My Little Wuxia: A Canter-Kong Wedding

The Sunshine cafe is abuzz with activity, as ponies sit around tables, talking excitedly about the wedding of the century. The radio crackles away on the counter, a hoofful of ponies huddled around it listening intently as the host provides running commentary.

Outside, the market is loud as ever, the voice of one of the stall-owners leaking through thin glass. "Nice fresh pears hey! Only 5 bits for one bag hey!"

Of course, little does anypony realise that a few special ponies are here today. A few ponies, members of the vanishingly rare 20% of the population that have mastered at least one martial art, have all collected in this cafe, whether they realise it yet or not.

And they are you. What are you doing, on this day of days?

"Hot-cha!" An elderly pony fanned his mouth with an old fashioned decorative fan, holding his tongue out of his mouth as his tea clattered on the tabletop. "I thought I said to put cream in the tea to cool it down!" Uncle Ancient Secret thwapped the pony who had served him on the head with his fan, followed by dropping ten bits on the counter. "For an apology for my actions.. Now, bring me cream or milk or something. This tea is hotter than Celestia's sun!" The unicorn stared down his server.

Cast Dice sipped her rooibus tea (plain, no cream or sugar) contentedly watching the other patrons of the Sunshine Cafe.  The wedding procession had been fun to watch, but it was nice to take a break and actually see how other ponies were responding to the event- it was much easier to observe ponies as individuals or small groups rather than a large crowd.  

She was trying to whittle a new die shape, a d7- you could never have too many kinds of dice, not if you wanted to represent all of the subtleties of chance- when she noticed an elderly patron getting into a disagreement with a server.  While the incident was interesting enough to watch, what got her interested in going over to talk with him was the old-looking fan he was holding.  

"Hello, elder! That's a beautiful fan you got there- mind telling me about it?  Looks old- maybe even older than you!"  Dice smiled as she slid her seat over to where the old stallion was taking his tea (or would be, once he got his cream)

Spoiler:

"-so obviously a discerning fellow such as yourself would do well to invest in this idea!"

Plowclaw was boredly rolling a saltshaker back and forth in front of him before he realized his friend had finally stopped talking. The sudden freedom was enough to almost make him exclaim, but he buried it behind a few confused blinks as he tried to figure out just what he was being talked to about.

"...Hey Iggy"

"Ignatious."

"..Yeah, Iggy, I don't have a CLUE what you're going on about, but I'll chip in for those pears that guy out there is yelling about."

"Plow, come on!" The unicorn's formal demeanor cracked visibly at the griffon's disinterest.

"Iggy, I stopped listening once you got to 'Disserving' and 'Rate of Incline' and I think you mentioned something about bondage?"

"Bond rates! Rates of Interest! Disservice!"

Plowclaw blinked a few times, then nodded appeasingly.

"Yeah, something like that. Anyway, I'm hungry and I'm pretty sure this place only has Pony food, and nobody wants to watch me get covered in a steak. Why did we even meet here?"

"You didn't care where we went as long as it had drinks."

"Yeah, speaking of drinks, I was expecting something more awesome than.. What was this called? A Fruity Tangle... whatsit?"

"Fruity Tangelato, iced mixed fruit drink. Cools you down."

"Right. Now you know I don't really give much of a *RAWK* about how my bits are handled, pardon my eagle. You guys know what you're doing and I don't and I'm good with that. So how's about we cut this whole mess down to me getting something to get me less hungry and just call it a day?"

"Well, we're going to need some signatures."

"I'll get around to it Iggy. Isn't today supposed to be a holiday or something anyway?"

"Wedding Day, the Canterlot Wedding."

"Right, that thing."

"Didn't you know some people who could've gotten you tickets, Plow?"

The griffon shrugged languorously, not that he'd recognize the word, putting a clawful of bits on the table by the frowning business Unicorn.

"Seemed like a bit too much for me. I-"

"Prefer to 'chill'. We know Plow."

Ignatious rolled his eyes heading out to the market to get some of those pears. Assuming nothing much else happens he's going to make his goodbyes to try and grab a spot closer to the actual wedding. Plowclaw is going to dig into one of his three pears with a disgruntled sigh. It's delicious, sure, but a nice Pork Chop would be three times better. And this fruity tangles thing was giving him a cold beak. His mood cracked into a beaky grin as he thought about that. It was too 'chill' to be 'chill'. Too bad Iggy left. Maybe somebody else would chuckle at the joke? Plus he did have these other two pears. He could just go make some more friends. He tended to be pretty good at that.

