Gigavolt's Warped Reality of Equestria.by Fusion Fool the 3rdChaptersThe First StepThe Sunset SquadronDATABASEMinor ScoutingThe First StepPonyville, a peaceful village, very little happens here, as a certain green unicorn believes. Her name is Gigavolt von Static, formerly known as Laughing Stock, was sitting in her lab tinkering with a large capsule. Her white mane slowly turning black as her lightning bolt shaped horn weaved electricity through the mechanisms and gears, Her cutie mark could barely be seen as a smiling pony head with two lightning bolts crossed behind it. This special piece of machinery will be one of her best creations, next to the Thunder Empress Battleship and her robotic assistant, A.M.P (Artificial. Mechanical. Pony.). This capsule was designed to allow ponies to experience a world that Gigavolt created using Equestria as a template. The green unicorn sat in the dark room, until she heard a voice. “Miss Twilight is here.” “Right on time, thank you AMP,” Gigavolt said, shutting the metal door with her hoof. She stood on a large circular device that propelled her upwards through a tube. The circular device stopped as Gigavolt stepped off onto the main floor of her Machine Shop, with her assistant, a silver pegasus mare with a simple orange mane that ran down her back an off to the left was chatting with the overly familiar purple unicorn. “So, Gigavolt was it? You asked me to help you with something?” Twilight asked, skeptical as to why she was called over. “Why yes, I need your help testing one of my devices,” Gigavolt replied, her monotone voice gave Twilight a small case of the willies. “It is designed as a game, I cannot test it myself as I am needed to supply assistance for you on the outside as well as wake you up when I believe you’ve been in there for too long.” “I see, well… I’m sure Rainbow Dahs or Pinkie would be happy to test a game for you,” Twilight said, unsure if she is qualified. “I need an intelligent pony, a pony that can find things and let me know the moment they happen like bugs or glitches, and I don’t trust Pinkie Pie with a calculator so I’m not letting her near a machine that costs as much as her yearly food budget,” Gigavolt answered. “What about Lyra? Or Derpy?” Twilight inquired. “I think Lyra would love the experience far too much, and Derpy isn’t quite smart enough for this. Again, I need an intelligent and inquisitive pony,” Gigavolt answered. “But…” “Get in the elevator,” Gigavolt muttered, her tone barely changing. Twilight nodded and stepped on the circular platform with Gigavolt as they rode it down. “Shall I close shop, Gigavolt?” AMP asked through the intercom. “The most complex thing Ponyville has for us to repair is the projector in the library, you can repair the town’s equipment just as well as I do, next time think before you ask stupid questions, AMP,” Gigavolt answered “Forgive me, Gigavolt,” The intercom bellowed, Twilight felt sorry for the poor robotic pony. They reached the basement of the shop as the lights went on, revealing several gears and machine parts littering the areas near the corner, near one wall was a large white capsule, large enough to fit a pony, it had a glass door that was on the top with a helmet within connected by several wires and cords. “Please step in the capsule Twilight,” Gigavolt instructed. Twilight watched as the glass door opened, revealing a reclined padded seat within. Twilight sat in and levitated the helmet on her head, which provided an opening for her horn. “Ready?” “Yup, go for it,” Twilight said, the glass door closed over her as metallic arms covered Gigavolt’s fore limbs, allowing her to tap on the keyboard before her. “Initializing,” Gigavolt stated. The power flickered for a moment while the capsule lit up, a gentle hum signalling that it’s powered. Gigavolt grumbled under her breath as she tapped a yellow button and spoke into a microphone. “AMP, I require 3 thunderclouds for the generator, do so immediately.” Twilight was floating in a black void, she found that her anatomy had changed, showing that she now has small digits on the end of a soft hoof; it reminded her of Spike’s claws. She also noticed that her teats have moved upward, closer to her head and between her fore-limbs. Her legs became longer but it still appeared that her hooves are normal, and she still had her tail protruding from her rear. In a panic, she found that she still had her horn jutting through her mane. A large white robe covered her from neck to half way down her hind-legs, which confused her. “Getting used to being anthromorphic human?” A voice asked, startling the purple unicorn. “Gigavolt? Why am I like this? And what’s a human? Have you been talking to Lyra?” Twilight asked. “Yes, it’s Gigavolt. Considering the game’s purpose, the human form is more accessible than the pony form, humans are creatures that populate another world, they are much like ponies mentally except more depraved, cruel, and perverted in many aspects. And this is the reason why I didn’t ask Lyra to test this,” the voice said. Twilight took a few tentative steps to get use to her body, finding that she is a natural at walking with her hind-legs. “The game is doing the walking for you, it’s your brain that making you walk like a professional.” This information made Twilight grumble in disappointment. “So why am I in the dark?” “To decide your class, of course.” Gigavolt stated. Six versions of Twilight appeared before her, in the same human-like form. The first Twilight wore what looked like a heavy vest, and a shirt that reminded her of what Daring Do wears, her leggings appeared to be as heavy as the vest. She was wearing a interesting pair of goggles that only covered her right eye. In her fingerless-gloved hands was a strange device that that had a very long pole jutting from the end of it, and a handle that ran up to a small switch. Her cutie mark was featured on the sleeve of the right arm. “The Hawkeye, ranged specialist. This class focuses on ranged combat and preferred weapon is the Sniper Rifle but very proficient in all firearms and bows, melee is the worst place for this class, the eye piece they wear is to help calculate targeted weak points when wielding weapons with no scopes or when forced into melee combat.” The next Twilight wore a long coat that reached near her hooves. Underneath the coat was a pair of slick black pants, and a light vest that showed her belly button. On her head was a hat that reminded her of Applejack’s own, but with a wide brim. In her right hand was a long blade that was very sharp on one edge, her left hand was coated in purple fire, on the back of the coat was her cutie mark. “The Spellblade, a hybrid class. They use both magic and melee combat to fight; while they are very good at both melee and ranged combat, they are not very sturdy. They prefer the katana as their weapon, but can make do with most weapon types as the ‘Jack of all trades, Master of None’ class.” The third Twilight wore heavy armor that covered her mouth, yet left her head exposed. The armor itself covered Twilight’s upper body, her forearms, and her entire lower body is covered in thick armor, what parts the armor didn’t cover was a thin layer of latex. She noticed that there were holes in situated on the back of the leg armor and chest armor. In her hand was a large battle axe with what appeared to be mounted jets on it. Her cutie mark was placed on the front of her chest armor. “This is the Bulldozer class, a heavily armored class that focuses on heavy weapons, like great swords, battle axes, hammers, rocket launchers, rail guns, and gauntlets. They are very slow in all aspects, but they can run thanks to the jets situated in the chest armor and leg armor. Despite having access to rocket launchers and Rail Guns, ranged combat isn’t there strong suit, but they dominate in pure damage and power. Please take note that there is an energy field active around the head to prevent headshots from hostile Hawkeyes. The fourth Twilight featured a skin tight suit that covered her whole body except her head, with a thick belt with various pouches running along it. She wore a vest over her top once again, but it wasn’t done up, she wore gloves that covered a good portion of her forearms, while the boots came half way up to her knee. She was holding a knife in each hand, holding them backward, which seemed odd to the unicorn. She wore a visor over her eyes; it looked pretty neat to Twilight, like very big sunglasses. Her cutie mark was etched along the main body of the suit. “The Nightshade class prefers to deal with foes using stealth and deception. They prefer daggers, but can only use light weapons and small fire arms, such as hand axes or pistols respectively. They are in many ways, opposite to the Bulldozer in terms of speed and damage. They can move and attack quickly but they do little damage. The visor works very similar to how the Hawkeye’s goggle works, except they can locate a target’s blood veins.” The next Twilight wore long robes that appear to rub across the ground as she walked, covering her from her hooves to her neck, while showing her belly and emphasizing her breasts. She also wore a collar around her neck. The cloth around her arms seemed thicker than the rest as they seemed layered to be as thick as the Bulldozer’s armor, her right hand held a book while the other glowed in purple fire, much like the Spellblade’s, she wore a small tiara around her head. Her cutie mark was placed on her oversized shoulder pieces. “The Nethermancer is a mage class that focuses on magic and magic alone, they are both the weakest and most powerful. Glass Cannons if you will. Their spells focus on the elements, arcane, temporal, and the likes, based on my own knowledge of magic that is. Tomes and orbs are their only weapons. On par with the Hawkeye when it comes to speed, please note that melee combat will spell your doom.” The final Twilight wore armor over her lower body, arms, torso while what remained seemed like baggy cloth. The shoulder pieces jutted out a few inches, appearing like shields for the head. This Twilight wore a helmet that covered her entire head with two red plastic pieces where the eyes would be, she was holding a scary but smaller version of