blade deflects off of her beak.
>Pyrolisk opens her beak to crush Anon, but Rarity magically clamps it shut using her whip.
>"Don't worry, darling. I've got him," says Rarity.
>She uses all of the magic she can muster to try pull her whip and ground the bird, but with a strong turn of the neck, Rarity's whip flies off into the background.
>Your creature tries to dive into Rarity, but Dash flies in to stop her.
>Dash flies into your creature's stomach trying to push her away, as the pyrolisk desperately begins swinging it's talons that are only a few feet away from Rarity's face.
>Rarity's hesitant for obvious reasons, but manages to run past the pyrolisk's talons and grab at her whip with her magic. Before your creature can turn to attack Rarity though, a long blue structure wraps itself around her neck.
>You quickly realize it's an all too familiar parasitic toad's tongue, and you track it's trail to see a black, furless, and slimy Fluttershy with a pair of glowing white eyes. With her tongue and the force of her wings, she begins pulling your creature down, as she sucks away at her mana.
>With her new ability "Mana Devourance," Fluttershy eats away at 32 MP before your pyrolisk flies though Dash and tackles Fluttershy.
>In a flash of light, Fluttershy tongue dissolves into nothingness, her body reverts back to normal, and her body comes crashing to the ground, ending the first phase.
>Concerned, Pinkie announces, "Uh oh. Looks like it's time for a song."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlHW1SZJEeM
>With her trusty instrument, Pinkie begins playing her 'Song of Blossoming.' As the party hears her upbeat notes, rays of the evening light begin to break into the dreary rain that Twilight caused. With Twilight's spell subsiding, and the rain clouds vanishing, an aura of joyous orange envelops Fluttershy, Twilight, and Anon raising their health by fifteen.
>From the wet dirt, Fluttershy practically springs back up, and rockets into your pyrolisk as it tries to gain altitude.
>With an angered expression, she uppercuts the beast, chipping her hoof on its beak, but still causing fair harm. Your pyrolisk opens her moth, ready to swallow Fluttershy whole, but before she can, Red Anon leaps onto her back, and drives his blade down her spine.
>She gives a loud shriek, before flying away from both of them.
>Dash flies in to take a swing, but your creature evades in a quick move to the side, only to need to dodge Pinkie who lunges into the air and swings her instrument.
>She misses and your creature blows a wave of fire into her face.  As Pinkie falls to the ground on fire, Rarity whips your creature's belly giving it a sharp laceration.
>Twilight then fires a mystic blast into the pyrolisk's face, causing the beak to crack slightly.
>Your precious bird has worn the group down nicely, but you can tell in a few turns, that it'll die just like everything else. It's done a nice job though.
>With a new phase beginning, Fluttershy flies in out of nowhere and begins strangling at your creature's neck with everything she's got. She's never taken any kind of initiative before, and it's honestly a bit surprising.

>In the real world (or however real Equestria is. Real enough for you and your brother at least.) you stop the game for a moment and take a good look at her.
>"Fluttershy, what the heck are you doing?" you ask.
>"What's wrong Blue Anon?" she says innocently.
>"Well, you don't have any kind of attack buffs, and your health is at 32. Don't you think you should be defending, or at least let someone else attack?" you ask.
>"Well, um, there's not too much health left on the pyrolisk, a-and I kind of want to contribute," says Fluttershy.
>You lean forward slightly, and in the most dead honest tone you tell her,
>"If I out-roll you guys and earn the next move, you know I'm going to attack you, right?"
>Fluttershy's eyes widen slightly at the revelation.
>"Well um...maybe we'll get higher."
>You roll.
>"Seventy-One."
>Twilight levitates the dice and rolls em'. The end result is a seven.
>"My move."