With another shrug to the fates of the world at large Plow grabbed his pears and stored them, holding onto his Fruity Tangle to sip as he prowled the cafe for someone to botherbefriend.

Meta:

Curunir wrote:"Hello, elder! That's a beautiful fan you got there- mind telling me about it?  Looks old- maybe even older than you!"  Dice smiled as she slid her seat over to where the old stallion was taking his tea (or would be, once he got his cream)

The elderly gentlecolt fanned his tongue for a moment as the server took the teacup and the mare joined him. "Ah yes. Well, I found this fan while traveling Chineigh a few years back. Surprisingly sturdy, and smarts anypony who tries to take advantage of my being elderly. Speaking of-" The moment Uncle's tea returned to his table, the fan clacked closed and he thwapped his server on the head again. "I said add cream, not water it down! I've been around long enough to know the difference." He looked over to the mare with a shake of his head. "Ponies these days. I'm old, not a foal."

"Ah, Chineigh!  Fascinating place, never been there myself.  Wonderful history too- excellent material for historical scenarios!  Warring States is probably my favorite period- there were so many things going on then!  Not just the battles, but the developments in philosophy, art, science..."

"Sorry about that!  Where are my manners?  Nice to meet you, name's Cast Dice, shopkeeper, gamer, and amateur historian!"  She handed him a small card with the words "Cast Dice- Games and Supplies" on it, with a small image of her cutie mark and a canterlot store address.

"Hold on... Did you say you found the fan?  What do you mean by that?"

Dice turned her attention from him for a moment, glancing at the griffon that had just entered the cafe. "A griffon!  Now there's another fascinating people.  This wedding is sure drawing folks from all over"

At the center of the seating area sits a masked green pegasus. He looks around at the various races surrounding him, grinning like an idiot. It's been forever since he'd gotten away from his manager, been on his own and eaten what he wants to. His smile only intensifies as the waitress approaches his table and asks for his order. Finally, time to eat like a king once again...

"La Viento will have a grilled cheese sandwich with jalapeños, 5 stalks of celery with peanut butter, and a glass of lemonade to drink!"

... La Viento was not as hungry as he thought he was.

"I'm an archaeologist, Dice. Why my cutie mark is various antiquities from Chineigh. Fan, Scroll, and the like. Honestly, if I had visited Neighpon instead it probably would have been a blade, bead, and mirror." The elderly pony shakes his head, glancing at the Griffon who Cast Dice had pointed out to him."Yeah, Griffons are an interesting people. I don't know too much about them, but..." Uncle glanced over and caught sight of the green pegasus in a mask, making a face. "That pegasus over there realizes that covering his muzzle doesn't hide his identity more than covering his cutie mark would. I mean you can see five or six almost identical ponies in the restaurant alone..."

Plow prowls the cafe, as yet unaware that he is being watched! ...Well, noticed at least.

He nods to familiar faces, throws a few fistbumps to more familiar faces, and waves to acquaintances. Ponies sure are a friendly bunch. Still, there's a few faces he's pretty sure he's never seen before. Hm... Old Pony talking to Pony Lady, probably best not to interrupt them, a masked fighter pony, and-

Hold it.

His eyebrows go way up as he looks at La Viento, and he walks right up to the Pony.

"No way. You're him, aren't you? The guy who's got that big fight coming up? This is awesome."

He grins hugely.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be.. like.. training or something? Or is this some kind of double super secret training?"

An earth pony with a dusty travel cloak trots into the cafe with a smile. Not like one of those old bars with the mysterious stranger in the corner, no. A nice quiet cup of tea, and no call to adventure. Not this day. No! This is a day for celebration. Royalty getting married! Fates intertwining, coming together to make a common destiny, and that of the highest caliber!

"I'll have a chai, please?" Marshal says to the waitress busy being berated by the elderly pony. He takes a seat at the very same table, not asking if it's taken. "You look like a fine bunch of people. A drink on me to each of you for the fine occasion!"

Cast Dice nodded as Uncle talked- an archaeologist, how interesting!

"Still haven't caught your name- although looks like here's another opportunity for introductions."