the sniper rifle the Hawkeye had. Her Cutie Mark was on the shield parts of the shoulder armor. “The final class is the Shocktrooper, you’re basic foot soldier in the military. They are great at using melee and firearms,while they are more armored than the Spellblades, they are also slower than them. Similar to the Spellblades, they are in the middle of everything when it comes to skill and damage. They have the capability to use turrets and explosives, making them all purpose in the field.” Twilight looked at each class and thought to herself. ‘The Nethermancer is very tempting considering it’s style is magic, but I don’t like how unarmoured they look. The Hawkeye looks pretty neat, being able to attack at long distances, but that melee weakness. The Bulldozer seems fun, being able to take hits like they’re nothing, but they are pretty slow. It would be nice to move very fast as a Nightshade but, the damage output might get tedious and annoying. Able to stand my ground rather well and cast magic is nice if I choose the Spellblade, but the possibilities of the Shocktrooper’s turret could prove to be very useful, the weaknesses are roughly the same. What to choose. The Sunset Squadron“I’ll pick the Spellblade,” Twilight said, watching as the several copies disappeared only for her own dress to reform on her body. The cloth remained white, yet bulkier than she remembered, feeling more like a large vest, while a pair of light pants and boots appeared to cover the rest. She turned to find that she was wearing a T-shirt underneath the vest and a scabbard of a sword was connected to a belt around her waist, strapped to her right side. A white bandana was tied around her forehead, just below her horn. “Hey, what gives? This doesn’t look nearly as interesting as the gear you showed me,” Twilight said, rather disappointed. “You expected me to give you the good stuff immediately? Does Celestia come to your library to rub your belly as you drift to sleep as well?” Gigavolt muttered throughput the black void. “Well, of course not, but you just can’t tease me like that,” Twilight retorted. She unsheathed the sword she had and looked over it. “The sword is pretty neat, though, in comparison.” “Please note that you are still early in the game: don’t expect your equipment to be the best. You gotta work for it,” Gigavolt said. Twilight let out a sigh as she put the blade away. “Also remember, I’ll be in constant contact with you. My text will be green, if I ask AMP to oversee this, her text will be red,” Gigavolt explained. “You’ll be talking to me through words? But you have intercoms and the whole ominous voice in this room,” Twilight said, confused. “No, you’ll hear my voice. It was video logs,” Gigavolt assured. “Shall we begin?” “I already have a class and my…equipment; I guess I’m ready,” Twilight uttered as a doorway appeared behind her. She made her way towards it and took her first step into Gigavolt’s world; the light blinded her as she heard the green unicorn’s voice in her ear: Database Updated: Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle Twilight opened her eyes to find that she was sitting in a moving carriage, all around her were nine ponies dressed similarly to her own: some with suits, others with heavy armor, but the clothing was all white or a very light grey. What confused her the most is how she went from walking to sitting in mere seconds. “You okay, Lieutenant?” called a familiar voice. Twilight turned to find Applebloom sitting next to her in the carriage. “Applebloom? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked, confused. “Did you drink too much before our deployment, lieutenant?” Applebloom retorted. “We are on our way to take out a rebel group on the Equestria-Crystal Kingdom border.” “A rebellion?” Twilight uttered, shaking off the strange vertigo. You are a part of the Sunset Squadron of the Royal Equestrian Army; you are second-in command to Major Stronghoof under the rank ‘lieutenant’. Don’t reply to me, it’ll make you look stupid in front of your soldiers. Twilight grumbled angrily upon hearing that. “Well, yeah, weren’t you briefed on this by the Major?” Applebloom asked. “He might have forgotten, sorry Applebloom. And call me Twilight, please,” The unicorn said, examining the carriage’s interior. The insides seemed rather depressing, a bland green tarp covered the roof of the carriage while everypony seemed to be squished together in this small space, just enough room for everyone to sit down in there big armor. Twilight’s eyes stopped on a tan mare that was shaking in her bulldozer suit. “Hey, uhh…” This is the tutorial, so I’ll let it pass. Private. “Private, are you okay?” Twilight asked to the quivering mare. “I’m fine Lieutenant Sparkle, just nervous,” the mare stuttered, her armored fists clenched tightly on her knees. Shaking some of her bright red mane out of her brown eyes. “What’s your name?” Twilight asked. “Private Cherry Slim, Bulldozer class, ma’am,” Cherry said, still shaking in her metal boots. Why did I tell you the rank if she was going to tell you anyways? “Is this your first time out here?” Twilight asked, trying to calm the mare down. “Yea, I’ve been training for this and it still feels all sudden to me, ma’am,” Cherry uttered, giving the purple mare a nervous smile. Twilight returned it with a reassuring one. “I’m sure it will be fine, as long as you try your best to stay safe.” “Like that will help this wimp.” Twilight turned her head to see a light blue pegasus with a sniper rifle. She looked almost exactly like Rainbow Dash except her mane was pure white and her eyes were green. “And you might be?” “Sergeant Sky Line, sexy,” Sky Line cooed, wiggling her eyebrows seductively. “Hawkeye class, and clearly the best this squad has to offer, am I right?” Her response was met with several soldiers calling her a moron, or a stallion shouting out “Shut up” from the forward end of the carriage. “Don’t worry about this filly, she’s a bulldozer. She should be able to take a few ‘hits’, if you know what I mean,” Sky Line giggled, causing Cherry Slim to blush. “Hey, Sky Line,” Applebloom piped up, diverting the light blue pegasus’ attention. “Would you kindly shut the fuck up? Your mouth is causing a hazard ‘round here.” This retort caused a few soldiers to chuckle as Sky Line stared blankly at the filly. “Thanks Sergeant,” Cherry Slime muttered. “Any time private,” Applebloom said cheerfully. “You’re a Sergeant?” Twilight asked, rather flabbergasted. “Why of course, but I ain’t nothing like the military prodigy like yourself, Liue, uhh… Twilight,” Applebloom replied, leaving Twilight to that thought. Sate your confused thoughts with the Database. Pressing your new finger onto the device in your left ear and thinking ‘database’ will freeze the game’s time, allowing you to read what information you need to get. The database will update itself each time you encounter an enemy or a individual I thought I could waste some time on, or learn more about a character or a location. Twilight mentally face-palmed as she quickly read her own Bio. “I guess so,” she chuckled. Didn’t give me a great bio, either, she thought. This isn’t even the final product. Quit your bitching. “Why did you join the army, Applebloom?” Twilight asked. “Because my family were forced out of our farm by the FlimFlam company, so we now try to buy it back from them. I thought the army would pay to help my sister and brother out, so here I am,” Applebloom explained. The thought of Applejack losing Sweet Apple Acres filled Twilight with sorrow. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Don’t worry Twilight, we’ll get it back; this mission is supposed to pay really big, like 1,500,000 bits big. That give us a huge step closer to getting the farm back,” Applebloom smiled. The purple mare gave the young filly a confused stare, 1.5 million bits just to route some rebels seemed too good to be true. Database Updated: Sergeant Applebloom “I hear ya, Sarge. The moment I see that check is the day I’ll dance in the streets of Canterlot,” exclaimed a black pegasus colt next to Cherry Slim. “And you might be?” Twilight asked, “Corporal Shadowhide, ma’am. I’m one of the team’s Nightshades,” he said, giving Twilight a calm smile. “I take it you’re here for the money as well?” Twilight inquired. “That’s right, ma’am. Manehatten is not the place you wanna grow up in when you’re alone,” he chuckled. “You learn the hard way that money makes the world go round, and you gotta pick up that information quick or you’ll be left behind.” Database Updated: Corporal Shadowhide “I see,” Twilight muttered. She turned to Cherry Slim. “How about you, Cherry?” “Uhh, well… My mother always wanted me to take over her business when she retired, but I didn’t want to for… reasons.” Cherry blushed, hiding her face behind the metal armor. “I think that would be nice if you did, it would make your momma happy,” Applebloom added. “But my mom… runs a Tavern… and a brothel, and I didn’t want to do that. What if I had to work in place of one of the girls? I want to save myself for that special somepony,” Cherry sputtered. Her red face burned red with the thought of her mother’s brothel. Database Updated: Private Cherry Slim “I… understand, it does seem like a lot to deal with,” Twilight reassured. ’A brothel, seriously? Despite the inclusion of a brothel or two, there is no ‘visible’ sex in this game. And I’m leaning towards ‘no’ for including it later. Twilight shook her head, turning to Sky Line. “How about you, Sky Line? Why did you join the army?” “Because being in the army is rad: you get paid to be awesome and kill assholes with fancy weapons.” Sky Line smirked, stroking the barrel of her rifle. “And everypony wants to share a bed with a military pony,” she added, winking. No. Visible. Sex. All couplings that happen in the game will happen while you are not looking and if you walk in on two or more ponies fucking, they are programmed to lying in bed and do nothing in their underwear until you leave them alone. Also, Database Updated: Sergeant Sky Line and The Royal Equestrian Army ’Thank Celestia for small miracles then, ‘ Twilight thought. “Well, I guess I joined…” “Sorry Lieutenant, we all know your story. ‘Miss War Prodigy’,” Sky