Ultimate Dragon Ball in the Playground IC

[Lord Raziere]

"Sorry! Pitosu, I dunno, for some reason my brain did something weird there."
No seriously, for some reason I mixed up their names. They're clearly not the same person.
"Come on. That Dragon Ball isn't going to get itself. Don't worry Lil' Vodkana, we'll find some food while we're at it...."
They travel through the corridor to see whats next.

[Hawkflight]

One of them fires a warning shot, a loud "bang." A nearby tree splinters as the bullet tears a hole. "There's an infirmy on the ship."

The bo's aura explodes and clears. He's changed--his cloths are now puffy white pants and pointy black slippers. That's it, no shirt. His hair is longer and messier... And his skin is now turquoise.

He sits up revealing his now black sclera.. "Okay, that was freaking--"

A soldier screams "ahh, demon child!" and shoots him in the head.

The bullet went flying went at the boy's head ... and bounced off a seafoam-green shield. Seeing the boy had calmed down and seemed alright for now, Stardust turned to face the soldier.

"Leave us. Now," she said, her voice suddenly very serious.

[Rater202]

"Sorry! Pitosu, I dunno, for some reason my brain did something weird there."
No seriously, for some reason I mixed up their names. They're clearly not the same person.
"Come on. That Dragon Ball isn't going to get itself. Don't worry Lil' Vodkana, we'll find some food while we're at it...."
They travel through the corridor to see whats next.

The group comes to a fork, the hallway splitting with one path going left and the other going right.

The wall before you has strange runes on it, some at the top and some at the bottom.

"This is demon language. It says 'choose wisely, traveler, less you face the curse of the Devil of the Sands.' " She then points to the runes lower down, seemingly just noticing them. "down here is says 'wall is load bearring.'"

The radar says that the ball is straight ahead, but still a ways off.

The bullet went flying went at the boy's head ... and bounced off a seafoam-green shield. Seeing the boy had calmed down and seemed alright for now, Stardust turned to face the soldier.

"Leave us. Now," she said, her voice suddenly very serious.

"We are under strict orders to bring the trespassers, IE you, talking horse and demon child, in for questioning. If you do not comply we are authorized to use lethal force." Thi soldier is just as serious.

"So... I woke up in a strange place, to a talking horse, I know all kinds od weird things I didn't know before, and I'm blue. I think there was something funky in last night's mashed potatoes."

Well, he's not wrong.

"Quiet, you."

[Lord Raziere]

The group comes to a fork, the hallway splitting with one path going left and the other going right.

The wall before you has strange runes on it, some at the top and some at the bottom.

"This is demon language. It says 'choose wisely, traveler, less you face the curse of the Devil of the Sands.' " She then points to the runes lower down, seemingly just noticing them. "down here is says 'wall is load bearring.'"

The radar says that the ball is straight ahead, but still a ways off.

"....Huh. so what do you think that means?"
"some form of warning to pick the right path, obviously. Curse of the Devil of the Sands......does it mean quick sand? it means being buried in sand or something doesn't it."
"But how are we supposed to choose wisely if we have no clues of which one is the wiser choice? They're look the same. Therefore is no wiser choice."
"Meaning if they look the same, they might as well be the same. Both could get us buried in sand, therefore both are bad decisions with no clue of how to determine that."
"And if someone wanted to protect a treasure, why would they give a warning that there is a trap in the first place? Your shooting yourself in the foot. Sure since its an ancient ruin they're all dead by now, but empires don't think beyond their own lifespan and tend to assume they'll live forever. Just let there be a choice, then if they take the wrong path, trap sprung like a surprise and you die, no warning."
"Which means if they DID put up a riddle here, they WANT us to think there is a right choice to pick."
"Meaning neither path is the right choice. If evil demons wrote this, they probably just made both corridors a trap. NEITHER path is correct."
"While the load bearing warning is clearly intended to try and warn people away from going through the middle. Therefore since we know this is made by lying demons try to get us to fall into traps, we should blast open the wall, its not load bearing at all and therefore the right choice."
Beryl raises a hand to charge a necrotic beam, while Crimsanne turns to Pitosuu
"Any objections to this logic before we blast it down?"

