Griffon's Reach Online
Quest 1: A New World
by repoisn
~~~
"It's finally here!" a rough, feminine voice said as its owner burst through the door of Sugarcube Corner.
"What is?" a mare wearing a large pink bow asked, a southern accent present in her speech.
"Geez, Scootaloo. It's been, what, seven... eight years since we first met? And you're still as excitable as always." A high pitched and squeaky chuckle followed from yet another speaker.
"Oh, come on, Sweetie! And you listen too, Applebloom. This is very important business."
"Well, go on then! Spit it out why don't you?" Applebloom said jokingly.
"So," Scootaloo began, "here's the deal. I. Got. One. Early! " She brought out the cardboard box she'd been hiding behind her back and set it down on the table Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had been sitting at, moving the drinks and cupcakes the latter had ordered aside.
"What is it?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well, open it and see for yourself," Scootaloo smirked.
A purplish aura laced around Sweetie's horn as she opened the box with her magic. She saw, much to her confusion, a strange blue cube. On it's top side was a large, red button. Printed on each side were circles, each holding text that imparted the message 'Place Hoof Here'.
"Uh..."
"I'm with Sweetie Belle on this one. What the hay is this thing?"
"You don't know what this is?! This," Scootaloo pointed a hoof at the cube, "is the newest video game console by Equestrian Technologies! The computer!"
"The computer?" Applebloom asked, "What does it do? Compute stuff?"
Sweetie chuckled.
"No, it plays video games," Scootaloo quickly opened the carboard box once again and grabbed what looked like a disk. "and here is it's first; I present to you: Griffon's Reach Online!"
"Ohhh!" Sweetie realized, "It's a video game! I didn't know you were into that sort of stuff, Scoots."
"Are you kidding me? What do you think I used to do when I skipped school?"
"Other than practice on your scooter?" Applebloom remarked.
"Maybe that's why you got your cutie mark late then. Too distracted by video games, perhaps?" Sweetie said with a giggle.
"Well, whatever," Scootaloo picked up the computer and fit the disk into the circular slot on its bottom side. "It's ready for action. Just put your hooves on a side."
"Both of us?" Applebloom asked.
"Yeah. Apparently, it can support up to four players per console."
Applebloom and Sweetie hesitantly put one hoof each on a respective side.
"Wait," Sweetie Belle interrupted. "Doesn't this thing need, y'know a screen? To show the game?"
Scootaloo grinned.
"Here we go!" she shouted as she slammed her free hoof onto the button.
~~~
Sweetie Belle woke up.
"Eurgh... where am I?" she grumbled to herself. Quickly regaining her senses, she looked around. Much to her surprise, the only thing she could see was darkness. Looking down, Sweetie noticed was standing on nothing. Yet, she did not fall.
Feeling adventurous, the mare took a step forward. In an instant, light exploded from her hoof, running across and revealing the ground she was standing on. Glowing blue hexagons made up the newly created walls and floors around her. Transparent numbers floated upwards from the ground and slowly disappeared.
"What the..."
Floating, white, two-dimensional boxes that shimmered and blinked formed themselves in front of Sweetie, startling her. Each box held black text. They were reminiscent of the buttons in the menus of the arcade games that her friend Button Mash made her play a few years ago. It then occured to her. This was the game Scootaloo had brought from earlier that day. Impressive, she thought as she examined the boxes in front of her. Magitechnology sure has come a long way in eight years.
'Choose Your Class' the topmost box said. Under it were several choices ranging from warriors to magicians. Immediately, out of all the other choices, one stood out to her. Sweetie did not even bother reading the descriptions of the other classes. 'Enchanter' it said. She touched her hoof to the respective button, picking it as it seemed the most unique out of all the classes.
After selecting her profession, new boxes replaced the old ones. 'Choose Your Subclass' was what the topmost box said this time, the ones below it listing down extra classes such as Alchemist, a potions-maker, and Warden, a lockpicker. Sweetie took the time to read the descriptions of each subclass, skipping the self-explanatory ones such as Chef, before choosing the Bard subclass. Singing was her special talent after all.
According to its description, the Bard subclass had the ability to perform different songs with the player's chosen instrument, giving other players buffs such as increased attack or speed. It could also inflict debuffs on enemies such as lowered defense or evasion.
'Confirm choices?' a single text box said. Under it were two options: 'Yes' and 'No'.