Line teased, causing the purple unicorn to huff while Applebloom and Cherry Slim giggled. “Alright, kids.” Twilight turned to see a stern faced stallion entering the carriage from the front. His mane was black and cut short, and his coat was only a few shades lighter than the armor he wore. “We are coming up to the enemy base. You all have your teams; Lieutenant Twilight, your team will be making camp. Liuetenant Greenmane, your team will be on recon.” Twilight and the green-maned, orange-coated unicorn next to Stronghoof nodded. Due to your Bio claiming that you should know that guy, Database Updated: Major Stronghoof The carriage stopped as the soldiers gathered out. Twilight noticed that they were standing in a winter wasteland, snow as far as the eye can see with exception to the blinking green lights in the distance. She felt the wind cut through her bare fur as she trudged along with the others. Twilight turned to find Applebloom, Sky Line, Shadowhide, and Cherry Slim. ’How lucky that these are my teammates, she thought. Nope, all on purpose. Enjoy. “Lieutenant?” Twilight turned to see the other Team leader walking over to her. “We’re going up ahead; according to the layout, we should be able to make a base just over the hill East of us. We’ll try and make it back quickly to help out with the base. Kinda odd how the Major ordered five ponies to make a base and five to do recon, it seems like we only need three for recon based on what we know of the cultists. Before I forget. Database Updated: Black Sun Cult and Equestrian Badlands. The snow region you're standing in. Twilight rolled her eyes when she heard Gigavolt’s announcement and nodded to Greenmane. Her team made way for the hill Greenmane mentioned. The purple mare smiled upon finding a cave behind the hill, opposite to the enemy camp. ’Wow, this is rather lucky. Or is this just another convenience?’ she thought. It’s the tutorial, I’m not going to send you at Nightmare Moon with 5 ponies you’ve known for 10 hours, that’s ridiculous. ’I get it, You don’t like Celestia.’ Twilight shook her head in frustration. “Cherry Slim and Sky Line, prepare the base. I want to be able to see the enemy camp form this position without getting outside. Applebloom, set up a defense. I don’t want us to be ambushed here, of all places. Shadowhide, take a walk, if you see anypony that didn’t come here via the carriage, be smart about it; if you’re completely confident that you can take them down, go for it, but if you can’t, return to base.” The ponies saluted and went to their tasks. But all that was left was Twilight. ’I guess I could help somepony out, but who?’ DATABASEMinor Scouting Twilight turned to see Shadowhide begin his scouting. “Hey Shadowhide, may I join you?” she asked. Shadowhide turned in confusion. “Uh, sure Lieutenant.” Twilight smiled and ran up ahead to meet Nightshade. “Hold up, you got a Dream Unit?” “A Dream Unit?” Twilight asked. It’s a stealth device all Nightshade classes use. You do not have one, by the way. “I got an extra in case of emergencies, please give it back when we are done, please,” Shadowhide said, giving the purple mare an uneasy smile. Twilight returned the smile and took the Dream Unit, attaching it to her belt. “One tap, and you’ll be invisible, another will remove the cloaking. Got it?” Shadowhide asked, receiving a nod from his commanding officer. “Spellblades with cloaking devices, that feels like cheating to me,” he laughed as they carefully moved along the snow, several feet from the enemy base. Twilight looked around to see a few griffons and black creatures wearing similar armor to the rest, yet they had no mane and large blue eyes; a creature Twilight recalled from the wedding. “The Sunset has griffons and changelings? We should be careful,” Twilight uttered. “They look like emissaries, and while I can understand the griffons, I don’t understand why the changelings are here; they don’t like anything that isn’t themselves,” Shadowhide said. They continued around the base to find a way in, which proved difficult since Shadowhide told Twilight that the gates are programmed to nullify enemy cloaking devices. From the far corner, they noticed something rather odd. The largest tent in the camp opened to reveal an old stallion with a long beard bundled up in robes, a tall black female changeling with various knives strapped to herself and a small black crown on her head, then a large diamond dog, much larger than the stallion or the changeling, walked behind them, larger gauntlets covered each hand, his eyes were covered by thick goggles. “Chrysalis…” Twilight uttered coldly, watching the changeling queen converse with the diamond dog and the elder stallion. “Seems like she’s helping them out, but why is Bonez here? He’s a pacifist, and I don’t see any of his guards around,” Shadowhide commented. “That would mean that the old colt there is the Black Sun Leader, Dark Star.” Twilight focused on the old stallion talking with Bonez and Chrysalis. She felt like he held a lot of magic in his body, his eyes glowed black, only to dim when he blinks. “What do you know about him?” “Dark Star use to be Princess Celestia’s Archmage, Starswirl the Bearded, but he went rogue a few years ago after we took Griffonia, saying that we are no better than the griffons,” Shadowhide explained. Database Updated: Dark Star the Sundowner Twilight grimaced at the title Gigavolt gave to her childhood icon. She turned her head to see something rather shiny on the ground, and decided to investigate it. She stepped closer and brushed some of the snow off, curiosity changed to horror as she saw the corpse of Lieutenant Greenmane. “Shadowhide,” she whispered. Shadowhide turned his head and walked towards the purple mare, sharing her expression upon finding Greenmane. They looked around to see that the rest of the squad were not too far away, all dead. “But how? Most of us aren’t just greenhorns fresh from the bus, she should have at least heard gunfire or fighting,” Shadowhide muttered. Twilight just stood there, baffled by what had happened. Unaware that Shadowhide left her alone for a moment. The silence was broken by Shadowhide, “Lieutenant, I think you need to see this.” Twilight shook her head and walked over. What Shadowhide had found was a small campsite with a fire that has been put out recently. “Who was here before, though?” Twilight asked, unable to comprehend the situation. Seeing as war isn’t a strong suit for anypony that lived roughly seven hundred years ago, I’m just going to let you know that this was most obviously an ambush. “Were we ambushed?” Twilight whispered. Shadowhide turned to the purple mare. He blinked a few times before realization took over. “They knew we’d be here, we walked into a suicide mission,” the stallion said. Twilight simply nodded. “We need to get back to base; hopefully Sky Line and Cherry Slim have everything covered.” The two slowly made their way back, only to hear a gunshot in the distance; they turned to see a pony falling off one of the guard towers. “A shot? Sky Line!” Twilight exclaimed, now running towards the base. Shadowhide managed to follow her. Twilight turned her head to see various ponies and griffons marching towards Skyline, each shot the cocky pegasus took brought a member of the group down. The base was still well hidden, but the enemy knew where it was; they continued their march, barely flinching when a sentry turret emerged from the snow to fire at them. Twilight and Shadowhide managed to beat the enemy there. Sky Line was still sniping and Applebloom was calibrating a turret, but Cherry Slim was shaking, scared that they were under attack. “Get ready everypony, this will not end well,” Twilight called out, walking towards Cherry. “Are you going to be okay?” “I...I… I dunno, I’ve never fought before.” Cherry Slim was scared, sitting in the corner of the cave. Twilight put a reassuring hand on Cherry’s back. “It’ll be okay, we’ll get through this.” “Maybe we can call Greenmane and his group to help,” Applebloom called out. “Greenmane and his group are dead,” Shadowmane said. The statement caused Cherry to squeak in fear while Applebloom stopped moving, fear over taking her. “I managed to get a few of them, but we still got eighteen soldiers roughly three minutes away from us,” Sky Line called from above. A shot told Twilight that the number was reduced to seventeen. The Spellblade took a deep breath and turned to her subordinates. “Now is not the time to panic! Now listen up: Cherry Slim and I will take point; Shadowhide, I want you to do what you do best and take any ranged hostiles out, quickly; Applebloom you stay back with Sky Line and pick them off, provide me and Cherry cover. Everypony got that?” She received three nods, and another round fired, only to hear a muttered ‘shit’. Sky Line slid down to rejoin the group. “Too close to snipe. Applebloom, do you have a pistol or something? All I got is the sniper rifle,” Sky Line asked. Applebloom nodded and tossed a slightly smaller version of the gun the filly was using towards the light blue pegasus. Cherry Slim slowly got up, shaking in fear as she readied a large hammer that materialized from her suit, clenching the weapon tightly. Twilight took out her sword and placed a hand on the blade, sliding the hand along the sharp metal, watching the blade be consumed by fire. “Let’s go,” she ordered. The four ponies followed her into battle. Applebloom’s turrets were still doing their job in weakening the enemy, but it was time for action. Twilight charged the enemy with her flaming blade and sliced a shocktrooper along the mid-section. She ducked down to dodge an axe attack from an enemy bulldozer. Cherry Slim closed her eyes and ran, the jets in her heels and chest armor ignited and propelled her forwards, knocking several foes down. She swung her hammer forward to crush a griffon’s head under its weight. She didn’t even notice the shocktrooper shooter at her armor from behind. Shadowhide slide his knife deep into the neck of a hawkeye that took cover from the turrets. He activated his stealth quickly and buried both knives into the back of a nearby nethermancer, watching the rebel unicorn fall to the ground. Sky Line took cover by a turret and fired upon