Dice doesn't berate the stranger who takes a seat with them- she had done practically the same thing a moment ago.  

"That's generous of you!  Thank you very much!  My name's Cast Dice."  She hands the stranger a buisiness card as well, and smiles apologetically at both of the ponies now sitting near her. "Please pardon the advertising- I was advised to make the most of so many ponies, and others, visiting for the wedding!  I've got a decent enough local business, with a few regulars, but it would be nice to try to reach the greater public!"

"Right, creating a larger social group is one of those things that are almost required in places like Canterlot.' Uncle opened his fan, mumbling softly and picking some of the waitress's mane from it. "Ancient Secrets is the name, but everypony calls me Uncle. I'm an archaeologist and proprietor of Uncle's Antiquities- not a creative name but it does the job. " Uncle thwacks the waitress on the head once more. "Don't you spit into my drink again or I'm calling your manager. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate you losing one of his regulars."

"Nice to meet you, Uncle. I am Journeycolt Custumardie Marshal Pie, but I like Marshal. Custard to some." When the waitress comes back with a brewed chai, Marshal frowns but accepts. "Can I get the leaves and hot water next time?"

When she leaves, he hesitantly begins nursing the tea. "Not bad, but I find the work of preparing one's own tea more rewarding."

"Oh, I'm sure it won't happen again... I'll go get a fresh cup straight away." replies the waitress, a brilliant green glow surrounding her horn as she lifts the cup back onto the tray and walking towards the counter to get a new cup of tea. "A big eater, huh? I'll tell the chef right away..." she adds, passing La Viento's table.

Outside, the commotion seems to grow in intensity, the shouts seeming to become faster and more frantic. Plowclaw can recognise one of the voices, in fact - it sounds like Iggy is... shouting? No. Not shouting. Screaming. That's all the warning anypony gets before the front window disintegrates into a cloud of glass shards and Ignatious flies through, carried by a strange black pony with gossamer wings and a crooked horn.

"N- no!" he gasps, struggling in futility to push the creature off him as it opens its mouth and begins to inhale a strange green mist that flows from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Meanwhile, a voice suddenly comes from behind Uncle, the waitress having arrived without so much as a sound during the commotion. "Your tea and cream, sir." He hasn't a chance to respond before a china pot smashes into the back of his head, drenching him in scalding tea, followed by a bowl of cream. "I hope it's to your liking." she taunts.

The others aren't nearly so subtle, and La Viento looks up just in time to see the cook emerging from the kitchen with a brace of knives hovering in midair. "Today's special, knives with change! Let's eat!" he calls, lifting one knife to hurl as the manager vaults the counter and the customers start screaming in panic.

Spoiler:

Shocked at the waitress's actions, Uncle was stunned from the hot tea covering himself followed by the cool cream. Luckily, they kept him from suffering too many burns as chaos erupted around them. The old pony sighed, clacking his fan shut and slipping it into his shirt, standing up. "Server, do you want to know an ancient Chineigh secret?"

The elderly pony bucked his chair straight backwards into her knees, doing a quick frontflip into the air using it as leverage and slamming onto the table hard enough to send it back like a rake in a children's cartoon, shattering against the waitress's head. "You can teach an old pony new tricks!" The elder pony grabbed his fan with his magic, firing it over to the changeling with enough speed to treat the blade thin surface like a dagger, and caught it back in his mouth to shut it back, preparing himself for the fight. The Elderly pony's stance was reminiscent less of an elderly pony and more of a graceful crane as he glared down the waitress and prepared his fan to catch any attacks that was sent his way.

"Right, so the waitress seems to be using her surroundings to her advantage, that over there is.... And the cook has daggers, so to protect myself from those... And then there's the bare hoofed manager... If memory serves I'll probably need to disarm the cook to keep him from fighting, that creature over there looks dangerous so I should take it out asap, but then the waitress has a grudge against me so I'll need to keeep an eye out..."

WUSHU ROLL TIME GO:

"Remain calm everypony!"

Cast Dice attempted to shout over the commotion at the panicked ponies- it wouldn't do them getting in the way and possibly getting hurt.

 "Find something to hide behind!  Turn over tables if you must- doubt we owe this establishment anything at this point.  Do notgo outside- that creature makes it clear it's not safe there either."

She tried to turn over her own table so that it was facing the counter to make her point.  Whoo, these tables were heavy...