[Rater202]

"....Huh. so what do you think that means?"
"some form of warning to pick the right path, obviously. Curse of the Devil of the Sands......does it mean quick sand? it means being buried in sand or something doesn't it."
"But how are we supposed to choose wisely if we have no clues of which one is the wiser choice? They're look the same. Therefore is no wiser choice."
"Meaning if they look the same, they might as well be the same. Both could get us buried in sand, therefore both are bad decisions with no clue of how to determine that."
"And if someone wanted to protect a treasure, why would they give a warning that there is a trap in the first place? Your shooting yourself in the foot. Sure since its an ancient ruin they're all dead by now, but empires don't think beyond their own lifespan and tend to assume they'll live forever. Just let there be a choice, then if they take the wrong path, trap sprung like a surprise and you die, no warning."
"Which means if they DID put up a riddle here, they WANT us to think there is a right choice to pick."
"Meaning neither path is the right choice. If evil demons wrote this, they probably just made both corridors a trap. NEITHER path is correct."
"While the load bearing warning is clearly intended to try and warn people away from going through the middle. Therefore since we know this is made by lying demons try to get us to fall into traps, we should blast open the wall, its not load bearing at all and therefore the right choice."
Beryl raises a hand to charge a necrotic beam, while Crimsanne turns to Pitosuu
"Any objections to this logic before we blast it down?"

"There might be some context we're missing?" She says, smiling sheepishly. "I mean, I'd rather not take the chance that we get burried alive in ruble and die."

Pitosu waves her hands a little bit and dust on the wall cleans itself. It now seems like something used to be painted on the wall. There are still very faint outlines of whatever it was. Vauge shapes, arrows maybe, pointing right or left... and something vaguly dog-shaped next to the outline going left and something vagule snake shaped going right.

[Lord Raziere]

"Okay, that makes more sense."
Crimsanne says
"Lets see.....that looks like a dog....that looks like a snake. snakes are generally known to be very poisonous in deserts. While dogs are widely known as man's best friend."
"Therefore we should go left."
"I'll go first, just in case they're pulling a fast one...."
Crimsanne walks forward first to the left, dog-a-ways, with Vermillia following at a short distance.

[igordragonian]

Vodkana followed along.
'Nya.. what is 'poisonous? Is it tasty?'

[Hawkflight]

"We are under strict orders to bring the trespassers, IE you, talking horse and demon child, in for questioning. If you do not comply we are authorized to use lethal force." Thi soldier is just as serious.

"So... I woke up in a strange place, to a talking horse, I know all kinds od weird things I didn't know before, and I'm blue. I think there was something funky in last night's mashed potatoes."

Well, he's not wrong.

"Quiet, you."

Stardust narrowed her eyes. It just seemed to be the one soldier for now, so she could easily kill him, but that was not the way ponies did things. Instead, she reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a small mirror, preparing to cast a memory erasure spell, otherwise known as Reflection Deflection.

"Don't look at this mirror," she said. Of course, she figured he would disobey and look into it to spite her, but that was her plan....

[Rater202]

"Okay, that makes more sense."
Crimsanne says
"Lets see.....that looks like a dog....that looks like a snake. snakes are generally known to be very poisonous in deserts. While dogs are widely known as man's best friend."
"Therefore we should go left."
"I'll go first, just in case they're pulling a fast one...."
Crimsanne walks forward first to the left, dog-a-ways, with Vermillia following at a short distance.

The hallway is dark, but after a while a bunch of torches spontaneously light themselves, illuminating the hallway.

There are a few faded paintings of something vaguely dog shaped on the walls. Eventually, you come to a chamber filled with Jackal Statues.

At the far end of the room is a door with more demonic writing on it.

"The sword can kill, the shield can save, the wand can weave, the scythe harvests, the drum can inspire... Which is the strongest tool of all?"

Vodkana followed along.
'Nya.. what is 'poisonous? Is it tasty?'