the enemy. She turned to see a Bulldozer charge her, but dodged quickly and jumped on his back, thrusting the small gun into the back of his head before pulling the trigger. After brushing the dust off her armor, she went back to cover Twilight. Applebloom threw out a grenade that began to rain lasers from above. The beams of light passed harmlessly through her comrades, but they inflicted severe injury to the enemy; one particular Spellblade stood directly beneath ready to slice at Shadowhide, but was cut to ribbons by the filly’s grenade. Twilight sunk her blade into the ground, watching as a long spiked pillar of stone skewered two of the remaining Shocktroopers. Slightly past him was a Hawkeye who was aiming for her, he fired a round before Shadowhide gutted him. The round flew and connected with Twilight’s head, forcing her backwards into the snow; the pain was unbearable for the unicorn. She held her head as blood pooled from the wound in her forehead. Get up you wimp, you were only shot in the head, you’ll survive. Remember that this has a HP system? You may wanna use a med though, just in case you decide to block all attacks with your skull. Twilight swallowed an insult and a lecture as she got up, pulling out a small needle and stabbing her arm with it. As the red liquid disappeared into Twilight’s blood veins, the hole in her head closed up. Throwing the empty needle away, she charged a Bulldozer that had knocked Cherry down, ready to strike her down with his own hammer. She slashed at the armored pony’s head, only to watch it deflect and shatter his helmet. He reared his head up to strike the purple mare, only to shower her in blood when his head exploded. “Sorry Twilight, my bad,” Applebloom called out, reloading her weapon. A Griffon leaped at the blue pegasus with blades in claws. Cherry managed to grab the offending creature by his wing before throwing him into the dirt. “Thanks kid, you going to finish it?” Sky Line asked. “Fi-finish it?” Cherry said, unsure that she could do it. Sky Line rolled her eyes and shot several rounds into the griffon’s head. “Like that,” she said, patting Cherry on her armored shoulder before running off to find more cover. Shadowhide threw a snowball at an enemy nethermancer, ruining his cast just long enough for the Nightshade to slit his throat. Twilight managed to catch a few Nightshades approaching Applebloom and Sky Line, and slew them quickly, stabbing on through the torso before slashing the second’s head off. She performed her Rising Lance spell once again, dealing heavy damage to the last bulldozer. This stagger gave Shadowhide enough time to bury a knife in his skull. “Runners!” Sky Line called out, pulling out her sniper rifle. She managed to pick off the two shocktroopers that ran, but the Nightshade entered stealth before she could get him. “Good job, but we are not out of this yet,” Twilight uttered. Her group stood among several dead ponies and griffons, the snow all around them had gone red early into the fight. Cherry fell to the ground, dropping her hammer. Applebloom walked over and gave what Twilight believed to be words of encouragement to the distressed mare. “What we know is that the enemy knows where we were going to be before we got there, and that doesn’t bode well for us. So we need a plan,” Twilight called out. The mares and stallion nodded in agreement. “I say we sneak in and blow them to Tartarus,” Sky Line commented, “We have the explosives to do so; we just need to find the sweet spots and run before the fireworks start.” “You’ll need a distraction, though, something to keep their attention long enough for you to plant them all,” Applebloom stated. “Then Applebloom and Cherry will distract them; Sky Line, you and Shadowhide plant the bombs, but be careful… We don’t know if Chrysalis and Bonez are still there,” Twilight warned. The two ponies nodded. “What about you?” Shadowhide asked, causing Twilight to think carefully. This is a rather big decision for you. I’m not supposed to say anything, but it’s pretty obvious that the team you don’t side with won’t be going home with you. You will encounter benefits and consequences for all your decisions, whether they’re immediate or prolongued. Think carefully, Twilight. Help Shadowhide and Skyline plant the bombs, or help distract the enemy with Applebloom and Cherry Slim? Twilight bit her lower lip as she thought, weighing what could happen and what may happen. Based on what Gigavolt just said, her decision here may carry on after this event. Regardless of which you choose, you’ll still be fighting Dark Star as your tutorial boss. Minor ScoutingDATABASE Database Characters Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle Gender/Race: Female Unicorn Age: 19 Status: Alive Class Rank: Spellblade Occupation: Military Officer Description: Twilight Sparkle was left orphaned at age 6 when a fire killed her parents, leaving her and her brother, Shining Armor, to fend for themselves. Twilight was recruited into the military at Age 10 when her magical output nearly destroyed a testing hall for young children that wished to enter Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. At Age 11, she became rather proficient at swordplay and had a much greater control over her magic, causing several instructors to push her into the direction of Spellblades, despite her obvious gift for Nethermancing. Age 15, she was assigned to fight in the Equestria-Griffonia war, fending off the rampaging griffons that attempted to claim Equestria as there own, she was also a vital member of the 'Celestia's Wrath' squadron, led by Major Shining Armor, that ultimately defeated the Griffon King and forced Griffonia to bow to the superior military power. Twilight was promoted to Lieutenant at 18 when she and several other soldiers were tasked to route a small group of rebels that planned an assassination against Princess Celestia during the Grand Galloping Gala. Currents Skills: Magic Blades: Rising Lance (Creates a lance out of the earth to skewer foes from beneath) {Learned in Chapter 2} Elemental: Flaming Blade (Coat your weapon in fire, dealing extra flame damage each strike) {Learned in Chapter 2} Major Stronghoof Gender/Race: Male Earth Pony Age: 41 Status: Alive Class Rank: Stormtrooper Occupation: Military Officer Description: A grizzled veteran of the Equstria-Griffonia Wars. her was apart of the 'Celestia's Wrath' squadron led by Major Shining Armor that defeated the Griffon King and captured Griffonia for Equestria. He was promoted to Major for his plan to wipe out the recently made 'Black Sun' rebels that worship Nightmare Moon and have caused various attempts against Princess Celestia and the Element Lords. Sergeant Applebloom Gender/Race: Female Earthpony Age: 14 Status: Alive Class Rank: Shocktrooper Occupation: Military Soldier Description: A young filly that joined the army to assist her family ever since the FlimFlam Company bought out Sweet Apple Acres 2 years ago. Normally a sweet filly that will protect others if need be, just like how her sister taught her. Sergeant Sky Line Gender/Race: Female Pegasus Age: 21 Status: Alive Class Rank: Hawkeye Occupation: Military Soldier Description: A mare that joined the army for excitement and fame. She became a Hawkeye because she believed that 'Sniping is cooler and less messy than stabbing some schmuck.' Corporal Shadowhide Gender/Race: Male Pegasus Age: 22 Status: Alive Class Rank: Nightshade Occupation: Military Soldier Description: A stallion that joined the military for the paycheck. He choose Nightshade due to his earlier years of pickpocketing while growing up in Manehatten. Private Cherry Slim Gender/Race:Female Earth Pony Age: 18 Status: Alive Class Rank: Bulldozer Occupation: Military Soldier Description: A mare that joined the army to avoid becoming the owner of her mother's brothel, fearing that doing so may threaten her chastity. She became a bulldozer because she thought it would protect her better if she were to be ambushed, which became her greatest fear the first week of enlisting. Dark Star the Sundowner Gender/Race: Male Unicorn Age: 794 Status: Killable Class Rank: Nethermancer Occuptaion: Former Royal Archmage, Cult Leader Description: One of the best magicians Equestria has ever known, devising thousands of spells in his long life span. Starswirl the Bearded became Princess Celestia's adviser and confidant since he was 78 and served faithfully ever since. The Equestria-Griffonia Wars however made him indifferent to Celestia due to her choices, believing that the war could have been avoided completely. Several arguments broke out between himself, Celestia, and General Shining Armor which eventually led to Starswirl dropping his position and form the Black Sun Cult. He changed his name to Dark Star the Sundowner for his unexplained hatred towards Princess Celestia. Locations Equestrian Badlands This area sits on the border of the Crystal Kingdom and Equestria. The land constantly snows year long, and becomes uninhabitable during the winter, due the constant blizzards. Other than the possible death at the cruel hands of windigos and Mother Nature itself, the Badlands is rather... bland. Factions The Royal Equestrian Army Country: Equestria Leaders: Princess Celestia, Shining Armor The main military force in Equestria. Their sole purpose is to protect the citizens form any threats that may endanger lives. Their main base is in Canterlot, and they serve as a heavily armored police force, dealing with terrorist attacks, monsters, and fighting wars. A hundred years ago, it should be noted that all the soldiers did was stand in one place and intimidate others into being careful, but Celestia help those soldiers should trouble happen, for they need six mares and their pet dragon to save the world four to fives times within a few years so they can keep their jobs. Black Sun Cult Country: Equestria Leaders: Dark Star A rebel group of ponies that believe that Princess Celestia is a worthless leader and desire to have Nightmare Moon to lead them into a new future. They have been known to attack villages, kill innocents that worship Celestia, and bomb buildings. There have been rumors of them working with other races to help see that Celestia is removed from the throne only to have The Queen of the Night take her place.