With the other customers hopefully getting out of the way whether they heeded her or not, she took out a bag and cast it towards the counter, dice spilling out across the floor where the manager was leaping- if she threw it right.  

"Uncle, looks like ancient artifacts aren't the only thing you picked up in Chineigh."

Cast Dice marveled as Uncle struck out at the cook and took up what appeared to be a martial-arts stance.  She had read about how the Chineighse used fans as shields and weapons- Uncle clearly wasn't kidding when he said he used his fan to defend himself.  Following his lead, she tried to imitate his stance- relying on her luck that whatever his training was telling him to do would apply in her position too.  

She pulled out a stack of her business cards, and fanned them out, like a hoof of playing cards, or... a fan.  In theory- it could be used to disarm opponent's weapons harmlessly by grabbing them with the fan.  She decided to test this by trying to grab one of the cook's knives out of the air and lobbing it back towards him.

Spoiler:

Having immediately lost himself in thought after ordering, Viento snaps back to reality as the window breaks. He takes a quick look around, noting the knife-wielding unicorn and the griffon beside him in particular. Instinct kicks in as he pushes the griffon's head down. "Get down, amigo!"

He slams a hoof on the edge of the table, flipping it to its side and using it as cover for the two of them. "Stay here!" He waits to hear the thunk of a kinfe against wood. Whether he hears it or not he takes a deep breath, rushes out of safety, and makes a beeline for the chef.

He weaves between tables and chairs, and when he's close enough he leaps into the air. With a flap of his wings, he starts to spin towards the pony. "Torpedoooo..." At the last moment, he turns and attempts to kick with his back leg. "SOBAT!"

Mashu Rolls!:

Pingcode wrote:Outside, the commotion seems to grow in intensity, the shouts seeming to become faster and more frantic. Plowclaw can recognise one of the voices, in fact - it sounds like Iggy is... shouting? No. Not shouting. Screaming. That's all the warning anypony gets before the front window disintegrates into a cloud of glass shards and Ignatious flies through, carried by a strange black pony with gossamer wings and a crooked horn.

"N- no!" he gasps, struggling in futility to push the creature off him as it opens its mouth and begins to inhale a strange green mist that flows from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Plow's normally half lidded eyes snap open and he turns in time to watch Iggy come through the window with a... what?

Kenzamaka wrote:Having immediately lost himself in thought after ordering, Viento snaps back to reality as the window breaks. He takes a quick look around, noting the knife-wielding unicorn and the griffon beside him in particular. Instinct kicks in as he pushes the griffon's head down. "Get down, amigo!"

Awk! He shakes himself to clear the shock. What? Get?

No no, no time for that. He leaps up hitting the wall and kicks off it to gain extra speed, aiming his tackle above the changeling

Dash To Your Side:

"NOBODY"

Throwing Drink:

His eyes widen, then narrow as the changeling dodges the thrown drink with remarkable ease.

"HURTS!"

Midair Grapple, hindlimbs:

The changeling probably wasn't expecting the griffon to bend his lion claws awkwardly around its body. Admittedly, Plow's backup plan to end up using his tail was probably slightly more desperate.

"MY FRIENDS!"

Plow whipped himself forward in a front flip, to throw the changeling into the floor, but it managed to right itself and skid away without much damage.

Front Flip Piledriver:

He settles in, glaring at the Changeling, but is unable to keep himself from looking over his shoulder at Iggy.

"Hey Iggy? ....Come on, say something."

Final Tally:

Marshal continues to sip his chai amid the sudden chaos. Flying tables and hot water. Even weapons, in the middle of a cafe. A cafe of all places! This had wrapped around insulting into silly, then back into insulting. "Master Bento taught that any place to break your fast is a place of resting. A holy spot," he murmurs. "You insult this place with your wanton attacks on your patrons!"

With his exclamation, the remainder of his tea(sans mug) goes flying through the air to strike the knife-wielding cook in the face. It makes the sound of cracking ice, in spite of its liquid state. Marshal doesn't follow far behind, weaving with almost unnatural speed to dodge any incoming attacks, then doing a flip over the cook at the last second to flank him.

Now by the main counter as well, Marshal grabs a few biscotti from the display and twirls them into his opponent. He then jumps back and assumes a defensive position, waiting for the next move.