"Poisonous things make you sick or kill you."

Stardust narrowed her eyes. It just seemed to be the one soldier for now, so she could easily kill him, but that was not the way ponies did things. Instead, she reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a small mirror, preparing to cast a memory erasure spell, otherwise known as Reflection Deflection.

"Don't look at this mirror," she said. Of course, she figured he would disobey and look into it to spite her, but that was her plan....

A differant soldier shoots the mirror.

The others look at him.

"What? Taking horse with magic powers and a demon child? She was obviously trying to steal his soul or something."

[Hawkflight]

A different soldier shoots the mirror.

The others look at him.

"What? Taking horse with magic powers and a demon child? She was obviously trying to steal his soul or something."

Stardust paused for a moment, then let out a long sigh.

"Well, I was just going to erase your memories," she said, slowly advancing on the group. "I can't have you learning of our existence, after all. But then you decided to destroy the mirror, so now I can't do that." She paused to tap her chin, then continued advancing. "So tell me. I can't have you learning about us, and now I can't wipe your memory. What would you do in my position?"

[Lord Raziere]

The hallway is dark, but after a while a bunch of torches spontaneously light themselves, illuminating the hallway.

There are a few faded paintings of something vaguely dog shaped on the walls. Eventually, you come to a chamber filled with Jackal Statues.

At the far end of the room is a door with more demonic writing on it.

"The sword can kill, the shield can save, the wand can weave, the scythe harvests, the drum can inspire... Which is the strongest tool of all?"

".....but wheres the hammer that forges the sword and the shield?"
"Well regardless thats supported by the scythe that harvests, because you can't inspire, weave, kill or save if your hungry right? It doesn't matter how much you inspire someone, soldiers fight on their stomach and so does everyone work on theirs, so it must be scythe because without farming civilization collapses."
"Yes, as Guns, Germs and Steel lays out, the first settled communities were farmers. Therefore the scythe that harvests is definitely the strongest of them all. You hear that runes? Scythe!"

[Rater202]

Stardust paused for a moment, then let out a long sigh.

"Well, I was just going to erase your memories," she said, slowly advancing on the group. "I can't have you learning of our existence, after all. But then you decided to destroy the mirror, so now I can't do that." She paused to tap her chin, then continued advancing. "So tell me. I can't have you learning about us, and now I can't wipe your memory. What would you do in my position?"

"Surrender and submit for questioning before the commander get pissed off at us taking so long, comes to do it himself, and kills you?"

There's stamping and what sounds like angry bear noises coming your way now.

"...You know, we probably shouldn't just leave and let them get the Dragon Ball..."

".....but wheres the hammer that forges the sword and the shield?"
"Well regardless thats supported by the scythe that harvests, because you can't inspire, weave, kill or save if your hungry right? It doesn't matter how much you inspire someone, soldiers fight on their stomach and so does everyone work on theirs, so it must be scythe because without farming civilization collapses."
"Yes, as Guns, Germs and Steel lays out, the first settled communities were farmers. Therefore the scythe that harvests is definitely the strongest of them all. You hear that runes? Scythe!"

Nothing happens?

"Maybe we're supposed to search the room for like, switches or something?"

If you bother to search the room, their are pictographs that could be various tooks on the jackal statues.

[Hawkflight]

"Surrender and submit for questioning before the commander get pissed off at us taking so long, comes to do it himself, and kills you?"

There's stamping and what sounds like angry bear noises coming your way now.

"...You know, we probably shouldn't just leave and let them get the Dragon Ball..."

Stardust just stared at them.

"....Alright, you're coming with me," she said, exasperated. She attempted to grab them telekinetically and drag them along with her.

[igordragonian]

Hishini followed them as spider.
I never dared to venture so deep into the temple...

____


"Nya! Doodles! Yay! Walls I am allowed to draw on!" She took out crions ans started to color the pictographs.
Mostly with green. She had only green and pink left in her arsenal.

[Rater202]

Stardust just stared at them.

"....Alright, you're coming with me," she said, exasperated. She attempted to grab them telekinetically and drag them along with her.