The First StepPonyville, a peaceful village, very little happens here, as a certain green unicorn believes. Her name is Gigavolt von Static, formerly known as Laughing Stock, was sitting in her lab tinkering with a large capsule. Her white mane slowly turning black as her lightning bolt shaped horn weaved electricity through the mechanisms and gears, Her cutie mark could barely be seen as a smiling pony head with two lightning bolts crossed behind it. This special piece of machinery will be one of her best creations, next to the Thunder Empress Battleship and her robotic assistant, A.M.P (Artificial. Mechanical. Pony.). This capsule was designed to allow ponies to experience a world that Gigavolt created using Equestria as a template. The green unicorn sat in the dark room, until she heard a voice. “Miss Twilight is here.” “Right on time, thank you AMP,” Gigavolt said, shutting the metal door with her hoof. She stood on a large circular device that propelled her upwards through a tube. The circular device stopped as Gigavolt stepped off onto the main floor of her Machine Shop, with her assistant, a silver pegasus mare with a simple orange mane that ran down her back an off to the left was chatting with the overly familiar purple unicorn. “So, Gigavolt was it? You asked me to help you with something?” Twilight asked, skeptical as to why she was called over. “Why yes, I need your help testing one of my devices,” Gigavolt replied, her monotone voice gave Twilight a small case of the willies. “It is designed as a game, I cannot test it myself as I am needed to supply assistance for you on the outside as well as wake you up when I believe you’ve been in there for too long.” “I see, well… I’m sure Rainbow Dahs or Pinkie would be happy to test a game for you,” Twilight said, unsure if she is qualified. “I need an intelligent pony, a pony that can find things and let me know the moment they happen like bugs or glitches, and I don’t trust Pinkie Pie with a calculator so I’m not letting her near a machine that costs as much as her yearly food budget,” Gigavolt answered. “What about Lyra? Or Derpy?” Twilight inquired. “I think Lyra would love the experience far too much, and Derpy isn’t quite smart enough for this. Again, I need an intelligent and inquisitive pony,” Gigavolt answered. “But…” “Get in the elevator,” Gigavolt muttered, her tone barely changing. Twilight nodded and stepped on the circular platform with Gigavolt as they rode it down. “Shall I close shop, Gigavolt?” AMP asked through the intercom. “The most complex thing Ponyville has for us to repair is the projector in the library, you can repair the town’s equipment just as well as I do, next time think before you ask stupid questions, AMP,” Gigavolt answered “Forgive me, Gigavolt,” The intercom bellowed, Twilight felt sorry for the poor robotic pony. They reached the basement of the shop as the lights went on, revealing several gears and machine parts littering the areas near the corner, near one wall was a large white capsule, large enough to fit a pony, it had a glass door that was on the top with a helmet within connected by several wires and cords. “Please step in the capsule Twilight,” Gigavolt instructed. Twilight watched as the glass door opened, revealing a reclined padded seat within. Twilight sat in and levitated the helmet on her head, which provided an opening for her horn. “Ready?” “Yup, go for it,” Twilight said, the glass door closed over her as metallic arms covered Gigavolt’s fore limbs, allowing her to tap on the keyboard before her. “Initializing,” Gigavolt stated. The power flickered for a moment while the capsule lit up, a gentle hum signalling that it’s powered. Gigavolt grumbled under her breath as she tapped a yellow button and spoke into a microphone. “AMP, I require 3 thunderclouds for the generator, do so immediately.” Twilight was floating in a black void, she found that her anatomy had changed, showing that she now has small digits on the end of a soft hoof; it reminded her of Spike’s claws. She also noticed that her teats have moved upward, closer to her head and between her fore-limbs. Her legs became longer but it still appeared that her hooves are normal, and she still had her tail protruding from her rear. In a panic, she found that she still had her horn jutting through her mane. A large white robe covered her from neck to half way down her hind-legs, which confused her. “Getting used to being anthromorphic human?” A voice asked, startling the purple unicorn. “Gigavolt? Why am I like this? And what’s a human? Have you been talking to Lyra?” Twilight asked. “Yes, it’s Gigavolt. Considering the game’s purpose, the human form is more accessible than the pony form, humans are creatures that populate another world, they are much like ponies mentally except more depraved, cruel, and perverted in many aspects. And this is the reason why I didn’t ask Lyra to test this,” the voice said. Twilight took a few tentative steps to get use to her body, finding that she is a natural at walking with her hind-legs. “The game is doing the walking for you, it’s your brain that making you walk like a professional.” This information made Twilight grumble in disappointment. “So why am I in the dark?” “To decide your class, of course.” Gigavolt stated. Six versions of Twilight appeared before her, in the same human-like form. The first Twilight wore what looked like a heavy vest, and a shirt that reminded her of what Daring Do wears, her leggings appeared to be as heavy as the vest. She was wearing a interesting pair of goggles that only covered her right eye. In her fingerless-gloved hands was a strange device that that had a very long pole jutting from the end of it, and a handle that ran up to a small switch. Her cutie mark was featured on the sleeve of the right arm. “The Hawkeye, ranged specialist. This class focuses on ranged combat and preferred weapon is the Sniper Rifle but very proficient in all firearms and bows, melee is the worst place for this class, the eye piece they wear is to help calculate targeted weak points when wielding weapons with no scopes or when forced into melee combat.” The next Twilight wore a long coat that reached near her hooves. Underneath the coat was a pair of slick black pants, and a light vest that showed her belly button. On her head was a hat that reminded her of Applejack’s own, but with a wide brim. In her right hand was a long blade that was very sharp on one edge, her left hand was coated in purple fire, on the back of the coat was her cutie mark. “The Spellblade, a hybrid class. They use both magic and melee combat to fight; while they are very good at both melee and ranged combat, they are not very sturdy. They prefer the katana as their weapon, but can make do with most weapon types as the ‘Jack of all trades, Master of None’ class.” The third Twilight wore heavy armor that covered her mouth, yet left her head exposed. The armor itself covered Twilight’s upper body, her forearms, and her entire lower body is covered in thick armor, what parts the armor didn’t cover was a thin layer of latex. She noticed that there were holes in situated on the back of the leg armor and chest armor. In her hand was a large battle axe with what appeared to be mounted jets on it. Her cutie mark was placed on the front of her chest armor. “This is the Bulldozer class, a heavily armored class that focuses on heavy weapons, like great swords, battle axes, hammers, rocket launchers, rail guns, and gauntlets. They are very slow in all aspects, but they can run thanks to the jets situated in the chest armor and leg armor. Despite having access to rocket launchers and Rail Guns, ranged combat isn’t there strong suit, but they dominate in pure damage and power. Please take note that there is an energy field active around the head to prevent headshots from hostile Hawkeyes. The fourth Twilight featured a skin tight suit that covered her whole body except her head, with a thick belt with various pouches running along it. She wore a vest over her top once again, but it wasn’t done up, she wore gloves that covered a good portion of her forearms, while the boots came half way up to her knee. She was holding a knife in each hand, holding them backward, which seemed odd to the unicorn. She wore a visor over her eyes; it looked pretty neat to Twilight, like very big sunglasses. Her cutie mark was etched along the main body of the suit. “The Nightshade class prefers to deal with foes using stealth and deception. They prefer daggers, but can only use light weapons and small fire arms, such as hand axes or pistols respectively. They are in many ways, opposite to the Bulldozer in terms of speed and damage. They can move and attack quickly but they do little damage. The visor works very similar to how the Hawkeye’s goggle works, except they can locate a target’s blood veins.” The next Twilight wore long robes that appear to rub across the ground as she walked, covering her from her hooves to her neck, while showing her belly and emphasizing her breasts. She also wore a collar around her neck. The cloth around her arms seemed thicker than the rest as they seemed layered to be as thick as the Bulldozer’s armor, her right hand held a book while the other glowed in purple fire, much like the Spellblade’s, she wore a small tiara around her head. Her cutie mark was placed on her oversized shoulder pieces. “The Nethermancer is a mage class that focuses on magic and magic alone, they are both the weakest and most powerful. Glass Cannons if you will. Their spells focus on the elements, arcane, temporal, and the likes, based on my own knowledge of magic that is. Tomes and orbs are their only weapons. On par with the Hawkeye when it comes to speed, please note that melee combat will spell your doom.” The final Twilight wore armor over her lower body, arms, torso while what remained seemed like baggy cloth. The shoulder pieces jutted out a few inches, appearing like shields for the head. This Twilight wore a helmet that covered her entire head with two red plastic pieces where the eyes would be, she was holding a scary but smaller version of the sniper rifle the Hawkeye had. Her Cutie Mark was on the shield parts of the shoulder armor. “The final class is the Shocktrooper, you’re basic foot soldier in the military. They are great at using melee and firearms,while they are more armored than the Spellblades, they are also slower than them. Similar to the Spellblades, they are in the middle of everything when it comes to skill and damage. They have the capability to use turrets and explosives, making them all purpose in the field.” Twilight looked at each class and thought to herself. ‘The Nethermancer is very tempting considering it’s style is magic, but I don’t like how unarmoured they look. The Hawkeye looks pretty neat, being able to attack at long distances, but that melee weakness. The Bulldozer seems fun, being able to take hits like they’re nothing, but they are pretty slow. It would be nice to move very fast as a Nightshade but, the damage output might get tedious and annoying. Able to stand my ground rather well and cast magic is nice if I choose the Spellblade, but the possibilities of the Shocktrooper’s turret could prove to be very useful, the weaknesses are roughly the same. What to choose.
The Sunset Squadron“I’ll pick the Spellblade,” Twilight said, watching as the several copies disappeared only for her own dress to reform on her body. The cloth remained white, yet bulkier than she remembered, feeling more like a large vest, while a pair of light pants and boots appeared to cover the rest. She turned to find that she was wearing a T-shirt underneath the vest and a scabbard of a sword was connected to a belt around her waist, strapped to her right side. A white bandana was tied around her forehead, just below her horn. “Hey, what gives? This doesn’t look nearly as interesting as the gear you showed me,” Twilight said, rather disappointed. “You expected me to give you the good stuff immediately? Does Celestia come to your library to rub your belly as you drift to sleep as well?” Gigavolt muttered throughput the black void. “Well, of course not, but you just can’t tease me like that,” Twilight retorted. She unsheathed the sword she had and looked over it. “The sword is pretty neat, though, in comparison.” “Please note that you are still early in the game: don’t expect your equipment to be the best. You gotta work for it,” Gigavolt said. Twilight let out a sigh as she put the blade away. “Also remember, I’ll be in constant contact with you. My text will be green, if I ask AMP to oversee this, her text will be red,” Gigavolt explained. “You’ll be talking to me through words? But you have intercoms and the whole ominous voice in this room,” Twilight said, confused. “No, you’ll hear my voice. It was video logs,” Gigavolt assured. “Shall we begin?” “I already have a class and my…equipment; I guess I’m ready,” Twilight uttered as a doorway appeared behind her. She made her way towards it and took her first step into Gigavolt’s world; the light blinded her as she heard the green unicorn’s voice in her ear: Database Updated: Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle Twilight opened her eyes to find that she was sitting in a moving carriage, all around her were nine ponies dressed similarly to her own: some with suits, others with heavy armor, but the clothing was all white or a very light grey. What confused her the most is how she went from walking to sitting in mere seconds. “You okay, Lieutenant?” called a familiar voice. Twilight turned to find Applebloom sitting next to her in the carriage. “Applebloom? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked, confused. “Did you drink too much before our deployment, lieutenant?” Applebloom retorted. “We are on our way to take out a rebel group on the Equestria-Crystal Kingdom border.” “A rebellion?” Twilight uttered, shaking off the strange vertigo. You are a part of the Sunset Squadron of the Royal Equestrian Army; you are second-in command to Major Stronghoof under the rank ‘lieutenant’. Don’t reply to me, it’ll make you look stupid in front of your soldiers. Twilight grumbled angrily upon hearing that. “Well, yeah, weren’t you briefed on this by the Major?” Applebloom asked. “He might have forgotten, sorry Applebloom. And call me Twilight, please,” The unicorn said, examining the carriage’s interior. The insides seemed rather depressing, a bland green tarp covered the roof of the carriage while everypony seemed to be squished together in this small space, just enough room for everyone to sit down in there big armor. Twilight’s eyes stopped on a tan mare that was shaking in her bulldozer suit. “Hey, uhh…” This is the tutorial, so I’ll let it pass. Private. “Private, are you okay?” Twilight asked to the quivering mare. “I’m fine Lieutenant Sparkle, just nervous,” the mare stuttered, her armored fists clenched tightly on her knees. Shaking some of her bright red mane out of her brown eyes. “What’s your name?” Twilight asked. “Private Cherry Slim, Bulldozer class, ma’am,” Cherry said, still shaking in her metal boots. Why did I tell you the rank if she was going to tell you anyways? “Is this your first time out here?” Twilight asked, trying to calm the mare down. “Yea, I’ve been training for this and it still feels all sudden to me, ma’am,” Cherry uttered, giving the purple mare a nervous smile. Twilight returned it with a reassuring one. “I’m sure it will be fine, as long as you try your best to stay safe.” “Like that will help this wimp.” Twilight turned her head to see a light blue pegasus with a sniper rifle. She looked almost exactly like Rainbow Dash except her mane was pure white and her eyes were green. “And you might be?” “Sergeant Sky Line, sexy,” Sky Line cooed, wiggling her eyebrows seductively. “Hawkeye class, and clearly the best this squad has to offer, am I right?” Her response was met with several soldiers calling her a moron, or a stallion shouting out “Shut up” from the forward end of the carriage. “Don’t worry about this filly, she’s a bulldozer. She should be able to take a few ‘hits’, if you know what I mean,” Sky Line giggled, causing Cherry Slim to blush. “Hey, Sky Line,” Applebloom piped up, diverting the light blue pegasus’ attention. “Would you kindly shut the fuck up? Your mouth is causing a hazard ‘round here.” This retort caused a few soldiers to chuckle as Sky Line stared blankly at the filly. “Thanks Sergeant,” Cherry Slime muttered. “Any time private,” Applebloom said cheerfully. “You’re a Sergeant?” Twilight asked, rather flabbergasted. “Why of course, but I ain’t nothing like the military prodigy like yourself, Liue, uhh… Twilight,” Applebloom replied, leaving Twilight to that thought. Sate your confused thoughts with the Database. Pressing your new finger onto the device in your left ear and thinking ‘database’ will freeze the game’s time, allowing you to read what information you need to get. The database will update itself each time you encounter an enemy or a individual I thought I could waste some time on, or learn more about a character or a location. Twilight mentally face-palmed as she quickly read her own Bio. “I guess so,” she chuckled. Didn’t give me a great bio, either, she thought. This isn’t even the final product. Quit your bitching. “Why did you join the army, Applebloom?” Twilight asked. “Because my family were forced out of our farm by the FlimFlam company, so we now try to buy it back from them. I thought the army would pay to help my sister and brother out, so here I am,” Applebloom explained. The thought of Applejack losing Sweet Apple Acres filled Twilight with sorrow. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Don’t worry Twilight, we’ll get it back; this mission is supposed to pay really big, like 1,500,000 bits big. That give us a huge step closer to getting the farm back,” Applebloom smiled. The purple mare gave the young filly a confused stare, 1.5 million bits just to route some rebels seemed too good to be true. Database Updated: Sergeant Applebloom “I hear ya, Sarge. The moment I see that check is the day I’ll dance in the streets of Canterlot,” exclaimed a black pegasus colt next to Cherry Slim. “And you might be?” Twilight asked, “Corporal Shadowhide, ma’am. I’m one of the team’s Nightshades,” he said, giving Twilight a calm smile. “I take it you’re here for the money as well?” Twilight inquired. “That’s right, ma’am. Manehatten is not the place you wanna grow up in when you’re alone,” he chuckled. “You learn the hard way that money makes the world go round, and you gotta pick up that information quick or you’ll be left behind.” Database Updated: Corporal Shadowhide “I see,” Twilight muttered. She turned to Cherry Slim. “How about you, Cherry?” “Uhh, well… My mother always wanted me to take over her business when she retired, but I didn’t want to for… reasons.” Cherry blushed, hiding her face behind the metal armor. “I think that would be nice if you did, it would make your momma happy,” Applebloom added. “But my mom… runs a Tavern… and a brothel, and I didn’t want to do that. What if I had to work in place of one of the girls? I want to save myself for that special somepony,” Cherry sputtered. Her red face burned red with the thought of her mother’s brothel. Database Updated: Private Cherry Slim “I… understand, it does seem like a lot to deal with,” Twilight reassured. ’A brothel, seriously? Despite the inclusion of a brothel or two, there is no ‘visible’ sex in this game. And I’m leaning towards ‘no’ for including it later. Twilight shook her head, turning to Sky Line. “How about you, Sky Line? Why did you join the army?” “Because being in the army is rad: you get paid to be awesome and kill assholes with fancy weapons.” Sky Line smirked, stroking the barrel of her rifle. “And everypony wants to share a bed with a military pony,” she added, winking. No. Visible. Sex. All couplings that happen in the game will happen while you are not looking and if you walk in on two or more ponies fucking, they are programmed to lying in bed and do nothing in their underwear until you leave them alone. Also, Database Updated: Sergeant Sky Line and The Royal Equestrian Army ’Thank Celestia for small miracles then, ‘ Twilight thought. “Well, I guess I joined…” “Sorry Lieutenant, we all know your story. ‘Miss War Prodigy’,” Sky Line teased, causing the purple unicorn to huff while Applebloom