Wushu Rolls:

The waitress is caught off guard by the ferocity of the attack, catching the chair square in the chest and stumbling backwards, only to find neither zig nor zag would help against an abruptly descending table. She braces herself against the blow and rolls away with the impact, green flame enveloping her form as what used to be the waitress is replaced by a pink and yellow earth pony.

"Who's your target now, old timeeer?" she taunts, reaching over behind her to grab at the empty seat her new double used to be, pulling back a pastern full of empty air, with neither seat nor customer anywhere to be found. Her ears droop, and her pupils shrink. "Oh buck." she whimpers, wincing and levitating up her wooden tray a little too slowly. The fan strikes right between her eyes, sending the changeling flying head over hooves into an upturned table.

The real pony sits up from the remains of the table and gives the equine equivalent of a thumbs up, ducking for cover again as knives start flying. Cast Dice's gambit pays off as the cook obligingly hurls a knife her way - though not as well as she'd like, as the angle isn't quite right and the blade punches almost straight through, stopping mere centimetres from her face. Gripping the blade in her teeth, she hurls it in a smooth whipcrack motion back at the cook. She's sure she hit too - his leg was in exactly the wrong spot, but it just sails right through, like nothing is there. He grins and turns to fling another knife, before a hind leg smashes into his chest with a crack. "Lucky... shot..." he grunts, stepping backwards and fanning out his knives defensively.

It doesn't help, as the full teacup splashes over him and an entire coffee break worth of biscotti pours down on him, burying him beneath a small mountain of crunchy bread and terrible bruising. "Luckier... shot..." he groans, before going limp.

The manager touches down on the dice on the other side of the counter, her footing slipping in an instant as they roll away like marbles. She rolls backwards and leaps even as she slides, landing with one hoof on the counter and taking the opportunity to steal a punch on La Viento before sending two bolts of sickly green energy streaking towards Uncle and Cast.

Plowclaw dives and tumbles under the two streaking bolts, the changeling draining his accountant looking up for just a second in time to see a furious griffon flying towards him claws outstretched. The two tumble across the floor and the changeling slides away on the floor.

"I... I think... I'm going to be okay. Thanks, Plow." he gasps, forcing a smile through coughs. The ordinarily pleasantly plump pony looks positively sallow now, and the griffon is positive that he was a much more lush shade of green a moment ago.

He doesn't have a chance to act on it, though, as the changeling tackles him to the ground, swinging its forelegs and hissing as it tries to stun him and pin his claws. "Oh hoh hoh... You're going to be a treat."

The bolt from the manager streaks over Cast Dice's head, and the other straight into Uncle's chest as a sudden hoof from behind blocks his way. The pain shoots through his right breast, the pain shooting its way down his torso and knocking him back just in time for the barista to swing and miss. Recentering himself, he lunges for Cast Dice and smashes his hoof through a cheap table, struggling to pull it back out as something catches, a strange thump-thump resounding nearby of wood on... shell?

Behind the counter the door suddenly crashes open, falling off its hinges as a pile of ponies wrapped in rope roll down from upstairs and tumble across the floor.

Spoiler:

"Hey, you changelings should all go buck yourselves! I am not dealing with this crap!"
Yells a small light blue unicorn mare among the pile of tied up ponies.
Suddenly the barista hears a voice right behind him.
"Somebody is about to get his head knocked off."
Followed by a voice on his left.
"The only question is,"
A voice on his right.
"Where am I?"
A table levitates over the barista's head and comes cracking down. The blue unicorn begins to prep a spell, keeping a vigilant eye out for danger.

Spoiler:

Uncle grunts hard as he feels the pain run through his body, panting with a sly smile, quickly rushing over to the manager in a bum rush with his fan outstretched. "Oh, I think I've found her." The unicorn grabs the mare's hooves with his own and pulls backwards into a tight roll for a short bit before blasting the changeling mare with a burst of magical might. "And now I have another on target!" Uncle's roll was painstakingly aligned so that the blast of magic shot the mare back against the other changeling pinning the griffon down. The elderly pony let out a grunt as he rolled over into another stance, this one more like a tiger ready to pounce as he chanted, "míng rén bú yòng xì shuō, xiǎng gǔ bú yòng zhòng chuí - People of good sense or expertise need only a hint to understand any matter." His neck cracked as he made a note of the changeling on the griffon's feral-fighting style. "Reminds me of those bengal tigers I had to defend myself against..." The unicorn kicked a table leg off of one of the shattered ones, holding it in his magic and using it along side his fan.