It is at this point that the anthropomorphic bear you saw earliar shows up. He roars and fires a blast of Ki from his mouth directly at you.

Hishini followed them as spider.
I never dared to venture so deep into the temple...

____


"Nya! Doodles! Yay! Walls I am allowed to draw on!" She took out crayons and started to color the pictographs.
Mostly with green. She had only green and pink left in her arsenal.

Vodkitty's coloring coincidentally manages to trigger a hidden switch in the scythe pictograph.

The room begins to rumble, and half a minute later a pillar starts emerging from the floor in the middle of the room.

After another full minute, the rumbling of the ground and the grinding of stone on stone stops. The pillar has a doorway and shows a spiral staricase inside. Becareful, it's steep.

[Lord Raziere]

"...That works"
They carefully start walking down the staircase, Vermillia holding onto Vodkitty's hand to make sure she doesn't go running off down the steps.

[igordragonian]

Vodkitty smiled.
'Nyahaha! I am so good with coloring!'she purred with pride.

[Hawkflight]

It is at this point that the anthropomorphic bear you saw earliar shows up. He roars and fires a blast of Ki from his mouth directly at you.

Stardust casually levitated one of the soldiers between herself and the blast, letting him take the full brunt of it.

"I would advise against that!" she called out to him. "That is, so long as you care about the livelihood of your soldiers!"

[Rater202]

Vodkitty smiled.
'Nyahaha! I am so good with coloring!'she purred with pride.

"Yes, yes you are."

"...That works"
They carefully start walking down the staircase, Vermillia holding onto Vodkitty's hand to make sure she doesn't go running off down the steps.

The stairway spirals downward and downward, leading you miles below the earth.

It's actually really chilly in here. definitely sweater temperatures here. Pitosu is shaking like a leaf in a storm. Seems she can't take the cold.

Eventually, the staircase lets out into a hallway. IT's not too far out, at least by what the vampires can see, but it seems to be a dead end...

"Fufufu fire... Fire Friar Briar P-pyre."

As she says this, Pitosu is holding her hands up before he heart and a ball of fire appears within. It instantly starts to warm up and the fireball, letting off a searing light far brighter than a flame of that size would indicate, illuminates the room.

"Ahh... That's so much better." The dead-end wall is lit up now: There are nine red bricks jutting out, and more demonic language writing.

"The Penultimate trial, a test of Fate: Is it is your destiny to have the Treasure we guard, then by Destiny you shall choose wisely. If not, the guardians will be upon you. Do you feel that the... Okay, I think they misunderstood the meaning of the word dragon ball. I'm not saying that in front of a kid."

she takes her fireball in one hand. "It's an older dialect, there's some other context that doesn't translate well, but the gist of it is that red bricks are buttons and we basically have to guess which one opens the passageway to the last challenge. The rest will summon something to mess us up, since they think that anyone who doesn't guess the right button isn't meant to have the Dragon Ball..."

If you examine the room, there are Nine segments of wall, each framed by an arch with a carving of a snake. Presumably, the buttons open these walls up, but each brick, each button, seems identical and there's no indication of which false-wall corresponds to which button.

(And now we play the 'how many mooks do you fight before you guess which button leads to the Dragon Ball' game.)

Stardust casually levitated one of the soldiers between herself and the blast, letting him take the full brunt of it.

"I would advise against that!" she called out to him. "That is, so long as you care about the livelihood of your soldiers!"

The blast just sort of vaporizes the soldier and keeps going.

"Lady, you're barking up the wrong tree here--he doesn't give a **** and none of us are strong enough to work as human shields against an energy user on his level."

Bokussu, meanwhile, is looking back and forth between you and the Bearman in horror, as is he can't tell if he should be more afraid of you for callously throwing a soldier to his death or the Bearman for not caring that he's just killed one of his own men.

The boy backs away slowly, leaning back in fear, and the turns and starts flying off, coincidentally in the direction of you mirror portal.

He almost escapes eyeshot, but then a puff of smoke changes him back into his human form and he falls out of the sky a good while away.