and Cherry Slim giggled. “Alright, kids.” Twilight turned to see a stern faced stallion entering the carriage from the front. His mane was black and cut short, and his coat was only a few shades lighter than the armor he wore. “We are coming up to the enemy base. You all have your teams; Lieutenant Twilight, your team will be making camp. Liuetenant Greenmane, your team will be on recon.” Twilight and the green-maned, orange-coated unicorn next to Stronghoof nodded. Due to your Bio claiming that you should know that guy, Database Updated: Major Stronghoof The carriage stopped as the soldiers gathered out. Twilight noticed that they were standing in a winter wasteland, snow as far as the eye can see with exception to the blinking green lights in the distance. She felt the wind cut through her bare fur as she trudged along with the others. Twilight turned to find Applebloom, Sky Line, Shadowhide, and Cherry Slim. ’How lucky that these are my teammates, she thought. Nope, all on purpose. Enjoy. “Lieutenant?” Twilight turned to see the other Team leader walking over to her. “We’re going up ahead; according to the layout, we should be able to make a base just over the hill East of us. We’ll try and make it back quickly to help out with the base. Kinda odd how the Major ordered five ponies to make a base and five to do recon, it seems like we only need three for recon based on what we know of the cultists. Before I forget. Database Updated: Black Sun Cult and Equestrian Badlands. The snow region you're standing in. Twilight rolled her eyes when she heard Gigavolt’s announcement and nodded to Greenmane. Her team made way for the hill Greenmane mentioned. The purple mare smiled upon finding a cave behind the hill, opposite to the enemy camp. ’Wow, this is rather lucky. Or is this just another convenience?’ she thought. It’s the tutorial, I’m not going to send you at Nightmare Moon with 5 ponies you’ve known for 10 hours, that’s ridiculous. ’I get it, You don’t like Celestia.’ Twilight shook her head in frustration. “Cherry Slim and Sky Line, prepare the base. I want to be able to see the enemy camp form this position without getting outside. Applebloom, set up a defense. I don’t want us to be ambushed here, of all places. Shadowhide, take a walk, if you see anypony that didn’t come here via the carriage, be smart about it; if you’re completely confident that you can take them down, go for it, but if you can’t, return to base.” The ponies saluted and went to their tasks. But all that was left was Twilight. ’I guess I could help somepony out, but who?’
DATABASEMinor Scouting Twilight turned to see Shadowhide begin his scouting. “Hey Shadowhide, may I join you?” she asked. Shadowhide turned in confusion. “Uh, sure Lieutenant.” Twilight smiled and ran up ahead to meet Nightshade. “Hold up, you got a Dream Unit?” “A Dream Unit?” Twilight asked. It’s a stealth device all Nightshade classes use. You do not have one, by the way. “I got an extra in case of emergencies, please give it back when we are done, please,” Shadowhide said, giving the purple mare an uneasy smile. Twilight returned the smile and took the Dream Unit, attaching it to her belt. “One tap, and you’ll be invisible, another will remove the cloaking. Got it?” Shadowhide asked, receiving a nod from his commanding officer. “Spellblades with cloaking devices, that feels like cheating to me,” he laughed as they carefully moved along the snow, several feet from the enemy base. Twilight looked around to see a few griffons and black creatures wearing similar armor to the rest, yet they had no mane and large blue eyes; a creature Twilight recalled from the wedding. “The Sunset has griffons and changelings? We should be careful,” Twilight uttered. “They look like emissaries, and while I can understand the griffons, I don’t understand why the changelings are here; they don’t like anything that isn’t themselves,” Shadowhide said. They continued around the base to find a way in, which proved difficult since Shadowhide told Twilight that the gates are programmed to nullify enemy cloaking devices. From the far corner, they noticed something rather odd. The largest tent in the camp opened to reveal an old stallion with a long beard bundled up in robes, a tall black female changeling with various knives strapped to herself and a small black crown on her head, then a large diamond dog, much larger than the stallion or the changeling, walked behind them, larger gauntlets covered each hand, his eyes were covered by thick goggles. “Chrysalis…” Twilight uttered coldly, watching the changeling queen converse with the diamond dog and the elder stallion. “Seems like she’s helping them out, but why is Bonez here? He’s a pacifist, and I don’t see any of his guards around,” Shadowhide commented. “That would mean that the old colt there is the Black Sun Leader, Dark Star.” Twilight focused on the old stallion talking with Bonez and Chrysalis. She felt like he held a lot of magic in his body, his eyes glowed black, only to dim when he blinks. “What do you know about him?” “Dark Star use to be Princess Celestia’s Archmage, Starswirl the Bearded, but he went rogue a few years ago after we took Griffonia, saying that we are no better than the griffons,” Shadowhide explained. Database Updated: Dark Star the Sundowner Twilight grimaced at the title Gigavolt gave to her childhood icon. She turned her head to see something rather shiny on the ground, and decided to investigate it. She stepped closer and brushed some of the snow off, curiosity changed to horror as she saw the corpse of Lieutenant Greenmane. “Shadowhide,” she whispered. Shadowhide turned his head and walked towards the purple mare, sharing her expression upon finding Greenmane. They looked around to see that the rest of the squad were not too far away, all dead. “But how? Most of us aren’t just greenhorns fresh from the bus, she should have at least heard gunfire or fighting,” Shadowhide muttered. Twilight just stood there, baffled by what had happened. Unaware that Shadowhide left her alone for a moment. The silence was broken by Shadowhide, “Lieutenant, I think you need to see this.” Twilight shook her head and walked over. What Shadowhide had found was a small campsite with a fire that has been put out recently. “Who was here before, though?” Twilight asked, unable to comprehend the situation. Seeing as war isn’t a strong suit for anypony that lived roughly seven hundred years ago, I’m just going to let you know that this was most obviously an ambush. “Were we ambushed?” Twilight whispered. Shadowhide turned to the purple mare. He blinked a few times before realization took over. “They knew we’d be here, we walked into a suicide mission,” the stallion said. Twilight simply nodded. “We need to get back to base; hopefully Sky Line and Cherry Slim have everything covered.” The two slowly made their way back, only to hear a gunshot in the distance; they turned to see a pony falling off one of the guard towers. “A shot? Sky Line!” Twilight exclaimed, now running towards the base. Shadowhide managed to follow her. Twilight turned her head to see various ponies and griffons marching towards Skyline, each shot the cocky pegasus took brought a member of the group down. The base was still well hidden, but the enemy knew where it was; they continued their march, barely flinching when a sentry turret emerged from the snow to fire at them. Twilight and Shadowhide managed to beat the enemy there. Sky Line was still sniping and Applebloom was calibrating a turret, but Cherry Slim was shaking, scared that they were under attack. “Get ready everypony, this will not end well,” Twilight called out, walking towards Cherry. “Are you going to be okay?” “I...I… I dunno, I’ve never fought before.” Cherry Slim was scared, sitting in the corner of the cave. Twilight put a reassuring hand on Cherry’s back. “It’ll be okay, we’ll get through this.” “Maybe we can call Greenmane and his group to help,” Applebloom called out. “Greenmane and his group are dead,” Shadowmane said. The statement caused Cherry to squeak in fear while Applebloom stopped moving, fear over taking her. “I managed to get a few of them, but we still got eighteen soldiers roughly three minutes away from us,” Sky Line called from above. A shot told Twilight that the number was reduced to seventeen. The Spellblade took a deep breath and turned to her subordinates. “Now is not the time to panic! Now listen up: Cherry Slim and I will take point; Shadowhide, I want you to do what you do best and take any ranged hostiles out, quickly; Applebloom you stay back with Sky Line and pick them off, provide me and Cherry cover. Everypony got that?” She received three nods, and another round fired, only to hear a muttered ‘shit’. Sky Line slid down to rejoin the group. “Too close to snipe. Applebloom, do you have a pistol or something? All I got is the sniper rifle,” Sky Line asked. Applebloom nodded and tossed a slightly smaller version of the gun the filly was using towards the light blue pegasus. Cherry Slim slowly got up, shaking in fear as she readied a large hammer that materialized from her suit, clenching the weapon tightly. Twilight took out her sword and placed a hand on the blade, sliding the hand along the sharp metal, watching the blade be consumed by fire. “Let’s go,” she ordered. The four ponies followed her into battle. Applebloom’s turrets were still doing their job in weakening the enemy, but it was time for action. Twilight charged the enemy with her flaming blade and sliced a shocktrooper along the mid-section. She ducked down to dodge an axe attack from an enemy bulldozer. Cherry Slim closed her eyes and ran, the jets in her heels and chest armor ignited and propelled her forwards, knocking several foes down. She swung her hammer forward to crush a griffon’s head under its weight. She didn’t even notice the shocktrooper shooter at her armor from behind. Shadowhide slide his knife deep into the neck of a hawkeye that took cover from the turrets. He activated his stealth quickly and buried both knives into the back of a nearby nethermancer, watching the rebel unicorn fall to the ground. Sky Line took cover by a turret and fired upon the enemy. She turned to see a Bulldozer charge her, but dodged