Wushu Rolls:

It seems the entire restaurant has erupted into a fight! La Viento turns around just in time to see the pony who had just punched him fire a bolt of energy at... an elderly pony?! He furrows his brow. "Oh, so you pick on the old, huh?! Well let La Viento show you a little something!" He lunges at the manager, jumping onto his back and grabbing him around the belly with wings and hooves. With a firm grip, he lifts the other up a bit, landing on his own hind legs. He gives a quick glance at his surroundings, ready to try and use his prey as a body shield.

"Guacamole...." He lifts the manager up more and more, standing fully upright before jumping and slamming him headfirst into the floor. "WING-SUPLEX!" He pushes off of the pony's chest with his hooves, shooting into the air and flapping once to align himself. He lands, hooves at the ready to parry anything sent his way.

Mashu Rolls!:

Pingcode wrote:
Plowclaw dives and tumbles under the two streaking bolts, the changeling draining his accountant looking up for just a second in time to see a furious griffon flying towards him claws outstretched. The two tumble across the floor and the changeling slides away on the floor.

"I... I think... I'm going to be okay. Thanks, Plow." he gasps, forcing a smile through coughs. The ordinarily pleasantly plump pony looks positively sallow now, and the griffon is positive that he was a much more lush shade of green a moment ago.

Spoiler:

"No prob Iggy, we'll-AWRK!"

Pingcode wrote:
He doesn't have a chance to act on it, though, as the changeling tackles him to the ground, swinging its forelegs and hissing as it tries to stun him and pin his claws.

Right, right, don't turn your back on an enemy! If he was back in the rookery the whole flock would've pounced him for that bonehead move. The wrestling is normal enough, that's just standard claw to claw fighting, and it's doubtful either of them will break a sweat until someone makes a move or misses an opening.

Pingcode wrote:
"Oh hoh hoh... You're going to be a treat."

He just blinks at the changeling.

"Like... Dude. We're not even the same species. That's. ...wow."

He's more shocked than disgusted.

"I mean.. are you even female?"

Rule of funny:

They manage to continue wrestling around, Plow finally getting his feet under the changeling as he almost gets pinned. And with a Mighty Kick! -

Mighty Kiiiiiick:

- Sends the changeling up into the air. He follows it up a moment later, grabbing a chandelier, tearing through the weakest point of the neck, and swinging the work of crystal and metal at the insect's face. Hopefully before it can recover again!

Chandelier:

Plow grins to himself, looking around at the mess everywhere. He frowns, trying to figure out what to do next, coming down in one of his usual inexpert landings. Less by intent than by sheer accident, he lands right on top of the changeling, startling himself and tangling their bodies again.

Aerial Drop:

Looks like he did almost more damage to himself than to the changeling with that. He grumbles again, he really shouldn't be forgetting all these basic combat things. Like paying attention. Ah the curse of short atte-ooo, shiny crystals from the chandelier!

Overall:

Cast Dice rushed over to the pile of bound ponies to see if she could (quickly) free them.  One at least managed to do so, no thanks to her.  She grabbed the rope dropped by the teleporting unicorn and used it to quickly fashion a couple of fallen plates to her front legs.  She pulled a plumed helmet of the sort used by the Pegasi in the Hearths Warming Eve pageant from seemingly nowhere and donned it, picking up sword-like shard of a broken plate in her mouth and thrusting it ineffectually against the barrista.  

She spit out the useless weapon and leapt onto one of the few remaining intact and upright tables, calling to those patrons of the cafe that had heeded her advice earlier to hide behind tables.  

"Alright!  Don't just hide there, let's show these ponies- if that's even what they are- what a mistake it is to mess with us!  Call on your pre-Equestrian martial heritage!  You should know what I'm talking about, pegasi!  Everypony form a Hayennic* phalanx!  Break the table legs!  Unicorns, float them ahead as spears- if there's extra legs pick them up!  Everypony else push the tables forward as shields!  Advance with me now!"

Dice jumped back down and got behind one of the tables that had just a moment ago been used for hiding, helping to push it forwards, leading the advance, hoping to relieve Uncle with her reinforcements

Spoiler:

*: