Chapter 2- NPC Quest: Save the Damsel! Part 1

I leapt from rooftop to rooftop, my Agility skill aiding me in my movements. The moon was huge, shining light down, but I stuck to the shadows. A breeze whispered through the air, as I landed on a roof near a group of players.

“So the Equestrian Rivals… they’re bosses?” a Pegasus Ranger spoke to an Alicorn- a beta tester. I wasn’t sure what class she was, as she had a Cloak of Masking on, covering up her status. He was Level 2, but still only had the starter gear. Not too surprising.

“Yeah. There are a total of seven located throughout the map. Nopony knows where they are.” She answered. “Then the final one is called the Equestrian Warlord. We never reached him in the beta. We only found two Equestrian Rivals, and I’m sure the Sys Admins aren’t dumb enough to place them in the same area as before.”

I dropped down from the roof, causing the Pegasus to whip out his bow. A light barrier appeared around me. We were in one of the Safetowns, where PvP was disabled. Not that anypony would be crazy enough to kill another, especially given the situation. Now that he drew his weapon, his status was highlighted.

[Nimbus Burst | P | Ranger | L2]

“Easy.” I said. “I’m just joining in on the conversation.”

“Oh, another beta tester.” The female Alicorn lowered her hood, and now I could recognize her, as Nimbus put his bow away.

[Solaris Ray | A(B) | Healer | L6]

Solaris. She had been one of the players I reluctantly let tag along when I explored a new area. I was always a solo player, but at the same time, I would allow others to come with me, provided they didn’t get in the way or slow me down.

“Solaris.” I blinked. “Long time, no see.”

“Oh, Dusk, the grumpy-cat solo player.” She smiled, glancing at my status. “Hold up.” She murmured a few words, and I felt energy revitalize me, my Stamina rising to three quarters of the maximum bar. “There you go.”

“Thanks.” I nodded, before getting down to business. “Something’s been nagging me since the start. There’s seven Equestrian Rivals, right?”

“Yeah. So?” Nimbus spoke this time.

“The development team of the game was eight people. Seven staff members, then the creator.”

“You don’t think….” Solaris looked over at me.

“I think… the admins are the Equestrian Rivals.”

We were interrupted by a shouting voice.

“Help me, please!”

Random Quest flashed up in front of us, as a brown, Earth Pony stallion galloped up.

[Stronghoof | Civilian]

“Please! My daughter! She’s been kidnapped! I saw the monsters that took her, they went into Twisted Dungeon! You have to save her! I’m begging you! I’ll pay anything! Just get her back!”

Accept Quest?
Suggested Level: 3
Rewards: 1 Skill Point, 500 Bits, 400 XP, ?

I sighed. Quests were never my thing, I had always battled for my experience and loot. I moved my hoof to the decline button.

“What are you doing?” Solaris spoke up.

“I’m declining the quest.” I answered, as the NPC stood there, paused as our dialogs stayed open.

“You’re leaving a little filly to die?”

“She’s not real. This is a game. It’s a NPC.” I felt a twinge of annoyance. Why did some people take the game so seriously?

“This isn’t a game anymore. We can’t treat it like one.” Solaris glared at me, before pressing to accept the Quest, as did Nimbus.

“Fine. Whatever.” I tapped the Accept button, and the NPC unpaused.

“Thank you! The path to the Twisted Dungeon is to the North of the town!” he pointed down a path. “Please, get her back safely!”

I followed behind the group, as they headed to the Dungeon. Why was I wasting my time with pointless Quests? We had to find and defeat the Equestrian Rivals if we ever were to get out of here. I still could drop out of the party and abandon the quest.

As I thought this over, Solaris fell back to match my speed. “Hey.” She said. “Sorry for snapping at you back there. It’s just…. Hard not to take the game like it’s life. After that announcement…” she shuddered. “Can they really kill us?”

“You’re in an electronic suit. What do you think?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “The machines we’re hooked up to could provide more than enough of a charge to fry us.”

System Announcement flashed up on our intercoms. I pulled mine open.

Hello Players!
How are you all? Just thought you’d like to know that some naughty outsiders tried to disconnect players from the VR console. As you well know, there are battery systems built into the VR consoles. Each one can send out a charge strong enough to cook a cow. It certainly was a SHOCKER to those who tried to interfere with the game! Too bad that the player was caught up in it, too. We’ve lost 127 players already… However, being the kind people we are, we’re allowing a one-hour grace period for your bodies to be moved to hospitals to keep you alive in real life while you try to keep alive here! Anybody… well, anypony not back by then will have their Ponysona… and themselves deleted from the world of the living. Enjoy yourselves!
~Admins

The carefree and casual tone of the message almost made me sick. Was this really just a game to the Admins? Was it even real? I checked the global death feed and saw a flood of names.

Blue Moon- Disconnected
Icon- Disconnected
Lance- Disconnected
Ruby Red- Disconnected

The list went on and on. 127 deaths due to disconnection. My eyes flicked to the total death counter. 152. Did that mean 25 players already died? Had they woken up in the real world, realized it all was a joke, and were now laughing at us? No…. my instinct was usually right, and it was screaming at me that none of this was a lie. We were truly trapped.

“Let’s go.” I said, taking the lead. “Maybe we can find clues about the first Equestrian Rival during the quest.”

“Why the change in heart? I thought you hated quests.” Solaris and Nimbus hurried to catch up with me.

“Because we have to escape.” I answered, keeping my eyes forward.

Author's Note

My microsoft office trial ran out, so I wrote this on the text editor Sublime 3. It felt so weird.