>As Fluttershy begins chocking the bird, Anon yells out,
Fluttershy?! What's gotten into you?!
>"I'm getting this birds soul, and I'm not going to let it stop me!" she passionately yells.
Get down here before you kill yourself?!
>"Not until it joins the others!"
>Fluttershy's got a surprising grip for a creature without fingers, but your pyrolisk manages to throw her off and sets her on fire with a huff of breath.
>Seventy-six attack versus a forty-five defense for only thirty-ONE points of damage.
>What are the odds?!
>Barely hanging by a single point of health, Fluttershy falls back to the dirt, tanned, and gasping for air.
>Near simultaneously, everyone yells out to Fluttershy to see if she's okay. There's no response.
Darn it.
>Rainbow takes this especially hardest, and as the rage boils inside of her, she screams out, "You'll pay for that!" and activates one of the few abilities available to hunters, "Marksmanship."
>Marksmanship is a move that'll boost your attack by only 15, but always have a 50 attack minimum. It's not the most damaging ability buff, but it's one of the most practical available. With an attack roll of 67, an already existing buff of +10, and her ability's +15, she reaches a grand total of 92, versus your 53 defense.
>Dash's body rockets at your creature glowing a bright gold that's suppose to apply to arrows, and she fires straight into her skull causing a large, but not yet fatal wound, before kicking herself off. Twilight then makes it fatal, as she sends a mystic blast straight into the wound, fragmenting bits of her skull.
>Your hate is but a silent white fury at this point.

>At the table, Fluttershy asks, "How much is it's health now?"
>"Twenty-three, and it's a 'she'. Show some respect," you say.
>Fluttershy tells herself, "I can unify with its soul if it's health is under thirty." She then turns to Rarity and asks her, "Rarity, do you think you can attack it without finishing it off?"
>"I'll do my best," responds Rarity, hoping that she'll have enough suck in her to not kill her.

>As your creature falls to the earth, Rarity whips at her side, and her wings flap furiously in pain, but not enough to fly away.
>"Even without my babies, I can still handle scum like you," says Rarity in her harsh Domineer tone.
>Pinkie trots forward with her  balalaika in her forehooves and yells "Time to finish the job!"
>As Pinkie's balalaika comes down, Fluttershy yells out from the grass, "DON'T!" causing her to stop only inches away from striking.
>The entire party's surprised, as they assumed that Fluttershy lost consciousness already.
>Fluttershy begins to slowly crawl herself forward, until Dash awkwardly flies to her, lifts her up and carries her to the party and the bird.
>"Pinkie, defend so I can do this," says Fluttershy without so much as a please.
>Accordingly, Pinkie defends, and the next phase comes around allowing Fluttershy a new turn.
>Your poor creature can only look in fear as Fluttershy places a hoof to its cracked skull, and begins sucking away at its soul. It tries to struggle, but there's not much hope left.
>"Don't fight it, little critter. It's almost over," she says with a slight smile.
>Eventually, it's entire soul is removed, and the only thought to your head is, "What happened to the sincerity that she gave to the snail at the beginning?"
>Either was, 'unify' is successful, and Fluttershy learns a new move; "Rain of Inferno."
>The party gains 40 bits and 300 experience each.
>Immediately after she's finished, Fluttershy begins to tilt to the left, almost falling, but Dash comes to her side to give her support.
>"Careful, Fluttershy. I don't want you any more hurt than you already are," says Dash.
>Anon notices a burnt-tail Junebug in the background and yells to her, "Junebug, please get the roll of bread for Fluttershy."
>Junebug runs to the ruble that was once their ride, and under some boards of wood, she pulls out a roll of bread with the tips of her teeth. She then runs over, and Fluttershy takes it with her hoof.
>Her health increases by 15. It's better, but her condition is still critical.
>Rarity asks her, "How does that feel, Fluttershy?"
>Slowly, she gives Rarity the same innocent smile that she's always had since forever.
>"Much better. Sorry I used our last healing item though."
It's fine, we've still got Pinkie's music.
>With a wide grin, Pinkie tells her, "Music can cure anything, even burn wounds."
>"That's reassuring," she softly says.
Okay everypony, we still have at least four miles left, and in a few hours it'll be night. Let's get what we can from the rubble, and head on out. Oh, and Junebug, you're  going to help Fluttershy with her walking. You're still on the clock after all.
>She gives scowl of disapproval, but walks to Fluttershy's side without protest.
>The party checks the wagon, and pulls out their remaining items; a bag of 320 bits that now totals to 360, and a death lily. But they also take their non-game items like their wooden bottles of fresh water, their blankets, and Spike's 'adventure book'.
>They've got a long walk ahead of them.
Well. No point in procrastinating, let's get moving.