[igordragonian]

Vodkana gasped.
'BUTTONS!!! NYAAA!!!!' and just ran and pressed the one in the middle.
She was the kind of kid to focus on what matters the most.

[Lord Raziere]

".....Good girl, keep doing that, we'll handle the monsters."
Crimsanne says, the two vampires stand back to back at the center of the room, looking around to blast any monster they see.

[Hawkflight]

The blast just sort of vaporizes the soldier and keeps going.

"Lady, you're barking up the wrong tree here--he doesn't give a **** and none of us are strong enough to work as human shields against an energy user on his level."

Bokussu, meanwhile, is looking back and forth between you and the Bearman in horror, as is he can't tell if he should be more afraid of you for callously throwing a soldier to his death or the Bearman for not caring that he's just killed one of his own men.

The boy backs away slowly, leaning back in fear, and the turns and starts flying off, coincidentally in the direction of you mirror portal.

He almost escapes eyeshot, but then a puff of smoke changes him back into his human form and he falls out of the sky a good while away.

Stardust's eyes widened as she ducked, just barely avoiding the blast. "Okay, did not expect that!" she yelped. She turned to the bear man. "What is wrong with you?!"

[Rater202]

Vodkana gasped.
'BUTTONS!!! NYAAA!!!!' and just ran and pressed the one in the middle.
She was the kind of kid to focus on what matters the most.

".....Good girl, keep doing that, we'll handle the monsters."
Crimsanne says, the two vampires stand back to back at the center of the room, looking around to blast any monster they see.

OIne of the hidden sections of wall lifts up into a ceiling, revealing what a appears to be a heavily shriveled and mummified corpse.

No sarcophagus. The literally bone thin mummy with it's exposed, hollow eyed skull face is just kind of sitting on the floor, back propped awlkeadly against the wall...

It just got colder in here, as suddenly a necrotic ki signature clicks into place and icy blue flames alight in the Mummy's eyes.

It stands, and the room begins to chil as frost forms in the small chamber around it.

Pitosu's magic flame is snuffed out as the heat seems to be drained into the mummy.

"Ah, crap it's a Bleakborn. As it's Ki smells worse than your's does."

Stardust's eyes widened as she ducked, just barely avoiding the blast. "Okay, did not expect that!" she yelped. She turned to the bear man. "What is wrong with you?!"

The bearman is now charging her without answering.

"blue Jean's Brigaid is taught to value the mission above all else and as a potential spy and theif of something form our dig sight you're a threat to the mission," one of the presumably still telekinetically bound soldiers says helpfully.

The kid is still on the ground halfway between here and the mirror portal, by the way.

[Hawkflight]

The bearman is now charging her without answering.

"blue Jean's Brigaid is taught to value the mission above all else and as a potential spy and theif of something form our dig sight you're a threat to the mission," one of the presumably still telekinetically bound soldiers says helpfully.

The kid is still on the ground halfway between here and the mirror portal, by the way.

Stardust smiled at the helpful soldier. "Thank you, um ... what was your name?" she asked.

Stepping aside from the charging bear-man at the last minute, the unicorn asked the soldiers, "Now, if I set you down to deal with him for a moment, do you promise not to run away while I'm busy?"

Meanwhile, at the mirror portal, Gina had started wandering away from the portal, looking for Stardust. However, she was wandering in the exact wrong direction, towards the vampires and their group. Perhaps the kid was on the way?

[igordragonian]

Vodkana mewed. "NYAAH! IT'S SO SCARY! GO AWAY!!" Vodkana mewed with fear, and stressed just pressed on the next button

[Lord Raziere]

If the mummy is on the right side of the room, Vermillia blasts it with a black beam yelling
"Obliteration Wave!"
While if its on the left side, Crimsanne fires off an Ebon Disc at it.

[Rater202]

Vodkana mewed. "NYAAH! IT'S SO SCARY! GO AWAY!!" Vodkana mewed with fear, and stressed just pressed on the next button

Well, now there's two of them. Frost is forming on the walls throughout the chamber now.