quickly and jumped on his back, thrusting the small gun into the back of his head before pulling the trigger. After brushing the dust off her armor, she went back to cover Twilight. Applebloom threw out a grenade that began to rain lasers from above. The beams of light passed harmlessly through her comrades, but they inflicted severe injury to the enemy; one particular Spellblade stood directly beneath ready to slice at Shadowhide, but was cut to ribbons by the filly’s grenade. Twilight sunk her blade into the ground, watching as a long spiked pillar of stone skewered two of the remaining Shocktroopers. Slightly past him was a Hawkeye who was aiming for her, he fired a round before Shadowhide gutted him. The round flew and connected with Twilight’s head, forcing her backwards into the snow; the pain was unbearable for the unicorn. She held her head as blood pooled from the wound in her forehead. Get up you wimp, you were only shot in the head, you’ll survive. Remember that this has a HP system? You may wanna use a med though, just in case you decide to block all attacks with your skull. Twilight swallowed an insult and a lecture as she got up, pulling out a small needle and stabbing her arm with it. As the red liquid disappeared into Twilight’s blood veins, the hole in her head closed up. Throwing the empty needle away, she charged a Bulldozer that had knocked Cherry down, ready to strike her down with his own hammer. She slashed at the armored pony’s head, only to watch it deflect and shatter his helmet. He reared his head up to strike the purple mare, only to shower her in blood when his head exploded. “Sorry Twilight, my bad,” Applebloom called out, reloading her weapon. A Griffon leaped at the blue pegasus with blades in claws. Cherry managed to grab the offending creature by his wing before throwing him into the dirt. “Thanks kid, you going to finish it?” Sky Line asked. “Fi-finish it?” Cherry said, unsure that she could do it. Sky Line rolled her eyes and shot several rounds into the griffon’s head. “Like that,” she said, patting Cherry on her armored shoulder before running off to find more cover. Shadowhide threw a snowball at an enemy nethermancer, ruining his cast just long enough for the Nightshade to slit his throat. Twilight managed to catch a few Nightshades approaching Applebloom and Sky Line, and slew them quickly, stabbing on through the torso before slashing the second’s head off. She performed her Rising Lance spell once again, dealing heavy damage to the last bulldozer. This stagger gave Shadowhide enough time to bury a knife in his skull. “Runners!” Sky Line called out, pulling out her sniper rifle. She managed to pick off the two shocktroopers that ran, but the Nightshade entered stealth before she could get him. “Good job, but we are not out of this yet,” Twilight uttered. Her group stood among several dead ponies and griffons, the snow all around them had gone red early into the fight. Cherry fell to the ground, dropping her hammer. Applebloom walked over and gave what Twilight believed to be words of encouragement to the distressed mare. “What we know is that the enemy knows where we were going to be before we got there, and that doesn’t bode well for us. So we need a plan,” Twilight called out. The mares and stallion nodded in agreement. “I say we sneak in and blow them to Tartarus,” Sky Line commented, “We have the explosives to do so; we just need to find the sweet spots and run before the fireworks start.” “You’ll need a distraction, though, something to keep their attention long enough for you to plant them all,” Applebloom stated. “Then Applebloom and Cherry will distract them; Sky Line, you and Shadowhide plant the bombs, but be careful… We don’t know if Chrysalis and Bonez are still there,” Twilight warned. The two ponies nodded. “What about you?” Shadowhide asked, causing Twilight to think carefully. This is a rather big decision for you. I’m not supposed to say anything, but it’s pretty obvious that the team you don’t side with won’t be going home with you. You will encounter benefits and consequences for all your decisions, whether they’re immediate or prolongued. Think carefully, Twilight. Help Shadowhide and Skyline plant the bombs, or help distract the enemy with Applebloom and Cherry Slim? Twilight bit her lower lip as she thought, weighing what could happen and what may happen. Based on what Gigavolt just said, her decision here may carry on after this event. Regardless of which you choose, you’ll still be fighting Dark Star as your tutorial boss.
Minor ScoutingDATABASE Database Characters Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle Gender/Race: Female Unicorn Age: 19 Status: Alive Class Rank: Spellblade Occupation: Military Officer Description: Twilight Sparkle was left orphaned at age 6 when a fire killed her parents, leaving her and her brother, Shining Armor, to fend for themselves. Twilight was recruited into the military at Age 10 when her magical output nearly destroyed a testing hall for young children that wished to enter Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. At Age 11, she became rather proficient at swordplay and had a much greater control over her magic, causing several instructors to push her into the direction of Spellblades, despite her obvious gift for Nethermancing. Age 15, she was assigned to fight in the Equestria-Griffonia war, fending off the rampaging griffons that attempted to claim Equestria as there own, she was also a vital member of the 'Celestia's Wrath' squadron, led by Major Shining Armor, that ultimately defeated the Griffon King and forced Griffonia to bow to the superior military power. Twilight was promoted to Lieutenant at 18 when she and several other soldiers were tasked to route a small group of rebels that planned an assassination against Princess Celestia during the Grand Galloping Gala. Currents Skills: Magic Blades: Rising Lance (Creates a lance out of the earth to skewer foes from beneath) {Learned in Chapter 2} Elemental: Flaming Blade (Coat your weapon in fire, dealing extra flame damage each strike) {Learned in Chapter 2} Major Stronghoof Gender/Race: Male Earth Pony Age: 41 Status: Alive Class Rank: Stormtrooper Occupation: Military Officer Description: A grizzled veteran of the Equstria-Griffonia Wars. her was apart of the 'Celestia's Wrath' squadron led by Major Shining Armor that defeated the Griffon King and captured Griffonia for Equestria. He was promoted to Major for his plan to wipe out the recently made 'Black Sun' rebels that worship Nightmare Moon and have caused various attempts against Princess Celestia and the Element Lords. Sergeant Applebloom Gender/Race: Female Earthpony Age: 14 Status: Alive Class Rank: Shocktrooper Occupation: Military Soldier Description: A young filly that joined the army to assist her family ever since the FlimFlam Company bought out Sweet Apple Acres 2 years ago. Normally a sweet filly that will protect others if need be, just like how her sister taught her. Sergeant Sky Line Gender/Race: Female Pegasus Age: 21 Status: Alive Class Rank: Hawkeye Occupation: Military Soldier Description: A mare that joined the army for excitement and fame. She became a Hawkeye because she believed that 'Sniping is cooler and less messy than stabbing some schmuck.' Corporal Shadowhide Gender/Race: Male Pegasus Age: 22 Status: Alive Class Rank: Nightshade Occupation: Military Soldier Description: A stallion that joined the military for the paycheck. He choose Nightshade due to his earlier years of pickpocketing while growing up in Manehatten. Private Cherry Slim Gender/Race:Female Earth Pony Age: 18 Status: Alive Class Rank: Bulldozer Occupation: Military Soldier Description: A mare that joined the army to avoid becoming the owner of her mother's brothel, fearing that doing so may threaten her chastity. She became a bulldozer because she thought it would protect her better if she were to be ambushed, which became her greatest fear the first week of enlisting. Dark Star the Sundowner Gender/Race: Male Unicorn Age: 794 Status: Killable Class Rank: Nethermancer Occuptaion: Former Royal Archmage, Cult Leader Description: One of the best magicians Equestria has ever known, devising thousands of spells in his long life span. Starswirl the Bearded became Princess Celestia's adviser and confidant since he was 78 and served faithfully ever since. The Equestria-Griffonia Wars however made him indifferent to Celestia due to her choices, believing that the war could have been avoided completely. Several arguments broke out between himself, Celestia, and General Shining Armor which eventually led to Starswirl dropping his position and form the Black Sun Cult. He changed his name to Dark Star the Sundowner for his unexplained hatred towards Princess Celestia. Locations Equestrian Badlands This area sits on the border of the Crystal Kingdom and Equestria. The land constantly snows year long, and becomes uninhabitable during the winter, due the constant blizzards. Other than the possible death at the cruel hands of windigos and Mother Nature itself, the Badlands is rather... bland. Factions The Royal Equestrian Army Country: Equestria Leaders: Princess Celestia, Shining Armor The main military force in Equestria. Their sole purpose is to protect the citizens form any threats that may endanger lives. Their main base is in Canterlot, and they serve as a heavily armored police force, dealing with terrorist attacks, monsters, and fighting wars. A hundred years ago, it should be noted that all the soldiers did was stand in one place and intimidate others into being careful, but Celestia help those soldiers should trouble happen, for they need six mares and their pet dragon to save the world four to fives times within a few years so they can keep their jobs. Black Sun Cult Country: Equestria Leaders: Dark Star A rebel group of ponies that believe that Princess Celestia is a worthless leader and desire to have Nightmare Moon to lead them into a new future. They have been known to attack villages, kill innocents that worship Celestia, and bomb buildings. There have been rumors of them working with other races to help see that Celestia is removed from the throne only to have The Queen of the Night take her place.