Sweetie picked the former, and everything turned white before a final text box appeared.
'Welcome to Griffon's Reach Online!'
As the bright flash of light faded, Sweetie found herself in a completely different place. No longer was she surrounded by glowing hexagons but by a bright blue sky. Floating islands of varying sizes littered the sky above, the sky itself stretching outwards until it met the horizon. Even though it was just a game, she could feel the texture of the grass beneath her hooves, as if she were actually there—the feel of the wind blowing through her mane. Everything was nothing she would have ever expected from a video game. It was breathtaking.
"This is sooo awesome!" Scootaloo said as she materialized next to Sweetie. Metal blades were fashioned along both her wings as weapons designed for combat. "Look at me! I've got freakin' wingblades!"
"Ah do have to say, Scoots," Applebloom said, munching on a virtual apple underneath the shade of a tree, "This is pretty darn impressive." Next to her was a mace leaning on the bark of a tree, and on her foreleg was a small, wood and metal shield.
Sweetie searched around for her weapon, maybe some sort of staff or a wand, but failed to find it. "Hey, where's my weapon?"
Applebloom pointed a hoof at the crystal ball floating next to Sweetie.
"Oh," she watched the orb as it floated around her. It wasn't as 'cool' as the weapons her friends had, but personally, Sweetie liked it.
"So... where do ya s'pose we are? Ah mean, ah know were in the game, but where are we in the game? What's this game even about?" Applebloom asked as she surveyed their surroundings.
"Don't ask me," Sweetie replied. "This was Scoots' idea."
Scootaloo made motions with her foreleg as if she was interacting with something in front of her. "According to the map, we're on 'The Island of Beginnings'."
'The Island of Beginnings' was a sizable floating mass of land with plenty of trees scattered about and a lake in the middle. Floating in the air were tiny, crystal shards of varying sizes. Off to the distance was a pathway of stone. The island was where new players spawned to begin their journey.
As the group noticed when they arrived, they were not the only ones there. Many other ponies were present as well, examining themselves and the new world they were in—talking and chatting amongst each other and experimenting with the game's features. Some ponies were even having duels, friendly and competitive matches between two players, to test their new-found combat abilities.
"Well, first thing's first. You saw what I did earlier, right? I accessed a menu. A few I could name would be the skills menu, the inventory screen, and your options menu. Here, try to copy what I'm doing," Scootaloo lifted her foreleg and pointed it forward. Her face brightened in success. "It appeared! Awesome!"
"I don't get it," Applebloom remarked.
"Me neither," Sweetie followed.
"You guys can't see it? Well, whatever. Just hurry up and try doing what I just did."
Sweetie and Applebloom each lifted a foreleg into the air, pointing them straight forward.
Applebloom raised an eyebrow. "Nothing's happening, Scootaloo."
"Just trust me on this one," Scootaloo said. "Say 'Inventory' out loud in your heads."
Sweetie did as Scootaloo told, and an inventory screen appeared in front of her. A multitude of empty, square-shaped slots presented themselves. Each box was a space that could hold an item or a stack of an item. The only thing in Sweetie's inventory was "Beginner Crystal Ball", her weapon. Under it was a letter "E". This probably means I have it equipped, she thought.
Applebloom stepped back. "Well, I'll be; it worked. Looks like we can't see each others menus though."
"So, let me sum it up for you guys. This," she motioned her hoof across the horizon, "is Griffon's Reach online, the first ever virtual massively multiplayer video game—or VMMVG in short—in Equestria! This is also the first massively multiplayer game period, meaning that we're actually playing alongside everypony else who's playing! Isn't that awesome? This world is a lot different from ours. Honestly, I haven't really read about the game much other than the mechanics, but that's why we're playing it right? Oh, and good luck with the monsters."
"Monsters?" Sweetie gulped.
Applebloom glanced at the sword on her back. "Ah reckon that's why we have weapons, then."
"Eeyup! Now," Scootaloo walked past Sweetie and Applebloom, towards the stone bridge, then turned back to face them. "looks like both of you have the basics down. Let's get this thing started! Are you guys ready?" Scootaloo asked as she put out her hoof.
Sweetie and Applebloom nodded at each other. "Ready!" they both said in unison. They put one hoof each on top of Scootaloo's.
They looked at each other, their eyes brimming with excitement.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders Video Game Players, Yay!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted as they lifted their hooves into the air of the new world.