Vodkana finds herself being grabbed by Pitosu and held tightly to the demon's chest. "K-kitty, I n-n-n-n-need your b-bod-dy heat."

If the mummy is on the right side of the room, Vermillia blasts it with a black beam yelling
"Obliteration Wave!"
While if its on the left side, Crimsanne fires off an Ebon Disc at it.

The disc of energy impacts the mummy and then just sort of gets sucked up into the creature.

"Hi mi mi mi mi mi mi!" the creature laughs. "Tmy fldujulq juzid-ylyrqh til'z ky fwyv za mirp zmy naz-idujy."

"He-he-he says th-that you can't kill him that w-w-way..." Pitosu is shaking like a leaf, the cold seems to be hitting her the worst of any of you. She manages to will up a brief but of flame behind her that quickly goes out. Bleakborn are True Undead. They were never alive in the first place. Tossing necrotic ki at them is like yoo-yoo-using oil to put out a b-b-b-b-bonfire. The demon girl begins stuttering again just as the second bleakborn takes its place to its fellow's right. "And r-regular energy's al-al-almost as bad. They ee-ee-eat heat and life-energy. Y-y-y-you gotta smash em."

Stardust smiled at the helpful soldier. "Thank you, um ... what was your name?" she asked.

Stepping aside from the charging bear-man at the last minute, the unicorn asked the soldiers, "Now, if I set you down to deal with him for a moment, do you promise not to run away while I'm busy?"

"Private Vaqueros, Miss Horse Ma'am. And only if neither of you tries to kill us. We're are under strict orders to avoid becoming collateral damage when physically possible."

The bear begins charging up another mouth beam, but then there comes a ringing from his blue jeans. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his communicator, bringing it to his ear.

"Oh, this had better be..."

He hangs up and looks at Starlight. "You just got lucky. Now, you put my men down and I won't eat you. Deal?"

Meanwhile, at the mirror portal, Gina had started wandering away from the portal, looking for Stardust. However, she was wandering in the exact wrong direction, towards the vampires and their group. Perhaps the kid was on the way?

Sure, why not... Though note that the vampires a ways off.

Gina stumbles across a twelve-year-old human boy in black pants and a turquoise shirt huddled up on his side in the fetal position. He's moaning like a sick dog.

[igordragonian]

Vodkana gasped, surprised, but gave into the hug. 'Nn...nya! I.. am so scared!" her fur could use some grooming, but she was indeed warm and soft.
Though, her blades on her back were to watch from.

[Lord Raziere]

They look at each other and nod. Then Crimsanne speeds forward flash stepping behind one mummy kicking it into the other, then Vermillia the slower of the two comes in and uses her greater to pound them both with powerful punch, the two vampires trying to keep them flanked so that they can box them in.

[Hawkflight]

"Private Vaqueros, Miss Horse Ma'am. And only if neither of you tries to kill us. We're are under strict orders to avoid becoming collateral damage when physically possible."

Stardust nodded. "Thank you, Private Vaqueros," she said, setting the soldiers down. "I am very sorry about your comrade. I did not expect your leader to be so ... callous."

The bear begins charging up another mouth beam, but then there comes a ringing from his blue jeans. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his communicator, bringing it to his ear.

"Oh, this had better be..."

He hangs up and looks at Starlight. "You just got lucky. Now, you put my men down and I won't eat you. Deal?"

Stardust shook her head. "I am afraid I cannot permit that," she replied. "You have seen my true form, and I cannot allow knowledge of my race to become public knowledge. Submit to a mind-wiping spell, and I shall let you and your men leave safely.

Sure, why not... Though note that the vampires a ways off.

Gina stumbles across a twelve-year-old human boy in black pants and a turquoise shirt huddled up on his side in the fetal position. He's moaning like a sick dog.

Gina was a bit scared. She'd been waiting for Stardust, but what she found instead was a human boy! She was a bit scared to reveal herself at first, but he looked injured! She couldn't just not help! She quickly ran towards him.

"A-Are you okay?" she asked.